A month after Rev. Dr. Kong Hee delivered the vision of City Harvest Church (CHC) with the exponentially growing congregation, the members geared themselves up once more for another season of Arise and Build (2007), the church’s building fund campaign.

Since its inception with just 20 members in 1989, the church has grown to a mind-blowing 23,322 in regular weekend attendance today.

Although there is no lack in the kingdom of God, yet this church, which has been steadily drawing people from all walks of life, has had a conundrum for the past decade—there has always been a need for a bigger building to accommodate the phenomenally expanding crowd that streams through its open and welcoming doors week after week. The restriction of space has not stopped the members from reaching out to friends and family with the love of Christ. Each week, the services continue to grow consistently in number and passion.

For many years now, the leadership has purposed to give an altar call every week after each service for people to come forward and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. An average of 172 people respond each time. There is a strong indication of the need for more room to allow these souls to grow and be discipled in the house of God.

Beyond this responsibility and passion for the Great Commission, the members of CHC hold fast to a strong mandate to reach and impact the marketplace. They share the vision of their Senior Pastor, Kong Hee, having their hearts and minds set on building an iconic structure as an emblem of this cultural mandate.

KEEPING EYES ON THE PROMISES

The weeks leading up to the momentous weekend were packed with inspiring testimonies and challenging messages on the power of sacrifice and the hand of God in empowering His people for success.

A week before the members made their pledges for the Arise and Build project, Ps. Kong came back from South Korea, after attending a Board of Directors meeting at Yoido Full-Gospel Church, the largest church in world history. Citing his visit as a major inspirational catalyst, Ps. Kong described how his faith was strengthened and renewed to see 100,000 Yoido members turn up for a weekday prayer meeting, standing in the cold morning rain, praying fervently with their hands lifted up. As he showed pictures of the large prayer stadium, he once again laid before the congregation the vision to build a large stadium in the marketplace, for the marketplace, to penetrate the marketplace.

During the pledging weekend of the Arise and Build Campaign, Ps. Kong preached on the promises of God coming to pass in Abraham’s life.

Abraham kept his faith strong by keeping his eyes on the promise that God had made to him of descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. By keeping a catalog of past victories, God’s people can set up a defense against the night terror that steals away our faith and vision. Just like King David who kept Goliath’s armor in his tent to remind himself of his victory over the giant, a collection of past prophecies, rhema words, visions and promises will ensure a strong barricade against the terror of the night.

Abraham sowed into others what he needed for himself. While he believed in God for a son as his heir, he prayed for the womb of Abimelech’s wife to be opened. Ps. Kong issued the challenge for every member present to become a “prosper-er” and a distributor of what God has promised each one of them. He added, “There’s always someone who fits your budget that you can bless!”

DOING UNTO OTHERS

This was apparent in action for City Harvest Church, which has been building hospitals, medical centers and schools in places such as Nias, Medan, Sri Lanka and China since 2004. Where some organizations would have chosen to hoard the funds for their own building project, CHC still channeled a substantial amount of their annual income toward overseas missions this year.

In building shelters and educational centers for the less-privileged, the leadership and members of CHC choose to recognize and trust in the hand of God for the biblical principle of sowing and reaping.

Just as Abraham believed that God would work his miracles for him again and again, testimonies shared by various ones each week proved the faithfulness of God and His Word.

Those who had given to the past Arise and Build campaigns during their lowest points saw the most miraculous turnarounds in their dire situations.

THE VISION WILL MAKE A WAY

In the house of God, there is strength in numbers, and members are able to draw strength in seeing God’s faithfulness in the success of others as they stand in faith for their own breakthroughs.

Out of their driving desire to build God an iconic stadium in the marketplace, for the marketplace and to penetrate the marketplace, the members of City Harvest Church had pledged more than S$26 million, exceeding the expected target of S$22 million.

In the same service, guest speaker Rev. Dr. Phil Pringle presented the church with a check for S$40,000 to sow into the building fund. Besides that, he also raised another S$130,000 with two oil paintings that he created while preaching during the services (Read about this on page 74).

A large vision not only possesses the power to draw hearts together in unity, it also carries a magnetic force that attracts creativity and the ability to produce. The hearts of the members have always been reflected in each Arise & Build campaign, as they exceed the targeted amount each time. As the members of City Harvest Church arise and build, they step once more into another season of miraculous blessings and the power of God at work in their lives.