Wednesday, June 27, 2012

What CHC has done for me

I am a member of City Harvest Church.

Have been since I was fresh out of my Junior College days. Now I am happily married, with two kids, and my whole family is happily rooted in church and church life is ... Well, a part of our lives, really.

And so much has been splashed over the latest development of the case... I must say I thought about blogging this for a while. Should I? Shouldn't I? But I figured, this is my blog and my personal space to voice out as well. SO much has been said over the blogs and forums by people who are not even members of the church, I figure that the voice of one who has been a church member for the past 10-over years should also be heard over the frenzied cries.

But today (or tonight, more accurately), I want to share about what God, and City Harvest Church has done for me and my family.

I was invited to CHC by a colleague when I was working part-time after my A Levels. I was a happy-go-lucky gal, and the flightiest girl you'd probably have the (mis)fortune of knowing. Then day I stepped into e then-Hollywood theatre, I knew my life would be irrevocably changed... For the better!

It was in CHC that I met my hubby, and through the training I received, I learnt and grew and became who I am today. Of our 7 years of courtship, my then-boyfriend-now-husband spent 2.5 years in the army, and then 4.5 years in Sydney pursuing his social work degree. Yeap, you counted right. We had a long-distance relationship almost the whole time (even in NS, he could only book out weekends. Talk about an absentee boyfriend!)

And if you'd ask me, I would have NEVER imagined myself to be the "long-distance" type. But yet somehow, without Skype or FaceTime we still managed to make it work.

And then kids. Oh my gosh. Sometimes I am amazed I have two. And my two boys are such awesome boys. Granted, they have a definite cheeky side, but the church has armed us with enough Bible knowledge and wisdom to know how to firmly love and lovingly discipline the kiddos. How to raise them up to love God. And it bursts my heart to hear Jay proclaim that he loves to attend children's church!

And my hubby's testimony is even more amazing. He graduated at the top of his Singapore Poly class... In engineering. And while serving in church, he felt God tell him to do something that will bless people. And he decided to make the switch to social work. For a top engineering student (who incidentally got E8 for English at O Levels)... He was rejected by NUS twice cos they felt his level of English is not proficient enough for the rigour of the social work course.

But when a door is closed... God made another opening. And he managed to get a scholarship to study at the University of New South Wales. And the option to choose whichever course tickled his fancy. And so he opted for a degree in social work. And after toiling for 4.5 years, he graduated at the top of his Uni cohort. And currently has a spot to do a direct PhD in social work back in Sydney.

His family background could not ordinarily afford to send him, even with the full scholarship by the university, and we will always remember the love gift the church leaders gave to Nic to pursue his dreams. Not only that, upon hearing his outstanding graduation results, our church leaders came to know that he was not intending to fly back for the graduation ceremony due to financial constraint... And the church generously sponsored him, his sister and his parents' airfare and accommodation... Just so (and I can almost remember the pastor's exact words as he passed us the cheque) "His parents can be proud of what Nic achieved."

The generosity of the church till today has made an indelible print in our hearts.

The lives lived out by our church leaders, their genuine love and care for us and our family... I don't really know where or what I would be if not for CHC. Maybe I would turn out to be another materialistic, burnt-out auditor, living from party to party. But most certainly, I am who I am because of CHC. And for that, I am forever grateful. We are but one family that the church and Pastors have touched. There are thousands more stories like ours.

My church... My life...

1 comment:

Chew Household said...

Wow! What a testimony! :)