Singapore Slinger

Yes, this is the name of a popular Singapore cocktail, and no I didn't try one while I was there. It was our fourth visit to this remarkable city/state/nation, and from the moment we touched down we hit the ground running, which meant espresso was the drink of choice. The pace was no surprise to us though. We knew from our visit two years prior that Redemption Hill was a church with an intensity that belied its age - a happy community, on a serious mission.

And the Gospel fruit is plain to see, hanging heavy from the branches of the tree called RHC. Its a church that started literally with four people; Simon and Tarryn, a twenty-something couple relocating from South Africa, and a couple they met on the plane on the way over who they invited to their first service. Its grown to over 400 adults in three years since then; a church colorful with culture, ripe with faith, and fragrant with redemption stories. Very sweet to the taste.

So what's the secret? Is there anything worth emulating, or is this simply a happy freak of super-nature? I suspect it's a bit of mix. A cocktail of sorts if you'll pardon the term.


For those looking, the tell-tale secrets of grace in a community are often in its favorite words.

'Gospel' is one. For them its not a buzz word. Not an overworked cliche'. For them its a priceless pearl to treasure, a lens to look at the world through and a hill to die on. It is explicit, not implicit. Gospel centrality has perhaps fashioned them more than any other one thing.

Then there is 'Sovereign.' There is a settled confidence in its twenty-something year-young leadership team, that this community is the work of a Sovereign God. That what has come to pass has been established by the will and the hand of a Sovereign God. This has saved them from the swagger that I often detect in those with early success. Sovereignty is humility and sanity to them, amidst the obvious rush of God's favor.

And finally there is the word 'intentional.' I heard them use it often. Nothing is left to chance. No stone left unturned. Careful thought and diligent attention given to every aspect of their life together. This is not some climate-controlled science lab of a church. They are earnest charismatics. They love to worship and are hungry for the presence of God. But they are faithful stewards, something too often overlooked by us charismatics. They know that 'to whom much is given much is required,'and so they steward gratefully and give tirelessly.

This is not a perfect church, but no doubt its a compelling one. In some ways a complete miracle, and in others, no mystery at all at what God has done. May this colorful cocktail of God's sovereignty and Gospel stewardship be poured out for His glory and the joy of the multitudes.

Vietnam - nothing normal happens here!

12 years ago Rynelle and I were tourists in San Francisco with one more night and $20 left in our pockets before we headed home to South Africa. We decided to go to a Vietnamese restaurant thinking that our last few dollars would go a long way, sure that at least there would be an abundance of rice to fill up on. How wrong we were! That night we left broke, hungry and feeling cheated. Having spent all our money on some tasteless, colorless wafer thin rice paper with shavings of beef and bean sprouts, the waiter looked grumpy that we only drank water so that we could afford his tip!

12 years later our visit to the real Vietnam couldn't have been more different from our faux-Vietnamese experience in San Francisco. From the verdant greens of it's vegetation, to its ever-present throng of delicately loaded 'bikes of burden,' to the unique French - Asian architecture and cuisine - all of it was a sensory overload. A taste, sight and sound sensation amidst cheerful and welcoming people.Not to mention, $20 goes a long, long way here.

My host's final word of advice before we embarked on our first scooter ride in a city with no road rules to speak of and 4 million other scooters was, "remember, nothing normal happens here." For me, that statement carries broader truth than traffic. It is a nation that has crept into our hearts with abnormal swiftness, leaving a surprising affection.

The church we were with has grown rapidly under government suspicion and police scrutiny.Two weeks ago as the pastor got up to preach someone in the congregation took a photo of him and left the building immediately. The local church whose building they use, have twice had their building demolished by the government.But they have persevered, and built a larger church centre where numerous churches now worship.They are thriving in uncertainty, leaning on what cannot be shaken.

The sense of volatile fruitfulness has left us with a desire to invest in this church and nation. We are planning on returning and are asking some big questions about how best we can partner with them in the gospel, in a nation where 20 bucks goes a long way, remembering that nothing normal happens here.

South of China

This past week at C2C you could hear a pin drop as Terry Virgo spoke of what God is doing in China. These days there are more Christians who gather to worship on Sundays in China than in all the churches in Europe put together - and those are the official stats. The underground church in China is immense and impossible to measure. There's an impending sense that the Gospel is about to explode in China in spite of severe persecution.

For the next week Rynelle and I will be in a country just South of China. The brutal history of this country has not robbed it of its mystical beauty, nor stripped its people of their hope. It is an innovative nation with an emerging economy. It is also resistant to the Gospel and incredibly suspicious of churches led by foreigners. We will be with one such church there who have asked to remain anonymous because they are being monitored carefully by police. Please join us in prayer for protection, and for the Holy Spirit to empower us to encourage and equip this church to grow in Christ and advance His kingdom.

After that we go further South to Singapore to be with Redemption Hill Church. Simon and Tarryn who planted the church three years ago are close friends of ours, and this will be the second time we visit them. This is the church we partnered with on our last mission trip to Cambodia. It's a remarkable church which has grown very rapidly and is poised to become one of the most influential churches in the nation, and a springboard for the Gospel into Asia. Pray that our time with them would be strategic please, and that God would do a quick work in them so that the Gospel would be able to be preached in regions beyond them.
Perhaps even as far North as China.