Woke up yesterday to this shocking news:
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| (Source: Straits Times) |
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| (Source: Straits Times) |
When I first read a news report in March post-earthquake regarding his comment on the fate of the Japanese, I thought to myself, "Erm, is this article reliable? Did he really say that or did the reporter misquoted him?" (Ha, being a Mass Comm student taught me not to believe everything I read and I also didn't want to believe lah cos I thought of him as a very kind person.)
Fast forward 6 mths later, Straits Times has disproved my suspicion. I remembered being upset if that was really what he said. Mind you, the whole world was mourning with Japan then. Can you imagine how the Japanese must have felt when they hear a South Korean say they deserved the devastating earthquake?
Yet in retrospect, I can understand what possessed Dr. Cho to make such a seemingly unkind comment; my grandma also said something along the lines of the Japanese paying for their past sins (referring to the earthquake) and I don't blame her or Dr. Cho for such prejudiced views towards the Japanese cos they had to go through what I didn't - World War II.
Granny was only a teenager then and her family had to hide in the jungles for fear that the Japanese would capture my great grandfather who was a village head. I think what was most scary was that she had to look like a boy and dress shabbily so that the Japanese soldiers wouldn't rape her.
She is now 84 years old while Dr. Cho is 75 and you know, that's how the older generation talk sometimes - they cannot help themselves as they're very set in their views. I guess the difference is that the latter is very
educated and was/is a pastor of the world's largest church, which made his comment that much harder to swallow.
I visited New Life Church in Taipei when I was there for vacation
in June and guess who was preaching?
Mrs. Cho! =) A.k.a Dr. Kim.
Loved their bulletin and envelop btw, so colorful and cheery! Dr. Kim's message was about being happy and rejoicing even in trying circumstances.
She shared how she had to learn to overcome really trying circumstances in her life, like when certain people in her church disagrees with certain things, no details mentioned...
Who are these 29 elders and
what do they have to gain if this was a baseless accusation done only to smear Dr. Cho?
They must be super long time church members like twenty years kind if not how to become elders and hold leadership positions right? The question on my mind is why would these long time church leaders have the guts to file a civil suit against Dr. Cho if they honestly did not have any substantial evidence to believe so?
They are long time church leaders but they actually have no moral integrity? Then how did they even become leaders in the first place? Hmmmmmm........
If this happened in CHC, it'll be like Pst Tan, Derek, Aries, etc. coming together to sue Pst Kong for misuse of funds!
Unimaginable and freaking scary rite!
If this was a baseless accusation thrown just so that Dr. Cho and his family would relinquish control of the church... WA LIAO.
If I were the senior pst, I would throw them out of church once investigations results are out and let them go find another one. I mean,
how could you do this to the man who slogged his entire life to make the church what it is today and betray him like that?
I dunno if that's what Jesus would do in the same circumstance but that is what I would do lol. (I'm obviously not called to be a full-time pastor! =D)
I don't want to speculate why Dr. Cho cannot let go mgmt of the church funds completely etc. but I imagine it must be really hard to...
If like him, you've invested 50 yrs of your life into an organization, would u be able to bo chup when you retire? I think that requires a lot of faith, doesn't it? =D
As Aaron and I were leaving New Life's premises, a really good-looking usher chatted with us as he led us to the main exit:
Me: " 我们是新加坡人." (We're Singaporeans.)
The usher: "Oh, 你们是來自城市丰收教会的吗? 能遇见你们真是我的荣幸!" (Are you guys from City Harvest? It's such an honor to meet you!)
Me: *Looks at Aaron* Er......
Aaron: "Oh, 对" (Ya.)
Me: *nervous laughter*
What a tricky question to ans in that few seconds we had! My bf is, I'm not,
but he's like so delighted to hear we're from CHC how to tell him I was but left cos my zone pastor started a new church!? I didn't want to shock him lah, hahaha. Later the perfect image of CHC in his mind gets shattered how? 家家有本难念的经! (Each family has its own troubles that are difficult to explain!)
I dreamed about meeting and talking to PK & Sun for years but never had I imagined that when I finally did, it was at a farewell party in Jan for the few of us who were gonna leave. ='(
I got to sit beside Sun! I was so nervous I looked at Jamie, looked at her prawn and then looked at mine and we both smiled sheepishly cos we didn't want to appear unglam in front of them by using our hands! Hahaha.
Sun was everything I thought she'll be - really friendly, down to earth and so very nice and fun to be with. The best part was she remembers who I am. I was the crazy girl who sent her a msg on FB about how excited I was to be going to Gaga's concert in Singapore in 2009. The girl who tweeted her and asked if it takes very long to perfect a song in the studio when she was recording one day. And she replied both.
I LOVE HER.
Oh and I realized at the dinner that... PK actually eats!
Was surprised he is human just like me cos I can never fast 21 days like him! He even had 2 portions! :) *relieved to know both he and I are normal, hahaha* He can be serious but he can also be funny, he said Sun was so slim she she looked like the skeleton on her top! =D
Before they arrived,
Pst Darren asked me to be zai and keep my cool but....
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| Thanking 'em & saying goodbye with tears in my eyes! |
How to be cool when CHC is the church I called home for 8 years and that might be the last time I will ever meet them face to face again? I didn't knoww howwww.
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| Family portrait! =D | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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Some friends said they think Sun and I look alike, watcha think!? Skin tone, check. Cheekbones, check. Fringe covers half an eye, check! HAHAHA. Differences are her eyebrow points upwards and her face is so much slimmer! I think if my face was slimmer and if I looked slightly younger I could pass off as their daughter rite!? OMG so buay hia bai hahahaha!
I agree with PK, that people are innocent until proven guilty. In my deepest hearts of heart, I don't believe that Dr. Yonggi Cho is capable of a $25 million fraud and even more so, I don't believe that PK and Sun would intentionally misappropriate CHC's funds after all these years of teaching us integrity, sacrificing their life to build the church only to sabotage it later on.
It took the authorities only 5 months to investigate Ren Ci but it's taking them more than 15 months for CHC. God knows why the government which prides itself to be very efficient is taking so long. I hope they hurry up and release the investigation results already, thirty over thousand pple need to find closure can? :)
No matter the outcome of Dr Cho or CHC's investigation results, I will always remember the fond memories I had in City Harvest (that deserves at least a blog post of its own!) and am eternally grateful! ♥
