What is the meaning of the Celebration of Hope?

“It’s an opportunity God is giving to His church in our nation to proclaim the name of Jesus – one Name, one place – together,” said Rev Dr Chua Chung Kai, chairman of the Evangelical Free Church of Singapore.

The Celebration of Hope (COH) is a three-day event in May 2019 consisting of multiple evangelistic rallies at the 50,000 capacity National Stadium.

But it is also more than that.

Pastors and marketplace leaders gathered to pray over the Celebration of Hope at St Andrew’s Cathedral in January 2019.

It is an opportunity for you to share the Gospel with your family and friends.

It is an opportunity for you to pray and stand united in purpose with Christians all over Singapore.

And as people come to Christ, it is an opportunity for you to welcome a myriad of new faces into the family.

The Salt&Light team is supporting this nation-wide endeavour, and we hope that you will be a part of Celebration of Hope too.

Here are some ways you can participate:

1. Pray for the Church

There are ongoing regional prayer meetings held at multiple churches across the island to pray for COH and a faith-saturated revival in Singapore.

There will also be a prayer meeting for children on March 9, 2019, 10am-12pm at St Andrew’s Cathedral. 

Here are the prayer pointers:

• For evangelism not to be an option for Christians, but a lifestyle and priority, because sharing the Gospel is the church’s one and only mission;
• For more divine favour for all participating churches and organisations – that they will have a greater burden for the lost; greater ownership of the vision; greater courage to lead with faith and focus; greater anointing to unite, pray and mobilise; greater urgency to do whatever it takes to bring people to Christ; 
• For God to draw more churches to move as one for the COH – that there will be an unprecedented stirring of the Holy Spirit; unprecedented desperation for the lost; unprecedented zeal to collaborate.

2. Get equipped: Sharing with adults

Join the Andrew Initiative training to learn how to engage non-Christians. 

The session will teach participants how to: Build authentic relationships with others, share your testimony, talk about the four spiritual laws, handle objections and follow up. 

There are four dates to pick from: 

• February 23, 2019 at Covenant Evangelical Free Church (Woodlands)
• March 2, 2019 at St Andrew’s Cathedral
• March 9, 2019 at Lighthouse Evangelism (Tampines)
• March 16, 2019 at St John’s-St Margaret’s Church 

All sessions will take place from 9am-12.30pm.

Church leaders who would like to send a team can e-mail [email protected] with the name of your church, the name of the contact person (with your mobile phone number and e-mail address), number of people to be trained and the choice of venue. 

3. Get equipped: Sharing with kids 

On top of the Andrew Initiative, the COH team is organising three sessions concurrently to teach Christians how to share the faith with young children.

These meetings will be held at:

• February 23, 2019 at Covenant Evangelical Free Church (Woodlands)
• March 2, 2019 at St Andrew’s Cathedral
• March 9, 2019 at Lighthouse Evangelism (Tampines)

All sessions will take place from 9am-12.30pm.

4. Volunteer

The COH team is looking for individuals to helm various roles:

Counsellor – you will engage those who respond to the altar call during the rallies.

The committee is looking for 4,000 counsellors in total who can serve on both May 17 and 19, 2019. 

Please e-mail [email protected] for more information. 

Mandarin choir member – you will perform at the Mandarin COH rally.

The committee is looking for 500 singers in total who can serve on May 18, 2019.

Please e-mail [email protected] for more information.

Children’s choir member – your children will perform at the English COH rallies. 

The committee is looking for participants between the ages of 6 and 19.

Please contact Dr Cheah Fung Fong at 9657 0607 or David Leong at 9663 6491 for more information. 

5. Spread the message 

An information kit and videos are available here if you want to tells others what COH is about. 

Look out for social media posts on the COH’s Facebook and Instagram page – share and like these posts. 

There will be newspaper advertisements in English and Chinese the weekend before the rallies as well. 

6. Give

The budget for the COH is $3.8 million. Right now, $2.27 million has been raised. 

If you would like to financially support the event, you can mail a cheque to: Celebration of Hope, c/o The Diocese of Singapore, 1 Francis Thomas Drive, #01-01, Singapore 359340.

7. Attend the rallies

Mark the rally dates down on your calendar and invite your non-Christian friends and family members to come hear the Good News. 

There will also be a separate outreach programme for the migrant worker community after May 19.

More information about how to get your tickets is available here.

Speaker at the English rallies: Canon J John

Speaker at the Chinese rally: Kou Shao En (寇紹恩)

Speaker at the Tamil rally: Mohan C Lazarus

Emcee at the Children & Families rally: Gurmit Singh 

There will be security checks at the entrance of the venues. 

All attendees are encouraged to go via public transport.