“When God asks you to do something, you’d better obey.”

Those weighty words cut Charis Ong to the core.

Some months earlier, while praying, God had given her a vision of a banner with exact measurements, colours and the words “Jesus is Lord”. Along with that were explicit instructions to hand-sew the banner for the church she was going to start.

“I didn’t do because it was very hard. Each letter had to be sewn on by hand, you cannot use a sewing machine to do it because of the odd shape.

“He gave me two months to do it but I didn’t obey,” said Charis, now 66.

In August, three days before the first service of the church, a Taiwanese missionary friend visited Charis and said those words to her without knowing any background: “When God asks you to do something, you’d better obey.”

Charis said ruefully: “So I told God, ‘Okay Lord. I obey. I will do it.’”

From then, it was a mad rush to get the materials and make the banner. By the time Charis was ready to start sewing, it was Saturday night.

“I spent the whole night till the next day. My husband wanted to keep me company throughout the night, but I told him, ‘No need. I was the one who disobeyed, not you.’

“As I sewed, I prayed and repented. I told God, “You give me the anointing to do this.’”

The banner was finished just in time for the first service of Fruitful Vine Church.

Members of the Fruitful Vine Church in front of the banner Rev Ong sewed just in time for the first service of the church in August 2002.

“The anointing lasted till the end of the whole service. I didn’t feel tired, just excited.”

That was in 2002.

Charis has had numerous visions and spiritual encounters, but never in her wildest dreams did she imagine she would become a full-time pastor one day.

No running away  

Charis became a Christian in her teens but stopped going to church after secondary school. It was only when she met her husband George, who was from a Christian family, that she started attending Sunday services again. But she was “not so faithful” and would sometimes make excuses not to go.

When she was 34, someone prayed for her to be filled with the Holy Spirit. That was the turning point in her faith journey. She became hungry for the Word of God, read the Bible voraciously and could not stop talking about her faith or praying for people.

Not long after, while she was worshipping God, He impressed upon her: “I want you to start a Chinese ministry.”

Fruitful Vine Church nearly four months after they started.

“Even though I could speak Mandarin and was Chinese educated, I bargained with God.

“I told Him, ‘But there is no one in church who can speak Mandarin.’

“But again … when God tells you to do something, you’d better obey, because for a few seconds after I argued with God, I felt breathless.

“I knew then that I couldn’t run away.”

Because the task was so monumental, Charis asked for three confirmations: One, God had to create an opportunity for her to share about the new ministry at the prayer meeting; two, the prayer members had to support the idea; and three, the person who would eventually be in charge of the ministry had to approach her.

“When I shared the vision at the prayer meeting, the people agreed with me. They had been praying for a Chinese ministry. So that was the first two confirmations.

“Then the person in charge of cell groups came to me and asked me to start a Chinese cell group. So that’s how the Chinese ministry started.

“We had the favour of God. Once a month, we had an evangelistic service and the group grew.”

Pack your bags and go

When God next spoke to Charis, she had no trouble obeying. This time, it happened during her daily devotions.

“I received a word from God to go to Bible college.”

She talked to her senior pastor before enrolling at the Asia Theological Centre. She would emerge four-and-a-half years later with a Diploma in Theology and Master in Ministry.

During the time that she was in Bible college, Charis started seeing “a lot of angels”. At times, the whole room would become extremely bright because of their presence.

“The first time I saw them, they had wings and they were above me. There were so many of them. I could only worship.

“When I told my children there were angels in Mummy’s room, they couldn’t see them. They thought I was crazy.”

So Charis started praying that her husband George would see the angels, too. One day while leading worship, he saw an angel.

“I was so excited. I told God, ‘Lord, thank You. Now he will not say I’m crazy.’”

The angelic encounters were to encourage Charis for the next task God had prepared for her.

“I don’t know why but I started having something in my heart that pushed me to leave the church. I was troubled.

“God said, ‘Go.’ But go where? I was scared but I said, ‘I will obey You.’ I had already learnt my lesson. But I told God, ‘The important thing is that You must convict my husband.’”

George would have his own encounter with God in which God told him to “pack your bag like Abraham and leave”.

They told their pastor about their decision, handed over the Chinese ministry and, in 2000, left the church.

Crisis upon crisis

For the next two years, Charis and George attended an independent church and then visited other churches to learn how to pioneer their own church.

It was also during this period that they faced crisis after crisis in their family life. George’s business earnings suddenly plummeted. They had to sell their family home and move from rental house to rental house.

The care of her mother fell to Charis and her mother moved in to live with her.

Then her oldest son, Robin, stopped going to church, too caught up in the wild life of wine and women.

“I prayed a lot for my son. See my eyebags? They are because of my son,” said Charis.

When things became too much to bear, she cried out to God: “I asked Him, ‘How can I go through so much agony, so much trouble?’ I asked God to show me His mercy.

“He reminded me that when Moses asked Him to show His glory, God told Moses that His goodness would pass over him. I clung to that promise for myself.’

Charis, seen here on a mission trip, named the church she started Fruitful Vine Church after a vision she had of a vine that bore much fruit.

God would show His goodness to Charis. Her mother experienced a miracle healing and became a Christian at 87.  

“She became a witness for God. Everywhere she went, she would tell people about Jesus.”

When Charis did not have enough money to finish her theological studies, a brother-in-Christ helped to finance her education without Charis ever telling him about her financial need. 

Robin would later have his own encounter with God and turn back to Him. Today, he preaches alongside Charis and leads worship.

Bearing fruit in season

While all this was going on, Charis and George persisted in prayer over the church they had been called to build. They also fasted weekly.

“We had no money to start the church. So we prayed to God.

“A businesswoman who came to our weekly prayer meeting gave us $15,000 within two weeks.

“She had given her tithe to church and this was extra. I had shared with her about the church but I didn’t tell her I needed money.”

With the donation, they rented a place to use for their church services.

On August 4, 2002, Fruitful Vine Church held their very first service, a bilingual service. The church was named after a vision Charis had of a vine that bore much fruit.

Rev Ong at the first anniversary of Fruitful Vine Church.

Fruitful Vine Church now owns two units in an industrial building which they use for their Sunday service and children’s ministry.

Fruitful Vine Church members at the new unit they bought in 2022 for the children’s ministry.

Growth has not come easily to the church, especially since the service is a bilingual one. Sermons are in Mandarin with English translation. It started with nine people. After over two decades, they have some 50 worshippers.

What they do not have in congregation numbers, they make up in outreach efforts.

Fruitful Vine Church has a strong missions ministry. They regularly send teams to various part of Asia as well as Africa.

Fruitful Vine Church on a mission trip to Uganda, where they helped build a children’s home and school.

Fruitful Vine Church on a mission trip to Thailand.

Asked how a church this small manages to do so much, Charis said: “God is my strength. Not by might nor by power, but by His Spirit (Zechariah 4:6).

“If not for God, I would not have been able to do this.”

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