FIRST READ:
When Christians refuse to say sorry, when Christian leaders run away from forgiveness: Singapore Christian Festival Cancellation a sign of City Harvest support says report
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/07/egypts-women-wonder-which-is-worse.html
Singapore Pastor Kong Hee 'Maintains Integrity' as Fraud Case Leads to 6th Arrest
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/07/singapore-pastor-kong-hee-maintains.html
City Harvest youths record song in support of Pastor Kong Hee
http://sg.entertainment.yahoo.com/blogs/singapore-showbiz/city-harvest-youths-record-song-support-pastor-kong-060813258.html
By Jeffrey Oon
| Singapore
Showbiz – Mon,
Jul 30, 2012 2:08 PM SGT
23 youths from City
Harvest Church
have recorded a music video to express support for their congregation and its
embattled leadership.
The video, which was recorded earlier this month on 15th July, also describes how the music video came to be.
"23 youths from different zones and cellgroups came together to record a song in support of our church and our leadership," says an opening message in the video.
Several lines of lyrics call City Harvest the place where the youths -- who by their looks range from early teens to mid-twenties -- found their "home", "freedom" and the "greatest place I have ever known."
Although church founder Pastor Kong Hee is never directly mentioned, he is shown preaching in several sequences while lyrics allude to him as "the greatest man that I have ever known".
The video, which was uploaded on YouTube on 28 July and has been viewed close to 5,000 times, also addresses the testing time the church faces.
"In this time, we will stand stronger, hand in hand we will climb higher, this is my church, my life," goes one of the main lines in the song.
Unitedrecordssg, which uploaded the video, describes itself as a production house by musicians for musicians.
After a two-year investigation, Kong Hee and five other senior members of the church were charged in June for allegedly misusing$24 million of church funds to further the career of Kong Hee's pop-star wife, Sun Ho.
Earlier this week, Kong Hee, 47, said he maintains his integrity and he is confident he would be "vindicated". Pre-trial conferences for all six will be held on 30 August.
City Harvest, which was founded by Kong Hee and his wife Sun Ho, boasts an average weekly attendance of 23,000 worshippers with an average age of 24.
Singapore Pastor Kong Hee Granted Permission to Travel Overseas
By Katherine Weber
, Christian Post Reporter
July 30, 2012|3:39 pm
Kong Hee, pastor and founder of Singapore's City Harvest Church, has been granted permission to travel overseas after attending a Subordinate Court hearing Monday, his third hearing in a trial in which he is accused of misusing $18 million of church funds.
Kong reportedly requested permission to travel overseas so he could move around the Southeast Asia region for pastoral engagements.The pastor of the Singaporean megachurch is currently out on $500,000 bail. He was arrested in June and accused of "dishonestly misappropriating monies" from the church's building fund to promote and support the pop music career of his wife, Sun Ho, who is in her early 40s.
His charges also include three counts of criminal breach of trust. Kong could face life in prison if found guilty on all three charges.
"I do maintain my integrity, and will rigorously defend that integrity against these charges," Kong, 47, said July 25, according to Singaporean newswire Today Online.
"Sun and I would like to take this opportunity to thank
God for all the people who have blessed us with their love, kindness and
prayers during this challenging period of time. We have been tremendously
humbled by the support and encouragement from the public, family and friends.
We especially thank all those from City
Harvest Church
and the Christian community at large. They have been a constant source of
strength," the pastor added.
Kong and his wife gained celebrity status in the Southeast Asian country when they founded City Harvest Church in 2001, which has since gained popularity among the country's evangelical Christian population.
After a two-year investigation, the Commercial Affairs Department, which investigates financial crime, claimed that Kong had allegedly been making "sham transactions" by allocating massive amounts of money to "purported bond investments," which were then being funneled into Sun's accounts.
Kong's fellow ministry leaders Pastor Tan Ye Peng, John Lam, Chew Eng Han and Sharon Tanon have also been charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust, while a sixth church executive, City Harvest Church's former finance chief Serina Wee, received 10 criminal charges, including six for a criminal breach of trust and four for falsified records for allegedly helping to transfer funds to Kong's personal accounts.
Kong's case officially begins Aug. 30.
