Singapore's City Harvest Church Missions Director Pastor Bobby Chaw has revealed that Japanese citizens received a "warning" about Pastor Kong Hee ahead of his visit to the country to help with relief work for earthquake victims.
As earlier reported, in November, Kong, 51, and five other CHC leaders were found guilty by Singapore's charity commissioner of channeling $35.9 million in church funds into the singing career of Kong's wife and church co-founder, Sun Ho, in the United States and Asia.
Although the megachurch maintained that Ho's pop music was intended as a form of outreach to non-Christians, Kong was sentenced to eight years in prison, the longest of the six, whose sentences ranged upwards from 21 months.
Despite his uncertain future, the pastor has continued his ministry work, recently posting updates about relief work in Japan following the devastating earthquakes and aftershocks in April.
In a recent Facebook message, Chaw wrote: "Last week, a few people sent me a link to a Facebook post by a Singaporean diplomat who 'warned' the Japanese people against Pastor Kong, despite all that we were doing for Japan. Immediately, Luke 7:35 came to mind. ... 'But wisdom is justified by all her children.' The amplified Bible says, 'Yet wisdom is vindicated and shown to be right by all her children [by the lifestyle, moral character, and good deeds of her followers.]"
Chaw urged members of CHC to "continue to share the love of God to the broken and wounded" and refrain from getting "distracted or discouraged by unnecessary comments."
"Let's focus on what God has commanded us to do and to be," he wrote. "[T]the needy must be reached and helped, the love of Christ must be brought to them, no matter what."
He added that the church's mission is "always to find a need and meet it, to find a hurt and heal it."
Chaw added: "It is our right and our privilege as CHC to go on missions, to bring humanitarian aid and also to share the love of Jesus Christ to those who have lost homes and hope. It is our mission to love people fervently, and that is one of the things we do best."
Kong and Ho have been traveling throughout different Asian countries in 2016, focusing on leading ministry and healing services. Recently, the couple visited Indonesia and conducted services at a number of churches in the country.
"The Indonesian Christians are so spiritually hungry for the Lord. You will feel it every time you are in their midst. Their praise and worship in the very beautiful Bahasa Indonesia language is truly heavenly," Kong wrote in an April 29 Facebook update.
"I thoroughly enjoyed this hectic ministry. Heaven is open over Indonesia. There is no doubt about it. Whether it was a leadership session, church service, or just a simple fellowship, God's presence could always be tangibly felt. So many were deeply ministered to, with hundreds responding to the altar call each time."
