This time with the Tree of Life

Post-COVID, in early 2022, I felt strongly that the world including the Church had shifted! There were many theories about what changed—online church was here to stay, people would engage differently, and more. In my heart, I was convinced that I and the church I was pastoring then needed to shift. I just wasn't sure what that would look like.

A year earlier, in 2021, the Holy Spirit had already begun speaking to Dinah about a shift—from me being a spiritual leader to becoming a spiritual father. In 2022, He spoke to me: See the church as family, not as ministry. That same year, He led us to rescue and set free an adult sheep caught in a wild boar's trap— a firsthand experience of Isaiah 61:1 and a prophetic moment that has stayed with us.  

This was confirmed when in 2023, 611 Bread of Life Church invited us to immerse ourselves in Hong Kong. This is a Tree of Life church. Dinah and I moved here in 2024. We spent two wonderful years here - despite me not being able to read and write Chinese and Dinah not knowing Cantonese.  

During that season, the Holy Spirit transformed our hearts and gave us spiritual parents. And prepared us to establish a Tree of Life family. 

On September 25 last year, Singapore's population census was released: 6.11 million people. It was yet another confirmation in our hearts.

We returned to Singapore in Dec 2025 with faith, and began this new journey at our home in Jan 2026. Our hope was to start worship service on Pentecost in May. Somehow Holy Spirit kept shifting our timeline. Fittingly, our opening day took place on the Father's Day weekend!

Ten days after our opening, the local press published the sobering news that Singapore recorded its first decline in the proportion of Christians in 40 years. At the same time, the fastest-growing group over the last five years was those who identified as having "no religion."

Contrasting the 2025 census with 2020:

The Christian population declined by 1.8%.

     • The Protestant population fell by 16%.

     • The Catholic population grew by 13%.

The spiritual climate had already shifted dramatically over the past 5-7 years!

Holy Spirit sent us back to Singapore during this time with the Tree of Life. It felt overwhelming. I needed to process this. Then I felt amazed! And continue to look to and follow the Holy Spirit, as He plants the Tree of Life here.

Two Years Now

With Li Chuang on Feb 3

 Today Dinah and I celebrate the two year anniversary of landing in Hong Kong with 611 Bread of Life Church! Tomorrow we go to the Gardens by the Bay to celebrate, pray and bless the land : )   

 Yesterday I realised that February 2 this year is the day that marks  the beginning of a “new year” for trees in Israel. Known as Tu Bishvat, this day marks the season in which the earliest-  blooming trees in Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin   a new fruit-bearing cycle.

 Its origins come from the laws of agriculture found Scripture. God's people needed a way to calculate the age of trees for tithing and agricultural laws so the sages established Tu BiShvat as the 'birthday' of trees. It marked a point when new fruit-bearing trees were considered to be a year older for the purposes of offerings.

 In Israel today, Tu BiShvat has taken on a new significance. It is celebrated as a day of tree planting, environmental awareness, and thanksgiving for the land of Israel.

Gardens by the Bay on Feb 3

One beautiful tradition of Tu BiShvat in Israel is the planting of trees. This practice fulfills biblical prophecy! God promised to restore the land of Israel, turning its once-barren landscapes into fruitful fields in Isaiah 35:1-2.

We remember that Lucifer has assaulted the earth since he fell from Heaven. In his hatred for life and the Life-Giver, he seeks to de-create and ultimately desecrate what was made to be beautiful.

God promises that life wins. The biblical story that started in a garden with two trees will come full circle with restoration and the Tree of Life, “whose leaves are for the healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:2). 

Today - two years later - my bride and I are back in Singapore. And planting the tree of life here. This new tree will grow and become a forest of trees of life. A garden city!