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— an experiential taste 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 5-6 years!

And Holy Spirit sent us back to Singapore precisely during this time with the Tree of Life. I am filled with wonder. And continue to look to and follow the Holy Spirit, as He plants the Tree of Life here.