Our Journey
The birth
In Jan 1997, the Lord impressed Pastor Charis during one Sunday worship to start the Chinese ministry in Bedok Methodist Church (BMC). BMC had solely English ministries back then.
After seeking confirmation from the Lord, and discussing issues to the leaders of the Outreach community, the Pastoral board of BMC blessed the start of the Chinese ministry – September 1997.
The Lord called Pastor Charis to enter the Theological Centre of Asia Bible School to study in March 1998. She consulted her Senior Pastors and got advice from them to obey His voice and calling. She entered the bible school during the same year August, and enrolled for a 4-year course.
During the same period of time, (1998) the Lord used Deuteronomy 1:6-7 “..You have stayed long enough at this mountain…” to speak to Elder George. He too shared with his pastors and got advice from them to obey God’s calling. Both Pastor Charis and Elder George continued to pray and to seek God for His directions and leading before making any decisions. Thus, they decided to obey God’s calling and leave BMC to do His will (June 2000).
One night, when they were worshiping with a missionary couple, God impressed upon Pastor Charis a vision of the name “Fruitful Vine Church”. Soon later, they were invited to help pioneer a new church. However, during the pioneering work, they felt that it was not the call of God, and soon left the church. The Lord then reminded her of “Fruitful Vine Church” , and realized the Lord had actually called them to pioneer a church with that name.
From March to August 2002, they visited different churches and learned the different structures and styles of running a church. Every Saturday, they (Pastor Charis, Elder George, Bro Thomas and their children) would spend time praying and worshipping God before they started the church. Then on one Saturday, God revealed to Pastor Charis to do a banner: “JESUS IS LORD” with the dimensions, colors and content.
Finally, Fruitful Vine Church (FVC) was birthed forth on 4 August 2002. All praise and glory to God!
May God bless and nurture His Church, and use His Church to be an influence to the society, to bear His fruits of love and to bring His salvation to men.
The transition
FVC was stationed at Lion City Hotel conference room from 2004 till 2011. From the start, Elder George took leadership of the church till mid year of 2008 before handing over to Pastor Charis to continue carrying the church ahead. The church was running bilingual service (English / Mandarin) to cater to the congregational needs. Pastor Charis received a vision from God in 2010 to raise $100,000 and to move to somewhere in Eunos. It was not till sometime in 2011, Lion City Hotel had given notice to FVC that the building was sold off, we realized that God knew and gave us the vision because He was going to fulfill His prophesy. Pastor Charis and the leadership spent time with countless sessions of prayers, seeking God on this matter and His directions for the church.
Walking in Faith
It was a walk of faith! FVC moved into a temporary worship site at 29 Playfair Road, an industrial building near Taiseng Mrt after exiting from Lion City Hotel. Church services and gatherings continued for a period of estimated 1 year. God led the leadership to have the same vision - to purchase her own location. Even though the church was young and small in numbers, with minimum financials, God never gave up and continued to stir within. God put into various brothers and sisters within dreams and visions that FVC had made a purchase and had a home where her worshippers could dwell in.
FVC continued to press in and exercise her faith as God led. Over many viewings of different sites, together with relentlessly prayers and seeking God earnestly, the leadership got confirmation to purchase 1 Ubi Crescent, #06-04, Number One Building. Praise God! It turned out that the previous owner of this unit was also praying to God to send a christian body to purchase his unit so that the unit would be used to glorify God. The love from our brothers and sisters in their contributions allowed this entire purchasing project to be fulfilled. Finally, FVC shifted into 1 Ubi Crescent, #06-04 end of 2012. This walked of faith brought us into the home where God had blessed us with.
Ahead
FVC has been in Ubi Crescent since and now, we are focusing on disciple-making. We believe that we are in the last days and it is critical to disciple and build His church up. In the face of covid, God opened doors for us to purchase a second unit to expand His church. We took over 1 Ubi Crescent, #06-02 end of year 2021. God had graciously expanded our church. We believe that God will bring His own harvest into our church and that His people will shine brightly and become fruitful in their lives as He called us to. Let His Kingdom come on earth!