Agora's 1'st anniversary

City Discipleship Presbyterian Church is amongst many things a refuge for the intellectually active & appreciative Christian. We live in a time where people have dichotomized the ‘mind’ and ‘heart’ and thus churches are formed for the thinkers or the feelers and amidst all this, many who seek a union of the two get alienated. But God in His providence has provided for a blessed few, a man in the Klang Valley with a vision to produce a well developed holistic approach to being a church in the midst of the marketplace. Thus, like many others, Alicia and myself found ourselves looking for a church that was serious about doctrine and Biblical exposition – and yet would bleed for the poor and the unevangelized.

So by a turn of events and confirmations from God, we (Alicia and I) were led to CDPC, and after a year of observation, felt sure enough to apply for membership. We enjoyed the honesty and zeal of Pastor Caleb, and the faithfulness and friendship of Pastor Aik Khiam, but it was Pastor Wong that really made us decide that this was the church for us. We came in the midst of his exposition on Luke, and heard him make great bold exhortations to the congregation about helping the poor and evangelizing the lost – this assured me of his authenticity as a preacher. But it was my time spent with him in person that revealed his zeal and passion for so many enterprises that I could not make an exhaustive list here, except to say that they build the Kingdom of God. Someone once said, “Pastor Wong comes up with 5 ideas per minute” – but he also labours to make those ideas a reality.

In CDPC we met some like minded people like David Chong, Steven Sim, John Chung, Han Meng, Bee Theng and so on that were seeking to make “believers think, and thinkers believe” and in a very fluid and providential way, many of our interactions led to the forming of the Agora, a ministry that seeks to inspire and train people in the marketplace to live out and proclaim the Lordship of Christ over every domain of life. This ministry was born and nurtured by some of us, but it was only possible in the environment of love and support of CDPC, and more so, the sheer faith, love and hope Pastor Wong put in us.

He would unashamedly tell us “I am proud of you” and muster up support and resources to help us. When six of us were sponsored to attend the Ravi Zacharias conference in Bali, many of the other participants were surprised that we had so much support in our church for a ministry like Agora. This saddened us, because of the anti-intellectual climate of our times, but also made us proud of our ministry, church and Pastor.

So as the Agora celebrates its 1 year anniversary this September – lets also pay tribute to Rev. Wong Fong Yang, who adopted us and is nurturing us to a maturity that he models for us. Happy anniversary Agora, and thanks Pastor.