Voices of the opposition were not the only concern of the Church. The construction of a building required materials, manpower and expertise. Such things required a lot of money. It was estimated that a huge budget of RM6,000,000 will be needed. What a huge sum! By God’s grace, through a fellow member, Janet Chan, the Church managed to convince Public Bank to grant a loan and an overdraft facility amounting to RM2,000,000 by using the land as collateral.
How was the Church going to come up with a remaining sum of RM4,000,000 to build the building? Pure faith and hard work.
It was the passion of the Church, inherited from Mr. Cheng Kai Ho, which inspired the Church to give like never before. The congregation, young and old, handed in their piggy banks, items of gold, cash withdrawn from their fixed deposit accounts, entire salaries of jobs and odd-ended jobs alike, and even IOUs written in faith to pay a certain sum monthly. One even sold his house and gave the net proceeds to the Building Fund.
Soh Lian Kiat, a civil engineer, resigned from his position in the Singapore government to become the overseer of the construction of the Church after completing his project of building the Second Terminal at Changi Airport in Singapore. Without missing a beat when asked about his decision, Lian Kiat said, “In my lifetime, this will be my one and only chance to build the house of God. How can I miss it?”
The people fasted and prayed. Obstacles after obstacles were overcome with the congregation stepped in to help. The pastors became construction managers, interior designers and landscaping designers. The teenagers eagerly helped to move the new chairs into the new Church.
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