Stepping into the playful premises of Promisedland Church, the first thought that comes to mind is not “church”.

Instead, entering the brightly decorated room that has been transformed into a tropical paradise with its sea of colourful streamers and larger-than-life cutouts feels more like walking into a preschool.

“Palm trees” line the walls, while a fish net hangs from the ceiling, with beach balls and floats sitting atop.

“We have a beach theme now,” Senior Pastor of the church Andy Tan tells me, adding that the décor changes every few months.

“We’re also preparing for Children’s Day,” says the 46-year-old, pointing to the props and paint materials that are on the tables.

It is a fitting introduction to their church, which can be found along a row of shophouses in the heartlands of Bukit Batok.

The seven volunteers who are serving in Promisedland’s children’s ministry, Mighty Kids.

Just a few years ago, not many might have heard of Promisedland.

But in recent months, the small Chinese church has become known for its children’s ministry, which primarily serves first-generation believers.

Promisedland is also breaking norms in other ways.

Children – not adults – get the main (and bigger) worship hall, cell groups are held in the playground, and it is the kids who are asking their parents to come to church instead of the other way around.

“I cannot say that we’re the experts” is a line that Ps Andy will repeat several times during our interview.

“To be very honest, we’re learning. Even until today, I’m still listening to instructions from God.”

A call for change

This story goes back to 2023, the year when things started to shift.

Before that, church was “just like a fellowship”, described Ps Andy.

In 2009, he was thrusted into leadership after his uncle, who founded the church and a social service arm, passed away from cancer.

Set up to serve the community, Promisedland Community Services (PCS) has programmes that range from helping patients diagnosed with cancer and blood disorders, to providing after-school student care and coaching children in football.

After taking over as the Executive Director of PCS, Ps Andy had been busy with building up the non-profit in the wake of an organisational crisis.

But in the last few years, he began to feel that more needed to be done for Promisedland Evangelical Centre, which was recently renamed to Promisedland Church.

While PCS’ initiatives were reaching hundreds of children, the same was not happening on the church side. 

“I remember I told June (his younger sister who heads their children’s ministry), ‘Why not we make a change?’ Don’t do craft, do something fun,” said Ps Andy.

While most of Promisedland’s children are of primary school age, the church also has a handful of preschoolers.

In 2023, June and her team introduced more games, experimenting with out-of-the-box ideas such as planning a “supermarket sweep” on a week when the theme was the goodness of God.

However, there were still questions that came her way. People asked: “Are you sure the children are learning? Are we bringing the focus back to God?”

Admitting that she and her volunteers had doubted themselves too, June said: “We’re first-gen believers, so nobody had a concept of what Sunday School was like. We were unsure ourselves.”

That year, June and her teachers started to plan more games as part of their weekly programme.

Little did she know that this would just be the start of more sweeping changes to come.

In January 2024, Ps Andy was at the LoveSingapore Summit 2024 in Malacca when he found his spirit stirred.

Over the next few days, the Lord would place such a heavy burden on his heart, especially during the panel when Ps Samuel Phun from River Community Church (RCC) and Ps Eileen Toh from City Harvest Church shared about their experiences with children’s ministry.

Ps Andy and his family with Ps Samuel at this year’s LoveSingapore Summit.

“My heart was very convicted,” he confessed.

Messaging June from Malaysia, Ps Andy told her: “This year, our church will focus on reaching the children.”

Unbeknown to him, this had been a long-awaited answer to a prayer. Over in Singapore, June texted him back with a crying emoji.

“When Ps Andy said he would go all in to support the children’s ministry, that really moved my heart,” shared June.

For some time, she had been discouraged by how the children’s ministry was viewed as “second class”.

“There wasn’t a lot of support from the church. The children would always be shifted into a smaller breakout room (after worship), so we couldn’t plan running games.

“My team members would ask if we could have the bigger hall, but we always got rejected. The question would be: ‘How many children do you have?’”

Before, the church had few children – you could even count all of them with two hands.

Truth be told, the numbers were not convincing. In fact, there was a period that there were only two children: Ps Andy’s son and his nephew, June’s son.

Determined to build a children’s church, Ps Andy knew that he needed help.

After returning to Singapore from Summit 2024, he reached out to Ps Samuel from RCC, who readily agreed to meet up.

Desiring that the rest of his church catch the same vision, Ps Andy invited Ps Samuel to speak at their service.

He also sent June and her volunteers to learn from Ps Samuel’s church.  

Wasting no time in executing the God-sized dream, the first big event that Promisedland embarked on was Celebration of Abundant Life (COAL), which was inspired by John 10:10.

Held in March 2024, the church organised a big party to celebrate the children whose birthdays fall within that month as well as Good Friday.

“We were like the birthday vendor that parents could engage, but everything was free. They just had to bring their child. We even created invites for them to invite their friends,” said June.

Opening up the event to children in the neighbourhood, games were played, songs were sung and the truths of God’s love was shared – all in a convivial atmosphere.

Undeterred that Promisedland was not large enough to host the 80 participants who attended, Ps Andy rented a space from nearby Immanuel Community Church, where his mentor Ps Nehemiah Koa is from.

But while he was encouraged by the number of sign-ups from that first COAL, Ps Andy knew that he had a problem on his hands.

“I was standing there looking at that place and asked God, ‘How?’ I can’t be renting this every week.

“Then I felt the Lord tell me: ‘Break walls.’”

Puzzled, Ps Andy continued to pray, emerging with a conviction that God wanted him to literally break down walls within their premises to make room for more children.

June (left) speaking at their second COAL, which was held before the renovation.

It was a faith-stretching ask. Even if the refurbishment plan was approved, the next question would naturally be: “Who’s going to pay for this?”

The renovation would cost around S$30,000 to $40,000, as it would involve not just tearing down the walls, but also changing major items such as the walls, flooring and air-conditioning.

“Our church is very poor,” said Ps Andy matter-of-factly, explaining that they only have a congregation of over 20 adults, many of whom come from humble backgrounds.

Despite this, he decided to take up the challenge and trust God for the funds.

“I asked the members to pledge,” said Ps Andy.  “The amount that was collected from members – there was a surplus. It was amazing!”

Church can also be fun

After completing the renovation in June 2024, the church started organising monthly COALs in their new space. The highest turnout they ever had was 94.

But more important than the numbers, the children were actually enjoying church.

One of the COALs the church organised in the new space this year.

I ask why the kids are so excited to come for Mighty Kids.

“Why must it be that the world is more fun? The church can also be fun,” remarked June.

“Last time, we always did craft work, colouring and crossword. Not the most exciting lah,” admitted Ps Andy.

Pointing out that that was the turning point for their ministry, June said that the change came when they “injected fun” into their lessons.

“Children start coming and tell their parents it’s so fun, so the parents end up dropping their siblings too.”

“The parents even started telling their children, ‘You don’t 乖乖听话 (listen and be obedient), no children’s church for you,” quipped June.

Constantly thinking of new ways to engage the children, Promisedland also rolled out a talkshow this year.

“These characters are very well-liked,” said June, who is the host of the talkshow.

June (left) in her character Miss Lah Lah.

The other characters are rapper MC J, scientist Dr B.Liever, Zhen Mei Li (a vain auntie who loves lipstick but also loves God) and Hu Tu Mei (an absent-minded tertiary student who always loses her stuff).

“The impact is different when I come as Miss June compared to Miss Lah Lah,” she said with a laugh.

“The children also remember that MC J says, ‘We must obey God.’”

Bible Whiz with MC J.

Observing that many parents are open to their children coming to church because they see the lessons as building character and imparting positive values, June said: “Parents see that it’s a good programme … It’s making a change in the children’s lives.”

For instance, last month’s theme was wisdom, and the kids were taught how to make wise decisions in everyday life. Current topics such as the dangers of vaping are also discussed.  

Elaborating on how they choose to touch on relatable topics, June added: “These are children from the community, so they don’t know anything about the Bible. Even when they go home, there are no parents to do devotion with them or to explain further.”

Children are being touched by God

At Promisedland, church is on Saturday mornings.

After breakfast, everyone joins in for worship in English and Mandarin, which is followed by announcements and testimony sharing, before the congregation breaks out into their respective age groups for a time of learning.

At Promisedland, children serve as ushers, helping with breakfast time too.

“Children now queue up to share testimonies,” said June. “They are sharing how they have been praying the whole week and what God did.”

Noting that it has been encouraging to see how God is working in the lives of the children, Ps Andy revealed that were weeks when worship was extended because of the tangible presence of God.

“There were a few times this year when the Holy Spirit just came and worship ran for 45 minutes.”

Sharing a testimony: While simple things such as thanking God for good weather may not mean a lot to an adult, this carries different significance to a child who has been waiting all week to go for an outing.

“The children are leading us in worship. They are the ones who are lifting their hands,” echoed June.

Describing how surprised she was when it first happened, she recollected: “I was leading worship, so I was also closing my eyes. When I opened my eyes, I was like, ‘What happened to the children? Why are they all crying?’ I was in shock.”

“It was just very sudden. We didn’t specifically teach about the Holy Spirit. But the children started tearing on their own,” said June.

Ps Andy chimed in: “That service was amazing. I was worshipping and felt that it was suddenly very hot on my right side – that’s where the children are.

“Then I just turned around and saw that the kids were crying. I thought there was a fight. And these are the young ones – the 10 years old and below.”

From that day onwards, that became a regular occurrence during worship.

“Nobody told them that they must cry or you must raise hands. It’s just the Holy Spirit that is leading them,” he said.

“Most of the children, even the younger ones, know how to pray. They will just pray in their own vocabulary, and reach out their hands and pray for one another,” shared June.

Ps Andy recounted another instance when the Lord moved him to pray for a nine-year-old boy during service.

While he was initially reluctant to go over, the prompting was so strong that he decided to obey.

“I asked, ‘Can I pray for you?’ and he said, ‘Okay.’ I laid my hands on him and he was trembling.”

After praying for him, Ps Andy asked if the boy wanted to pray for his friends. “He looked at me and said, ‘Yes’.”

After pointing out who he wanted to pray for, the boy walked over and laid hands on his friend. He then went on to pray for another friend too.

Later, Ps Andy discovered that this boy went around to invite his friends to come to church during the week.

“He became a very pastoral person,” he shared in amazement.

Kids are becoming evangelists

In awe of how God is using these young ones to be ambassadors for Christ, Ps Andy said: “Their parents don’t come to church, but these kids are bringing the Gospel home.”

Though they are non-believers, some parents have even asked where they can buy a Bible.

“God is touching the hearts of the parents,” said June. “Bedtime stories are now Bible stories. One child told us, ‘Mummy reads to me every night.’”

One of the boys also requested to play Chris Tomlin’s Holy Forever on loop during a family road trip to Malaysia.

“Can you imagine the father driving four or six hours to Genting Highlands listening to Holy Forever? I believe now the father can sing Holy Forever … so the seed is planted,” said Ps Andy.

It is not uncommon to see the children raising their hands in worship as the Holy Spirit ministers to them.

“We know that this is from God – that He wants to nurture this first generation,” said June.

“We are all to be salt and light in the world, and these children are showing us in their young lives that they are doing it.”

Even though the parents of these children are not attending church yet, Ps Andy is not discouraged and he is pressing on.

“The Lord told me, ‘There’s a time for everything.’ Salvation belongs to God. We just do (children’s ministry).”

Church members young and old have also come together to serve the children.

To Ps Andy, children are very much seen as members of the church. “It’s their church. It’s their service.”

That is why – just like adults – they are also invited to come for prayer meetings and cell groups.

Through this, Promisedland has also been making its presence felt in the neighbourhood.

“教会会来这边玩 (the church members come here to play),” said Ps Andy, sharing how residents have started noticing that the kids have been frequenting the playground.

Held on weekday evenings once or twice a month, many of these cell group sessions start with games at the playground, followed by a trip to the hawker centre to buy dinner then to catch up on life and reflect on the Word of God.

On the day I visited, the church was also holding their monthly prayer meeting that night.

“The kids are coming – over 10 of them. It’s school holidays this week, so they don’t need to sleep early,” he said with a smile.

On school days, parents are welcome to pick their children up after 8pm, even though the prayer meeting usually ends at 8.30pm.

Sharing that response to their church events has been very positive, June revealed that many parents have told them: “Please bring my child to go for this and that. They are so happy.”

Working towards a common vision

Thankful that the entire church has come onboard to support this vision of winning the children, June said: “It’s not just the revival of the children’s ministry; it’s the revival of the whole church.”

Members are stepping forward to serve in whatever capacity they can.

For instance, one of their uncles who drives a taxi even offered to help with transport arrangements for children whose parents are unable to send them to church.

“They feel ‘This is what I can do. I can’t teach, I can’t play with the children, but I can drive, so I can pick up the children,’” explained Ps Andy.

Whether it is learning how to welcome children as an usher or sacrificing a weekday night to cut paper for props, church members are all chipping in to contribute.

“They all have a willing heart,” observed Ps Andy.

Promisedland currently has around 50 people who are regulars, from as young as a 2-year-old to those in their 80s. Due to the growth in children’s ministry, around half of them are now kids.

Even though so much effort goes into their children’s programme, it is hard to believe that there are only seven volunteers helming it.

It is also amazing to discover that all seven availed themselves to serve when Promisedland was invited to conduct the children’s programme at Good News Baptist Church’s and Shalom Baptist Chapel’s combined camp in June.

Sharing how the invitation had come from Pastor Ayan Murry whom they met at LoveSingapore’s West Region Fellowship in April, June expressed her surprise when Ps Andy first broke the news.

Ps Andy speaking at LoveSingapore’s West Region Fellowship, where Promisedland hosted Pastors from other churches and shared about their ministry. Source: LoveSingapore

“Who are we? We are this small church that nobody knows,” said June.

She was also so touched by the willingness of her volunteers.

“That day itself, my whole team said they could make it; they would apply for annual leave. We’re all working adults except one who is still studying.”

“We went for that camp not knowing what will happen,” said June.

Thankfully, by the end of the first session “amazingly everybody became good friends”, said June. “We were all playing together.”

Despite knowing there would only be 12 participants at the camp, the Mighty Kids volunteers showed up in full force, bringing their costumes along so that they could engage the children in their characters.

However, it was what happened during worship on the second day that stunned the Promisedland team.

During one of their sessions, she and her team had taught the children about the posture of worship. But they did not expect that God would move in such a powerful way that night.

While the children had initially been standing at the back of the hall during combined worship with the adults, Ps Andy had asked whether they could be moved to the front.

“That worship changed everything,” emphasised June. “When the band started, the children raised up their hands and they started singing. They teared, they cried.”

Recognising that there was a shift in the spiritual atmosphere, a call was made for adults in the church to come forward to pray for the children.

“We were also so touched by it,” said June. “The teachers ourselves … we felt the Spirit was so strong.”

Even after worship ended and the children were led to the breakout room, they just could not proceed with the usual lesson. “We prayed and felt this cannot stop.”

Playing Holy Forever on YouTube three times, June allowed the children to continue to be ministered by the Holy Spirit.

She later asked the kids about how they felt. “They shared that they didn’t know why they were crying, but they felt this presence in them that was so peaceful, so comfortable.

“They were not sad. They said, ‘We never felt this feeling before. We felt a sense of relief.’”

From that night onwards, worship was different. “The children were just worshipping freely,” noted June.

During the last session, one of the kids even went up to share a testimony.

“The parents themselves went up to share they were so thankful,” she added. “They never knew that this change would happen to their children.”

Blessed to be a blessing

Sharing how the experience ignited in him a desire to see this happening in other churches too, Ps Andy said: “Come, please engage us for church camp … It’s not because we’re experts. It’s because we took that step and we just did it.

“But now we want to bless. Because Ps Sam blessed us, I think it’s only right that we go and bless the other churches.”

As a Pastor of a small church, Ps Andy has also learnt that it is not about being limited by resources.

“It’s not whether you can do. It’s whether you want to do or not.” Or as he sums it up in Hokkien, “ai zo or mai zo (要做or不要做)”.

Urging ministries to be intentional about reaching the next generation, he asked: “Churches, are you winning the children or are you maintaining the children?”

The Mighty Kids teachers at a training session with Ps Samuel (centre).

Looking ahead, Promisedland has plans to expand the reach of their children’s ministry.

“I want the skits to be broadcasted,” said Ps Andy.

“I also want to enter the space of social media, so that when the kids are scrolling TikTok, they might see our personas.”

By harnessing the power of the digital realm, the church will also be able to do missions work.

“If we can do this on YouTube or social media, (those in remote villages) will be able to see and learn about God. Imagine Ms Lah Lah appearing in their village life.”

Sharing the Bible verse that has encouraged him throughout his entire journey of building the church, Ps Andy quoted from Proverbs 3:5-6.

“If we rely on our own understanding, we cannot do Promisedland … If we lean on our own understanding, we won’t even have Mighty Kids today.

“But as I trust in the Lord, and all my ways I submit to Him, He will make my paths straight.”

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