UNPLUGGED at Jazz@Southbridge

Finally, it came to pass. Our first Gen-Y event came into being with the birth of UNPLUGGED at Jazz@Southbridge on Sat, 23 June, 6-9pm.

We can only thank God for the overwhelming response to the event. When we chose the venue we knew that the maximum capacity of the venue was 80 people. As such we decided not to make the event a replacement of CG but a big SOW event instead. Those who had friends coming could bring them to the event. The publicity was released around 2 weeks before the event and we knew that we would have limited time to invite due to our Adults Camp in between.

On the day before the event the confirmation was around 60-70 people. But on the day itself, in the morning, I received a sms from Priscilla that we had 105 people and more were streaming in. We had a very good problem to solve. One solution was to turn away 25 people. But God gave Priscilla wisdom. She spoke to the manager of the venue and an arrangement could be made. Lean Choo however needed to sms the leaders to unfortunately stop inviting. This is the first time that we actually had to turn down visitors to join our event. :)

The night was an enjoyable night for many people. Juices and light snacks were supplied. The band led by David did a great job. The hosts were warm, funny and engaging. Our budding singers sang well with one singer truly shone that night. We were in our small groups interacting with our friends by playing some board/card games or just simply chatting. Nearing to the end of the event the band boldly sang one last song, a familiar song, "Love You So Much" by Hillsong. This was the only Christian song sung that night.

UNPLUGGED represents a fresh approach towards outreach. An informal night with clean fun and good music. This reminded me of two things. The first one is about Bill Hybels' parties. (Bill Hybels is the author of the book "Just Walk across the Room") From time to time Bill would organise some parties in his house. The party is informal and he would pray for some meaningful conversations to happen as sinners and redeemed sinners huddle in small groups interacting informally, with some food and drink around, of course. The second one is about a live band playing in an open space near Esplanade some months ago. Some of us were there listening to the band playing for awhile. They sang and played extremelly well. Just when we were about to leave we heard the tune and lyrics of a very familiar song, "Give Thanks". Suprisingly, the people stayed listening to the song. I believe that after singing and playing the other songs so well they earned the right to sing that song. I believe that these two things, informal parties facilitating the blossoming of genuine friendships and earning the right to speak the message, would be keys in the work of outreach in urban world.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Priscilla and team for doing a great job anchoring the event and making it into a wonderful reality. I applaud you for the team work, creativity, freshness and courage. I applaud you for singing that song at the end. I guess after playing and singing beautifully you earned that right to sing it to the audience, whoever they might be. :)

I believe that this is just the beginning. There are much more things that God has in store for us. Young adults in Singapore has bright hope and future for their counterparts in AG4 Hope Singapore dare to make a difference for Jesus. May God guide us on the next steps to take and continue to pour His favour upon us.

Below are some photos of the cool night taken using my humble phone. I am waiting for more photos to come my way.