CHAPTER SEVEN
CHRISTIAN ZIONISM IN MALAYSIA: THE SINGAPORE CONNECTION
“Singapore is a battleground country in our efforts to mobilize support for Israel and promote Judeo-Christian values in Asia.” (Josh Reinstein, Director of the Knesset’s Christian Allies Caucus, Israel) (211) Sarah Allis Yang is a member of Impact Harvest Church, a Chinese church in California. In her 2006 book The Exodus: From Slavery into Sonship, Yang gives the following reassurance to Singapore Christians: “Singapore, it is time to cross over and take the land. The Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness preparing to become the nation that possessed the promised land. Singapore, 2006 is your 40th birthday as a nation, and you’ve been raised for such a time as this to lead this massive exodus to take the promised land of Asia. You are a little child of a nation in Asia, but as Scripture says, ‘a little child will lead them’ … It is no accident that your name is the ‘Lion City’, for it was the tribe of Judah that led the procession of the tribes of Israel into battle after the Levites crossed over with the Ark. Our Lord of Hosts and Commander in Chief is in the land and He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.”(212) Such sentiments are those of a growing share of Singapore’s Christian population. In the past ten years, Christian Zionism has been vigorously promoted, and has found a ready home amongst the republic’s Chinese evangelicals. Most of the largest churches, especially those catering for young people (such as New Creation, City Harvest, Cornerstone Community Church, and Faith Community Baptist) are Christian Zionist in sympathies, and numerous smaller churches are aggressively so. There are four main reasons for the popularity of Christian Zionism in Singapore. The Israeli government itself is a keen promoter, with the Israeli ambassador in Singapore attending major Christian Zionist events in the local evangelical community. The role of C. Peter Wagner and his International Coalition of Apostles is also of considerable importance: in 1999, the ICA held its inaugural meeting in Singapore, numerous Singapore pastors are members of the body, and key evangelical projects (such as the Love Singapore Network) are based upon it. But this in itself only reflects the larger influence of US Pentecostalism in Singapore – where even the Anglican Church is strongly Pentecostalist. Finally, of course, there is the longstanding identification, by politicians and others, of a Chinese Singapore as a Southeast Asian ‘Israel’. As a member of the 2006 Jerusalem Summit Asia put it: “Singapore was established here like a little Israel in a sea of Muslim nations.”(213)
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