The Impact of the Global Summit: Vincent's Story

Many of us can remember a time when we sensed God clearly speaking to us. For some, it was a defining moment that radically impacted our life. In fact, we could not imagine our life had it not been for that experience and the ensuing journey it launched us on. That is the story of one WCA pastor in Singapore.

Vincent Lun is the Senior Pastor of RiverLife Church in Singapore. RiverLife was planted in 1991 by Vincent and a team from Bartley Christian Church in what was once an unchurched community in Singapore. In a mostly Buddhist country with only 10-15% of the population identifying as Christian, the need for a thriving church in every community is great.

Five years into his journey at RiverLife, Vincent was at a crossroads in his life. Feeling as if his temperament and gifting were not cut out for what he believed was the traditional role of a pastor, he was wrestling with the idea of returning to the marketplace where he began his career. Then, while attending a conference in Australia, he heard Bill Hybels talk on the critical importance of leadership in the church. Hearing for the very first time that leadership, strategic planning, and team building were not only needed in the church, but vital for the church to prevail was incredibly freeing to Vincent. He finally felt he had permission to pastor a church from his gifting, rather than feeling confined to the traditional roles and expectations of others. It was through this experience that Vincent received new direction and purpose in his role as a senior pastor.

With renewed zeal for the local church and a passion to reach people far from God, Vincent returned to Singapore excited to put his leadership gift to work. Like all great leaders, Vincent realized he had to develop his own leadership, but also the leadership potential in those around him. Playing a critical role in his team’s development were the talks they listened to from The Leadership Summit, WCA’s annual training event that took place in the United States. Each year they focused on applying a few key principles and gradually saw the effectiveness and impact of their church improve.

As The Leadership Summit grew into a global event, Vincent was one of many pastors asked to be part of the first Global Leadership Summit in Singapore. Since 2006, more than 2,100 people from more than 100 churches have been able to attend the Summit in Singapore. God is using the Summit to transform churches in their country.

This year, the first Chinese speaking Summit in Singapore will take place—opening up even more opportunities for every local church in their country to prevail. Not only are Vincent and these other pastors impacting leaders in Singapore, but they are also transforming their region by freeing up their staff, resources, and facilities to train other countries hosting the Summit in Asia. Simply put, these pastors have developed a heart and passion to see the local church prevail throughout their region of the world.

We hope you’ll join us in prayer that God uses events like the Summit to “free up” thousands of leaders around the world, just like Vincent.

special thanks to Jarrett Ruffino for researching and writing this story