our leadership team

Jeff Chong

Jeff first visited Hope Singapore in February 1992. Coming from a nominal Christian background, he came to know Christ in a personal way here. He has since brought his parents to know Christ personally.

As part of the top 8% in Singapore’s primary school cohort, Jeff studied both English and Mandarin as his first language in Catholic High School. He later went on to Raffles Junior College, one of the country’s top educational institutions, and graduated with an Engineering degree from the Nanyang Technological University. In 1995, Jeff left the market place to study full-time in our Bible College, after which he joined the church staff team. He met Claudia, who was serving as a student leader and a full-time church staff then, and they got married in 1997.

Jeff’s gift of leadership has led him to various roles in church. His appointment as senior pastor of Hope Church Singapore in March 2009 marked a new chapter in his life, and in the life of the church in fulfilling God’s calling and the Great Commission. Previously, he was involved in pioneering and leading different congregations such as Youth, Mandarin and Adults, served in our Missions department and led our Pastoral Division for more than 5 years. In between, he also spent time ministering in many countries from Europe and Africa to places closer to home like Australia. As one who enjoys teaching and preaching the Word of God in his trademark humorous style, Jeff has often been invited to preach in our Hope churches in all continents of the world. He currently also serves as the leader overseeing the Church Growth and Leadership Conferences for Hope International churches, together with Claudia.

Leading the church to fulfill God’s vision is Jeff’s passion. His favorite verse, Acts 20:24, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace”, underlies this passion and the way he lives and serves.

Jeff aspires to see the church making a greater impact in Singapore. He envisions a church filled with people from all life stations and all people groups – people who want to grow deeper in their relationships, as well as grow wider in their reach. He wants the church to be that city of refuge where the poor and the rich, the weak and the strong, young and old, men and women, and all that is in between can find God and find authentic relationships.

He believes that the church will continue to expand its global impact, to extend what God is doing in our local churches to the other parts of the world. Many have gone out to fulfil this calling and come back to our local shores. He is confident that many more will follow suit.

A gifted preacher with a wonderful sense of humour, Jeff is known as a down-to-earth leader and friend to all. Apart from good food, his other passion is soccer. He enjoys sports and having meals with friends. Follow Jeff on

Johanes

Johanes received Christ as a youth in 1981 through the Youth for Christ. He visited Hope Church in 1991 and started serving in the Adults Group pastoral ministry, before coming on board the church staff team in 1996. His prior work experience in corporate planning and investment administration in a life assurance firm came in handy for his subsequent staff roles, where he was involved in corporate planning projects such as church building fund and acquisition of church premise, besides serving as a Sub-District Leader within the Adults Group ministry, and overseeing the Finance department.

In the staff team, besides preaching at the Adults services, Jo now oversees the Business Life Ministry, a ministry that aims to reach out to entrepreneurs and like-minded individuals. He also serves as a member on our Church Board. He is currently involved in the search and acquisition of the next church property for our increasing congregation.

Johanes lives to see that every Christ believer in the church manifest the lifestyle and culture of the Kingdom as we take on the nature and influence of God to every corner of the physical world.  

For the Business Life Ministry, Jo hopes to see strong businessmen and women being raised up and discipled, who will in turn make disciples of more business people, and saturate the marketplace with their godly influence. 

In his free time, he enjoys watching and playing soccer, as well as reading good Christian books.

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are”, is a quote by John Wooden that always inspires him personally.

Claudia Chong

Claudia is married to Pastor Jeffrey Chong.

She visited Hope Church in 1992 when the church was about 50 people in size. Despite being a young believer then having received Christ through Campus Crusade for Christ Ministry in 1991, Claudia already had a strong sense of God’s calling in her life to fulfil God’s Great Commission. This calling, and the family connectedness that she had with the church were some of the reasons that prompted her to give her life to serve God fully here.

Building the church since her early days, Claudia has served on many levels such as a support singer, Sunday school teacher, acting in church dramas, overseeing church fundraising projects, church growth department, church service planning, and subsequently, the pastoral leadership roles over the Students and Adults ministries, and overseeing the corporate planning and legal matters of the church.

Presently Claudia assists Pastor Jeff as Pastor for the Adults Services. She also assists him in the leadership of Church Growth of Hope International Ministries (HIM).

Claudia believes in the fulfillment of the Great Commission through her life, and that one day, she will bring as many disciples as possible along with her to join Christ in Heaven. Claudia also hopes to see God’s vision for the Adults congregation being accomplished through every single, couple and family as we maximise our God-given spiritual gifts and talents to bring glory to His Name in all spheres of influence, and be the salt and light in our community.
In her free time, Claudia loves to travel to new places and enjoy good food with loved ones and friends. Home design is also one of her passions.

 

Christie Ong

Christie is our Pastor for the Filipino congregation. 

She was born in a Christian family and later on accepted Christ during her teenage years.

Prior to joining the church staff, Christie worked as an accountant and a freelance financial analyst. Since she joined Hope Church in March 1992, she has served as a core team member, shepherd, care leader, and eventually a pastor.  Christie's current roles include preaching and teaching, pioneering, and managing the heads of the various ministries to support church growth, while leading the Filipino congregation.

Christie is blessed with the gifts of leadership, teaching, administration and discernment. Her desire is to see a church that fervently preaches Jesus and the gospel of salvation, one that reaches out to and builds up a strong biblical Filipino community in Singapore and all over the world. Christie’s favorite verses, John 10:10 (“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”) and Philippians 4:13 (“I can do everything through Him who gives me strength”) have transformed and enriched the way she lives even today.

In her free time, Christie loves to read. Good food, watching live musical performance and listening to jazz music are her other ways of relaxing. To de-stress, driving around Singapore and taking in the sights of our urban city always works for her!

Jasmine Poon

As a young and spunky Polytechnic student, Jasmine Poon visited Hope Church, and subsequently accepted Christ here in 1993. Back then, she was serving intensively in the ushering, sound and worship ministries, and the polytechnic student pastoral ministry. It was her conviction to serve God fulltime after her graduation from her Chemical Process Technology studies few years later that helped her decide to join the church staff team.

Jasmine currently heads the Event Programming department with the vision of building Hope Church as the arts/media/worship hub for churches in Asia. She also oversees the PolyDiNS (Polytechnic and NS) group, an Adults’ Sub District group, and missions work for the Far East Region.

One of her aspirations is to see young people and professionals rise up to the call of leadership and taking on the fulfillment of God’s vision to greater heights. Jasmine firmly believes that we are living in the timeliest era to communicate the gospel through arts, media and worship in this urbanised city culture.

Jasmine’s high energy and commitment comes from her belief in having a dream, pursuing that dream, staying on it and finishing it - for God will supply all that we need for His glory.

Some things keep Jasmine happy, such as spicy food (especially tom yum), rocking to Bon Jovi’s songs and listening to Air Supply. Watching movies helps her to relax, too. She often raves about her special ability of being able to stand and play the guitar without the guitar strap on. Jasmine blogs, too. Her blog address is http://www.jaspoon.blogspot.com/

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Shirley Melinda

Shirley grew up in Christian schools in Indonesia, and had always thought of herself as a Christian as she was familiar with the religion. It wasn’t til in 1995 when her friend brought her to Hope Church that she realised that knowing about God wasn’t the same as knowing God. She finally understood that she needed Jesus, and not a religion. This realisation shaped her faith, and was behind her conviction to serve as a full time staff upon her graduation.

Since her early days in church, Shirley served in the Youth Ministry and Worship Ministry. Currently, she is our Youth Pastor, overseeing 800 young people and guiding them in their spiritual and holistic growth. She also oversees the Missions Department where she facilitates our missions system and infrastructure to help the church fulfil the Great Commission. Blessed with the gifts of faith, teaching, leadership, and strong vocals, Shirley is also leading thousands in praising and worshipping God when the church meets together for our combined services.

Shirley’s heart desire is to see the local churches thriving and reaching the community in a real and relevant way. Her conviction is to live her life in such a way that she will continue to build the next generation of young leaders, and see people of all ages and backgrounds coming together to bring the hope of Jesus to all corners of the world.

A quote that always inspires her is from Romans 11:29, “for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable”. She also draws her inspiration from watching films, travelling and experiencing different cultures. When stressed up, Shirls would go for chocolate therapy, which has proven to perk her up anytime! 

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Hiew Hong Teck

Hong Teck's affiliation with church started when his friend brought him to one 20 years ago, which prompted him to be a regular attendee ever since. He encountered Hope Church when he first came to Singapore for employment shortly after his graduation from an Australian university.

Since joining the church as a member, Hong Teck has been vigorously involved in various ministry roles, namely overseeing Hope café as well as serving in the ushering and multimedia ministries. He was also serving in the Adults Group pastoral ministry, community care and missions, prior to coming on board as a full-time staff in 2004. Hong Teck was an IT professional with expertise in system integration and worked in an IT consultancy organisation managing projects for clients such as Ministry of Education, Health Science Authority and Singapore Management University, among others. When he came onboard, he was our IT Project Manager cum HopeKids Pastoral Staff.

Today, Hong Teck serves as our HopeKids Pastor, where he pastors the little ones and directs the children's ministry to its fullest potential. He also leads the Family Life ministry and preaches in our Adults Group Sunday Services. Hong Teck's personal vision is to invest his life in doing things that will make the biggest difference in people's lives, and inspire them to reach their fullest potential in Christ.

Hong Teck is gifted in the areas of prophetic, wisdom and leadership. Monastic at night yet activist in the day, he enjoys doing quiet things such as blogging, writing, painting, music, art, contemplation, ripple starting, social media, and reading up on leadership, management topics and more.

It is his conviction that towards the end of the race, he will be greeted in heaven with “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share in the Master’s happiness!” along with ice cream and chocolates awaiting!

Connect with Hong Teck online at his blog: http://www.ragsstudio.com. Follow him on