This documentary done by Salt & Light is surely a landmark in Singapore’s Christian media history. We have had books about the history of the Singapore church (“In His Good Time” by Bobby Sng), and about the charismatic revival of the 1970’s (“Unfolding His Story” by Galven and Georgie Lee ), but this is the first time a significant full-length documentary has been launched by Salt & Light a Christian media company. It comprised mainly current interviews, old photos and film footage of witnesses and participants of the revival of 1972.
I can imagine the challenge it presented to the media team, sourcing and collating all the old photos and rounding up revival witnesses and filming all the interviews. The amount of man hours and talent involved is huge. I first received a WhatsApp message from Thomas Franks introducing himself on 6 February 2022, and he probably had started the ball rolling even earlier.
If the revival took place in 2022, there will be no lack of videos, social media traces, lots of Instagram pictures and Tik Tok and YouTube videos of the revival. In fact, it will be in excess – a huge video editing migraine! But it happened 50 years ago, when most of us do not own a camera. So lots of archaeological digs! Besides the initial meeting, when Thomas Franks the video producer, noted down facts and opinions, there were many occasions of clarifications about events, facts and photo sourcing. Then there is the script to write and the interviews to do. Monumental task.
The video team came to World Revival Prayer Fellowship (WRPF) an hour earlier than the appointed time to set up their equipment, and they did about two hours of filming on a few cameras, for the two interviews about the revival in Dunearn Secondary Technical School, which then grew into WRPF. By the time they finished work, it was close to 4.30pm. It took a whole day for the media team, and these were only the raw files, which then had to be sifted and edited, to fit with the storyline and script. And ours was only one side story among many side stories.
I was glad to be part of the project, and to see myself talking in the video and contributing to the story of the revival of 1972, gave me a sense of satisfaction. The revival story was richly multi-faceted and yet there is a unity about it and this is clearly reflected in the video. You can see and hear me at the 8.15/8.30 minutes time stamp.
May this video stir a hunger among generation next to seek a new move of God for their time. It won’t be the same kind because God is not stuck in the past and his wisdom and creativity is greater than our forecasting capacity. Eyes have not seen and ears have not heard what God has prepared for those who love him.
If you were a participant of the revival of 1972 that went on for close to a decade, please feel free to tell us your story in the comment box. Thank you.
Thanks, Kenny for your tribute to a worthwhile project to honour the generation of those who played their part in the 1972 revival and inspire a new generation to believe for a greater move of the Holy Spirit.
I was saved in March 1977 in part of the ongoing revival that was still going on. Only in the later years of my walk with Jesus was I aware of the bigger picture of what God was doing in our nation. Grateful that you and others among the pioneers of the 1972 revival are able to present your eye-witness accounts of this event that has blessed Singapore immeasurably in our formative years.
Thanks Pastor Chua, you were one of those faithful servants of God from the first Singapore megachurch, Calvary Charismatic Centre(now Victory Family Church), that moved into the full purpose of the outpouring, viz to fulfil the Antioch destiny of Singapore church.
Praise the Lord, Kenny, for your comments and contribution to the video production. Like you, myself and Galven have been closely involved in supporting video producer, Frank Thomas . The video shoot on my interview together with my wife, Evelyn, at the Chapel of the Holy Spirit was also a whole day affair. We did it over two days due to a technical glitch the first time. Thank God, the archival materials and photos from writing our book, Unfolding His Story, which I kept became useful again. A number of the photos used in the video came from this collection. We are also glad that the content of our book was a valuable source of information for the production team. They did a great job in presenting the revival story and will be a valuable resource for future generations.
Yes indeed, Georgie, the groundwork your son, Galven,and you did, was so thorough and comprehensive that it helped speed up Thomas Frank’s work. In all this, the Lord is exalted for we can see His guiding hand from the time Galven had the idea for his thesis, and the journalism background you had. The Lord knew who best to entrust His work to.