Friday Flashback – Singapore Partnership Begins

[In 2011 Keynote celebrates 45 years of ministry. We thought we would use our Friday posts to look back on God’s faithfulness through the years.]

What started as a conversation at a McDonald’s in Manila in 1990 turned into a budding partnership of 15 plus years. Mark Suredhran saw The Convertibles perform in Manila and had an idea to start something like that in Singapore. So, in 1994 a few of the Campus Crusade for Christ staff members from Singapore came to Indiana to learn about using music as a platform for the gospel.

After classroom training in communication, Christlikeness, evangelism and much more, the Singaporeans were put together with a few Keynote new staff members to form a band. They took their “show on the road” and were able to see firsthand how God can use creative means to communicate His truth about forgiveness and love. The result was a new ministry in Singapore that began with a band called Forerunner. (See photo – click to enlarge)

Less than four years later, Keynote sent a team of trainers to Singapore to help establish a music and creative arts ministry. Over the course of a couple of months the staff members from Singapore and a few from countries such as Burmese, Thailand and yes, Panama learned to effectively teach the Keynote curriculum on communication and story as well as principles of leadership and program development.

Even more training and experience took place a few years later when a handful of the Singaporean staff members returned to Indiana to experience a Keynote Summer Project. Later they began their own summer project including bands that traveled to Thailand, China and other Asian countries.

The ministry in Singapore grew over the years to include multiple outreach bands, short film training and production and much more. You can read more about the ministry on their Facebook page.