Leading Daily Online

The morning of Day Three once again saw ELC 2009 participants going to various locations to attend different seminars.

During his talk in Hall 601, Rev Dr David Wang got up close and personal with his crowd as he talked about Strategy and God Dependency: Are They Compatible?

Rev Dr David was like an expert storyteller weaving a beautiful story to the crowd. As he told stories of God’s goodness and graciousness, there was a deep silence amongst the listeners as everyone was mesmerized into becoming a part of the story. Truly the Holy Spirit’s presence was strongly there! “We’re in a joint venture with God,” emphasized Rev Dr David. And to support this fact, he pointed out that the Bible says God created the world, and He gave us stewardship over this world.

“Very inspiring,” said Pastor Harun, based in Singapore. “The way he speaks, the way he brings the Word of God into our lives, teaching us to apply it into our daily lives.”

On the second floor, Dr Low Guat Tin got this reporter and the audience roaring with laughter as she recounted her funny personal stories during her seminar Transforming Self, Loving People. Despite being born in the pre “tech-boom” days, her use of video clips, pictures, and slides to illustrate her message is amazing.

An educator and consultant for many years, Dr Low led the way in declaring the need for leadership by transforming ourselves first. She gives one instance of this in real-life: “Our mind-sets guide us. For instance, what you think of your domestic helper will guide you in relating to her.”

Said participant Yohun Muangta from Thailand, “Her last word was that it’s not about doing, it’s about being. I absolutely agree that we need to take care of ourselves first before we take care of others.”

Two doors away, Mrs Ding-Khoo Seok Lin, was giving a presentation on Coaching Underperformers, Changing Lives to a packed room.

It was a topic close to her heart because of her own “underperforming” experiences. During her time at the Singapore Economic Development Board, there was a period where she faced burn-out. But thanks to understanding bosses who treated her with dignity and respect during this episode, she managed to get back on her feet. And now she is blessing us with what she has learned.

An excellent and personable teacher, Seok Lin helped the audience to apply the lessons into their own lives – on how they themselves could help underperformers: “Jesus didn’t see people as they were. He saw people as they can be.”

Mrs Fang Ai Lian, Chairwoman of Great Eastern Holdings Ltd and also the Charity Council, shared with us her expertise on Corporate Governance and Accountability For Non-profit Organizations. This is a much needed topic, especially for the participants in this sector.

Despite her vast corporate experience, Ai Lian has a humble disposition and aimed to help the audience know as much as possible about what funds were available to them, as well as best practices that should be put in place. Giving real-life cases also helped. For example, a local non-profit organization emphasizes succession planning on its Board. It also systematically develops its Board members, and there is orientation for new members. All this serves to make the Board not stagnate, but instead be constantly refreshed by new faces and ideas.

In the seminar on Personal Lessons From Financial Tsunami: A Christian Perspective, Datuk Tony Tiah emphasized that the economic system is modeled after the world system and that God was not in the picture. But Tony stated that “Knowledge is not wisdom” and when we keep God out of the equation, evil will rear its ugly head.

He claims that God is the one who gives us the ability to make money, not ourselves. For people with a Christian heritage, their fortune will last for many generations if it is built on the Word of God. Money must be used for the right purpose and not to cater to our own pleasures – we must sow into the Kingdom of God and give to the poor and needy.

He ended off by saying that if we have not been following God’s way, we have to repent and pattern our lives on God’s Word so that we can truly enjoy success!

Even though the topics covered varied from seminar to seminar, this reporter was left with an awe-inspiring impression of God’s grandeur – of how our Infinite God can and should be Lord over each and every aspect of our lives!

News of the Eagles Leadership conference has indeed spread far and wide. We managed to catch some of the many first time participants in our conference! Welcome new friends, and we look forward to seeing you at the next conference!

Christian De La Cruz and Joanna Khor from Singapore

Hannah and David Marrs, USA

We are happy they are at ELC 2009!

CONFERENCE HALL 601 – Founder-President of Eagles Communications, Mr Peter Chao, took to the stage with the first plenary which is also the theme of the conference, Loving People, Delivering Performance after an opening address by the Eagles Chair, Dr John Ng, and a song by Malaysia’s well-loved singer and Malaysian Idol vocal coach, Juwita Suwito.

“The ultimate expression of love is self-sacrifice and self-giving. After all, we are following a leader who gave His life for us.” Peter urged us to raise the standard of loving people, despite the fact that we might be taken advantage of or even manipulated. “Since when,” Peter asked, “do we base our love actions on how others treat us?” He said one way we can start is the giving of ourselves in small things. Only then can we deliver performance of a standard that meets God’s approval.

Spiritually “Healthy,” Emotionally Unhealthy – Is That Possible? was the topic of the second plenary session undertaken by Rev Peter and Mrs Geri Scazzero. They shared their amazing conversion stories, crises they faced, and lessons learned.

Geri talked about the importance of being brutally honest with ourselves. She said that the day she admitted that she was not a loving person was the day she started becoming a loving person. “God can handle the truth and can give you grace to handle the truth as well.”

Peter argued that it is impossible for a Christian to be spiritually mature while remaining emo-tionally immature if we are supposed to be the image bearers of God. If like Saul, we are gifted but emotionally unhealthy, the gap can destroy us. “My first work is not to be a pastor but to seek His face. Not my will be done but His,” he exclaimed.

An extraordinary testimony of forgiveness and reconciliation was shared by Mr Glenn Knight and Mr Tan Koon Swan in a leadership dialogue that created much buzz, entitled Recovering Failures, Practicing Grace. Glenn was responsible for prosecuting two key people in the Pan-El case which included Koon Swan. Glenn himself was brought down as a high flyer, prosecuted for a crime he said he did not commit and was fined, imprisoned, and barred from practice for 16 years. It was then that God managed to get his attention and revealed to him that bitterness can cause a person more harm than anything else, and that God wanted him to forgive.

Koon Swan claimed that he does not harbor any bitterness towards Glenn. Koon Swan proudly declared that “The prosecutor and prosecuted became friends!” He shared his trauma of failure, suffering, pain, and the point in which he experienced God and finally received restoration.

The first day of ELC 2009 ended with a side splitting fourth plenary session by none other than the S.U.M.O. Guy himself, Mr Paul McGee. The participants gleaned insights from Restoring Relationships, Personal Effectiveness.

It started off with a hilarious rap MTV introduction and an ice breaker of eyeballing your neighbor, telling him or her she is “gorgeous” and “mad.” Paul, the bestselling author who made popular the phrase “Shut Up, Move On” shared with us four phrases in relation to his new acronym S.A.R.A.H: “Grieving Is Good” but it is not forever. He convinced the audience to “Avoid Isolation” because stress makes us stupid. He also talked about two other terms, “Perspective Pays” and “Molehills
Matter.”

The much anticipated Eagles Leadership Conference 2009 Leading in Extraordinary Times opened with a joyous bang on the morning of July 23 with a stunning time of thanksgiving, praise, and worship to our Lord, led by Francis Chua and the Third Sunday band.

Undeterred by the current H1N1 pandemic and the global economic downturn, over 1,300 delegates from 19 countries came together at the Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore, to gain insights from 25 distinguished international and local speakers in a combination of plenary sessions, intensive workshops, and seminars.

Tell us why you came to ELC 2009. Add a comment below.