Shih-Ming Kow, Singapore
Like many young people in many cultures, Shih-Ming Kow spent years in a weekly chapel singing hymns and listening to sermons and was unaffected by them. It wasn’t until a great betrayal of friendship and desperation for love that Shih-Ming heard the voice of Christ, echoing the words from the ten years of chapel services: “I will be your friend forever if you want to.” And his life forever changed.
He began his answer to a call into full-time ministry with great apprehension until a pastor who had studied at Asbury asked him, “are you willing to be made willing?” And through his gentle prodding over several years, God finally got Shih-Ming to a place where he was willing to surrender.
Pastoring in Singapore since 1992, Shih-Ming is becoming even better equipped for preaching and leadership, which he believes are the “twin critical roles to being an effective leader in the church.” Through Asbury Seminary’s Beeson International Leaders Program, he has been impacted by professors that, “don’t just teach us information … but [give us] a heart to heart, soul to soul impartation” of the truth of God’s Word, and he plans to do the same as a newly appointed District Superintendent.
Shih-Ming returns to Singapore infused by this program, which he says is, “like a 6 week continuous spiritual formation retreat,” and he feels equipped to be a “training supervisor” for his students back home.
