i really thank God for the passion project and stuff going on in the church right now, and how the whole church is mobilised to share Christ to at least 5 peers in a week. and as leaders, the unit coreteam went for street evangelism on monday, at toa payoh central. i guess its what i call a whole new experience for me. i mean approaching strangers and all, im fine with it since the job i once had required me to do all that. but its another to approach a stranger, not knowing what to expect, give them a survery form to fill in, and in that short time, build a rapport with the person, and at the end share Christ with him or her, and hopefully that person would come to know the giver of life.
i would say Chantel puts it across well. its really a test of how ready we are to share the gospel. how ready we are to share about our own life testimony. and how courageous we can be for Christ. it certainly changed my outlook on this whole project alot, as in what it really did take to save a soul.
off we went, in the northeast JCs, as bodies of Christ in the various JCs, and spread the gospel, from monday to wednesday. you could just sense that very something moving in the spiritual realm, where the greatest and fiercest spiritual battle between God and the devil, is taking place in the area of outreach.
and after all that sharing, all that stories of the power of life transformation, i got to tell you, i felt this very personal closeness with God, such a closeness which i often took for granted. i realised the true meaning of compassion, and sharing the gospel out of love. i got to see what it took for Christ to change my life, and how it changed so many others, in that time of sharing. gosh it just seems that i cant really hold my emotions well at times. its like i shared till i could feel tears dwelling up in my eyes, and it took another person's comment to confirm that. tears of compassion? i felt such an urgency.
"2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place."- Revelation 2:2-5
are we losing that fire we once had for God? remember how we once were so enthusiastic about sharing the Gospel? remember how we once were so excited to lead new roles in cg and all? remember the dreams we dreamt about what we could do and ask from God that would astonish Him? remember the hunger and desire we once had for His cleansing word? what has happened to the zeal and passion? sure we may say, "back then i was much younger, and had the synergy and energy to go along with it." what happened to the desire and closeness we had for our "first love"?
"10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." - John 10:10
Our zeal and our intensity dont evaporate. Satan steals the hot embers of devotion and consecration. but the true question is, are we letting him do all that? are we allowing room in our lives for Satan to come and invade our lives? are we holding on to stuff which we cant let go off, which we are unwilling to let go off? Notice the progression of how the devil does his work,
..steal.. kill.. destroy.. The devil comes to steal, kill, and lead on to the path of destruction.
"18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." - 2 Corinthians 3:18
God gives us evermore. God gives and definitely wants us to excell and dwell in His kingdom, and to give thanks in His courts. surely time and our spiritual age does not matter in this case. does our spiritual hunger really wear out with time? with God's ever-increasing glory, instead, it should be that we lead greater biblical lives, shine forth a greater light in His name.
Are we having that everday conciousness and readiness to listen to God? Are we truly living our lives, as one that has received the saving grace and edifying power of Christ Jesus? The greatest power where it is the most evident, is in life transformation.
"8 I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure," - Psalm 16:8-9
im finally back. it's been one long, tiring, enlightening, refreshing, draining, and definitely, once in a life time experience. i would say not only did we bless Hope Sibu and Hope Sarikei, they definitely blessed us in ways beyond measure as well.
it was an eye opener for me, and considering its my first official mission trip, and approved by both my parents. and it seems that i am the youngest among the whole team hope singapore.
as expected, the main obstacle for me was the communication barrier. it is certainly one thing to speak just fluent mandarin and another, to pray, share testimonies, teach, and to lead praise and worship in mandarin. and well guess what, i managed to do all that! it's certainly been quite an adventure i suppose. i never knew that the words of pastor thongchai from Hope Thailand, when he told me that i needed to buck up on my mandarin for that one day i would have to serve God in mandarin, and even share Christ, would come into play this soon.
at sibu we stayed at brother Charles' place, whom so happens to be the brother of Miss Malaysia 2004. haha real cool right? she looks so different lah, from the old and the recent pictures. oh well. anyway, he knows this real cool petrol station which is just next door to his house, and has his own eatery downstairs!! selling the bestest noodles(which i forgot the name), in the whole of sarawak. haha okay fallacy.
and at sarikei we stayed over at Hope Place, meaning the church itself. i must say both sibu and sarikei are filled with insects. quite expected for a developing place. sarikei was filled with those black tiny beetles which stinks real bad when u squish them. we kinda cleaned the whole place for them, and killed 4 cockroaches in the process. well it was clean enough to stay lah, just that its filled with beetles, even in the bathroom. we came to realise that sarikei is a place where Christianity isnt all that welcomed, which explains the numerous locks on the door of hope place. i wont say that its that bad to the extend that the people there resort to violence, but surely at times they do. i think on the second night there, some of the residence there came pounding real hard on our door. yeah. oh well. we are back in one piece.
its truely heartwarming, to see the hunger and desire of the people over in sibu and sarikei, and sense their great great level of faith and expectation. the expectation of something great from God. not only is it great to witness the people around the world serving God too, but to be there, right there with them, capturing their heartbeat for God, truely feels overwhelming. people who choose the gospel over the world. people who chose life over death. people who has the heart and desire to want to do great things for God.
our main purpose on this trip was to help build the church of Hope Sibu and Hope Sarikei. two places which is found in east malaysia, sarawak. i would say its rather undeveloped over there, as compared to singapore, and well, since the main source of income was more towards timber. we taught them as much as we could, and they asked and asked as much as they should. made quite a few good friends over there, who in a way or another impacted my life.
i shared with both churches on my own life testimony, and my own testimony on how to balance studies and ministry. it becomes all the more clear to me on why God granted me such good results. shared with them on how the cg is run in singapore, what to say, when to come in. basically it was along the line of teach and learn. but personally i learnt alot from them as well, like how they overcome persections and stuff.
and then there was this brother from Hope Sarikei, called Ah Hee, if i got it correct, was a living testimony of how God healed him from leukemia, and in the process, brought both his parents to Christ. it is certainly one thing to hear about such miracles, and another to witness one. great testimonies of miracles resulting from great faith.
i kinda lead praise and worship in mandarin too. its truely a very very new experience. well low and behold, its the first complete chinese song i sang in my entire life, apart from sch songs that is. and it was all gotten down on film, untill it was accidently deleted. oh and our bus to sarikei from sibu broke down too. haha lots of stuff happened man.
i got to ride on a scooter too! yeah and lots of stuff. oh well. i shall put up all the pictures when i get the complete set from the other peeps. well till then.
Leaving from
9th March till
14th March, for Sibu and Sarikei on mission trip.
Saints have fun at Orientation 2 finale!
yeah i would most probably still be contactable, if all goes well.
till then.
actually lots of stuff are happening, so kinda got too lazy to blog and all. anyway, first of all, happy birthday martin/aquila!! haha yeah its been like a year and a couple of days since i met you in the cg. like wow, we've really came so so very far in Christ.
okay. i would be away for a mission trip to Hope Sibu and Sarikei from next thursday to tuesday, 9th to 14th march. would be leaving on my sister's birthday, like.. dont really want to but oh well. probably wish her and stuff before i leave singapore. would be missing sajc's second orientation grand finale too!! and first day with our new CGs. haha its funny how God gives us such choices that really makes lots of compromises for His kingdom. going to like go there and run services for them, conduct teachings and stuff. matthias gonna go along with me too. yeah well its a great learning opportunity for me! and of course, its a real priviledge i must say. gotta set down my objectives for the trip.
changes changes. time for changes once again.
