Making a difference in Malaysia

On the 12^th of October, a group of us from IMU set off to Peaceheaven for the first ever Professionals of Tomorrow (POTs) conference. I guess for me, the major attraction POTs held for me were the exposition talks on the book of Nehemiah (and moreover by Bishop Hwa Yung at that).

It was definitely the most memorable camp I’ve ever gone for, because for the first time, it wasn’t just a time of fellowship and sermons, we were also confronted with very real issues and challenges of being a future professional in Malaysia .

What lingered on my mind was the issue of missing Christian voices in Malaysia, as evidenced by the report that the majority of citizens who emigrate are Christians, also of the fifty years of Islamization and how we’re being increasingly pushed aside, and the fact that government service is shunned by most Christians (And yet, it is in the government sector that our voices are needed the most). They are all very hard truths. Not forgetting the issue of missing grace, where love is lacking in race relations in Malaysia , when we know that Jesus came for them too, just as He came for you and me.

Many questions abound: Will we write off the situation here in Malaysia as being hopeless and pack our bags and leave? (Many would say it’s the sensible thing to do) Will we keep on being silent, when we see injustice and inequality? Will we shun government service, because we’ll so obviously be discriminated against (and what more the low pay)? Will we choose to be absent, or present in restoration in Malaysia ? Never before had I realized the gravity of the need for Christian presence in Malaysia . If there’s one thing to be taken home from POTs, it’s that one thing – that God has placed us in Malaysia for a reason.

I remember vividly singing Negaraku in POTs, and also the contrast with how I sang Negaraku in secondary school. A song that never used to make any sense (land where my blood is spilt??) suddenly made total sense to me.

My country, land where my blood was spilt,
The people live united and in progress,
Blessings of happiness God grants,
Our King reigns in peace.
Blessings of happiness God grants,
Our King reigns in peace.

Yes, I believe that one day it will be the blood of Christians (because I believe revival=persecution ) and I do want to see my King (Jesus) reign in the hearts of all people. Well, perhaps I will not be the one to spill my blood, but by the sweat of my brow I’ll choose to be present in restoration, to claim this land and its people for my King.

Are we facing a task that seems too big? Learning from Nehemiah, our God is BIGGER still. We need a fresh understanding of His GREATNESS. Also, we must learn to fight our battles incrementally, not always looking for quick fixes and giving up when we don’t see things coming to pass. Will Malaysia be changed in a day? No, but it would not happen at all, if not for certain individuals who chose to make a difference in Malaysia, and still continue making a difference, no matter how small, till this very day.

With that said, coming back from the conference, I took back with me more than just the heart of Nehemiah. I took back the hearts of Christian professionals who went before us, men and women who had ran the good race and fought the good fight. Can you hear the call to join them? I do.

Linda Chew @ Melbourne, ex-ALM4

Who Is A Good Leader?

Candidate A

Name: Sandra
She's a international student in Yale University from Maldives and she holds position in the Model United Nations as well as the Honors Chemistry Society. She describes herself as a hardworking person and never sleeps until she gets things done. She is known among her friends as the Alpha Female because of her intelligence and her all-roundedness. She has a strong sense of justice, which is explained by her upbringing as a child to a police officer. However, she also admits that it is sometimes hard for her to identify with others who are not like her. She also mentions how she lacks in people-skills because she sometimes find it hard to engage friendly talks with people who are not similar to her.

Candidate B

Name: Ben
Ben is a very outgoing guy. He is the guy whom everyone wants to be friend with. He always has a way with people and to make people laugh. People also generally go to him when they have problems. Even though he will normally approach these people with lots of jokes, he doesn't exactly provide much constructive criticism and advices to his friends. He is quick in his thinking, doesn't engage long in a thought, and proceeds with things rapidly. He is also strong physically and he had won 2 intramurals championships in swimming for the past 2 years of his college life. He is going to graduate with a bachelor's degree from a California State University with double major in Computer Science and Social Science. His ultimate goal in life is to be a successful programmer in a secular organizations and spending his leisure time doing some charity works.

Candidate C

Name: Kylara
Kylara is a graduate student in University of Minnesota. She graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison with a bachelor degree in Public Policy. She is a bookworm and she is constantly seen with a book in her hand. She likes to hang out with people who share the same interest as she does. She is always seen in the library and she considers herself to be a quite introvert person. However, she is good at solving math problems and thus, people always come to her in the library and ask for help with their problem sets. She is involved in the Student Government as a treasurer because she prefers to work alone and to deal with the money instead of having to talk a lot. She is actively engaged in the online community, having served at some forums and other online communities. She doesn't talk much but when she does talk, her words matter and count.

Candidate D

Name: Adam
Adam is a very independent guy. He graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in mathematics. Adam is a multi-talented guy with wide range of interest. He was a member of the Wind Esemble Team in Dartmouth; he is also the editor for the school magazine. Apart from that, he becomes a Resident Assistant to his House and has engaged in various non-profit charity works before. He is a Caucasian with a strong "Southern" background to himself. He, however claims to not be racist in any sense and that he is friends to everyone without discriminating their color and creed. He is generally a like-able person and people seem to get along well with him. He claims that his main weakness is the inability to cope with excess pressure. That is one of the reasons he gets involved in music: to release some stress.

Candidate E

Name: John
John is a social worker in World Vision headquarter in New York. He does not have any college degrees and he stops schooling since he was 14. He had to help support his family by working part-time as a restaurant waiter and as a bartender at night. He joins World Vision because he understands that there are a lot of people who are probably more unfortunate that he is and thus, he wants to help them. His effort however doesn't bring much consistent income to his family and because of that, his family are constantly relying on government's money to survive on a monthly basis. He does think about going back to college "to get some papers" but he is not sure when he will have enough money to do so.

So, we have 5 person and imagine that they land on an island with no possibility of being saved by any planes whatsoever. Who will you elect as the leader of this group? Why?

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Perhaps by now, you are scrolling up and down and compare the strength/weakness of each candidates. Perhaps you already have a candidate at the back of your mind. Who is it going to be? The math major? The illiterate social worker? Or the Alpha Female?

Whichever your choice is, you must have thought it through rationally and you must have weighed his/her strengths/weaknesses against other candidates.

All right.
To find the answer to this question, let's look at the scripture.

Luke 5

The Calling of the First Disciples

1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,^[a]with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down^[b] the nets for a catch."

5Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."

6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." 11So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

---

In the scriptures, Simon was trying to catch some fish all night long but to no avail. When Jesus came and told him to put down his net into the deep water, he obeyed because he had tried everything else and nothing worked. His faith landed him with a heavy caught so heavy that he needed two boats and both boats began to sink. After that, he was so shameful to face Jesus but Jesus reassured him and made him the fisher of men.

The moral of the story?
Peter is faithful to Jesus (by obeying His command to let the net down to the deep water)
Peter is available to Jesus (He was there in the water)
Peter is teachable. (he becomes the fisher of men after Jesus told him to not be afraid)

The point of me going through all these things is to highlight one thing. Jesus doesn't see how many As you have. He doesn't see if you are an introvert or an extrovert. A good leader, like Peter, should just be faithful, available, and teachable.

We, as human being, are always quick to notice out people's weakness. That's what the exercise above was all about. You might have said, "Hmm... Sandra doesn't seem like a good leader because ...." We only fix out eyes on people's fault but God just wants someone who is faithful, available, and teachable.

The real thing is that, all the candidates above can be good leaders if we give them a chance. It is us, people who love to judge others by their strength and weakness, that complicates things.

I'll ask again, who is a good leader? Still having a preference to a certain candidate or have you come to accept that these people are good leaders if they are F.A.T. ?



In His service,
Leen

Which Type of Leader Are You?

So I went to this church conference/convention/retreat called Winterfest. Winter + Festivel = Winterfest I suppose??

Anyway, I learned a lot and I think that best way for me to remember them is to jot them down before I forget about them. So here it is.

Emerging Leadership.

Which kind of leader are you?

Type 1 : Red Bull leader
This type of leader drinks Red Bull everyday. One Red Bull is enough to keep you going for one day, maybe two for some who are extra-sensitive to glucose and caffeine. Once the high/strength/stamina wears off, he goes and get another drink and move on. This type of leader has finite amount of energy and stamina in him.

For instance, leader A has 1000 calories from one Red Bull and he decides to pour out 300 calories to one brother, another 300 to another sister, and another 300 to another friend of his. Ooops, now he only has 100 calories of energy left in him. That lack of energy is going to drive him crazy and hungry for more. So he goes and take more Red Bull and this vicious cycle never ends. Besides, when he gives to people, he will be like, "Hey, I only have 1000 calories in me and I'm giving you 1/3 of them. Treasure them well." Wait?! He gets the energy from the Red Bull; it is not even his own energy.

To tie it to present day leadership, this is the type of leader that goes to church every week in order to get refreshed. He then uses up all his spiritual energy during the weekdays and go back and be filled again. He is not going to feel full ever because he has to use them all the time. Not only that, a side effect might emerge from this bad habit; that is he might feel that he doesn't even receive enough from God to share anything with anyone.

Not only that, a Red Bull leader will incline to leading his people to himself instead of leading them to Christ. So we have this never-going-to-be-pleased leader who is constantly trying to uphold his own position desperately by trying to point people to him and not God.

This is not a good example of a leader.

Here's another type of leader that we should consider.
Type B: Overflow Leader

This type of leader goes to a fountain and drink as much water as he can. He drinks so much that he cannot contain it anymore. So he uses his water bottle/canteen/tumbler/Tupperware/whatever you call it and fill up all the bottles and distribute them to other people. In return, other people feel refreshed and he feels refreshed too. He can never get enough of his resources because the water is always overflowing in the fountain and his subordinates never feel thirsty too because they in return, benefit from the fountain as well. Eventually, the leader, being a good leader, points the people to the fountain because obviously, that's the source of the energy. The leader will not keep pointing that he is the source of the water because after a while, he will want people to get to the source of the water and drink from the fountain themselves, instead of him having to fill up their water bottles every single time. By leading them to the fountain, he does himself a great deal of help and he does the people a great deal of help too. He releases some of the pressure of his shoulder, he leads people to the original source of water, and he let people enjoy the overflowing water that he has been enjoying all this while.

I'm pretty sure that you have a good idea of what this story means. A good leader should be the one who is constantly renewed in God, constantly having a relationship with God, having revelations from God, that everything overflows. The God in him just shines through and people get drawn to him automatically. Then he will have this abundance of spiritual experiences to share, lessons to teach, and so on. Not only that, he will ultimately lead the people to Christ and lead the followers to be leaders themselves too.

Now that's a good leader.

Should We Break Our Bonds?

I'm posting this on behalf of our beloved Keropok Lekor.

"Without appearing dogmatic, I feel that christian JPA scholars should not break their bond with the Public Service Department aka the Government aka the People.

It is because honourable people honour their agreements.

As Christians, we reflect Godly values. Our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is a God of faithfulness who never breaks His covenant with His people. The basis of the Christian faith is a relationship between men and God, based on trust in what He has promised through Jesus Christ forever.

Our agreement with the nation thus should be regarded as a sacred agreement between us and the people, and should be honoured at all costs. Failure to do so especially due to selfish reasons is a shameful act that does not reflect godliness. However I am aware that there are instances where situations do not allow one to fulfill one's obligation, but that should not be the norm.

While honouring the agreement means that we may have to forgo better career or educational prospects in the future, it is a reasonable price to pay for what we have chosen at the first place. Jesus said that one should count the cost before committing to anything (Luke 14:28). Jesus also said that we should let our yes be yes and no be no (Matt 5:37).

Committing ourselves in a public funded scholarship-bond (regardless of whether we can afford to repay) is more than just a financial assistance or prestige thingy.

It is a commitment to honour the aspiration of the scholarship giver and the whole nation, and the recipients should not only be accountable to the funder, but ultimately the Supreme Giver of all blessings.

Quoting our beloved JPA officers, "Kalau tak balik Malaysia dan bayar balik, tak berkat hidup meskipun sekaya mana sekalipun"

Next CA: Heavenly Chatroom

Just a reminder...... the next CA will be held on the 28th February. We will also be celebrating World Student's Week.. For those who are having exam this week, be well prepared and may God grant us wisdom and knowledge for these tests ;> so, see you there......

A reminder from our dear Brian

Dear fellow brothers and sisters,

It’s sad that I can’t be with you guys tonight in this wonderful service. But I just want to give you guys a short message of encouragement. The Lord has been gracious to me. So far, I’m almost done with my preparations to fly to Australia.

But I just want to share this with you guys. Last Sunday, I went to a service at one of the Baptist mission centres in Sandakan. Someone said it was an English service so I went ahead to check it out. But, when I got there, I discovered that the service was conducted in Hakka, lucky me. As the congregation was praying, I was thinking, “Oh no, how la this time. I’m gonna miss the sermon.” But fortunately, the Lord was gracious. Despite my limited knowledge in Hakka, I could understand the overall meaning of what the pastor was saying although during the singing I had to pretend I could read Chinese. Lol.

The service was refreshing as it reminded me that God equips us with all that is necessary to serve Him even though we are at a loss about how we should carry out what He wants us to do. I’m just going to share a bit on what the pastor said as I don’t want to take too much of your time.

The verses for the sermon were taken from Proverbs 22:17-21. You guys can check back on that when you go back home. Mainly, the sermon was about sharing the Word of God, which is a very important part of our Christian lives.

Proverbs 22:17 tells us that we should first equip ourselves with wisdom and understanding. In order to do that, we must have three attitudes of seeking wisdom – listen carefully to the sayings of the wise or the word of God, accept what is being said and understand the Word.

Proverbs 22:18 – 19 tells us that we should feed our spiritual lives with the word of God. We must keep the Word of God in our hearts and set our hearts to the events of the church. That is, as Pastor David said in his previous sermon, we should look after God’s interests. We shouldn’t merely glance through the word of God but rather savour it and digest it slowly so that we obtain the nourishments from it.

Finally, Proverbs 22:20 – 21 tells us to teach or share the Word of God. We must apply the Word of God in our lives such that others can see the changes in us. We should be grounded firmly in the truth so that we do not fall prey to those who distort the truth. The way we live our lives is a powerful testimony of God’s goodness and mercy.

But in sharing the Word of God, remember one thing. God equips each and every one of us for His good works. We should rely on the wisdom of God and not the wisdom of man. In my stay in Melbourne, I’ve been given the privilege to become roommates with a non-Christian friend of mine. Do pray that God will touch His heart as I share with Him the goodness of God. Let’s win one more soul for God!

I pray that CA will continue to flourish under the new committee by the grace of God. May God continue to bless you abundantly as you serve and seek the Lord.

Love,
Brian

God's Valentines...

Siew Fong:
"Same as others that is the first worship and also the last worship for me. Thank you for the Lord as giving me this chance and it will be a memorable CA for me no matter when will I be in the future. Beside, it gave the feeling of family, a big and united family. I feel the love of God from there"

Amy:
"God made it the best CA ever!"

Anna:
"That is my first worship and also the last worship for me in CA. The worship is great, I don't know how to describe it. When I'm in the worship, I have the feeling as David said,"I will praise God's name in song ans glorify Him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD!"


"For He will order His angels to protect you wherever you go."
-Psalm 91:11

Love Vs Loneliness...

Praises be to the Lord for His blessing upon CA. In conjunction with Valentine’s Day, we had chosen “Love vs. Loneliness” as the theme of this CA. It was held on the 13^th February, Wednesday (we usually have it on Thursdays) as this would be the last CA for the Koreans as well as the ALM students who will be leaving for UniSA, not forgetting our AUSMAT seniors.

Preparations were done even before the Chinese New Year, exactly right after the first meeting. I guess everyone was still pumped with the spirit to serve our Lord. Hallelujah!! This time, we are trying to improve our weaknesses while strengthening our strong points from the previous meeting. Meetings were carried out as usual even though everyone was still in their holiday mood and tests around the corner. Nevertheless, everyone was very excited and couldn’t wait for that day.

I was in charge of the decorations of the sanctuary that day. Imagine, we had to rush back to Cendana right after class and with limited time, Samuel, Chiewie and I were the first ones to reach NLRC. Thanks Jim for the transportation ;) Pumping the balloons was hard. Don’t even mention about shaping the balloons into heart shapes. It never came across my mind that pumping the balloons would be that difficult, and with butter fingers, I was struggling even to tie balloons. (paiseh) Luckily, Betty and Yen Mii were there to help while Samuel was getting the balloons into shape like a pro…

The decorations were wonderful, thanks to Yen Mii and some the girls’ creative ideas. Everyone was amazed when they stepped into the sanctuary. By the way, the transportation in Cendana was punctual. Thank God. Everything went out smoothly.

The meeting began with the throwing of chocolates around by the emcees, Ken and Sze Yin (just to get everyone excited) I didn’t manage to get any but someone was kind to give me one, but I just can’t recall who… Anyway, it was then followed by the ice-breaking session. We were playing twister. What is it? Well, basically it is like putting the number of our feet, hands and even head (duh!!) on the floor as required by the organizer, Amy. Every boy present was required to “couple” up with a girl. I notice some of the guys were quite shy to invite the other party. I think that’s normal for our age. We had to pass six stages to get into the next round. Example, Amy would demand the couples to provide 2 legs, 2 knees and a head on the floor. WoW!! The game was very physical demanding.

Now, the interesting part begins. In the next round, the guys will have to “propose” to his respective partner in front of everyone!!!! With blushed face, some took out their “manliness” gut to propose. There was a couple where the girl (you know who…) had to do the talking while the boy (Anderson) was standing with a so called “flower” in his hand. Everyone present enjoyed a good laugh and I think the game really did break the ice.

The praise and worship was terrific. Siew Fong and her Korean gang lead the worship. Among the songs are:

Now That You’re Near

Hold me in Your arms, Never let me go

I wanna spend eternally with You

I stand before You Lord, And give You all my praise

Your love is all I need, Jesus You’re all I need

My life belongs to You, You gave Your life for me

Your grace is all I need, Jesus You’re all I need

Pre-Chorus:

Hold me in Your arms, Never let me go

I wanna spend eternity with You

Chorus:

And now that You’re near

Everything is different, Everything so different Lord

I know I’m not the same, My life You’ve changed

And I wanna be with You, I wanna be with You

Bridge:

And I will sing for You always, yeah

Cause in Your presence God is where I want to stay

Hold me in Your arms, never let me go

I want to spend eternity with You

Better Than Life

Better than the riches in this world

Better than the sound of my friends voice

Better than the biggest dreams of my heart

And that’s just the start

Better than getting what I say I need

Better than living the life that I want to

Better than the love anyone could give

Your love is

Pre-Chorus:

You hold me in Your arms

And never let me go

Chorus:

You Oh Lord make the sun shine

And the moon light in the night sky

You gave me breath and all Your love

I give my heart to You because

I can’t stop falling in love with You

I’ll never stop falling in love with You

Lift Your Name

I’m gonna lift You up

Higher than all things

Above every name, cause

You are my God and King

You made everything

So I give You all my praise

Pre-Chorus:

I’m gonna lift Your name up

So all the world can see You

Live in me

Chorus:

Shine Your light in me

So all the world will see

The power of Your majesty (Jesus I will lift Your name up!)

Let Your spirit fall on me now

So that all the world will know

That You’re my God (Jesus I will lift Your name up)

Bridge:

Jesus I will lift Your name up

Higher than all other names

You are my God You are my king (repeat 4x)

Need You Here

I need You here… I need You here

You’re like the rain that falls

Fall on this heart and make me new

I look to You… I look to You

You’re king above the earth

And You have put heaven in my heart

Pre-Chorus:

I only want to be where You are

Chorus:

Holy… Holy is the Lord… King of glory

Forever… Salvation of the world

Though mountains maybe moved

And fall into the raging seas

You’ll never let me fall

You hold me in Your nail scarred hands

Still

Hide me now,

Under Your wings

Cover me,

Within Your mighty hand

Chorus:

When the oceans rise and thunder storm

I will soar with You above the storm

Father, You are king over the flood

I will be still and know You are God

Find rest my soul,

In Christ alone

Know his power

In quietness and trust

Here I am to Worship

Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness

Opened my eyes, let me see

Beauty that is made this heart adore You

Hope of a life spent in You

Chorus:

So, here I am to worship

Here I am to bow down

Here I am to say that You’re my God

And You’re altogether lovely

Altogether worthy

Altogether wonderful to me

King of all days, oh so highly exalted

Glorious in heaven above

Humbly You came to the earth You created

All for love’s sake become poor

I’ll never know how much it cost

To see my sins upon that cross

After that, Amy gave a brief introduction on the speaker that night. Elder Ken Yak from Acts Church was a wonderful speaker. Throughout his sermon, he was sharing about his experience in his past. What experience? Of course something that is related to the theme for this CA. A dynamic and hilarious speaker, he had us all of us enjoying the word of God. He proclaimed that there is someone who never forsakes us even in our earthly loneliness. As the bible says,

I waited patiently for the Lord’s help;

then He listened to me and heard my cry.

He pulled me out of a dangerous pit,

out of the deadly quicksand.

He set me safely on a rock and made me secure.

He taught me to sing a new song,

A song of praise to our God.

Many who see this will take warning

and will put their trust in the Lord.

Psalm 40:1-3

(Today’s English Version)

Unfortunately, time did not permit and Elder Ken Yak had to close the session by praying for everyone of us or else he would go on with his interesting topic…

Not forgetting that this was the last CA for the Koreans and the ALMs heading for UniSA, we had a special moment for them. We prayed for them and wished them the best of luck. So to all of them, I would like to thank you for your unending support and commitment in serving the Lord with us and may the blessings of the Lord continue to shine upon you. Hopefully CA has had a deep impact in your life. (sob)…

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Corinthians 13:13)

It all ended, we really enjoyed the refreshment prepared by Pei Ling. For your information, we got to taste her specially baked chocolates and banana cakes (Elder Ken’s favourite!!!) with grape juice. Ahh!! Just right for this valentine. Everyone returned to their rightful places and we really had a blessed and wonderful evening this CA. See you soon….

Called to serve,

Han

From our Jim Koko...

CA (Campus Live) on a Wednesday night, eve of Valentines Day and sadly, the last for me. Yes, Jim here. For those who don't know, I'm an Ausmat senior, Ausmat 18 to be more exact. For easier reference, I'm Joash's batch. Indeed, it will be my last CA of the year, for me. Now I really know how my seniors felt when they just attended their last CA. Their heavy hearts just stubbornly resist to leave but, what to do. Yes, that was how I excatly felt. Imagine, not going to see your CA friends for the next 10 to 12 months, how will you feel about it?

Ok, enough of all those sad stuff. Now, CA (13.02.08) was a blast. It was, I can say, one of the best CA meetings so far. Seeing the juniors working closely together as one unit, I was proud. From my point of view, everything went well and according to plan. I know, God is seeing us through each and everything that we did. Transport, worship, ice breakers, refreshments and transportation back. I sort of made me flashback to the time when I was in the CA committee. It was fun, doing it for Him. Oh ya, I did help out though, in playing the bass. Haha, was so glad to help out when Anderson asked me too.

Generally, it was another CA, where people came and was blessed. The speaker was awesome too, an elder from Acts church. He emphasized on Psalm 40. Though we might be married to someone, there are still times when we will feel lonely BUT, Jesus, He will always be there to keep us company, to chase our loneliness away. That's great isn't it. Now, I do not need to worry about Valentines Day anymore. Who needs others when you already have Jesus? Of course, I'm not implying that we should be lone rangers.

Dear Juniors, you did a great job the other night. Do keep it up. Teamwork is of course, the most important. Everyone plays a significant role. Eventhough you might be the projectionist, the person preparing refreshments, the van drive, the person arranging transport or the one blowing up love shaped balloons, all of you are actually doing it for His service. Yes, you are actually serving Jesus by doing the task that you need to do. You know what , Jesus loves what all of you are doing and He surely reward you respectively. Lastly, treasure every CA meeting because, you, will not get anything like this anywhere else.

Thank you very much for letting me drop a few words here in the CA blog. God bless all of you. Take care everyone.

Jim.

A Visit To Memory Lane

I had intended on coming back to attend CA for quite some time already, since I started studying in IMU, but due to things like packed schedules and the distance from Bukit Jalil to Shah Alam (if you’re car-less, like me!), it was only on January 24th this year that this wish of mine came to pass. And boy, was I glad that I was able to make it. J

First of all, it was simply great to be back in CA again. I’ve always said that there’s a certain very exciting yet warm and personal atmosphere that can only be found in Campus Alive INTEC. The whole buzz of activity before CA starts, the fun of the programme, coupled with the solid ministry of God’s Word that changes lives, and the time of fellowship after—these things all became very familiar to many of us during our time in INTEC, and it sure brought back lots of good memories! So in a sense, coming to CA was like a walk down Memory Lane… *emo emo* ;p

P.S. – Jac, Yuwan, Cheah Yen, Nat, Daniel, Adeline was so good to go CA with my grandsenior brothers and sisters again—you’re a such a special bunch of people to me! J

And even better, it was Chinese New Year CA! I don’t think I’ve ever seen SO many people all dressed in red, pink, orange or yellow all packed within the vicinity of four walls… seriously! Was quite a lot to handle for my poor old eyes ;p But CA-Grandma eyes aside, it sure added to the festive mood, and what better way to get hyped up for CNY ya. J Oh yes, the angpaus were an awesome idea—filled not with money, but with the real treasure that will never pass away, God’s Word. Kudos to all those who handled it!

But programmes and festivities aside, I was very glad to see God’s Word still being strongly ministered and responded to in CA. After all, our God is the very Reason and Purpose for this CA, and it belongs to Him. May our focus never wander to anything else other than the sole honour of listening to His voice and walking in His ways.

To my precious juniors, the “old” committee, congratulations! You are now grandparents (or parents—whichever applies to you, according to our extremely confusing title system.. haha)! Thank you for your faithfulness in serving—I can still remember the time we handed over the CA to all of you, and it was such a great joy to know the CA was in capable and faithful hands. Indeed you have run the good race, and fought the good fight! J Of course, your serving does not stop here. Do continue to mentor your juniors and keep them under your wing ya… and keep up the spirit of servitude, wherever God takes you after INTEC. You are all so dear to me la J

To my grandjuniors—the new committee as well as all of you who come for CA, thank you for answering God’s call to step up and be counted as part of the family of God. Thank you for being willing to give your life to serving Him. I pray that each and every one of you will grow more and more into the likeness of Jesus, even as you seek His guidance daily. Do nothing by your own strength, but always seek the Lord’s “green light” in everything. Have the heart of a servant, always humble, and boasting in nothing but the Cross. Have the generosity of a child of God—make time and don’t be afraid of pouring your life into blessing and encouraging the people around you. But above all, make God your Number One pursuit—the centre of your lives and the centre of CA, for it is where He deserves to be. J

I’m looking forward to be able to visit again, and to get to know all of you better. But till then, continue to keep up the great work ya.. God bless all of you! J

His love and mine,
Mandy

Sermon for the First CA

Hey, people. Here’s a small contribution for CA before I leave for Australia. It’s the transcript of Pastor David’s sermon in the First CA. I’ve tried to render it as close to the original as possible. Enjoy!

Note: Words in italic are my own thoughts during the sermon, or while I am writing this.

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At the announcement of his name, Pastor David stepped forward to address the crowd of faithful brothers and sisters who were waiting eagerly to hear his sharing on the Word of the Lord. As the thunderous applause subsided, the pastor cleared his throat, before opening his mouth to speak as everyone else in the room listened intently to his speech.

“Look at your resolutions for this year?” he began. “What are they all about?”

To draw emphasis, he furthered his line of questioning, “Are they all about what YOU want?”

He let the question hang in the air for a brief moment before continuing on.

“Let me just say this. It is not wrong to pursue our dreams or goals. These dreams are given by God. But what I’m saying is, there’s a better way of pursuing them than YOUR way, and that is God’s way.”

As a person who gives prominence to scripture, the pastor proceeds to quote the sayings of Jesus from Matthew 6:25-34.

²⁵ "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[a]?

²⁸ "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

“In the passage you’ve just heard, Jesus addresses the usual needs of mankind – clothing, food, shelter. In human life, there is a hierarchy of needs, beginning with the basic needs which I’ve just mentioned. Then, we begin moving up the hierarchy with other needs such as peace, comfort, stability and finally we reach the highest point where self-esteem stands.”

“So you see there are a lot of things that stress us up and all of this can be summed up to one word – WORRY.”

To draw our attention back to God, Pastor David quips, “But Jesus gives us an important insight. ‘Don’t you worry!’ He says. We don’t add our lifespan by worrying about things, but instead we shorten it.”

Pausing momentarily, the pastor went on to point out the thing that we sometimes do in our lives. “At times we get upset with Jesus when trouble comes. We say that He doesn’t sympathize with us. But the scriptures paint a different picture. In fact, He does care about us.”

“Look at Psalms 139. It says that God’s thoughts for us are more numerous than the grains of sand on the seashore (vs 17-18),” suggested the pastor, quoting scripture again.

“The fact is. God cares for us more than anything else. We are made in God’s image and are thus, God’s highest creation,” he further elaborated.

“Jesus does not want us to repeat the mistakes made by the Israelites in their worries (e.g. when they chose to disobey God’s commands to take the promised land and were made to wander for 40 years in the wilderness, see Num 14), so He gives us a new solution to our worries.”

I could sense that he was on to something interesting.

“Seek first the kingdom of God,” he brought up the words of Jesus.

The pastor emphasized on the word ‘seek’.

“Now what is ‘seek’?” he enquired. Without waiting for a response, he provided an answer to his own question, “It means to put all our mind and attention to find something.”

After ensuring that everyone was on the same track as he, the pastor highlighted several items that most people ‘seek’ nowadays, which he labeled the 4 G’s.

“What are the 4 G’s?” he asked, then began listing them down, pausing in between each item.

“Gold”

“Glory”

“What’s next?” he asked.

A similar concept of 3 G’s previously taught in secondary school History prompted some to reply, “Gospel”.

“Gospel? Haha. It would be great if people sought the Gospel. The next G is Girl…or…Guy,” he said to the laughter of the crowd.

And finally, “Good health”.

Upon finishing the list, he remarked, “Often, people seek for the gifts but not the Giver. Hence, they lose their focus.”

“Now, Jesus wants to bring our focus back to what’s more important – the Giver, the Healer, the Creator!”

“Once we set our focus on God, what does Jesus say? He says, all these things shall be added unto us. When we have the right focus, all our needs will be given to us. All the things that we used to chase will come chasing after us!”

“Psalms 23 tells us, ‘surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.’ If we set our focus, He will give us all the goodness and mercy He has promised.”

After laying down a good foundation for his next point, he went on, “Now if we want these blessings from God, then we must put God FIRST. By that, God is talking about priorities. He is not saying that we don’t have to work, but our focus should be on God first.”

“In Psalms, it is written that our concern is God’s concern. We must surrender everything to Him. We cannot allow God only partial Lordship of our lives. We can’t say, ‘Lord, please help me with my relationship issues but please don’t touch any of other issues in my life. I can handle them myself’”

“We must surrender ALL our pursuits to Him,” Pastor David reiterated. To cap his point, he added, “Either, He is Lord of all of not Lord at all.”

“Look after God’s interest and He’ll look after ours. The Bible gives us many clear examples of God pouring out His blessings to those who choose to look after God’s interest.”

“Tonight, I’d like to give you the example of Solomon, the wisest man on earth. Now, one night God appeared to Him and asked him what he wanted. Solomon could’ve chosen riches, long life, and the death of his enemies but instead he asked for wisdom to govern God’s people. He chooses to look after God’s interests by requesting for wisdom and understanding to govern His people. In the end, God did not only give Him wisdom but also gave him so much more – riches and honour greater than any other king who ever lived.”

There are many other ways we can look after God’s interests. Serving God whole-heartedly in our ministry is looking after God’s interests. We don’t have to be in positions of honour like Solomon to do so. Even when we serve ‘behind the scenes’, it is still looking after God’s interests, as long as we do it with the objective of pleasing God as our main focus.

Now that he has got everyone excited about his message, the pastor prepared to approach from a different perspective.

“What is a kingdom?” he began. Almost immediately, he replied his own question, “A king and his domain.”

He then issued his next question, along with the answer shortly thereafter. “What is the Kingdom of God?” “It is the King himself along with heavenly things, things of eternal value such as eternal peace, blessings, true joy and so on.”

“But no matter what type of kingdom it is, the most important figure is the king himself.”

Having established that, the pastor drove home his point. “So, we seek first the King and all the things that pertain to His kingdom.” “How do we do that?”

“Spend time personally with God. Read the word of God, it is the main way of listening to His word.”

“As we do that, we behold God’s glory. We seek the face of God, not the hands of God!

2 Chronicles 7:14 says, ‘If my people who are called by my name, would humbles themselves, and pray, and seek My face and turn away from their wicked ways, then I from heaven will hear them, and forgive them of their sins and heal their lands.’”

“We seek His face, not His hands. The hands of God refer more to God’s works and deeds.” We worship the Creator, not the creation!

“Also, do not forget to pray. After prayer, we enter into the relationship with Him and it becomes worship.”

“Each time we come before Him, we are alone with the King in His royal chambers. It’s just between us and God and we can come to Him and pour out whatever problems and grievances we have to Him. When God is pleased with our time with Him, He will pour out His blessings onto us.”

Pastor David had reached the end of his almost hour-long sermon. He summed up his entire message with a brief conclusion, “God is willing and able to do all that is needed to help us as long as we place Him first!”

After the interesting sharing by the pastor, the CA meeting proceeded with the rest of the activities as reported by Betty and Ken.

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Well, that’s it from me this time. Hope I don’t get blasted for taking up too much space in the CA blog. =P

Hope to hear/read the sermon for the next CA from you guys. God bless!

In His service,

Brian Chee Nee Hou

NFL

I spent the night watching Superbowl Sunday instead of writing my essay. My bad my bad. However, my interest in NFL is not limited to just the sweat and the sensation of the game. Rather, in the midst of the spotlight and the glamor world, I get a glimpse of how ordinary men live extraordinary lives for God.

Last Sunday, it was Superbowl Sunday a.k.a the grand finale of NFL season featuring NY Giants vs NE Patriots. With about 1 minute to go, The Giants made a crucial touchdown to secure the win. It was a fantastic comeback, one of the greatest in the history of NFL. The most important scene is of course the scene where the quarterback, Eli Manning, threw a ball halfway across the field to David Tyree, who then caught one of the most important catches in his life. That catch became so highlighted in the news that Tyree's name was spoken again and again.

David Tyree was not the best player of the year. He was not the most popular player of all. However, as my friend said, God just placed him there that night to catch this spectacular ball to tell a story to the world.

And here is his story, taken from New York Times. Enjoy.

Full link here

Spotlight Shines on a Changed Man

By GREG BISHOP and PETE THAMEL

WAYNE, N.J. — The walls of the jail cell were built from stone, providing the perfect place for David Tyree to hit rock bottom. Arrested for drug possession after the police found half a pound of marijuana in his car, caged between stone walls and steel bars, Tyree covered his face with his hands.

Those hands, with awkwardly bent fingers and mangled knuckles, grabbed national attention years later. During the Giants’ improbable Super Bowl victory over the undefeated Patriots, Tyree caught a desperation pass on the winning drive by pinning the ball against his helmet.

The catch introduced the 28-year-old Tyree to the world. He made the cover of Sports Illustrated and flew last week to Los Angeles to appear on national talk shows.

“What looked to be the lowest point in my life ended up being the greatest thing that ever happened to me,” Tyree, speaking of his arrest in 2004, said Saturday morning while sitting at his kitchen table.

From special-teams demon to Super Bowl deity. From moonlighting drug dealer to born-again Christian. From a child who drank alcohol and smoked marijuana with his family to a sober father and husband who started his own nonprofit organization.

This is Tyree’s version of his transformation.

The first time he can remember vomiting after drinking alcohol was in eighth grade. By his junior year at Montclair High School, he celebrated the same way after every football game — drinking a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor and a half-pint of Jack Daniel’s whiskey, and smoking a blunt, a skinny cigar hollowed and filled with marijuana.

Tyree’s mother, Thelma, tolerated drug use in her home. She also smoked marijuana. Her philosophy, according to Tyree: “She would rather us be at home, acting the complete fool under her watch, than out on the streets, doing the same things and finding trouble that was definitely waiting for us. My house was a free-for-all.”

“Patrolling the devil’s den,” is how Tyree describes his high school life. He said that Thelma was a wonderful mother, that they were as close as mother and son could be. He does not want their relationship misinterpreted.

Born in East Orange, N.J., raised mostly in Montclair, Tyree developed a mentality built on toughness. This served him well on the football field and helped him find trouble off it.

In college at Syracuse, Tyree often drank until he blacked out. One morning, he woke up naked. Another morning, he woke up covered in mud. Each time, he could not remember why.

The Giants drafted Tyree in the sixth round in 2003. He went to church and claimed to be a Christian. But he also wanted to live what he called “an N.F.L. lifestyle” — booze and drugs and women, all readily available since he had money.

In his rookie season, Tyree was the N.F.L.’s special-teams rookie of the year and the Giants’ rookie of the year. But his seemingly perfect life was unraveling.

Near the end of Tyree’s rookie season, Coach Jim Fassel fined him $10,000 for being late to a team meeting. Tyree apologized the next day and thanked Fassel for the lesson in maturity. Fassel said he could not remember anyone ever thanking him for a fine.

Privately, Tyree figured he would recoup the fine.

“I’m smoking the best bud, so I might as well start selling it,” he said of his thinking. “That just shows you the mind-set that you have. You’ve got gangsters, you listen to 50 Cent, all this craziness. That’s the life I was living. So it made sense, man. ‘I just lost 10 G’s. I’ve got to hit the streets and get my money back.’ ”

The morning Tyree left jail, in March 2004, his estranged girlfriend, Leilah, sent him a text message. It read, “I’m with child.” She was pregnant with their second son.

He promised to visit her in Syracuse and went home and downed a bottle of Rémy Martin cognac. During the visit that month, Leilah presented Tyree with an ultimatum — her lifestyle or his.

Tyree promised change, just as he had promised before. He glimpsed a Bible on her bed, and when he picked it up and started reading from the book of Genesis, for the first time, the words on the page made sense. He went home and “called every woman and told them, ‘Things are about to change.’” Tyree said he never drank again.

Then one day, for no reason in particular, Tyree went to the Bethel Church of Love and Praise in Bloomfield, N.J. He sat in the back, about a month after the arrest.

A woman started singing before the congregation, her voice, loud and passionate, filling the room. As Tyree listened, he felt her joy and realized he had none. He lowered his head into his hands and started crying, first sniffles, then sobs lasting 25 minutes.

“I’m a successful player in the N.F.L., having what most people would desire for their lives,” Tyree said. “I’m at the pinnacle of sports. But I had no joy. I had no peace. My life was obviously in disarray.”

As Tyree talks, his family floats between the kitchen and the living room. His 6-year-old son, Teyon, grabs the digital recorder off the table. His 3-year-old son, Josiah, watches a movie in the basement. Leilah, now his wife, prepares for an afternoon baby shower. She is expecting twin girls later this month.

Missing from the picture is Thelma, who died in December of a heart attack at age 59. After Tyree found God, they went through a rough patch. He described himself then as “the Christian you don’t like,” someone who was overbearing in his beliefs. He sometimes told his mother: “You need to find Jesus. You’re going to hell.”

When Thelma died in Florida, a few years after she said she found God, her final words were: “I’m liberated.”

Up the coast, Tyree and the Giants were preparing for a game against the Redskins. The Giants pulled Tyree out of a team meeting. Leilah had tears in her eyes.

“Your mom,” she stammered. “Your mom died of a heart attack.”

For five minutes that seemed like hours, Tyree stood and stared out the nearest window. He felt someone rubbing his back, whispering in his ear. He turned to look. It was Giants Coach Tom Coughlin.

“He always believed in me,” Tyree said.

After the Giants started the season 0-2, while Tyree was recovering from a fractured wrist, he wrote a letter to his teammates and stuffed it in each locker. The message was: Something special would happen this season.

Tyree never expected to make possibly the greatest catch in the history of the Super Bowl. He never expected an earlier touchdown grab in the same game, his first of the season.

Or the trip to Los Angeles, the personalized underwear — with an 8 and a 5, representing his jersey number — from Ellen DeGeneres, or the bear hug from the entertainer Flavor Flav on Jimmy Kimmel’s show. The producers at DeGeneres’s show even fashioned Velcro to a helmet and attached a football to it, simulating Tyree’s circus grab.

“It’s imperative for me not to act like this was all me,” Tyree said.

Though the catch opened up numerous marketing opportunities for the once-anonymous Tyree, he remains more concerned with changing lives. In 2006, Tyree and his wife started Next in Line, a project that counsels teenagers.

Markell Hardy, a 14-year-old freshman at Montclair High, said she knew Tyree for a month before she found out he played football. She talked about trips to Six Flags, to Giants games and dinners.

“He really doesn’t come off like he’s a big football player,” Hardy said. “I think of him as my uncle. I just love him.”

A week ago, the world knew little of Tyree. Four years ago, he claims to have only vaguely known himself.

“It’s more than just a feel-good story,” Tyree said. “It’s not about David Tyree. It’s bigger than this Super Bowl catch. It’s about destiny and purpose.”

The Next CA....

Attention everyone!!! Please take note that the next CA will be held on 13th Feb 2008, that is WEDNESDAY!!!! see you there.....

The Very First CA, 2008

C.A. REPORT – 24^TH January 2008

First and foremost, my deepest apologies for not posting this CA report sooner. Sigh, no excuses to justify my incompetence for this occasion. Well, I guess it is due to my lack of time-management for the past week. Sorry! Do praise the Lord for blessing me with the enthusiasm to stay awake till 2a.m. to finally type this report! It is kind of hard to recall everything that happened last week in CA, but I promise I’ll try my best. Here goes:

The first CA of the year, Ahhhh~~ I can still vividly remember that everyone was (and still is) so pumped up to serve the Lord, so happy to work hand-to-hand with each other again. It’s such an immense encouragement to me, and many others as well, to follow in their footsteps and fulfil the path our Heavenly Father bestowed upon them.

As I was saying, everyone in the committee hoped to have a fresh start for a new year, to shine brightly for the Lord so as to keep the momentum going all year long. However, life rarely goes according to our plan. It’s God’s great and marvellous plan that decides everything. Pre-destined lives, as some would say. Yup, the worship team met with an unforeseen accident while on the way to practice last Monday. Thank God no one was seriously wounded! Everyone managed to get away with minor cuts and bruises, yea no broken bones or any other heavy injuries. Hallelujah!

Some people might think that this unexpected turn of event have brought down the fierce spirit of the worship team to praise the Lord; they might think that God is trying to stop us from worshipping him, from exalting his name. The members of the worship team thought just the opposite; they took up the challenge in the name of the Father, and persevered through all the obstacles that have been assailed on them! Nothing can stop their intense will to serve, worship and praise the Lord. Yes, all this source of strength and character comes from the faith in Christ. Through faith, we will persevere.

At last, the long-awaited opening CA of the year took place last Thursday. In Cendana alone there was about 17-18 guys waiting outside the hostel. The transport ministry didn’t expect so much people to turn up and there was heavy traffic in Shah Alam during that time. Consequently, we waited for about 45 minutes (it was proved worthy though, every single second of it). It was about 8.00pm when we reached New Life. Some of us had to skip Chinese food L ; coz we were late and CA was already starting (again, it was worth it).

As I guide newcomers into the sanctuary, it was really refreshing to see all those familiar faces back in a familiar place, smiling and geared up to worship God. Mmmm~ just love to see people smile, I believe everyone does lol. As usual, CA started off with games, which were conducted by Amy (Korean Programme). The game this time was pretty funky, with the participants split into groups, like always. Each group was given a mission to perform a mini sketch and the other groups had to guess what it is they are trying to do. Lol, it was a real laugh. Seriously, visualize this, imagine having a task of “waking up in the morning and taking a cold shower”. One fellow was the shower pipe, one was the guy taking the shower, while the rest were... walls =.=

After games, comes the worship session. It was then that everyone was clear that the accident did not lower the spirit of the worship team. If the accident did anything, it brought out the best in them. It was truly wonderful. More than 70 people was worshipping and praising the Lord, Christians and non-Christians alike. I pray that the latter will learn more about Christ and accept Him into their hearts soon. Ohhh, I almost forgot to mention that a number of AUSMAT seniors returned to CA and worshipped with us together once more. “Heart of Worship” and several other songs were sung in accordance with us coming back after a month of holiday to exalt His name yet again. Even though I would have liked to praise Him longer, it was already time for sermons. Hence, worship was ended with a prayer of thanks to the Lord.

Like usual, Pastor David sermon was really interesting. It was mostly about all the obstacles and challenges that we encounter in our lives. God did not cause all these destitutions to happen to us just to break us down so that we will lose our resolve and faith in Him. Instead, what He wanted was to build up our charisma and strengthen our faith. We as Christians ought to pick ourselves up and conquer the impediment that He has placed in front of us, just like the worship team did. Have faith in the Lord, and He will carry you through your hardships.

After the sermon, Pastor asked that whoever had burdens and is going through a hard time in his or her life to go forward and kneel down in front of Christ so that He can carry the burdens for us. A few people, including myself, did. If you feel as if you are carrying a ton of secrets and burdens all by yourself and you would rather not tell anyone about it, it can get really strenuous sometimes, please remember that there is someone looking after you up there. You can always confide in Him, you can always seek His guidance, and you can always ask Him to help carry some, or even ALL of your burdens. Yes, remember that, my friends.

Ultimately, the first CA of the year was coming to an end. Everything proceeded smoothly after that. Refreshments was orange juice, sandwiches and cookies! Were those homemade? I didn’t ask back then (just ate and ate). Oh yea, Samuel even bought some mandarins. Surely, it was an enjoyable night for everyone. Kudos to the committee for making this CA a success! Keep up the good work, guys and gals! Thank you, God!

P.S. Do tell me if this report is a little too long, I’ll shorten it up next time if that’s the case.

Yours faithfully,

Ken

Jump Start The Year!!

‘Jump start the year’. This is the theme for this very first CA of 2008. This CA is the first CA which is fully conducted by the juniors. Meetings were carried out again and again in Ausmat café, some busy messaging and calling to arrange the transportations, doing research in Giant and Mydin for the refreshments… and keeping CA, all the Ministries, and everyone in the prayers. I am so touched to see the unity in serving Him. I believe He did listen to our prayers, although some problems occurred during the preparations but God is good all the time. He is always there guiding us, taking good care of us. It’s touched to see that everyone is not affected by incident happened, but continue to plan and practice, just to make sure everything will go smoothly.

I was really excited when Yen Mii told me the actual date for the first CA of the year. I have been looking forward for it since the last November, after the last CA in 2007. And finally, the day came. For the whole day, every time when I walked past someone in red shirt, I will start to think whether he or she is coming to the CA that night. Yes, as we were celebrating Chinese New Year, everyone were asked to be in their best red attire. Few days before the CA, many friends started to ask around, borrowing red clothes. I believe most of them purposely went to buy a red shirt, because I don’t see much people having the confidence to wear such a bright and sharp colour if there is no special occasion. Thank you very much for all of you to be in your red attires. I saw some of our super seniors and Ausmat seniors are not having any red colour on their bodies. It’s my fault for not uploading the flyers to the blog due to some technical problems. I’m sorry for that.

I’m in the first group of people to reach NLRC. As I mention just now, we were celebrating Chinese New Year, the sanctuary is decorated with red packets, 2 pineapples’ decorations and lots of bunny balloons. Many of us tried to blow the balloons, but surprisingly the balloons are so difficult to blow. And this was my first time failed to blow a balloon. The balloons are so stubborn, it does not expand at all, even though I bulged my mouth, and using all my energy just to blow it. All of us gave up after trying for several times. The only person who blew the balloons successfully is Jia Jeng. *claps* Why she looked so easy to blow the balloons? Maybe we just don’t have the talent in it. The bunny balloons are cute. Some of them have both big ears, some have both small ears and some with a big and a small ears. If you are in the CA that night, you will notice that we can find the bunnies everywhere… in front of the band, camouflage in the bunch of flowers in front of the stage, and hanging upside down on the side too.

Around 6.30pm, NLRC started to pack with people in red shirt. This reminded me of the flowers competing in splendor in the garden during summer. It is so spectacular. The meeting started quite late that night. A lot of new comers came that day. And this is a reunion for our Ausmat seniors and super seniors too. A big welcome to all of you. And we just want to apologise to those, especially the Cendana guys for keeping you for waiting so long for the transportations. And ya, thank you for all our drivers for lending us your time, energy, muscles and vehicles.

The meeting started with ice-breakers. Here it goes:

We are divided into seven groups and each group was given a red packet with an situation inside it. The situation inside were something we will do after we wake up early in the morning. So, every group had to use their creativity to act the situations given and let the other groups to guess what is written on the paper. The group that get the right answer will get 20 points. And the group which act and other groups get it correct, then they will get 10 points. I remember my group got something like ‘sniff yourself whether you are clean enough to go to school’. Nobody get the ‘sniff’ correct, even though my group members were sniffing hard. There were others like, making your bed, doing exercises, bathing… Group 5 was the winner that night. Congratulations!

After that, it was time for worship. The worship was led by Hui Theng from ADFP who was supported by a band made up of juniors. The worship songs comprised of ‘Worthy Is The Lamb’, ‘Heart of Worship’, ‘Mighty To Save’, ‘Open Up The Gates’, ‘I Simply Live for You’ and ‘Give Thanks’.

Worthy Is The Lamb

Thank you for the cross Lord
Thank you for the price You paid
Bearing all my sin and shame
In love You came
And gave amazing grace

Thank you for this love Lord
Thank you for your nail pierced hands
Washed me in Your cleansing flow
Now all I know
Your forgiveness and embrace

Worthy is the Lamb
Seated on the throne
Crown You now with many crowns
You reign victorious
High and lifted up
Jesus Son of God
Darling of Heaven crucified
Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy is the Lamb

Heart of Worship

When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart

pre-chorus:
I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what you have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

chorus:
I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry Lord for the things I've made it
When it's all about You
It's all about You, Jesus

King of endless worth
No one could express
How much You deserve
Though I'm weak and poor
All I have is Yours
Every single breath

Mighty To Save

Everyone needs compassion
Love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

Chorus:
Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever, Author of Salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

Verse 2:
So take as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender

Bridge:
Shine your light
And let the whole world see
We're singing
For the glory of the risen King, Jesus

Open Up The Gates
We come into this Holy place
To bring a sacrifice of praise
Bow down before You and seek Your face

We sing of the mighty things You've done
Cry out to You "Let Your will be done"
Tell all the world You're the Holy one

Hear the shouts of praise
As they're rising up to You
Come and fill this place
As we bring glory to Your name

Open up the gates and let the
King of glory in
Fill this house with praises as we
Lift our hands and worship You
Open up the doors and let Your
Glory fill the earth
King of Heaven we dance before Your throne

King of heaven come and
Take Your place
Dwell among us as we
Seek Your Face

I Simply Live For You

Say the word and I will sing for You

Over oceans deep, I will follow

If each star was a song

And every breath of wind, praise

It would still fail by far to say

All my heart contains

I simple live, I simply live for You

Chorus:

As the glory of Your presence

Now fills this place

In worship, we will meet You face to face

There is nothing in this world

To which You can be compared

Glory n glory, praise upon praise

You bind the broken hearted

And save all my tears

By Your word, You set the captives free

There is nothing in this world

That You cannot do

I simple live, I simple live for You

Give Thanks

Give thanks with a grateful heart

Give thanks unto the Holy One

Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son (repeat)

And now let the weak say, ‘I am strong’

Let the poor say, ‘I am rich

Because of what the Lord has done for us’ (repeat)

Give thanks

Next, is the performance by Jim and Joash. The song entitled ‘Immanuel’ is written by our Jim koko. Thank you, Jim, for your farewell performance and thanks to Joash for playing the piano.

Then, it was Ps. David’s turn to share with us. He shared about starting right with God.

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

(Matthew 6:25-34)

I want to share something I read before in Our Journey about a dog chasing its tail. The author visited his friend and saw the dog going round and round chasing its tail. The next time he visited his friend, he was told that his dog finally got its tail and died. Selah. Just stop and think for a while, if the dog just stop chasing its tail, and see ahead, its tail will be following behind it, and it won’t died.

We are chasing the 4G in our life- the Glory, Gold, Girls or Guys and Good health. But if we set our focus correctly, putting God as the top priority in our life, goodness and mercy will follow us. We should seek for the giver, not the gift. We should seek for the healer, not be healed. As God had said, ‘Your concern is my concern.’ So, just submit everything, our desires, our worries, into His hand, and these things, the things we are chasing for our whole life, will be chasing after us.

After the sermon from Pastor David, we sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Jim and Adeline (correct me if I’m wrong). Happy Birthday to both of you and all the January babies. May God bless you all.

And of course, we have a great fellowship time in the fellowship hall at fifth floor. For the refreshments, we had sandwiches with eggs + mayonnaise + chilli sauce fillings and orange juices. And ya, don’t forget Leon and Brian’s cookies. Thanks to Leon and Brian! I started to get nervous already… why nowadays guys are better in baking and cooking than girls? If you noticed, most of the chefs and bakers are guys…

As usual, we will be ‘halau’ to go downstairs, saying goodbye to each others, farewell to our seniors and super seniors, squeezed into the vehicles and go back to our hostels. Although I’m tired but I’m always looking forward to the next CA. See you on 13February 2008!

In His service,

Betty