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