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