hope suratthani

it was a veri gd trip for me :)

things were not as bad as we thought it to be. initially, e team had a lot of fears. we imagined the worst possible case scenarioes that could possibly occur: flash floods, living in the forest, what have you. but things were not as bad after all.

i am veri encouraged by our bros n sis and their faith. one that is not defined by convenience, past experiences or head knowledge like what we experienced here at certain times. many of them do not have a lot compared to us, speak little English..yet their faith is solely based on our Lord and what He says..pastor wants to go to nigeria even though he doesnt speak much English..want to equip and build the church..despite the fact that he is already 54 years old..was reali blessed and encouraged when how God made it possible for the bros n sis who were living in rural areas to congregate and meet for fellowship..i was on the van and you can see them being picked up one by one, the road is not fantastic at all..some of them are like in their seventies,eighties and mobility is an issue..yet they did not let this hinder them for putting their faith in God, it is not wavered or less shaken..God honors them as a result..Circumstances changed, there are roads built, they get to travel..Praise God!

it was fantastic as well when all of us organised the service for international fellowship group..i was doing the chairing for holy com and giving of offering..jason shared his testimony..first time..shirley led praise n worship, kangwei doing backup singing..jiayan,tracy n jeanette were helping out with the games and ushering..i had not done chairing or being through a course or proper training..iternary came late as well..all e travelling, we reali did not have much time to practise..gosh..yet we were led by the Spirit w all e minimal preparation we did..amazing! tracy as well, shared her testimony during their university outreach event.. tink there is a lot of potential in us, experiences accumulated especially those who serve in hope spore long enough..but sometimes either we are not given the chance to serve..or we r limited by we think of ourselves, focusing on inadequacies..it is a good thing that things are rather spontaneous..there is no clear objectives for some aspects of the programme or hey..let me brief you what to do for e uni outreach event..roles r not so defined which we are so accustomed to..which is a gd n bad thing..we can easily rely on ppl around to push us..a common example is finding venue for cg/lunch after sun svc..think myself is pretty guilty of relying on guofeng to set the venue, why not we suggest the place and let our CL know instead? we get frustrated and blame ppl when things are not defined for us..

get discouraged and so consumed by our personal agenda..whether it be personal success, getting attached..yet these ppl's hearts are reali set for Christ and His kingdom causes..they would do it no matter what happen to them, circumstances are not in their favor..their university group faces the same problem as us, lack of male leaders..turnover but for them they are just starting out for a year merely..20-odd ppl maybe..yet when they asked us for our inputs..asked so many questons..can reali see the desire and eagerness to want to learn from us..can reali sense that they have strong faith and perseverance to overcome the issues in front of them to see His will be done in the university campuses..

it talks a lot..for me, a good reflection and realisation for myself, get so easily discouraged by problems..whether personal or ministry..God doesnt seem to be in the picture much..living a maintaining or faithless life..realised that i am unwilling to come out of comfort zone at times..need pushing or ppl to remind me then i would do it..juz like during the outreach event, we dun need ppl/shirley to tell us that we should mingle with e students but i took a while to respond though i noe what to do, wait for ppl to move first..then i would do so..then think that hey man we r not briefed or told what to do..sometimes u dun need to know so much, need info in order to move things..i think it's a wrong attitude to have..reali encouraged by jason..he is an excellent example for us to learn from..throughout the trip..he is juz so serving and go out of the way to mingle and practise his thai, greet ppl even though it is half-past-six..eager to refresh others..wherest most of us seemed 'passive' or not situationally aware..we can definitely grow from here..

moving from here, reali hope to be a goer if possible..something i am just more sure abt after tis trip..just a matter of which country to go to..and saving my finances and learning driving,guitar,language and get more skills competence in ministry..especially e heart aspect, growing in spiritual maturity and character..there isnt much that i cannot bear to give up here..as a single, maybe family but 've sister still around, hopefully she'd be of help..other than that, dun reali see or tink that i can reach out effectively to e ppl who r decision makers in tis land..feels dat i am more of e going out there n experience life beyond tis red dot..yet i cannot be very sure or confident of tis at tis stage..a 4-day visit doesnt reveal much of realities of ministry there as well..although there r definitely key learning experiences that i've picked up..it's a veri appealing idea..to stay there..or migrate even..not thailand but possibly some other places..something i've been thinking abt..spore doesnt seem so attractive to me after all..w e rising costs n veri fast pace of life..either you are e very rich/e new gp of millionaires who have made their home here..wor..you reali can reign here man! otherwise a large gp of us w'd be struggling, make ends meet..straddled w debts..trying to survive though it is a veri safe n efficient place to stay in esp if you want to start a family..that's probably abt all..

i agree when pastor ponthi says that spore has made us to be ppl of gd quality..i fully resonate..that's prob e biggest selling point that we can offer..our way of governance, veri gd systems set in place for education,economy, we are given opportunities to learn,excel,attend gd schools..which many of us have taken granted for..ppl there, they dun even have chance to go for church camp or have the money to go for overseas trips..yet as a result, we can be complacent, sheltered or dare not take risks to venture out which is a great pity..hey..we've reached tis stage liao..do we need to pioneer or serve some more or so much? so many of us esp those in adults..man..we've attended so many WFL n leadership courses, all e ministry training we accumulated..'ve we forgotten all of them or still actively pursue after His next few steps for us? i am more convicted when pastor ben says dat spore is a spiritual hub, mission hubs..i understand better what he means now..esp those of us who are under alan's leadership these few years would 've been influenced greatly to think thoroughly, gain e competence n discernment to give good evaluation/feedback to programming or be veri effective in personal and ministry planning..i do tink dat these are our strengths which we should continue to refine and grow more, export these good technologies,systems n strategies abroad n contextualise wherever possible. An example which jason suggested could be sending uni bros n sis to come over to spore to be exposed how we serve here n some of us go back n follow through..tis trip reali opens my horizons..there is reali a lot spore can offer our expertise, even more as hope spore christians..

i am excited..might not reali pioneer a totally new land but maybe stay in an established church like hope suranthani, then be involved in their ministry be it student/adult group..then hold a job, get some basic income at least..as a result of tis trip, i see my work/career success even a smaller aspect of my life..hey..it is not so big deal after all..it is a new direction,calling for me now..hope i'd gain e strength n desire to walk along tis path..it would not be a once-off affair..

in summary, cannot say that hope spore have everything to learn from them or shall we dichotomise the experiences too much that we r inferior to them..their faith n faithfulness is definitely inspiring..would have to say, what our bros n sis there are going through, their all-out commitment, fervor, putting everything aside..we had also experienced all along..perhaps stronger some years back..just along the way, probably some zeal is lost or got distracted..it's a matter of being renewed and strengthened to run e race again..