faith journey continue

The journey continues as I remembered fondly the shared experiences from my ex-cg and venture into the new cg. May the Lord use and sustain me as a willing vessel and His glory be manifested in our lives as we persevere to bring His kingdom forward. Amen

It has been a faith journey for me these past ten months as I joined this new family. Though initially it was not easy for me to connect and open up, all new ppl to me at different life stages n from diverse backgrounds and life experiences. How is it possible to bond? But nothing is impossible with Him. God began to do His work in each of our lives. It is the transforming power of His grace and love that is evident as non-believer friend received Christ, long-time members got revived in their hearts and allowed the Lord to give them a fresh touch and vision, new shepherds rise up and the list carries on. This is the place I found refuge, a home and re-learn all that I used to think that its true, re-discover about God and His plans for the church. I learnt valuable lessons of others-centered leadership,non-judgmental and seeing the potential that God has for everyone no matter how small or insignificant we might seem and empowering them into ministry. I learnt about leading by the Spirit, praise n worship, teach and read books! Not forgetting the shared experiences of shooting the sianz video,cg retreat,having fun during church camp,going for air supply concert and of course all the 'crapping' and many rounds of steamboat! Thank you NG7A1 =)

the stool drama- Aug 09

Struggle with committing to cg as it will seem 'unglamorous' and 'not cool'

Want to remind myself in the future of the first skit in serving Him during tert evax svc in Aug 05. thx God

the enstrangled housewife, Grace who finds it hard to juggle between ministry and family.

the pretentious Charlie who could not get what he wants from 'Jesus'

the moment to emphasize that I am just so cool

giving 'Jesus' the 'total' control of my life

inital entrance, to come in with a bang waiting patiently for our skit to start at backstage
'Jesus' being styled for his hair before showtime!
showtime-22Aug,4 & 7pm svcs, reali gave us the creeps when we see the audience and stage area. 'giants'!

our inital rehearsals at various places, familiarising with our character n our lines

It was nice to act 'live' again after stopping for some time. It was not easy for me to portray the role of a cool guy when its so not my natural self. As I understand the value behind the role and the importance of the skit, I decided to give it a try. It was different this time round with inputs from Angie and Peikey who led us through different warm-ups and skills required to act on stage. Despite many rehearsals, it was difficult for me to sustain the energy level required even before the services started.

I keep asking myself, how is it possible for me to deliver it? But God is good! He kept assuring me that "What is impossible with man is possible with God"-Luke 18:27. And based on that promise, I went in and acted. It was great to work with Charlie,Yoppy,Priscilla,Peikey and Angie. I am really amazed how God uses ordinary people like us as his vessels to show forth His glory if we are willing and wholehearted to be used by Him.

It was really great acting and interacting with other church bro n sis, know a lot of ppl across congregations. I pray that our drama ministry will continue to grow from strength to strength and future opportunities in other new roles to continue to act to glorify Him =)

What's more heartening is to see my mum come for our church service which is the first time for her in all my years in Hope and I thank God for that! Initially, she was pretty hesistant to do so and had pre-arranged appointment but in the end she agreed with my sister bringing her along. It was nice to see dear's mum turn up as well. Thanks everyone for the support and prayers. Looking forward to the next assignment

Isa 55:10-11
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it

updates

Acting as a 'sian' nerd who does not like to go out but stays indoors to look at people's facebooks =p

It was nice to attend hongtao and swee leong's convocations. How time flies man! It was barely three years ago since I last graduated and now is their turn. So glad to have walked with them in this journey of their student life. May the Lord guide them well for the next lap in their working life =)

Thank God for the opportunity to act in the 'siansation' service. Kudos to the production team and their creative idea of doing a entertaining video clip about a topic close to our hearts. Hopefully that there will be more acting opportunities to come through different roles!

cg retreat

Our usual tradition of steamboat and bbq. Gosh its time to break the cycle! Think I had the most number of times of steamboat and bbq outings since I joined this cg in nov 08. Till date, 4-steamboat, 3-bbq over 6mths!

It was a great time of cg retreat at tanjong puteri over the labor day holiday. It has been a long while since I last had a retreat, more importantly, refreshed and recharged by it. Kudos to those who had taken the effort to plan for it despite last-min frenzy securing a suitable place because all the local chalets have been fully booked before we had any chance of finding one. It is amazing how God gave us a place at JB instead of in Spore because if we were here, we would have been forced to evacuate because of the flu thingy. The chalets were converted to house those quarantined.

Even though I joined the cg only on the second day, the initial fatigue and reluctance was soon superceded by the cg devotion time, praise and worship, fellowship and evening teaching. Everyone shared openly what they learnt from the Word and I was really sharpened in my understanding. It is important to know your call and purpose in life, be it at what life stage you are in and not be 'lost' in the fast-paced society of ours, losing our flavor easily. My eyes were open as well to see how God can use us to serve despite the issues we have especially for a number of believers who had been in church for some time. There is a renewed sense of heart and hope being restored to reclaim what rightfully belongs to His kingdom.

Really thank God for the many opportunities and space to serve in this new unit, be it planning bros' outings, teach and organise. Let His Will be done.

tioman

It was a nice budget trip with dear and the gals and ponyo to tioman last friday. It was a good break and thank God for His faithfulness. Despite the monsoon season, we were able to go and snorkel with bright sun and guess what, on our last day, it was raining heavily. It was nice to see His created stars, waves, sunset and fishes. Thank God also for providing us with an alternative coach bus back, not waiting too long as we had missed our own coach bus due to delayed ferry back to spore. Recommended for cg retreat =)

testimony of God's providence

Testimony of Boon Yeong(my cg brother)

It is a story of how the Lord refines and grows this brother's faith through a period of waiting and discouragement, and how the providence blessings of God comes forth in his life despite uncertain circumstances

March 08, 2009

I have the Lord with me for less than a year. I accepted Christ in March 2008. During this 1 year period, I have encountered many blessings from the Lord, but I would to share 2 significant answered prayers.

1) Purchasing house plan

From November 2008 onwards, I have been searching for house / condo to purchase at Johor Bahru. You can say I am preparing for my own home, or you can even say I am preparing for my next level of relationship progress with my girlfriend. Anyway, I have searched for few, but none of them meet my requirement. They are either too small, too costly or location is not good. I did not pray to God for His help to get the house previously. Until one night, I listed out all my house criteria in my journal and I prayed to God, each of it. I have 14 search criteria. I even asked Stephanie to pray for me, as I also list out my criteria to her (through msn messenger). The very next day, we found the condo that we been searching all these while, via house agent. And the amazing thing is God answered 13 out of 14 criteria that I had pray the night before. Wow…. My first impression is I was amazed because it’s just that yesterday night I prayed, and today we found our dream home. My faith towards God getting stronger, as I know God is in-control and I know that no matter how impossible things seem to be, our God will make a way for it, because He is the God of Possibilities. No matter how bleak the situation is, our good God will make a way for us. Our God want only the best things for us; not good; not better things, but the best! Because He has the best plan for you and me!

2) My career path (conversion from contract staff to permanent staff)

When I joined my current company (AT&T), I joined as a contract staff. After spending around 1 year in AT&T, my boss asked me to apply for permanent position in September 08 (I joined AT&T in Oct 07) because there is headcount available. I applied and been praying to God for this ever since. I waited for one month. No news. Then I waited for another month. Still no news. I got impatient and I even asked the cg members to pray for me. I was hoping that the conversion will go through in the month of December. But still no update when I checked with my boss.

In January, my boss told me that the conversion will not take place due to recession impact. I was dishearted at that point of time, because I has been praying to God all these while. How come God is not answering my prayer? Is it I am not sincere enough when I pray to Him? It takes me a while, before I cool down. Then I realized at such situation, having a job is considered very lucky, because there is so many people without job out there, and what make things worse, is they have a family to feed, especially small young one. At that point, I thanked God for providing me job, and secured it too. Why I still need to complain that God is not doing His work? I am sure He hears my prayers. But I believe God have much better plan for me. Greater plan I would say. Even though God does not provide me the conversion at that point of time, I still cling to God; still putting my faith to God to bring the good news to me. I still pray to God for the conversion job after that.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

In mid of February, my boss told me that there could be some good news. So I sms to the cg, and requested them to pray for me. The very next day, my boss handed me an offer letter of permanent position. I was so happy and delighted. I felt that whenever I asked the cg or other people to pray for me, the very next day, I will see / experience miracle. Same with the case of my condo purchasing plan. I am so encouraged that God really work His way for me. Previously the reason why God did not ‘approved’ my conversion, it could be due to the time is not right or He want me to learn something from it. During these 5 months period (Sept till Feb), I have learned to be patient, and learn to submit my plan to Him. Because I know that God is always in-control. God’s timing is always perfect, never too early and never too lat; just in time. Through this experience, I also learned to be thankful to God especially in the bad times, even in this bleak economy crisis, especially in US, the management still approved my conversion. God is working His way through this storm, and many will see the work done by God, as God will bring them to go through these difficult times together. The Lord has displayed to me His faithfulness and the work of His miracle.

Lamentations 3:22-23
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness

church governance

I find myself thinking more about church governance after i met choom yam to ask him about how our church is governed or ensure that it is in check, properly accounted for.

After the session, i have the burden to pray for our church esp for our church staff. Our new senior pastor and his team need much support and covering. Who will shepherd ps jeff when ps ben is leaving for the States? Does he has a network of local pastors to fellowship and find support? I really hope he does, if not, it can be an easily burnt out job.

Despite the assurances, i am still uncomfortable with the fact that we are an independent movement affiliated to no one? To me, it makes a lot of practical sense that we are under covering by our local counterparts with the well-established denominational groups such as the Methodists etc than under foreign body when there is hardly any check and balance if any at all. Can they know what is happening locally all the time? It sounds scary to me if we are isolated, sheltered and not well-networked and not know what the universal church body is doing and how we can learn from one another. We do not have the answers all the time. If the Board of Directors come from our own people, can they be objective still without compromising proper governance guidelines? Being nice and understanding is quite different from stating the facts and telling the truth.

I cannot help but think of ps ben's vision of a global-city church, as compelling as it sounds, it is a double-edged sword as having international affiliations bring about complications as well when things do not go well, just as the recent bangkok incident has shown. It has an effect on the local church and brings an important lesson of keeping our own porch clean and tidy. Winning souls and making disciples come with the house in order and there is proper usage and prioritisation of funds and resources. It is not mutually exclusive. Our hard-earned money and pledging of tithes need to go to funding God's work and nothing else.

Yet at the same time, also share Choon Yam's heart for our church to continue to keep to our original vision of church planting. Having about 10-plus people out of a 4k congregation once in a while go for church planting does not seem a mission-minded church, that is like 0.25%? How do we accomodate people who has the heart to start different ministries, find like-minded folks, equip them well and be mobilised as we grow bigger? The last we want is to be too comfortable with our fellowship, solely get married and start our families without knowing what He wants us to do for our church and lives. Think it is important to know what we are doing with our sheeps, our plans and where we are bringing them to?

Equally important is the need to build a supportive, transparent and safe environment to share about any issue. Brothers can feel secure and talk about gender-specific issues with one another and people from diverse backgrounds can find their meets met in their own caregroups. No one is left out.

keeping our church and people in prayer..hope we continue to mature and grow..

blessed couple =)

It was a blessed time to be there to witness my good friend sharon accepting proposal by peter. The timing was chosen at midnight which was a difficult time for me to be awake but understand that it was meant to be a surprise. Good preparation by peter to think of all the ideas, I particularly like the light stick decoration. I am amazed at how 'fast and furious' some of our peers can be to propose. For myself, I had not even met the parents yet despite less than a year in a relationship. Think for me, I prefer it to be 'slow and steady', there are areas in our lives to focus to give and grow be it career, ministry etc. I am definitely not ready to take on this additional responsibility yet. When the time comes, it will surely come for me =)

great day =)

left to right: zhiyang, darren wong, myself and yufen

It was really a meaningful day for me, will definitely be one of the memorable experiences for the new year. Me and yufen caught up with our jc physics teacher, darren wong and my classmates at his church service and lunch today. He is one main reason why I decided to be a believer. His passion for teaching and serving spirit impacted me much. It is nice to see him and my classmates serving different roles during the church service, still look the same after all these years.

It is really some seven or eight years since I last met them. It is also heartening to know that quite a few of my classmates have taken the path of becoming teachers. My class was somewhat like a 'sports class'. About one-third of us were sport captains, some are repeats, some dilligent in their schoolwork but being motivated in studies is an issue for most ppl in my class including myself but it is nice to hear that all of us are getting on fine with our lives.

I wonder, where will I be if I have decided to join his church well back then? hmm..no looking back. I feel v refreshed and encouraged to run my next lap of faith journey well =)

new beginning

This is my new cg

(from left: steff,leyi,shireen,eddy,jean,myself,boon yeong,yeuh siang,qiuyan)

my 10th one? in Hope..I have lost track..

seems that my history has been marked by a nomad moving around and seeing how I can contribute to the group I am in..'easily transferable' quoting the words of the leaders but my hope and desire is to settle down but do not think that is possible..I do not think I will get wed so early either, it is too 'distant' a thing for me despite all the up-and-coming couples who will be walking the aisle in the coming years

hmm, which makes me think, where will my destination be next?

hopefully is doing mission/community work overseas in southeast asia,not inclined to go peru,chile or ecuador..believe that our neighbors need the gospel as much as the south american people..praying for direction..

My 'Chronicles'

after conversion : SAJC group

2000-2003: NS group, went to bmt's, group with dingting and zhongyao

2003-2004: was in the pre-tertiary group with zhongyao and jason

2004-2005: was in nus west

2005-2006: was in nus 'east'/B

2006-Oct2008: was with guofeng all the way, restructured a couple of times

Nov2008 - : went to NG5, James' Unit

2011 - : church planting/humanitarian work?

After some deliberation, I decided to take the step to change cg. It is a big one for me cos I am the only one moving over to the new cg. I had felt belonged in my ex-cg over this 2.5 yrs but when the decision comes for the unit to be split by Nov, it was a difficult one. Yet at the same time, I was feeling rather comfortable in the previous cg. I hope to be closer to her as well, we can be in the same unit and give us opportunities to serve together. Thus I took the decision.

It is a group, some of whom have been pretty established in their careers, the average age is near and early thirties. I have seen a few around: yeuh siang, qiuyan and jean, knows that they are in Hope for many years. Jean is my new CL, a dynamic, spontaneous and outgoing gal. One of a kind, a stark departure from the structured and systematic way of leadership that I used to grow up with. New perspective. I have a new sheep and shepherd also.

I believe I have much to learn from their working experiences and how they manage the different aspects of their lives while keeping the focus on God and His kingdom. It is a new chapter for me, hope to run this lap well =)

Isaiah 43:18-19
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

happenings

It was a nice gathering meeting the ex-NUS West people after for a long time. I was in the group between Feb 2004 and April 2005 before moving to East. Some of them really brought up the atmosphere: Jiadai, Ellson, Robert and KC, They are still the same as before, like the good old days. Added the fun and spontaneous element in the group. It was encouraging to see that most of us are still running the race after all these years, whatmore, Jiexian, going to a foreign land to do His work. Praise God! The first from our batch to do so. Almost forgot to mention those who were not present like meiyan, benaiah, sharon, rueyzhi, junwei, margaret, kaiqin. Hope everyone will continue to do well in their lives and walk closely with the Lord =)

It was one of those CG outings with Meiling's colleague's Kharthik. This time round, it is at the southern ridges. Think it is an interesting experience to know someone from another nationality. Thank God for Meiling for the initiative. I do have reservations and fearful of interacting with someone from another country but was soon overcome with an open heart and showing an interest in what is happening in his life, discussing about current affairs etc. It got me interested to find out more about cricket and India. Hopefully a gospel seed is sowed in him in due time. Enjoyed the process so far

jianming's wedding, some photos =)