In the mist of doing the magazine ... we are in the final2 stage of approval for postgrads students .... we have to wait for the Board of Governors to meet before the final list can be confirm. The challenge - their articles and some even ads are already in the mag. So how?
Our backup or contingency plan :
Plan a) get more group pictures of the class to feature their life and activities here in TTC Plan b) get ppl to write something -- poems etc, especially Chinese ones ... since the entire mag is Eng and there is no Chinese words etc ...
So, I assigned aunty Lily to go and get for me ... here is what she come out with and I personally think its very nice .. and when she explain the meaning ... wow ... powderful! Think I am beginning to appreciate the fine art of Chinese calligraphy.
This is the most meaningful and beautifully written. It takes its meaning from Mark10: 45
" For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
God is love
expressed in Chinese Calligraphy
This is words of blessing particularly during Chinese Lunar New Year.
"God's blessings overflows ......"
The man behind all this : Rev Daniel Lin Liang Guang who is here in TTC for 1 year to do his Masters of Ministry. He is from Fuzhou, China .... he has Foochow look? Hahhaha ... he is one ... he speaks Hock Chew with very heavy accent. A very humble man who has been in the ministry for many years. Quiet but always cheerful and encouraging. Guess these traits also comes with years of molding in the Potter's House and maturity. I consider myself very privilege to have gotten to know him in TTC.
p/s :Li thanks for helping & teaching me how to appreciate the richness of our language and our culture .... :0 ..
While I was preparing the layout of the Grad Mag .... I found the lyrics of the song "Lead us, Lord (Dream Again) by Brian Doerksen .. we put it at the back cover .... and I didn't know that this is the same guy whom Pei Yi pass me a CD to listen to ... After listening to the CD whole day yday, then only it click ... any way .. this guy is new to me .... comes from Canada, BC. Will check out more of his CDs later2 ...
The song can be found in his album : TODAY. Hope to get a copy of this album ... cos I quite like his songs ... and lyrics
This is the Lyrics of the song :
Here we stand At a crossroads again Like you said In time the seasons change
Looking back We recall the blessing & the pain But now we turn our hearts toward What is still to come We want to dream again
Lead us Lord Into a life of fruitfulness Prepare our hearts to risk again As we trust Taking simple steps of obedience we know That you will lead us Lord
This is how the lyrics will appear at the back cover of our magazine. At the moment I have only the B&W copy of the mag w me ...
What I did last Sat evening will most likely be the last time am doing it...... I have 3 more weeks in TTC....
When my dear friend comes back from her business trips, she sometimes get her cab to detour to Upper Bkt Timah to pick me up. She so kelian this "prisoner" that has to come "rescue" the "prisoner" for a while .... set the 'prisoner" free for awhile ... like bird set free from cage ....
So, last Sat, on her way back from the airport, she asked her cab to detour to pick me up .... for fresh Vietnam authentic food directly from HCM. She bought them before she got on the plane!! It's my first time eating it ... and i really really love Vietnam food ... fresh ... green ... lots vegie and the sos ... pengsan u eat it ... the chili ... strange .. their chili is orangie color rather than red ... but pedas .. spicy ....
First, I tried a bit of their kuih .... a cross between our seri muka and kuih lapis .... green pandan flavored on the top but layered with green pea paste ... not bad .... close to seri muka minus the glutinous rice layer ....
Then, I had Banh Boe ... something something made of rice powder .... or its more like glutinous rice powder ... and you mix something something together with it and pour the magic sauce over it .... bam!!! Super yummy!!!! Dear friend toasted the mini french loaf, fried scramble egg and made the mini french loaf scramble egg sandwich .... which she added this mixture of carrot and radish marinated with vinegar or lime. WOW! The bread ... superb! Make u want some more ....
Next, I had this keow teow looking noddle with some vegie, Vietnam luncheon meat and mint leave ... then u pour another type of Vietnamese magic sauce over it and BAM~!!! Another yummy food!!!!
So, it was a special occasion for me because I know that this is going to be the last time my dear friend will pick me up from the airport to her house ... and its most likely I'll get to enjoy this Vietnamese food fresh from HCM .... JB will be far to enjoy this .....
My friend now diversify .... from Pet Shop good ... now she brings in fake eye lashes.... whc she is tying to get me to use for convo ..... which I do not want to look farni when the fake lash fall off! Imagine pastor so vain wearing fake lashes!!! It takes some ppl 1min to wear it ....
I have to say that i LOVE viet food ... thanks friend for introducing this to me and bringing it right to my door step!
Reached back in room at 1150pm after I led the last YAF CG ..... immediately vet thru the final edit of the Grad Mag .... 80over pages .... till 230am ....
Felt I need to blog this tonight before I zzzz because tonight is a significant night ...
Tonight is a night that my official attachment with GCM is really coming to an end .... my heart is heavy and not really willing to leave .... because I have developed emotional as well as pastoral attachment with the people there -- especially for the YAF... the group is small ... just about 10 of us .....
Actually our YAF just started a new book for CG titled Groups - the life-giving power of community by John Ortberg, Laurie Pederson, Judson Poling. When I first got the book and prepared the material, I felt that this book is very long winded and heavy but I manage to break the sections into smaller chunks and I personally find them pretty good ...
I started with this little community (YAF GMC) - encouraging them to build and work on their current communal living and relationship yet it is so ironic that i will be leaving them in 3 weeks time. I cant journey with them though I started this with them .... :( ... and it is my deepest pray that God will lead another shepherd that is willing to pour his/her life into the precious lives of the young adults ... the leaders of our next generation .... I ended tonight's CG with little exercise where each of us is given a paper with our names on it ... each of out members is to write something encouraging or edifying for each other ... I think I unconsciously included this in ... for myself ... so that I have something concrete to carry with me as memory ...:0... it was so heartwarming and encouraging to read all their words ... I have been very blessed by God with this group .... each of them had individually encouraged me in their own ways ..... the Lord had used them ... to keep me going .. to keep my heart burning for Him ....
Thank you guys for making my time in GMC fun ... thank you for opening up to me and allowing me into your world and life .... had great time with all of us ... and think all of u ... in some ways are so fun and crazy ... off cos ... who's the leader of YAF??? hahhaha hohoho ... we r surely learning very well from him ...:0
And I echo Paul's words and prayer for this group of young people that will have a special place in my heart :
"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil 1:3-6)
p/s : All is safe and growing ... except one lost sheep .... and for that lost sheep, I pray that the Good Shepherd will indeed go out to look for this lost sheep and bring her home safely again .....
You must think that I am crazy and very free ... I have a 5000 words paper needs to be done and 2 more major paper, not to mention still managing the changes for the magazine .... all due 30 Apr and I can still gala go over night cycling and now ... out for movies (mind you .. my head was still spinning in the afternoon) ....
Why would I go ... I guess it was a choice that I need to make. My dear friends have been trying to get me watch movie with them ever since I came to TTC but have never made it .. till last night .. my dear friends also took the trouble to change the date of the movie night out and the movie to watch to my convenience .. such great friends who really want to have so fun time out with me ... how can I but to join them right? Thanks friends for making room for me ...
So, at the peak of assignment craze and deadline madness .... we decided to be crazy ourselves and just chill out! Tu running directly from his shower greeted Andreas, Pei Yi, Candy, Lily and I in B2 .. yes.. he is late again and not picking up our call cos he is on "m late .. running running mode" ... his normal weekly CPE mode ....
Off we go ... hehehehe .... we meet Dr Simon Chan .... he said that we are looking suspicious .. and Dr Lim who saw us instantly knew that we are going for movies ... but ... look .. we are not the only ones sneaking out from TTC in this heated hour of deadlines .... lo and behold .. we saw a whole gang of guys from F4 .. and sudden additional members to give Uncle Tan farewell dinner (??!!!) ... wow super early leh .... one month ... and farewell meal di ... or its just an excuse to go have good meal and just to relax .... :0...
Well, God was good to us ... we went to Causeway Point to catch the movie because we heard that it is $6 for students on weekdays but when we reach there, we found out that it's valid till 6pm. We still get our tickets at $6 because Michael gave us 2 free tickets to off set! Yeah!!! God's blessing .... I also found out that if you are 55 and above, you only need to pay $4! Not bad right .... hehhehe ... wish can bring Mom ... but surely it'll be too cold and toilet too far away ....
Through out the movie .... we can hear 2 voices ... a friend of ours and a little who talks non stop because super expressive and excited over the many scenes in the movie ... especially the mushy scenes .... hehheheh .... and we all know who the person is right .... :0 .. yup ... she's my sister!
We also found our own Toothless and Hick Up among us ...:) guess who??? hehheheh....
After the movie, we hanged out in McD for drinks and fries .... thanks Li!
The movie we watched : How To Train Your Dragon (but to Susanto's version is - how to train your son... :)
Review : The show .. good laugh ... no brainer show ... just sit, enjoy and laugh .. but the show has strong traces of Chicken Little story line in it .... a single father who strong and successful father with a tiny son who has so long been an embarrassment .. until he found fame in "conquering" dragons.
Hick-Up reminds me also of little Jabez where he is also the tiny one in the family and he may also feel how Hick Up feel .... the loner ... not accepted in the society ... but for Jabez it his prayer that made a difference in his life. For Hick Up .. it was his soft gentle heart and his brains .....
Moral of the story .... every person has a special gift or talent .... no matter how "weird" the person behave or look ....
How do we befriend, accept and embrace the "weird" people in around us? Do they need to do a spectacular, to proof to us ... before we would love them?
Jesus love them all the same .... and I pray that we will learn to love those whom we and our society stereotype as "different".
Jeanne asked me over dinner last night: "Why need to cycle overnight .... can't u start early..."
Aaahhh ... you see, I did start early ... I left TTC at 515pm to catch 67 to Geylang. It takes me 1hr to reach church because it is evening and the bus and road is jammed.
Met the YAF members in church at 630pm. We had light dinner before we board 40 to Katong. From Katong, we walked through shopping malls cross streets to get to East Coast -- ask me how to do it ... hahha .... I dono ... but it was at least 15minutes of walk which is good warm up before we start cycling.
We got to the booth that rents bicycles .... $8 per bike per night ... they gave us bicycles according to gender ... :0 .... interesting ... remember the olden days bicycle ... the girls got the normal bicycles with basket in the front and the guys .. the bicycle with palang (metal bar) in the front ... we had both types at home plus Dad's "Mercedes Benz" for his heavy duty work.
Anyway, after checking the bicycles, the lights ... we are off! Think it was about 9pm .... East Coast was packed with people and activities .... families having BBQ, camping, love doves all over, young people skating .... jogging .... perhaps it's a Friday ... but the park sure looks crowded with people ...
We has our first stop over in Bedok Jetty ... and boy the jetty is also packed with people and families! Families literally gather with babies and all ... fishing ... picnic .. cooking .... It's a nice sight ... and reminds me much of kampong lifestyle where communal living is the way of life. We left the Jetty at 1030pm and Kok Eng said "the night is still young".... :0...
So, off we go .... enjoying the ride ... the breeze ... the moonlight ... the sound of the waves! The smell of nature after fresh showers of rain along the path next to Changi Airport. The sound of nature ... Enqi said "I dare not think what is behind the trees and the woods" ... this location in Singapore, I don't think there are tigers but perhaps snakes (for sure) and wild boars (perhaps)..
God is good to us .... initially it drizzled a little just before we reach East Coast but He kept the rain away ... bathe us in moon light .... protected us from serious injury .... and used us to bless another group of boys whose team member injured his toe. We met on the way back with antiseptic and yellow solution ...
By the time we reach Changi Village all I can think of is 'icekacang' .... ooo ... something cold ..
We reached Changi Village close to 12 ... 1130pm perhaps. Yu Yi came all the way fater his work to join us ... just for the fellowship ..that was nice of him ...
From makan fellowship, we then get to the nearby beach, sat around a mini round a bout uder coconut trees ... and shared ... I talked the most I guess ... shared what I will go after TTC .... we then prayed for one another ... what I see is a group of young people in their growing process into adulthood and it is my prayer that I hope to meet them again .. soon... perhaps one year down the road .. to see them still strong and growing in the love for God in their life journey...
And as I reflect ... this is a special night .. its almost like a farewell fun fellowship night for me just before I officially leave GCM .... where I spent 1.5yrs there for my FE. I have to say that our friendship took some time to warm up and from the 1.5yrs, I have seem growth in their lives! Keep growing .... and rooted in Him!
Now.... after the ice kacang ... the nasi lemak ... the ikan bakar .. the fellowship ... we need to cycle our way back ... wah ... and its oledi 130am ...
So, we cycle ... and cycle we did for 2.5hrs before we reach back in East Coast ... wahh ... backside flat ... whole body kaku (stiff) .... but ..... S Y O K is the feeling ...
We are super blessed with Kok Eng who from Bedok detoured to back to our church ... he cycled all the way to church to get the van to pick us up .... so that we do not have to cycle back to church and cycle back to return the bikes in the morning! Bravo to our brother who had to carry his bicycle up and down the overhead bridge ... this is indeed sacrificial love ... for the YAF ... so, team .... 10yrs down the road ... hope you'll remember Kok Eng and do the same for the upcoming YAF group that you will mentor too ... :0 ...
By the time we got back to church it was 4am ... I slept .... like a dead log through the noise, through my own smelly sweat smell and some one's snore ...--- everyone showered except me ... hahhaha .... cannot move even an inch ... off cos la .. that also m the oldest in the group .... we slept on kinddy tables ... hahaha ... so long never had this kind of "rough it out" experience ...
We had breakfast together before we ended our fun time out ... :) .... can do this again .... syok!
This is what Singaporeans do for recreation ..... and I think its fun and good ... they have the facility of pavements for cycling and the pavements are brightly lilted with street lamps and not to mention .... security ... I think it is definitely safe compared to Msia ....
Thanks for organizing this fun night our and for your fellowship!
Every student needs to go thru it .. every student needs to feel its pressure and challenge of preparing and sitting for a quiz or exam. Last Thursday I had my final-final quiz as a student in TTC ... and hopefully in my lifetime .... I hate quiz and exams!
In TTC we had a few quiz and exams ... but the trick for me in selecting subjects in TTC is pick subject that does not have final exam as their criteria .. hahhaha .... such lazy student .... but what to do .... phobia of quiz and exam after the "attack" we got in our Church History many many rounds of quizzes .. NO joke ..... from not only knowing the key events in church history, the dates and names of important people, we have to be able to recall the location of the place in the map ... according to the date and key person! And ... oooo ... no forgetting the last Church History surprise quiz where we had to match the name of an important person verses his/her photo -- but the challenge is ... the photo that is give is one that is take when the person is an infant ... ok ok ... I know m exaggerating here .... but its like Mother Teresa's photo without her nun outfit and head gear or Martin Luther when he is slim looking ... :0 ..!!!
Last Thursday, I had my final quiz .. Ethics ... and God has indeed blessed me with a strategy of preparing and tackling exams -- a study group!!! So, for 3 nights, Tu, our official tutor, Ah Yi and Susanto (our new member) camped in Kome to rib apart Lovin to find key points and terms for the quiz ... Susanto came in the first day ... still overdose with his Abba and loves songs which was passed to him few days ago .... and I came in blur2 ... cos I have not read ....hehehehe ..
So, here we are .... studying hard for our quiz ..... and all of us thank God for His grace for us when we got our results last night ...:0
Final lap in TTC is tough .. real tough .. climbing the steep hill of deadlines and to manage our Graduation Magazine ... it's crazy ...people are busy studying and doing their papers like mad in the lib ... Pris and I (and a few members) absolutely devoted our time, energy and brains on magazine .... putting the entire magazine together ....
Pris is even worst because she has to manage those who are suppose to be "working out their parts" but have not .... and not .... till today, there are still important articles are not in .... the photos need to be re-taken because people who are not suppose to be in the picture is in .... having to manage the mess of the advertisement forms and entertain all sorts of calls from sponsors etc ....
Like the analogy of a body, each of us plays an important role and when one part of the body does not ... the entire body suffers and sometimes, another part of the body has to come in to shoulder the task or job of the failing organ ... like when one eye is lazy eye, the other eye needs to work extra hard to ensure visual seem is still good ....
Lord have mercy .. Lord have mercy .... ....... .... ( ... unspoken words ....) At the end of the day ... we want to do up a good magazine that captures our 3 years journey and recounting God's blessings and faithfulness in our journey here.
To my fellow team members ... especially Pris ... hang in there .. the Lord will see us thru ... though the road becomes even steeper .... the Lord will see us thru ..... at the end of the day, we will be accountable to God ....
Let our service be like a living sacrifice ..... an act of worship to Him!
p/s : this is in appreciation of what you are doing dear .... (:0) ... GB the hard labor of your hands
Middle of last nite, I suddenly remembered the cute little illustration that was preached by Pris in Homiletics class last sem on Jer 17:5-10. Last sem, in Homiletics 1 class, we are assigned to preach 10min homily and we "creatively" try different style and method of preaching .. and here is one post modern style done creatively with great sound and visual effects ....
This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” The heartis deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.”(Jeremiah 17:5-10)
Once upon a time, there were three good Methodist friends, Flesh, Faith and Heart. They loved doing things together, including worshiping, eating, chit-chatting, studying and even drinking. Flesh, Faith and Heart had one thing in common. They had a mission to climb MountTrinity.
“Wow, this looks like a really steep mountain!” said Faith. “People take at least three years to climb it!”
“Yes it is!” saidFlesh. “We’ll need lots of strength to get up there, so I’ve brought with me red bull and lots of ‘bao’ from our cafeteria. Don’t worry, I’ll help you guys!”
“Ooh, I don’t see how difficult this could be. We’ll definitely reach the top in no time!” thought Heart, still feeling a bit doubtful of the climb.
The first half of the gradual climb upwards proved to be quite effortless to the three good friends and all three of them were beginning to look forward to reaching the top. In fact, they even had time to stop for a few house parties and drinks.
However, as they went along, to their surprise, the mountain took a sudden change in its gradient and became steeper.
“Oh dear! I know I’ve spent months training for this climb but I don’t know if I can make it all the way to the top!” (Faith)
“Hang in there Faith! Look at my muscles! I still have lots of strength to help you get up there. You can depend on me!” (Flesh)
“Thank you Flesh! You are a good friend! I knew I could rely on you!” (Faith)
“Hey guys, I think I’m tired. Could we rest for awhile? I’m starting to feel unsure if we can even make it all the way to the top….” (Heart)
“No, Heart, if we stop, we’ll find it hard to continue to the top. I believe we can do it! I trust in Flesh!” (Faith)
So the three friends trudged on, hoping to accomplish their mission up to MountTrinity.
Suddenly, Flesh collapsed.
“Heerrr heeerrr, I can’t breathe! My chest feels tight!” (Flesh)
“Someone! Help!” (Heart, frantic)
“Look, Heart! I see an Old Man coming this way!” (Faith)
“Sir, could you help us? My friend Flesh is sick! I thought he was so strong! Looks like we can’t rely on him!” said Faith.
“Let me take a look,” said the Old Man. “Ahhh…Your friend looks fine physically but seems to be suffering from an asthmatic attack.” “Instead of always having coffee and American Club cheesecake, I’ll give him a few puffs of my Holy Word and he’ll be fine. However, he must watch not to rely too much on himself or he might need to apply for special leave. I think he should stay close to me.”
“Thank you so much sir! We were actually on our way to the top. Could you help guide us up instead?” (Faith)
“Sure, it would be my pleasure, but you’ve all got to follow me closely and do what I tell you. The next quarter o
f the journey will not be an easy one.” (Old Man)
“Yes we will!” said the three friends excitedly.
As they made their way upwards with the help of the Old Man, they were met with a number of obstacles like the garden of Ethics and all its reports; the poisonous readings tree and the heavy rain of Cs and Ds. But the wise Old Man brought them through each one of them, step by step.
Finally, on the last mile, Heart saw a sign which said “Short Cut, to the top” and nudged his friends to come take a look.
“No, Heart! Remember the Old Man said to follow whatever he said? We mustn’t stray away,” said Faith. “He has brought us so far, so we can trust him to bring us on the last mile!”
“Come on Faith, this short cut looks so much easier to go. I won’t deceive you!” said Heart. “Maybe, the Old Man forgot to tell us about it. We’ll definitely reach up there faster and still get to see the beautiful sight from
the top. Wanna give it a try?”
“I’m in!” said Flesh. “Heart is not deceitful. And besides, it’s more comfortable to climb upwards without having to stick so close to the Old Man.”
“Well, it’s quite tempting but I think…you should count me out. I’d rather trust the Old Man.” said Faith.
“Fine! We’ll see you up there first!” said Heart, excited to reach to the top first.
The sun was starting to set by the time Faith reached the top of the mountain with the Old Man. However, Flesh and Heart were no where in sight.
“They must have gotten hurt,” said the Old Man. “Going by the short cut without spending enough time with me may have felt easier and may get you to the top quickly. But one may end up in the rocky dry terrain of fear and thorny bushes of uncertainty before reaching. You were wise, Faith, to trust and stay close to me. For only I know the way and I knew that
you might be tempted to take a short cut like your friends.”
“Thank you so much for your help and guidance, sir. I really had an easy climb up even though it was the steepest and hardest of all.” (Faith)
So Faith spent the rest of the time, soaking up the breath-taking view on MountTrinity, relieved that he had made the right choice to trust in the wise Old Man.
This little story is preached and shared by Priscilla
