The Most Important Lesson I learnt

The rainbow above Kampung Bakok before we left
picture taken by Michelle Foo

  It was the guide of the Holy Spirit to pick what to in charge of during this mission trip. It was a privilege to preach to about 25 adults instead of 12 youths. As I was sharing, God was also ministering to my heart. Many times we humans tend to judge each other physical look and at times we would dislike our looks as we crave for others’ looks. This phenomenon is daunting in the modernized world and getting worse as the plastic surgery industry began to become common. Every one of us tends to forget that we are created in God’s eyes and every detail is designed in a unique manner by Him. We have no right to judge each other outwardly as we are on the same level. No one is above of each other.

At times, we would also judge each other according to status as well. During this mission trip, we could see that the orang semai had tapioca each day as their staple food, living in a lacking condition whereby they don’t have proper houses to live in, proper washrooms and for children a proper pair of slippers, yet, we are not supposed to judge them and sympathized them for being poor. In fact, they have been richly being blessed by God. They lead a simple lifestyle, with natural resources being supplied abundantly by God. The kids may not have the chance to go to Genting to play space –shot game there, yet, their activity of leaping off the bridge into the river is far more needed courage to do so. The kids do not have a pair of slippers, yet, their feet supported them from slipped down from the steep slope as they walked down from it. The villagers have a gift of good memory from God since they are simple-minded. They are able to learn up songs of praise and worship in a short time and all these will remain in their mind forever. For example, among them, there is the best guitarist who is self-taught as he can memorize all kinds of chords. Just like we cannot fit into their lifestyle, they cannot fit into our lifestyle as well.

The journey ended in a perfect way. We greeted each other farewell under a ring of rainbow. Unlike God using the rainbow as a covenant with Noah’s family, we cannot promise them that we would return and visit them, however, we can only pray that their generations will be educated while retaining the simplicity in their lives. In conclusion, Tuhan Yesus hok sengit. (Jesus loves u)

Sharon Tan Zhao Xin

Mission Trip to Kg. Bakok

Mission Trip team and the kids! They weren’t all of them :P

written by: Cindy Chai

The moment our eyes caught sight of our hostels, we were all wishing it all never ended and that time could be rewound.
***
So there were 10 of us – Elaine, Trester, Marc, Michelle, Kar Suan, Sharon, Kezia, Kevin, Claire and I – joining the misson trip to Kampung Bakok, an hour drive from Raub, Pahang which is where a group of Orang Asli stays. We had dinner at Al-Awwal before departing to Trester’s church for the night. As we were just coming out from Al-Awwal, the familiar T529 bus arrived at the bus stop. We were running like crazy towards the bus with our backpacks, sleeping bags and a few other bags. Thank God that the bus waited for us as Michelle sped towards and reached the bus to hold it for the rest of us to catch up. Then, at the train station, most of us bought our tickets and crossed to the other side of the rail while Claire and I were still in line. Just as both of us crossed the ticketing machine, we saw the train. Others were calling out to us to hurry up and we ran as fast as we could. Thank God we managed to make it just before the train door closed. :D Three cheers for God! :D
Charmaine (our co-ordinator/leader for this trip) and Daryl (a full time ministry worker in Trester’s church) picked us from Kepong’s station and drove us to Trester’s church. Her church members also brought some sleeping bags for some of us who didn’t have any. Thank God for you guys! 
Then, there was a briefing and run through of the program with Charmaine before we called it a night.
The next day, we were introduced to Uncle Ranjit (Trester’s dad) and Uncle Vincent (head of mission team for Trester’s church) who would be driving us to our destination. It took about 2 hours to Raub. We stopped by Raub to have breakfast and to do some grocery shopping in the market. I think we spent about RM150 for groceries like biscuits, vegetables, chickens, packs of rice etc. After another hour, we arrived at our destination.
We lodged our belongings at a church built on Pak Cik Yukmoi’s land, at which we spent our night. We met his wife and children. According to Charmaine, the Orang Asli are very shy people. And yes, you can pretty much guess that the children are so much shyer than the adults. We were all very excited as this was the first time most of us participated in mission trip. Since Pak Cik Yukmoi’s wife and teenagers and some others needed some time to prepare our lunch, we decided to take a walk around the village. We managed to persuade Pak Cik Yukmoi‘s children to follow us around the village. We walked from houses to houses under the bright, sunny weather. All of us were smiling and greeting and waving to everyone we saw. I didn’t know how but soon, more and more children from the houses came out and joined us though we had to persuade them initially, since they are very very very shy. I think the children are about 2-12 years old. Some quickly got warm to us and held our hands as we went from houses to houses to call for more children to join us. As we asked the children, “Mana kawan kamu yang lain?” (The language of Orang Asli is Semai, but some can speak in simple BM), the children pulled us to another village called Kampung Tuah where more children joined us. As it was nearly time for lunch, together with about 70 children, we walked back to the church.
This reminded me of this verse:
Mark 10:13-16
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
Some of the places had small rocks scattered all around. I was really amazed as some of these children walked around without their slippers / shoes on the rocky ground.
We then had our lunch, simple but delicious. We used our hands to eat since the Orang Asli people did that. The children sat at the other side and watched as we ate. They didn’t even approach us. Normally, children who see food will rush towards them but these children didn’t. Uncle Vincent said that the children would only come to our place and eat after we had eaten, or they would eat at the other side. Wow. And these children do not fight for food. They shared. Yes, you didn’t see it wrongly, they shared their food. I saw a young child about 6-8 years old, put some food on her spoon and fed another child of similar age I suppose. I’m amazed.
After lunch, we proceeded to ice-breakers. The children were so energetic and hyperactive! They obeyed our instructions and gave us positive responses. Laughter could be heard from every corner of the church. They were all really excited and this motivated us further. Around 3.30 p.m., we went to the river to swim. The children led the way. They are really good swimmers! Some even did backflip before diving into the river. And yes, they jumped on us, too.
We were then brought to another part of the river with a bridge where we could jump down, according to Trester. The sky was pretty gloomy. We were afraid that it would rain but we prayed and journeyed to that place. Halfway through, there was a light drizzle but the children pulled our hands towards that place. The ground was muddy and slippery due to the drizzle. We had to balance between not slipping and catching up with the rate at which the children pulled us. It was really amazing to see the ability of these children to run when it was really slippery! When we reached the part of the river with the bridge, our hearts gripped with fear. The height of the bridge from the river was about a storey or one and a half storey of a house. We were jaw-dropped when we saw the children just jumped down from the bridge into the river with all sorts of styles, (quoted from Trester) “like it’s nobody’s business”. Michelle jumped first then followed by Trester and Kevin. Sharon jumped next.
Then it was my turn. OH MY. I was excited before I saw the height, but when I was at the edge of the plank, I was afraid. According to those who had jumped, the water level was only slightly above their waist. So for those who could not swim, it should be safe provided you’re above that height xD What held me back? I didn’t know. I was having inner conflict. A part of me was giving the other part of me reasons on why I should just do it like the water level is safe, there are pro swimmers down there to catch you in case of drowning bla bla bla.
In the end, I didn’t know how and when, I did it. :D But it was seriously scary! Especially that moment when you were in air, with no firm solid ground underneath your feet and you’re falling straight down… OH MY! It really took a lot of courage to jump down. Elaine and Claire jumped after that. Down in the river, we then shampooed the children with the shower gel brought along by Charmaine. However, we could not stay for long as the current was getting stronger due to the heavier rain. All of us got up and went back to shower and bath.
Back at the church, the rain stopped. -_-“ We stood outside and behind the church, surrounding the water pipe as there was no water in the shower room. The girls formed a circle and washed each other’s hair. :D
After we had all washed up, we played with the children. They taught us some of their games and songs while we taught them some of the games we played during our childhood. :P Uncle Vincent then instructed us to persuade the children to go back home to rest so that they would not be too tired later on and so that the rest of us could rest as well. We did but failed. -_-“ The children still wanted to play. With Uncle Vincent’s thunderous voice, the children scampered and hurried back home. Cute.
Dinner was served after that. There was tapioca served too and Uncle Vincent suggested us to eat with the sambal prepared. I tried and I felt it tasted a little funny because I somehow tasted durian. I thought that the tapioca tasted like durian. -_-“ It turned out to be that the sambal was durian sambal. -_-“ But the sambal was spicy enough :D NICE.
There were about 15-30 minutes to 8 p.m. (the time youth service and children church begin) but the church was already beginning to be filled with energetic children running around. At 10 minutes to 8 p.m., there were quite many children already and since we had finished our dinner as well, we went to play with the children. Kar Suan played the keyboard and the children surrounded the keyboard. There were a few songs played which were suggested by the children and we all sang together. They were “Yesus Pokok”, “Soraklah Halleluya”, “Hari Ini Kurasa Bahagia”, “Jesus Loves Me This I Know”, “Walk Walk Walk In The Light” and “God Is So Good”.
The youth section, joined by adults as well was taken over by Sharon while the children section was taken over by Trester. I was with Kar Suan, Claire and Kezia in the children section while the rest were in the youth section. Michelle was the photographer. In the children section, Trester explained to them about the tree in Psalms 1 with each children helping her to paste the point she mention on a manila card. Then, all of them were given a cup with some cotton wool and two green bean seeds as well as little water. The children are like these seeds that will grow into a tree in Jesus. After that, they were split into groups to draw and colour and write their names on the tree. Each was then rewarded with a jelly cup and a sweet while waiting for the youth service to finish.
Around 10 p.m., day one ended, the children with their siblings and parents went back home while the rest washed up and laid out their sleeping bags in the church. Before lights out, we had a short team debrief session whereby we shared about what impressed us the most and what did we feel of day one. Everyone shared and Uncle Vincent gave us a question to ponder upon: What is the thing that you learn the most from this trip, as in what do these people teach you that you will bring it back to you to the outside world? Hmm. Lights were out after a round of prayer.
The night was really cold, even colder than INTEC’s library. There were only two ceiling fans. Uncle Vincent told us that it rained very heavily in the middle of the night but no one seemed to be aware of it probably because either we tidur mati or we were dead tired due to an eventful day.
The next morning, we had a short devotion session together with Charmaine before breakfast. It was on Psalms 34. We read and then shared on our thoughts of it.
After breakfast, around 9 a.m., we began the day with Sunday service. It kicked off with prayer and then worship in the church led by an Orang Asli lady on vocal and an Orang Asli man on the guitar. Her voice was melodious. I was amazed, once again. Really, these people never failed to amaze me. Yesterday, during the service at night too, a group of three teen girls were on the vocals while some teen guys were playing the musical instruments. Uncle Vincent said that they never learn how to read the musical notes, they learnt by heart, they memorized the lyrics, the chords and the tune of the praise and worship songs. Wow.
After worship, there was offering before we presented a performance on the parable of the sower to the people and sang “Yesus Pokok” with actions. Then, it was split into children church and adult service again. I was in the adult service as both Kar Suan and I were given the privilege to share testimonies with them. After that, Pastor Rafi read the word of God and then preached to the people and shared some of the stories or experiences that he had been through. Following up next was Uncle Vincent’s preaching before prayer. On the other hand, the children church was taken over by Kevin and Claire.
That marked the end of our activities planned for them. Thank God that it all ran through smoothly. There was free time before lunch so some of us played and taught with the children while the rest went to the river for a swim – Michelle, Sharon and I. :D We were told that the current would be strong due to the heavy rain the night before. We were a little disappointed but the teen girls, Yati and her friends, followed us to the river to check on the river condition. On the way, we were praying that the river would be suitable to swim. And praise God, it did. :D Although I had done it the day before, there was this unexplainable fear in me when I stood at the edge of the plank. Michelle jumped. Sharon jumped. And I jumped. SCARY! The feeling of weightlessness.Oh dear. Though people always say practice makes perfect, I always had this same fear each time I was up there. After jumping 4 times, we headed back to the church to wash up and pack for home.
Lunch was delicious :D Remember earlier on, the groceries we bought from the market in Raub? The Orang Asli women cooked all and fed all the children, some adults and us for the two days. Amazing indeed!
We were sad when we had to leave. We hugged the children and shook hands with the adults, thanking all of them for their warm welcome and hospitality. As we were leaving, we looked up the beautiful sky and saw a halo. Perfect ending to this trip as it reminded us of God’s encircling love for each and every one of us.
I was truly humbled by the Orang Asli. Their faith is so genuine, so pure and so simple. This is what impresses me the most. Sometimes we say that we have faith in God which comes in package with some “but(s)”. They teach me that all it takes is really just a pure, innocent and simple faith in God.
Matthew 18:2-3
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
There is no signal for your phone in their village so basically to enter Kampung Bakok means you are cut off from the outside world, entering into a new world. They might not have the latest gadgets or internet connections but they never complain. Like what Michelle said, their smiles are very contagious and she smiled so many times that her face experienced muscle cramps. Even if you don’t feel like smiling, probably because you are tired but you will definitely set a curve on your face once you see them smiling at you. When you look at all of them, you can see pure joy and it reminded me of:
Nehemiah 8:10
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Yes, indeed. Uncle Vincent and Charmaine told us earlier on to have the heart of being a blessing to them and as we minister to them, everything must be directed back to God. Because we won’t be with them forever, the missionaries who come to visit them won’t be around forever but God is forever with them.
The children are so adorable especially when they put their hands together and close their eyes for prayer. Oh gosh, cuteness overload. :P Just as how much we think God loves us, that is how much God loves them as well. They are all children of God too, our brothers and sisters in Christ. They show us great hospitality, trying to make us as comfortable as possible during our stay there. They even invited us to come back next time. *touched*
I’m truly blessed by them. Many thanks to Uncle Ranjit, Uncle Vincent and Charmaine for leading and guiding us throughout the trip as well as to the rest of the mission team, you guys are just so awesome. Our friendship become stronger and thanks for the memories. On top of it all, all glory and credits go to God who makes all things possible, who sees us through it all, who teaches us through the Orang Asli, who loves us unconditionally.
If there is an opportunity given to me, I will definitely go back.
Ending this with a poem by Mary Ryan entitled A Child’s View of God (A Pure And Simple Faith):
There is nothing so innocent as a child
With eyes closed and head bowed in prayer
With a pure and simple faith
He gives thanks to the God who created him
Not asking complicated questions
But seeing God in the wonders that abound each day
Knowing Jesus loves him
And that’s enough for now
We all need to be like children
In our hearts
Finding Joy and wonder
In the flowers and the sun of God’s creation
Trusting and believing in Jesus
With a pure and simple faith
Jesus came as a child
With all His innocence and wonder of life
As He grew He still had
The innocence and wonder of God’s creation
He loved us and died for us
So that we could believe in Him
With a pure and simple faith
Mary Ryan

God’s Flavour and Colours

Matthew 5:1-16

The Beatitudes

Jesus started His teaching with the beatitudes. He told us to REPENT, for the kingdom of GOD is NEAR. These are all the “beautiful attitudes” that all of us, as God’s children, His Kingdom’s citizen should have.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

So, when we have all these beatitudes, what’s next?

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

God’s Flavour? Being His salt (not the one in the chemistry lab…..)

Before Gabriel told us about salts, he asked us to list down the function of salts. What do you think are the answers we shouted out?

It heals ulcer! (ouch, painful….T.T)

Food flavouring!

Kills PACAT!! (Kevin……)

Being God’s salt,

1. Salt that brings out FLAVOUR

–          God wants us to be a salt that add joys and love to people around us.

–          And be a salt that add God’s grace and mercy to them.

2.  Salt that brings out HEALING

–          God wants us to lead the people around us to Him for HEALING and SALVATION. A lot of times people around us are hurt, stressed, hopeless, lost, because of sins. God sent us to our society for a purpose. We need to bring them back to God, and let God heal their wounds.

3.  Salt that brings out THIRST

–          Salt makes us feel thirsty. He wants us to be a salt that brings people longing for Christ. Longing for Him, for His words. Not only by our words, but by our lives, can people around us see the difference in us, and be attracted to search for Our Wonderful God?

God’s Colours

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

In the middle of the session, the lightings went off. The whole church was dark, and we can’t see anyone around us. We were guessing what would happen next, while Gabriel just kept quiet for a while. When we started to “cool down”, he asked us to look behind us. And suddenly, a small light source appeared. We all focused onto the light. And slowly, it got brighter, and brighter. It was very bright and distracting, but you just can’t leave it for any moment.

This is just like the World today. It’s in darkness. No hope, no meaning, people around us are helpless. We need to be a light, that:

1. A light that points the way.

–          God wants us to shine like stars. “so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. (phillippians 2:15) Be a light that shine bright in the darkness. It’s not our own light that we shine, but God’s light.

     2.   A light that radiates JOY.

–          Be a light that all people can see, so that they’ll see a joy is not possible to be hidden. We need to be grateful for everything that God has given to us, and be a blessing to people around us who need it.

So, at the end, two challenges were given to us:

1. Is to remember what we promised to God after hearing the message, may it not just be a message or something that we blindly promised, but actions will be taken.
2. To look back to the beatitudes. Are we having all the qualities that a God’s Kingdom citizen should have?

God bless everyone. Let’s be His flavor and His colours! =)

The Unspeakable “C”

Honestly, I didn’t know that that was our iCA theme for the week. I just knew that I need to attend iCA this week, and what is it really about. Even though the flyer is already being posted online, I wasn’t “THAT” concerned about the title. I was thinking to just attend it, it was like, some kind of routine thing for me.

Well, the day went on. As the time to go to iCA is approaching, I was a bit reluctant to go because I wasn’t prepare for my IELTS speaking test which will be held on the next day. Having biology reports and tests coming up, I was in a dillema whether to go or not to, because I did quite badly for my trial test the other day, so I wouldn’t want to screw this test up. Yet, I went. I think, if I didn’t go, the peace from God will not be with me.

And so, it was time and I went to our territory in Akasia, somebody’s unit. There’s quite a few of newcomers for iCA this week. Was really happy to see so many of them turned out for the last iCA, which reminded me of the CGs we had last 2 sems, with our seniors around. It was really encouraging to see the numbers.

It all started with praise and worship by Rachel. While I was worshiping God, tears just flew down. I didn’t know why. I guess this came because of all the stresses and challenges that I’ve been going through for the past few weeks. The songs somehow became a reminder to me, I heard a voice saying something like: “my dear, you’ve been too busy. I am still here. I am greater than anything else. I am waiting for you.” I couldn’t take it, seriously. It just went down and flooded my eyes.

I guess I should go on before I drag the post too long. The Unspeakable “C”, Commitment. For me, it is a responsibility that I cannot take it too lightly, but I just need to do my best and enjoy the process I’ll go through. I shared a lot  on that night. For me, being committed, it is not only just fullfilling the tasks perfectly, giving your best and all. It is more to have faith in God, at the same time have a balance in everything we do, and the priority must be right.

I really didn’t know how to write what God has spoken to me. It’s hard to describe. During the discussion, I noticed all of us had our own struggles. Being a student, I guess it is really hard to balance between studies and commitment in church. Especially being a part of CA, serving God definitely took quite a lot of time. Do grades really matters? After hearing to a few opinions, I think, for me, it is important. But the priority must always be given to God. He is our provider. What we’re having now were all from Him, why can’t we give back the time to God? For the time is not ours but God’s. That was really a great reminder to me.

Being commited to God’s work was always being described as a serious kind of resposibillity, must-do task…… But we forgot something, that it brings joy. God gave us the opportunity to serve, and thus we should enjoy it. Surrender everything to God and put Him first in everything. As it was written in the bible:

Matthew 6:33: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Let us all learn to trust God and be commited, and do not forget that the purpose of everything we do is to glorify God. So, do your best for God. :)

 

Car Swan

The Reason to Worship

Hello everyone! 안녕하세요!

This is my very first time to write in CA’s blog. And thanks for such a precious opportunity to write a testimony here. So I’ll just make it short and simple as I don’t have much time to write even though there’s a lot in my mind to share it out.

Firstly, talking about my first time serving in CA’s worship, it was such a great experience! To be honest, I’m quite surprised to be asked by Yen Fong to sing in the worship team because I have been serving in my home church in the worship team but never in singing. However, the mixture of excitement and nervousness got into me and I decided to say YES (Well, at least once in a lifetime). So throughout the praise and worship practice we had on last Tuesday I’ve gained a new experience in serving our Lord. Probably, revelations upon revelations rain all over me :P But the most important thing of all is, in whatever situation we’re in, whether we’re in pain or joy, we always have to worship the Lord our God. One thing that we as Christians have to be clear about is, we worship God it’s not because He gave His blessings to us. That’s why I mention just now in whatever situation we’re in, even in times of difficulties when we’re really in a situation that we’re not supposed to be in, we must always praise God! We don’t worship God only to get blessings because we’re already blessed when we get to worship Him. We worship God because He is good. God alone is good. Don’t settle for the second best. Of course during worship we should express our gratitude towards God and hence we must make ourselves ready before we worship Him.

To cut my long story short, I just wanted to tell you that ever since I entered INTEC, Campus Alive and also Acts Church, my spiritual life has change a lot, positively. Sometimes God just place us in a position that we never expected to be but somehow we feel glad because God is walking together with us. Here’s a Scripture about God’s goodness in Psalm 16. The psalmist explains just how good God really is: He is our preserver (v.1), our total goodness-giver (v.2), our counsel and instruction (v.7), and the One who makes known “the path of life” and fills us with joy in His presence (v.11). Now that’s what I call good! (This is taken from ‘Our Daily Bread’..)

Thanks for reading and see you in the next CA meeting! Have a nice week ahead and God bless!

2 Corinthians 13:14 – May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. :)

Johnny

What is Faith?

This is my first time writing a testimony for our CA blog (can’t believe it) but anyway i will just keep it short and simple. =)smile

The third iCA of this semester which simply entitles ‘FAITH’ was such a great time spent i don’t even know where should i start. haha.

Well, this time instead of using Cindy’s room, we were INVITED to go to Kar Suan’s place instead. (She was so excited to welcome us to her place. haha) So jealous that her room has two fans and so many lights!!! ahh but anyway lets get to the main thing.

The worship was great (as usual), and i like worshiping with people in a small area, it makes our voice sound so angelic, really! lol. But of course beyond that, the presence of God is there and its encouraging to hear the desire in every of our hearts to worship and praise our Almighty.

The mini ice-breaker is as usual so creative and interesting. We were divided to two groups and Esther asked each group to choose the one person who is the noisiest and i wonder WHY they chose me. Im always quiet wan. LOL. Anyway, the game is related to faith and i was blindfolded and given something to hold and the others in the group have to convince me that that thing is this or that n i have to end up choosing who i believe in. Love Esther’s creativity!!! =)smile

Well, the discussion was really good! We were asked some questions bout faith like,
1) what is faith?
Most of us answered:BELIEVE.
But what Esther said struck me, when we talk bout faith is always bout believe, why do we not answer ‘actions’ ?
In James 2:17 says, FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD!
Conclusion: FAITH = BELIEVE + ACTIONS
It works together, we cannot have one without the other.

2) when someone ask u bout ur faith, how wil u describe to them?
Most of us answer: We Believe in Jesus.
And again the wise Esther challenge us to describe it based on our personal experience. Cuz she said, if all u can say is that, who is going to be convinced that ur faith is true? anyone can say anything. Doesnt mean its true. So that got me thinking too.

Esther made us read through the whole Chapter of HEBREWS 11. As the whole chapter is about faith. She gave us homework to ponder on this chapter by ourselves.

After that it was more of Fiona asking us many many questions about things regarding this. And through different opinions given by each of us, i believe all of us in our group were really blessed to have had this amazing time of discussion and sharing of opinions. I believe each of our lives were impacted through this discussion.

I would love to write more in details but i should stop here as i already said in the start, this will be SHORT and SIMPLE. I only wanna stress the few points above that all of you should ponder as well.

Regards,
Yen Fong

Without faith, it is impossible to please God. =)smile

iCA: WWG2 (Why we go Where we go?)

I could not wait for Thursday to come. In fact, it was only just Monday that I wished the next day was Thursday. Hehe. The reason why I wanted Thursday to come fast… 

*drumrolls*

Presenting to you our very first all-girls iCA!  [Which makes me wonder how did the all-guys iCA go considering there were already 2 testimonies on all-girls iCA and this is the third ;)]

The exam pressures were piling up but I needed a little retreat from books, a little fellowship with the rest. 

As the time was clocking to eight, knocks were heard on my door. 16 of us crammed into my small and warm living room. Sorry for that hehe. 

It kicked off with praise and worship led by Kar Suan with Yen Fong on the guitar. I was touched upon listening to the unison of our voices as we sang our hearts and lungs out for Daddy in Heaven, regardless of whether we were in tune or out. 

After that, Esther conducted a very creative and brilliant family game. Like what Kezia had mentioned in her testimony, we were divided into three groups, 5 in each group. Each played a role – a blind mother, a dumb sister, a handicapped brother, a father who couldn’t express what he wanted to say directly and a baby. Each family member, except the baby who was supposed to the source of disturbance, should try to tell the word that she received to the entire family and they had to assemble the letters to form the name of the place in the Bible. It was really tough to present the word to the rest to guess as each of us had our own disabilities. I had to draw with my feet. Nevertheless, we encouraged every member of the group to try so that we could guess the words. Despite being the last group to guess the place, I was really happy that we stayed united like a family in Christ. It reminded me that we are all imperfect in one way or another, so we are made to complement others.

1 Corinthians 12:12-14
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free —and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Next up was the discussion session. Esther took a group and Sharon took another group. The first question posed was “What is a church?” We took turns answering that as the Awkward Turtle went from one hand to another. Interesting answers heard. Well, as what Esther had said, the church is a body and not a building; it is an organism and not an organization. In other words, the church is a living thing and is not confined to the walls of bricks. 

Romans 12:5
In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all others.

Then, we were divided into pairs to discuss about bible verses assigned to us. I paired up with Rebecca to discuss about John 13:5. There were some points with accompaniment of the verses discussed. Refer to Shrek’s wife post, they were listed there already. Recap:

• A church family identifies you as genuine believer
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples – John 13:35

• A church family moves you out of self-centred isolation
Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers – 
1 John 3:16
People from all walks of life form a church and we learn to put our selfish desires aside and help those who require our help in a church. Esther added on that while our relationship with Christ is personal, God never intends it to be private. As we discussed about this point, “Go spread and share the love” came into my mind.

• A church family helps you develop spiritual muscle
As each part does its own special work, it helps other parts to grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love – Ephesians 4:16
Muscles need to be used often so that they won’t turn to fats right? To allow our spiritual muscles to develop, we need to exercise them often with the help from our church family, elders, youth leaders etc.

• The church needs you
A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church – 1 Corinthians 12:7
Each one of us has at least one gift given by God. These gifts are not the same as talents, they are meant for the kingdom of God. I always wonder what gifts do I have and I have somehow found the answer through that night’s iCA. According to Esther, there are more than 20 gifts on a list which she would try to get it for us next time. Very interesting.  Like the family game, each member of the church has different gifts and they are so to complement each other. A church is certainly not a one-man thing; it requires teamwork among members. 

• A church family will keep you from backsliding
Definitely. You can find the matured and experienced Christians in a church family. Similarly, you can also learn from the younger ones in the church family. Learning through sharing of experiences and thoughts and opinions is really helpful and can help us exercise our spiritual muscles in a way.

It was great to be able to have discussions like this. They help you to squeeze your brain juice and keep you pondering about the questions that have never even crossed your mind before. Sometimes, you might found your answers that you have been searching for a very long time, who knows. iCA ended with a prayer and some food for thought by Esther. Kudos to Esther for the awesome job done.

Before I shut down, let me share with you a very cute song entitled “The Body Song”:

A body can’t walk on its nose
A body can’t eat with its toes
**For each little member has a special work to do, to make the body whole**

What if the body were all hair,
You could not sit on a chair. **…**

A body can’t smell with its knees,
You can’t use your ears to see. **…**

A body can’t chew with its legs,
You can’t use your teeth like pegs.**…**

What if the body were all arms,
Too many mouths cause a lot of harm. **…**

So I can’t do without you,
And you can’t do without me. **…**

Cheers and God bless. Happy holidays to all 

Cindy Chai

1st Girls’ ICA…<3

I know I’m writing this quite late compares to others but at least you have something to read during this holidays, yay! I was supposed to write about my experience of the 1st Girls iCA which was held last Thursday. To be frank, it was quite a busy and stressful week for me because exam is coming near (very near indeed) and yet I got a lots of activities going on especially that day.

But my race against time just started when I end up my class that day. First, I have to meet my ethics lecture regarding my assignment which she can’t explain through email but then later it was cancelled because she has others activities. At least I have a few minutes extra to proceed doing my second activities, which is doing a survey for my CO-PLN about the price of foods for the proposal things. But, the greatest challenge is when I received a message from my MDS group (MingguDestiniSiswa) saying that our group will go and eat together with our PM (pemimpinmahasiswa) on the very same day as iCA but thanks God they started early which was 7 pm. Not wanting to offend my PM I made the decision to go to the dinner. I know I can still make it for iCA despite the dinner . I pre-booked my meal for the dinner so that I won’t have to wait so long for the food to be serve. So, after a really nice talk with my MDS friends and good food I rushed back to Akasia. 

By grace of God, I manage to arrive there sharp 8 (according to my watch) only to find out there’s a lot of CA members already arrives at the “famous Akasia’s bus stop”.Then, we went to Cindy’s house. I think there’s about 16 of us cramping in Cindy’s living room. After our praise and worship, we were given a short introduction about the theme of iCA by Esther which is (W.W.G)2 Why we go Where we go? 

Then, game time. We were divided into three groups. Each groups consist of five persons and everyone must pick a character with a disabilities in each character. I be the mother (blind), Kar Suan be the father (cannot speak directly), Theresa be the sister (dumb), Fiona be the baby (the traitor), and Cindy the brother (no hand). Actually it’s quite hard to choose who be the brother and the baby because both Fiona and Cindy wanted to be “brother” (believe me, it’s a strong competition). So back to the game, we were asked to find the name of a place according to the letters that has been given to us. Our group was the last group to guess the word because I can’t describe the word that was given to me (sorry guys ). But, despite of all that I’m lucky to have a very supportive members (Thank God for that). From this game, everyone of us have their own disabilities and abilities and God made us to compliment each other. Thumb-up for Esther for such an amazing game. 

Later we were divided again into two groups for the discussion regarding our theme for iCA . What is church to you? Why do you go to church? It’s quite an interesting topic. Then, we were divided into pairs to discuss verses. This time I paired up with Hannah. Our verse is 1 John 3:16, feeling excited both of us begin to search for the verse and started to compare the verse as we were using the different version of bible only to found out that our verse doesn’t have the same meaning. It was completely different and doesn’t make sense. How could the verse could be so different? So, we refer to Rachel because she is just sitting beside us. Her bible match with mine’s BUT NOT with Hannah. That time, only God knows how nervous we were. Then after we check the verse again, we found out that Hannah was reading 1 John 2:16 instead of 1 John 3:16 . We burst into laughter and all the worries gone. It was a “quite” an experience that night. Eventually, after iCA the girls will have their ice-cream but not today….and the rest of story has been told by INTEC Shrek’s wife….I’m sure all of you have read it. Overall, it was a an awesome night despite all the exam things coming up. I get to forget about my worries and just enjoy my times that night. Honestly, I can’t wait for the next iCA where we can learn new things and experience and strengthen our faith in God. God Bless…. 

KEZIA MEA

The Bible, Pastor π, 3 Big Qs & etc.

The Bible, Pastor π, 3 Big Qs & etc.

2^nd August 2012

“Embarking on another journey for knowledge.”

I’m tired, and all I wanted to do is to collapse on my bed back in the dorm and sleep till the next sunrise. But I found myself sitting in the backseat of a van heading for Kota Kemuning’s church for the weekly iCA, I was there, because this was “Something” that I wouldn’t want to miss. As the van pulled away from the curb, the tiredness that weighed on me slowly faded away and was replaced by the excitement and anticipation for the coming gathering. When the van drove past a Tamil Primary school, we waved at adorable Primary school kids in a packed school van and they waved back at us with equal enthusiasm. That made me smile. Along the way, the van stalled a few times. But, thanks to the senior’s awesome driving skill, we got there in one piece.

We took our dinner at a hawker centre before heading “Up” to the church, and here’s where the Scary Lift came in… (Advice: Don’t take the left lift, just don’t.) We got there early, so we had some time to spare to explore the place. Sometime later, people started to arrive in small groups, but still, not everyone’s there yet. And so, to keep us entertained, there were some games. They were fun and I especially liked the fact that everyone’s in really high spirits. It’s like that you could almost feel the energy vibrating in the air, and it’s contagious.

Moments passed, and finally everyone’s accounted for. First things first, worship and praises. This time around, Rachel, Cindy and Sharon’s going to lead.  They talked about “Believe & Hope” and to trust in ourselves in whatever we do, for God is always there with us, every step of the way. Their words were really uplifting and I want to thank them for sharing. They really meant a lot to those who are in need of them.

Next, we had a small ceremony to welcome the newcomers, which involved Chokis. C:

Then…

*drum rolls*

Here comes the highlight of this week’s iCA, Pastor π’s (Mr. Chew Phye Keat) talk.

He enlightened us on various questions regarding the validity of the Bible, the ways to share the precious knowledge of the Bible with others and some valuable life lessons. He talked about the 3 Big Questions that we must, if not should at least ask ourselves, once, in our lifetime, preferably in the early years of our lives, instead of when we’re nearing the end of our journey called life.

 “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” “Where am I heading?”

These were the questions. (Pause for a while here, chew on these questions. You may proceed to do some soul-searching after you finish reading all this. C:)

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

He quoted a great philosopher, Socrates. What he said was true in every sense, that in this life, we need to understand our goals and reflect ever so often on the things we do. Cause YOLO “You Only Live Once” so, make the best of it!

Pastor π possessed a really admirable personality. He would joke ever so often in his talk, to keep us entertained and focused. And I love the way he presented the subject of the talk. He shared with us for more than an hour’s time, and here I want to thank him again on behalf of everyone, for his Wonderful and Informative talk.

After the closing prayers, we went for supper, prepared by Rachel and her team, another big Thank You to you all Awesome people. The cakes were memorable.

It was almost 11 pm when we got back, tired as I am, I felt satisfied. It’s really fulfilling to be able take part in gatherings such as these, and now iCA takes up a special place in my heart and mind. And I want to thank, my roommate, Trester, for inviting me to my first ever iCA and everyone else, for making iCA AWESOME.

Ich bin glϋcklich! “I am happy!” :D

Ketchup addict,

Michelle F.

iCA and the Vending Machine Testimony

iCA and the Vending Machine Testimony

Vending machine? Yep. I’m going to share about that soon, but promise me, to keep the suspense, you should not see first who is this writer or skip to the end of this story.

Maybe because it’s been quite long since we had our ‘all-girls’ iCA (previously known as CG, to all the seniors who are still wondering what is iCA), I didn’t have the excitement to attend it at first. Some stress and crankiness about exams which have been bothering me these past few days also kind of robbed away my eagerness to come. Even when I was on the bus back from INTEC, there’s this thought which came across my mind, what if I choose not to come?

Anyway to cut the long story short, I did attend iCA because I felt that no matter how cranky I may be, I should not isolate myself and it should not rob away the joy that God has given me through this chance of fellowship.

Our topic was about church, and why do we attend church. After worship, we had an exciting game with a very interesting message, particularly about how God created everybody with their own strengths and imperfections so that we can complement each other. 
From what we had discussed, there are mainly a few points on why do we need a church family:

 • To identify ourselves as believers.
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. – John 13:35

• To move out from self-centeredness. 
We know that real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. – 1 John 3:16

• To develop spiritual muscles.
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. – Ephesians 4:16

• The church needs you.
A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. – 1 Corinthians 12:7

It was also a great moment of sharing with each other and honestly it really made me feel recharged as all of us had the opportunity to share on what we had in mind. Without these chances created through iCA, I don’t think we have any other time to share in this manner. (Well, maybe we do, but we don’t normally come to a proper time of discussion and sharing).

Here comes the vending machine testimony. (Sorry, you’ll have to bear with this very long story)…

We decided to break the tradition as everyone was too full to have ice-cream. Coolblog (the new thing in this small town) sounded like a great suggestion after cramming in Cindy’s warm room (literally and figuratively warm indeed). However, we had to change our plan and walk back to Akasia as the line was too long.

We walked to one of the vending machines in Akasia and decided to get our cool drinks from there. Then, there came this sudden idea of testing out what we had learnt during one of our early morning prayer meetings in INTEC.

PLEASE DON’T TRY THIS OUT. I’m sharing this so that we can learn together from it.

Someone from the CA family taught us a trick to get two bottles of drinks from the vending machine by inserting cash for only one bottle. In other words, you’ll get the other bottle for free.

As Kar Suan inserted her RM2, I mischievously tried out the trick when the rest were still contemplating whether to do it or not. We were hoping to see two bottles to come out, or maybe at least one, if we happen to fail.

Well, nothing came out. Not even a bottle of 100plus that Kar Suan paid for.

I felt ashamed of myself for what I did, and there’s this unexplainable guilt because it wasn’t even my own money, and what we were trying to attempt was obviously wrong. Although it was something that we agreed to try out together, I felt so wrong for being the one who attempted it. After some failed attempts of kicking the vending machine, I said out a simple prayer to God, basically saying that we’re sorry because we chose to cheat, and in my heart, I knew that was going to be the last time I’ll do such thing.

We gave up on that vending machine and decided to move on to another one located one block away. Filled with remorse, we knew that we had to learn from that lesson.

I replaced Kar Suan’s money, pushed the button, then there was this loud thud, which meant something good.

But nothing came out.

So I decided to reach for the bottle with my own hand (at the same time praying that my hand won’t get stuck). That’s when we saw something funny, pretty amusing I have to say.

There were two bottles. We only paid for one. The other one kind of replaced the previous one that we were supposed to get.

I’m not trying to promote cheating here, but what I want to share is that God truly sees our hearts. The moment we prayed for forgiveness and admitted that we were wrong, He showed to us that He knew that we’ve learnt our lessons.

This was also part from my devotion yesterday, where I read about the Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8). While the whole passage wasn’t related to this incident, in verse 6, Jesus mentioned that sometimes we learn a good lesson from a bad example. What we chose to do was obviously wrong, and shouldn’t be imitated. But I guess the lesson is worth to be shared. Even in the Bible there were characters who chose to follow the wrong path, but as they set their hearts right before God once again and be honest to Him, He still called them His friends. 

Please don’t choose to cheat.

-Shrek’s wife, on behalf of the whole bunch of other girls.