The wonderful thing about being Christians...there is no farewell, only "see you soon"

One thing we will surely miss...our home church in the US. The little chapel on the hilltop. We wonder if we can get use to our big church back home after being so comfortable in a small church perched on a hilltop. We have made wondeful friends in this little church and the friends here will be sorely missed.

This church brought us back to the basics of Christian living, this church brought us back to the simplicity of life...practically every message that was preached was simple yet spoke volumes and easily applicable. Worship was great with simple musical instruments, sometimes, off-key singers...but all done from the heart. God isn't really interested in perfect singers or high tech instrutments...He just want to bring us back to the heart of worship.

We are the only Chinese in this church but we have never stuck out like sore thumbs because the people there made us feel so welcomed, so accepted since day one. The wonderful thing about being in Christ is that there are no strangers in the body of Christ and even if we don't meet again in this place, we know we will meet someday in the heavenly mansion!

Evangel Assembly - the little chapel on the hilltop





The wonderful people


Inside the chapel during worship. This lady plays the flute most beautifully...it's most angelic

These wonderful people have never made us felt left out. In fact, they made us felt very much loved and accepted.

'Thank you' is not sufficient to express how grateful we are towards their friendship, love and concern. We can only pray that the kindness they have showed to us will be returned to them in two folds, three folds...a hundred folds. May our paths cross again in this world without strangers.

'you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God'.... Ephesians 2: 19

9 March 2008, I wrote this in my blog. Looking back, God has kept His promise, I have indeed saw the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Compromise or commitment

This week we had an invited speaker at the pulpit. He was an old man but he didn't speak like one, in fact, he spoke with much convictions and gusto! His message was from Exodus, the negotiations between Pharaoh and Moses. He asked, as Christians, do we often find ourselves committing or do we find ourselves compromising?

He gave many examples. One of them was why church attendance have been dipping? Reason being, most chose to put their kids in 'Kids' League' on a Sunday and instead of going to church, they chose to attend all the games.

On rainy days, people chose to stay home instead of going to church...BUT on rainy days, people still get to work, force their kids out of bed and put them on the school bus. Why? Basically, a commitment over compromise. Whereas for church-going, it was vice versa.

The message made me ponder...back home, when people drive to church, they not only expect a parking lot waiting for them but they also expect a good position in the carpark waiting for them. So often, we strive for convenience and not commitment. Where there is no convenience, we often compromise.

Half a year...

Today is Sept 11. The news this morning was sombre as Americans remembered 9/11, an event which changed the world.

Half a year has rocketed by since coming to the US. My feelings are mixed. On one hand, I am reluctant to leave this beautiful big country where there's so much to see, so much to experience and so much to enjoy. On the other hand, I am also looking forward to going back to the place, I call home, where families are and friends whom I have known for decades, who accept me for who I am and what I am, live. No matter how nice this place is, it is not home. This is only a journey and a journey has a beginning and an end. When one journey ends, another begins.

Half a year is not a short time, neither is it a long one too. In this half a year, so much have changed. I have changed...my perspectives, my feelings they have all changed. News from back home also saw a lot of changes.

I love the simple lifestyle, I love the farm fresh food and fruits. I love going to farms to do my marketing, I love talking to the locals to learn a thing or two. Oh yes, I love going to the church on the hilltop and the kids love running down from the hill. Weekends are spent travelling on the road to destinations that are beyond our expectations. The kids adore the open space, the time spent cycling in the neighbourhood (Kai has already requested to bring home his bike). All these, we will surely miss.

I can only pray and hope that when we return, we will not spend our weekends at shopping malls and the cinemas. In land-scarce Singapore, it will be difficult to find an open space for the kids to soak in nature but somehow, we have to make an effort to allow them to have fun in nature, which they so love.

Looking back at my blog, there were indeed many changes from then till now but there was one thing which stood firm and that was the word of God given to us on the day of our departure

The passage fo us this morning was from Psalms 27. It assured us of God's guidance and unfailing protection upon our lives. This one verse stood out, it was almost jumping out from the Bible... "I am confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." (vs 13)

Yes, we saw and is still seeing the goodness of the Lord in this land of the living.


Worth sharing...

Since coming to US, I have learned to appreciate small tiny creatures. This I learned from Kai and Ann. Especially, Kai. He just has an eye for small tiny creatures. They fascinate him tremendously. I must also say that hubby's knowledge in nature, animals both big and small, creepy crawlies, plants and flowers...has passed on to Kai.

Today, my sister emailed something really beautiful about a tiny little creature. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we all did.

Butterfly with transparent wings. Absolutely gorgeous!

It comes from Central America and is found from Mexico to Panama. It is quite common in its zone, but it's not easy to find because of its transparent wings, which is a natural camouflage mechanism. A butterfly with transparent wings is rare and beautiful. As delicate as finely blown glass, the presence of this rare tropical gem is used by rain forest ecologists as an indication of high habitat quality and its demise alerts them of ecological change. Rivaling the refined beauty of a stained glass window, the translucent wings of the Glass wing butterfly shimmer in the sunlight like polished panes of turquoise, orange, green, and red.
All things beautiful do not have to be full of colours to be noticed: in life that which is unnoticed has the most power

Keep it simple

Another great message. Pas Winters preached on "Holiness" this week.

Often when we hear topic like this, we will be expecting a dry, solid, slow-moving sermon. But the way he preached it, it sent you into deep thoughts. It was simple, precise and easy to understand and apply. I think, in my opinion, that's how messages ought to be preached to laymen. The more complex it is, the more theological it is being prepared, the least it will be understood, absorbed and remembered.

Holiness is not about 'should I do this or do that', 'can I do this or can I not do that'....Holiness is also not about '10 steps to follow in order to become Holy'. It is returning to the basics, "take up your cross and follow me", "if you love Me, obey my commandments"....Yes, if you love someone deeply, you would go all out to please that person, to make that person happy. Remember your courtships days, those lovey-dovey days. Ladies, you would spend hours making sure you looked the best when you went for your dates. Gentlemen, you made sure you not only looked good but smelled good. By the way, husbands and wives, your lovey-dovey days should not come to an end. With each passing year, you should be even more deeply in love with each other ;)

Likewise, if you love God, you will want to please Him and the pursuit of Holiness brings pleasure to Him.

"It's not pastoral duties to teach us how to live, it's pastoral duties to tell us what the Bible says."

Simple?

9 July...

9 March, we left Singapore to begin a journey of uncertainties, a journey of challenges...an adventure. It has been exactly 4 months now. All fears, all worries, all anxieties have been put to rest. What we experienced have been nothing but God's goodness, God's provisions, God's faithfulness. We have grown, as a family, as an individual, in many folds. These were not possible by man's own efforts.

One of the greatest blessings that was given to us was that God brought us to this temporary home church of ours, built on a hilltop -- Evangel Assembly.

The scenary from up there was magnificent, more so, was the love of the people. Today, God reminded me once again of the goodness of Him and His people. Since our first day at the church, we were never once, felt left-out. We were constantly surrounded by good friends, warm fellowship and enriching messages. We don't need a great band to worship God, we don't need complex messages to help us have a new indepth understanding of God and His ministries. The people up on the hilltop exemplify the verse... Phil 2:4 "Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others"

Perhaps...simple is good, small is beautiful.

Thank God for this rare opportunity

As we were soaking in the wonders of the Niagara Falls, I told Kai, "you must thank God for this chance. Not many kids could experience this."

Yes, it dawned on me that this has been one huge of an experience!

It has been almost 3 months now that we have set foot on America. The fears, the worries and the uncertainities were all gone.

It was really an irony. When we were living the routine life, we wished for something different. When we were thrown into something different, it seemed frightening. I remembered crying on the plane, that I wasn't going on a holiday, I wasn't going home in a week's time or 3 weeks time. I was going to stay and live for a year, 12 LONG months!

Now, looking back, the initial months were really sharpening time. It was like the glass blowing process. We would never be able to see the beauty of the glassware if the craftsman did not put it into the hot furnance.

God has been good. You could never imagine how He works in such small and subtle ways.

The neighbourhood we are living in is a great place although quiet. The next door house was vacant when we shifted in. Many people have visited and viewed the house but none shifted in. We prayed for good neighbours, preferably one with kids. Not too long later, a family with, not one or two or three kids, shifted in. It was a family with six kids! It was really great to see these kid running around, playing and spraying water at each other. It was a great time just looking at them!

Well, didn't the Bible said when God gives, He gives abundantly, exceedingly above all that we could ever imagine.

Consider the lillies of the field...

Matthew 6:28...consider the lillies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin


These were not exactly lillies but we planted them when we first shifted into our house that was in end-March. Look at how they have grown and bloomed, Just as God had said, He looked after the birds of the air and the lillies of the field, He would surely watched over us. These flowers had survived the freezing cold and the blazing hot sun but turned out just beautiful. We knew that at the end of this adventure, we would be like purified gold. We never failed to thank God for this life-changing experience, not just for us but for Kai and little Ann.

14 May

"God will make a way where there seems to be no way..." Yes, God always has His ways of working. Really, all we need to do was just to trust Him.

I wrote to Barb asking if the church has managed to raise enough funds for the roof repair.

Today, I received an email from Barb Love

Yes, Shirley - Praise the Lord----we have! As a matter of fact, today the steeple came off. I took pictures and tried to video it so we shall see how good a photographer I am. I'd like to burn it to a CD - that is once I learn how to do it!! :-) I have people who know how to do that so maybe they can show me. The steeple is now lying on it's side by the Church shed. We are putting a new roof on it - Lord willing and the weather holds out - this Saturday. Shingles and materials are being delivered early tomorrow morning and then early Saturday the work will start. Pray for good weather for the guys. The Lord has been so faithful as He always is so I want to not make a big deal of stuff because He always comes through.......Love, Barb :-)

14 May

God continues to be good and He continues to assure us that He is watching over us.

Deut 32 : 10 - 12
He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He kept him as the apple of his eye. Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the LORD alone guided him...

The power of prayer

Thought I would share this wonderful story which my sister emailed me.


A missionary told this true story while visiting his home church in Michigan.

'While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This was a 2 day journey and required camping overnight at the halfway point. On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine, and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the field hospital. Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, One of whom had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time talked to him about the Lord. I then travelled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident....

Two weeks later I repeated my journey. Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines.

He said, 'Some friends and I followed you in to the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to move into your camp, We saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.

At this, I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point, however, and said,

'No, sir, I was not the only person to see the guards, my friends also saw them, and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone.'

At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and Interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day this happened. The missionary told the congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him this story:

'On the night of your incident in Africa , it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong, I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?'

The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn't concerned with who they were, he was too busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26.

This story is an incredible example of how The Spirit of the Lord moves on behalf of those who love Him. If you ever hear such prodding, go along with it. Nothing is ever hurt by prayer except the gates of hell.

If we all take it to heart, We can turn this world toward God once again. As the above true story clearly illustrates, 'With God all things are possible'. More importantly, how God hears and answers the prayers of the faithful.

Who says God does not move on the earth today? I asked the Lord to bless you as I prayed for you today. To guide you and protect you as you go along your way. His love is always with you, His promises are true, and when we give Him our cares you know He will see us through. So when the road you're traveling on seems difficult, at best, Just remember I'm here praying for you, and God will do the rest.

9 March 2008

Today, we leave for USA. It is really difficult to believe that we are finally leaving today.
Just 2 1/2 years ago, hubby was retrenched and no. 2 just arrived. God has an amazing way of working in our lives isn't He.

The passage fo us this morning was from Psalms 27. It assured us of God's guidance and unfailing protection upon our lives. This one verse stood out, it was almost jumping out from the Bible...
"I am confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." (vs 13)

Families, friends gathered very early at the airport, the new Terminal 3.
It was a very emotional farewell for me, even if it was just for a year. I have never left home all my life. Coming from a closely knitted family, saying goodbye was tough. Actually, tears were already flowing days earlier...