wonderment

I promised to keep a journal about all that was happening in CCIS but I was lucky if I had the time to sit down to eat even!

Flying around like a regular Supergirl, I’ve made more taxi trips in the last 10 days than my entire life.

On top of that I ….

Carried a variety of costumes, hula grass, drums, digeridoos, limping boys …

Made friends with bus drivers, highly-educated bums, bellboys, coffee baristas, security officers, videographers, VPs, dedicated uncle/aunties and of course hunky Australian/Hawaiian/Taiwanese guys… *cue: drool!*

Got air-kissed/hugged a million times, thrown up to shake my butt in front of straitlaced Singaporeans, volunteered as an impromptu MC, into fights to get my artistes what they wanted …

Had my fair share of heart attacks with missing equipment, missing performers, missing buses, missing wallets, missing passports, missing air tickets!

Nearly cried on the 2nd day of the event, nearly whacked an army major, nearly packed myself into a suitcase to follow the Aussies on their world tour.

Lost 5kg, lost a slipper, lost all inhibitions in proclaiming the name of Jesus on Orchard Road. “JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!!!”

Whew, I’ve only begun sleeping off the effects now - 6 days since the end of CCIS.

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I don’t really know how to describe the experience of the 10 days, even now, I’m relishing the thrill of each CCIS day like a fast forward film in my mind’s eye. Words just don’t do justice.

I cannot express the dedication pumped into this project by the thousands of volunteers, from the sweet 5-year-old boy who was singing lustily without notes, to the uncles and aunties who stuck by their stage duties without a word of complaint.

I saw the overall I/C (a CEO of a local cosmetic company) donate time, money and effort only to have to deal with the infightings and finger-pointings. He stuck out to the end, despite struggling with 3 slipped discs. Lastly, he could have, but didn’t put his company logo on the list of sponsors. For all that, I salute him.

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Being able to proclaim Christ on the streets was also another high point of the event.

The performing groups often pushed the envelope when it came to proclaiming Christ on the streets and Nicole and I kept wondering if we were going to get thrown into jail if the ISD came along. However, by the 3rd day, it felt as if Orchard Road had become a public Christian concert venue ! It was no longer a question of who was crossing boundaries, it was about who could shout it out the loudest!

I thought such an outright declaration of “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” was taboo in conservative Singapore so it was mind-blowing to see people of all races and dress bopping to the Christianised version of “Where is the love?”. What was even more brain-busting is the salvation story of a Muslim who came to Christ after seeing the Indonesians perform.

There are tons of other stories and miracles that came as a result of people who were not afraid to proclaim Christ to those who have not heard!

To think that we as part of the committee, we were so afraid that the STB would shut down our event if we got too “Christian”!

What is mere man compared to the Almighty God?

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The papers called this event a “roaring success” and I heard that the STB liked the response generated enough to want it to happen again next year.

All these wouldn’t have happened without One Person.

Through honouring Him, He has honoured us and sustained us.

I like to quote a line from a thank you letter from the Program Chairman, “…Seen the rain lately? God held the rain back till last night. ANd I also do not think it coincidental that the Tsunami that missed Singapore. God had been faithful…”

Church, we made it. Despite our differences, God has given us the awesome privilege of pulling off such an event with such success!

Yes and Amen.