wonderment

The FEBC IC Conference in Senai came to a successful end to on 25 February 2005.

The Secretariat would like to thank one very special Person who made it all work out in the end, our very own dear Jesus.

Thank You very much for the experiences.
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One of the coolest things that came out of this conference is that I’ve got “dads & moms” “grandpas & grandmas” all over the world who will give me a roof over my head should I ever need it!

We didn’t have time to take a lot of photos with all the delegates but I managed to get one snapshot of one elderly “grandfather”. His name is John Wheatley, the secretary of the council and the guy overall in charge of organising this conference.

All the time that I was corresponding with him over email, I had this impression he was in his 40s, maybe 50 … My word… when I saw him, I got the shock of my life! This guy was old enough to rival my own granddaddy! Suddenly, calling him by his first name was so weird that I quickly dropped that and referred to him as “Mr. Wheatley”.

This photo below is of me and my Secretariat plus my favourite out of all my favourite delegates - Rev Raymond Lo (Exec. Director of FEBC Hong Kong & Chinese Program Director).

All the delegates never put on any airs or never expected to be treated like royalty. They were humble, hardworking and very nice even though we screwed up tons of times.

However, Rev Lo takes the topping off the cake for his true Christian self that shines through. There were many instances that I saw him displaying the fruits of the Spirit and there was no denying it, this is a true man of God.

Someone who is so in tune with God that the fruits just display themselves ripe and beautiful in his life and also one that has a deep passion for the harvest field. Hee.

L-R: CL, me, XL & Rev. Raymond Lo (our favourite-est delegate of the conference)

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hurry up and SLOW DOWN?

Oxymoron? You bet.

But I think that’s what a lot of people, including Papa and my body are screaming out to me. I’m moving so fast that I’m getting addicted to speed!
Time to slow down and relak one korner.

As you read this message, perhaps you’ve been really busy.

I’m like you. Preparing for the conference has been nothing short of pure madness with its fair share of stories to tell.

For the worst part, the devil hits you just below the belt - choosing the most tiresome, most frustrating, most upsetting, most disatisfying of times to inject a minute dose of doubt. Just a teeny weeny dose, like an innocent question, “Why are you working so hard for?”

You don’t need sodium in water to know that things get blown totally out of proportion when you’re tired/mad/upset. Your anger grows from 0 - 120 in 1 minute flat and then everything goes awry.

But for the better part, you’ve got a Father who’s fighting for you. There were so many times that I would have exploded if Papa hadn’t put a firm restraining hand on my raging heart and urged me to walk away before I said anything embarrassing.

And He doesn’t just stop there. He follows through by showing from His word the kind of wisdom that just makes you know … It cannot come from the world.

A friend gave me Spurgeon’s “Morning by Morning” devotional and I’ve been following it for the past 3 days. Yesterday, we talked about contentment - just when I needed it. As I ended the QT, I wrote briefly about about an experience I was going through on a small post-it note and I stuck it in there. My last line was ~”And then God spoke saying, ‘I am all you need.’ Praise God”.

Today, the devotional opened up to the story of Issac dwelling by Beer Lahai Roi (A well to the Living One who seeth me - Gen 16:13). It was the well that God provided life and refreshment to Hagar and Issac chose to dwell by it after Abraham died.

Suddenly, Bethany Dillion’s “You are all I need” comes on in my head. At the end of the devotion, it was this verse below from Acts 17:24-28.

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“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.

And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.

God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

(Acts 17:24-2
Bethany Dillion ~ You are all I need
When the day is done
And there’s no one else around
While I’m lying here in bed
You’re in my heart, You’re in my head
You’re all I need, You’re all I need
There are a million voices
Calling out my name
But You’re the One I want to hear
So make the others disappear

You are all I need when I’m surrounded
You are all I need if I’m by myself
You fill me when I’m empty
There is nothing else
You’re all I need

When the morning comes
And Your mercy is renewed
There’s a fire in my bones
I’m not afraid to go alone
You’re all I need
You’re all I need
The sun on my face
I hear You whisper loud
You’re still the God that opens seas
Every flower, even me
You’re all I need
You’re all I need

I’m drawn to everything that You do
Nothing compares with You

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What’s so interesting about where Issac chose to live?

Well, Issac chose to live NEXT to the well that God had graciously provided Hagar and Ishmael.

So very often we are so “spiritually thirsty” but we try quenching our thirst through our careers, our families, our friends, status, fortune, etc… But they don’t work. They don’t last at all! They are equalled to the stale, dirty water that comes from the drains!

“You are what you drink” they say. Issac lived next to the well where God had poured out His bountiful blessings. He relied on that well for his and his family’s daily water needs. Without that well, they would all die.

The Beer Lahai Roi well is miles away from us in Singapore, probably buried under the shifting sands of time, but we have a spiritual Beer Lahai Roi well that dwells inside us.

Are you still quenching your thirst through your work, your friends, your secure life?

Come back to God. He is all you need. You can’t live more than a week without water but you can’t live a second without God.

For anyone who’s interested, I did finish that script last night.

When my head hit the pillow it was 2am. It didn’t seem long after I put my head down when I was awoken by someone switching on the room light and clapping around. 230am. My dear sister was trying to catch a stray mozzie that was making a feast out of her.

In any case, I pulled the pillow over my head and went back to sleep, mozzie or not.

Woke up with the aftereffects of brain fry but a glorious morning sky greeted me as I ran out of the house.

Even though I was going to be 10 minutes late for work, I couldn’t help but stand beneath my block and look upwards where a breeze was blowing.

From my angle, the swaying palm fronds seemed like they were tickling the blue-yellow sky. Fluffy silver-lined clouds lazily drifted along like a dream. A couple of birds were twittering around. Everyone had left for work already so the carpark was beautifully quiet.

“I will praise you in the morning, my Lord.”

By the time my dad’s old beater roared to life and cut through the silence, I had gotten my peace for the day.

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Did I tell you about a certain place in Aljunied, that lies along the Kallang- Paya Lebar Expressway and bus 155 passes through it?

I want to go back there some day.

I’m not so good with the words to describe the scene but I can tell you what I felt.

There comes a time when you get so tired of traffic that you just get onto any bus hoping that it’d take you somewhere so you can go home ..

The bus takes you on a journey…

It passes by familiar roads.

It passes not-so-familiar places.

While you’re still wondering where on earth you are, the bus brings you to a place that seems to be taken from a good dream you had once.

It’s reality and a dream all at once. But as the bus takes me down that simple one lane road, I know that its my God, who knows my needs, according to His riches in glory, who took me off a side road in life, to let me see how gracious He is.

~ by Henri Nouwen

All human beings are alone. No other person will completely feel like we do, think like we do, act like we do. Each of us is unique, and our aloneness is the other side of our uniqueness. The question is whether we let our aloneness become loneliness or whether we allow it to lead us into solitude. Loneliness is painful; solitude is peaceful. Loneliness makes us cling to others in desperation; solitude allows us to respect others in their uniqueness and create community.

Letting our aloneness grow into solitude and not into loneliness is a lifelong struggle. It requires conscious choices about whom to be with, what to study, how to pray, and when to ask for counsel. But wise choices will help us to find the solitude where our hearts can grow in love.

———— amen!! —————-

If anyone would give me a fantastic belated birthday prezzie that I absolutely need once my conference crazies are over, is a free overnight stay at some hotel for two. You can be the other one. Throw in a massage please.

Me wanna curl up and snooze till July.