22nd March 2009

Ok this was our last day in Jakarta.  We went to another Abba Love church for Sunday service.  We worshipped their.  Uncle William gave sermon there with a pro translater.  Yeah, he preached in English.  Hmm... I really admired the translator.  He was really fast and precise.  *Thumb up*

Hmm...After the service, we went for our brunch at a nearby stall.  The noodles there not bad also.  Not too tasty but not bad.  Enjoyed the meal.  Before the meal, Kian Aun wanted to leave them our Give Thanks song and Bernice was the one who taught the Indons.  Hmm... 

After the meal we started our journey to the airport.  Hmm... We checked in everything and we took some photos there with our hosts and then we went to the departure hall.  Hmm...

What I shared here were not the entire thing as we were in different groups.  Some amazing things that other groups experienced I wasn't really clear.  But I will conclude the trip on the next post :)  

21st March 2009

                                          

This was the place we stayed overnight after the extreme prayer.  Hmm... Most of us gals did not manage to sleep tight as the room was too cold and there was so much noice made by people outside the room.  I think it was because they just came back from the prayer.  And we heard uncle William talking so loudly so early in the morning.  *sweat*

Hmm...This was the day most of us looked forward to where we would have our free time and we would have time to shop for souvenirs etc.  Some were looking for branded sports wear as they said the goods are sold cheaper there.  Well, we waited till noon then only went to those places.  We went to a mall, and we had Japanese food.  Mission trip wor...

I did not get to really tour around the giant mall.  I only got to visit their toilets *sweat* Haha... From the time we were at the Japanese restaurant I already in the toilet once.  When my food came, they informed me then I went back there to finish my food.  Then I went to the same toilt again.  After they left, I came out thought of meeting them, but they went different direction.  I was still not feeling quite well so I visited the toilet at another level.  Keke...  That's how I spent my day in the mall.  

Then we went to another place that sells all the sports wear.  I did not get anything from there too.  Haha... There was nothing interesting for me, not too interesting that will get me to spend there.  Some of us did get things there for themselves as well as for family members.  

At 5pm, we had to attend a youth service.  That church is in a mall itself.  The whole church has about 400 youths and kids.  What amazed me was seeing kids worshipping God with their hearts.  I had never seen such scene in my church.  The kids flipped the bible as the 16 year old girl was preaching up there.  It was really impressive.  We played our mime- The Simple Heart there and Carmen shared her testimony there.  

After that we left the church to the Industry again to have our dinner and to have short sharing on the trip as well as the church we attended just now.  After that we went to have satay ayam some where with the local church members- Amos, Erwin and Ricky if I'm not mistaken.  They have been the greatest hosts ever.  

19th- 20th March 2009

The host, Pak Rueben shared on Ephesians 3: 1- 13 and Philippians 3: 7- 8 and his sharing led me to share on John 16:33 I could hardly understand what he shared because of the language.  But I think it was about giving up things for the sake of Christ.  I felt that it's a very difficult thing to do.  By giving up those things cost us a lot.  But we are always comforted because God has already overcome the world, we do not have to worry or afraid (we will do as we are human, lack of faith).  

After the dawn prayer we went back to the house and we packed.  We had our breakfast- fried rice, prepared by his wife and we had sweet tea.  It tasted good and this time without pig skin :P

Our next station was a school- Cendrawaseh Kristen School.  This is a private school and it's a christian school.  It was Erwin's school, he graduated his junior high here.  By the way, Erwin was our guide when we were in the village.  

We joined their KidsGame in the school.  I was observing them and I got ideas for my kids in the center.  Some of the games they can play too :)  After each games they had small group discussion.  The helper will tell them the values they can learn through the games and they related it to bible stories too.  I kinda like it and hoping to be trained.  

After the KidsGame, we went to the junior high school.  We toured around the school then we joined they worship session.  If I am not mistaken, the worship is a daily thing.  We were invited to sing two songs on stage.  We sang Hari Ini Ku Rasa Bahagia and How Great is Our God.  Well, I found their worship dry as it was more l ike a concert than true worship.  However, I also felt they they are really blesssed to be reminded of God's presence everyday.  No matter how each of them worship, no matter what their attitudes are, they received the seed.  In His time, it will grow.  

After that we went to Erwin's house for lunch.  Her mum sells noodles outside his house.  He has a huge house.  We had Bakmi ayam i think.  It was tasty and again he served us a lot of other foods like Popiah, fish crackers, huge bananas, and I had my favorite drinks there- Fanta :)  The headmaster of Cendrawaseh treated us lunch there.  Hmm... We rested at his house and then he brought us to one of Abba Love at Carrefoure.  It was a nice place.  

Oh yeah, we visited another school called SMU? It is a public school and we were invited to join their CF (Christian Fellowship).  I gave my testimony there and we played our drama there- Why Didn't You Tell Me Earlier? by Eliza and Hui Xian.  KM preached, it was actually a summary on the drama and Kian Aun did the ice- breaker. Heh... The CF was really impressive.  The students were attentive and always connected to us when we talked.  During their worship, we can really see that it was from their hearts.  Their attitudes encouraged me a lot and I shared my testimony with the lowest fear level.  These were Senior High students.  Compared to the Junior High students, yeah, their maturity level is higher.   Apparently it was a famous school like our Sam Tet and Ave Maria. 

Then we went to their sports ministry place.  It was a comfy place.  Besides their church, they have a place to hang out.  It is like a second home.  Cool!  There are basketball courts and Futsal courts.  They are superb.  They have so many coach and their players can play very well.  When the other groups reached the Industry also. We had brief sharings on their stay at the villages.  Then we played captain ball and futsal together.  Then we had BBQ and then to the Extreme Prayer.  It was an overnight thing, from 10pm to 5 am the next morning.  But we left at 2am after the refreshments.  

During the Extreme Prayer.  I had no feelings.  The drum beat away all my feelings.  As I tried to focus on God, everyone of my family members, my friends and loved ones accured in my mind.  All their faces flashed in my mind.  I began to pray for their salvation.  I named them one by one.  I named them again and again.  After that only found out that some of us from our team prayed for the same thing.  I guessed God alerted us that we should pray and reach out to our loved ones.  Hmm... It should not stop there.  

18th March 2009

Upon Jervin's request, I'm here to share about my Indonesia trip.  Haha... Yeah, I was back in Ipoh for a week by now.  I was too lazy to share it here again because I shared many times already.  Haha...

18th March

 

When we reached Indonesia's Airport, we were received by the fellow brethren from Abba Love.  Abba Love is a huge church with many branches.  It's a church like City Harvest in Singapore.  Then we were sent to a village called Sehwan.  We gathered at a kindergarten.  The first stop was at the "Mental Health Rehab Center".  We had fellowship with some of the mentally ill people.  One of them played the guitar and sang us two songs.  We sang two songs for them too.  Then we were served butter cookies.  After that we were told to break ourselves into 3 groups because each group will be going into different villages.  My group went to a Ex- lepers village, another group went to a rubbish dump village and another group to a village with a lot of kids(?).  We did not know the conditions of the 3 villages and we did not know what to expect.  So off we went to the respective villages.  

When I reached the village, it wasn't as bad as I expected.  We did not get to bath in the river.  Hehe... I did not know that that is an ex- lepers village also.  I got to know when I found that most of the uncles and aunties do not have fingers, or their fingers and toes are crooked.  Then only I asked Km.  Once we reached the host's house, we were served soft drinks, then we were served Chocolate Ice- blended and then bubur kacang hitam, which we thought it was our dinner.  By now you can see how hospitable are they.  They were so warmth.  

After we bathed, we went home visits.  We went to a few houses.  We were treated Eskrim in one of the houses we visited.  They run a business and they said it was from God.  It's a kedai runcit.  The first thing that the people said when they saw us was Puji Tuhan.  They were ex- lepers.  Because of their sickness, they lost their fingers, toes and legs.  They are poor and yet they praised God.  I can hardly do that, I blamed God for the things that I've to go through.  When my center has visitors, I never said praise God.  I have never said that.  To them, God's people are Luar Biasa, yet I felt that I am just as ordinary as other people.  I did not seriously think that having God is a Luar Biasa thing.  I was slapped twice once I was there. 

Would I praise God when I lose a leg? Fingers? Toes? They are so simple and they place their trust fully on God.  I felt and still feeling so ashamed for trying to run away from God like Adam and Eve.  Shame on me!   :(

We joined their young adult meeting too.  I had language barrier plus I wasn't really alert, I couldn't understand what they were talking about.  They were fun and cheerful.  Their worship was superb and their prayer meeting was so different from us.  They are planning to go on a mission soon, if I'm not mistaken, they will be going in May.  I must remember to pray for them.  Hmm... I took the initiative to talk to them.  I got them to write something in my journal too :)

After that we went back home, we had our dinner.  I swallowed a piece of pig skin.  I thought it was sotong or something.  I had never ever seen pig skin in this form.  I did not want to know what it was too.  But Erwin, he told us.  I was not in time to stop him.  sigh...

We were told that the next morning they have dawn prayer.  It was at 5am, Malaysian time will be 4am.  Ok it was our first night ok?  But we managed to wake up in time.  

Today is the third day I worked with that difficult colleague after the 3 months break from her.  Oh well, I felt that I've changed- not to be more patient though.  I changed to be more direct.  I felt that I'm braver to confront her and those parents.  Oh well, they may feel that I'm not in the right mood.  However, sooner or later they will know that I have become more firm to them.  

I do not know how they may feel with my change especially for my colleague.  But I want to be brave to do what is right at work.  Hmm... It's a tiring and busy day.  But I felt most peaceful at this moment.  I hope that this peace will continue to wrap me tightly.  

I handed my application form for my studies.  Am I ready?  I seriously do not know.  I felt that I will be bound by it.  I will not have so much freedom to be involved in certain activities.  But I'm really in the mood to learn new things and to be as expressive as possible when I teach.  I need to revive my spirit in my area of work as well as my relationship with my family.  I felt that I have neglected them for a while.  Hmm...