Ps Ben’s Day 2

Yesterday I cooked macroroni soup for Ps ben for breakfast. We had to say a lengthy grace cos I am not much of a cook…hahaa…. It was great hearing from Ps Ben about the progress of the churches in Singapore, South & North America. I have to really salute Ps Ben and Dinah as they work very hard for the churches. He has many things on his plate yet he serves with such excellent and joyful spirit. On Sunday night, I could see that he was dead tired as he just reached Santiago on that day. He didn’t have sufficient rest as he traveled for about 15 hours with the unnecessary stop over. However that night as we discussed about the church, you could see his visible excitement. Although he was tired, he continued with the discussion. We kept asking him if he needed to rest but he said something like “I am very tired physically but when I talk about the kingdom I am awake.”

Sometimes we think that it’s cool to be able to travel to so many places. On the contrary, I think that it’s very tiring and it’s not as if they are here for vacation. Every time when they reach a place, we expect them to minister, teach, problem solve and give to the people. On top of the visitation of the churches, they have to look after the church in Singapore and they have to take care of their own family & children as well. We are blessed to have leaders like them =)

Our meeting with the potential members on Monday night was fruitful. Ps Ben shared about the church as salt and light and the church has to work as a team. He encourages the people to play a part in building this church. There are 14 regions, 16 billion people in Chile. In time to come, we want to see a church in every region and every province. We showed the potential members the Hope Singapore bulletin and what we have done. They are visibly impressed.

Just a note to the people in Singapore, the work you are doing back home is making waves here. We are sharing the testimonies of what God has been doing in Singapore. (Healing, growth, CG…) So what you are doing does make a difference. Thanks for showing the way!

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Ps Ben is here

Cindy and I woke up at 4.30am today to fetch Ps Ben from the airport (David was sick thus Cindy and I went instead.). His flight was supposed to reach at 5am. When we reached the airport, we realised that his flight had to stopover at another destination before reaching Santiago due to the weather. The officials couldnt give us the details but they said that the flight may reach at 8am. So Cindy and I ended at Gasby’s for a nice breakfast buffet. We ate and ate and ate and talked and talked… hahahaa…. When we checked the time again at 8am, we realised that the flight is delayed indefinitely again. This time we waited till 10am and when we checked again they told us the same thing. In the end, we decided to go home and David would travel to the airport instead.

And Ps Ben is finally here! We brought him to the Mercado central for dinner and after which, we had a good sharing time with him at home. Oh anyway thanks Pris for buying all the coconut milk and stuffs for us, Yin San the “ba gua” and earring, LC, Fen, Steven & Bernice for the note =) Thanks for remembering and going the extra mile for us!

Ended the night with a surprise – the team celebrated my birthday with a cake and pisco sour (the bestest drink). And they bought me a table lamp, a divider and a spanish bible! I told them that I was surprised that they bought exactly what I needed. They said that I have thrown many obvious hints …hahaahaa… cos I always say that I want to buy but I never buy them…heehee… This is my first time spending my birthday away from home… got to do some reflection and thanksgivings soon.

We look forward to Ps Ben’s coming too. We had a fruitful time talking about the affairs of the church and were encouraged by the testimonies from Quito & Peru. We are also praying that many breakthroughs will happen over here too! Pray with us for a fruitful meet up with pple this week =) Chao!

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Cg and stuffs

We just had our CG and the turnout wasnt as good. I was quite sad cos a few of my visitors who said that they were coming didnt turn up. This happens quite often here. I know that God will give us the fruits but its kinda frustrating when you keep seeing the same thing happen over and over again. Pple say that they will come but they didnt. We are also praying for pple whom we can disciple but thus far, the pple we have tend not to follow through on their responses. Respond one week and change their minds the other.

But I know that if I feel sad, how much more it must have sadden God. (Ultimately, I am not the one who created them and I have not given my life in exchange for theirs.) It must have broke his heart when the pple whom he loves choose to walk in a path that is harmful to them. Who constantly rejects Him, making excuses or telling him at one moment that they love him and the other moment turn their back to him. I wonder how God feels? And how many times  have I done likewise to Him? Yet God never rejects us. He is patient with us, loving and waiting for us to come back to Him. God could have make us love Him but He gave us a free will instead. How gracious He is!

I am praying that God will teach me to love pple like how He loves. Unconditional and perservering love.. its difficult but “Lord, help me love and see the pple through your eyes! Help me be your good representative”

 Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

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So how am i really doing?

I was msning Dennis and he asked me for the link of my blog. I think I have been blogging too much on what I did and he asked me to blog on how am I really doing over here. So you really wanna know?

I wouldn’t say that this trip has been a bed of roses for me. There are many pruning and struggles that I have learnt to overcome and I am still overcoming. Through this trip, my weaknesses have been amplified and hopefully my strengths too. This is the first time that I am away from home for so long and in a foreign country in which I can’t speak their language. There are several “low” points and adjustments for me.

One of them was the feeling of inadequacies and a sense of lost. The first few weeks were alright for me as everything was a novelty. After these weeks, the sense of homesickness became stronger coupled with the sense of inadequacies. I have to learn everything from scratch even the minute things like ordering food, transportation and how to get around the neighborhood… It was frustrating for me especially when I couldn’t understand the locals.

I felt inadequate due to my handicapped in language and at times I felt like I couldn’t contribute much over here. Last week, I did a CG teaching and I thought that it fell flat. I tried playing guitar and it was off beat. I couldn’t communicate to the people deeply because I couldn’t understand them. It was difficult especially when we had conversations over dinner. Half the time, I was guessing what they were saying. At that point, I felt like “God what am I doing here?”

Another low point was few days ago when I felt that the people wanted to know me to get something from me and not because they sincerely want to know me as their friend. That night alone, one gal msned me to ask me to edit her English document, another msned me to practice her English, another msned me in the hope that Puisee will give him a better grade for his project and another msned me for another motive. At that point I felt like, is there anyone who genuinely wants to befriend me? On the other hand, what do I expect? Hahaa… I think its human nature…

And there is a lot of “getting used to” over here. The way we live, the team, the language, the culture, the food, the people, my expectations… lots of adjustments…

Many a times, I could do nothing but just cried out to God for help. “Dios, ayudarme por favor!” And God never fails me. I am not saying this as a cliché but it’s true that God, Himself is sufficient. He is my ever present help and strength. I ‘m always reminded about what Paul said that when I am weak then I am strong for God’s grace is made perfect in my weakness. I know that it is not by coincidence that I am here and I see this as a privilege. The lessons that I am learning here, I can never learnt if I were to stay back in Singapore. It’s true that if I stay in Singapore, things will be much more comfortable but I will not be able to mature and grow as a person. I have learnt so much here. My faith and values are tested and I find myself growing in my dependencies on God.

Coming here makes me realize how big the world is. Life is more that just Singapore. This experience has widened my horizon as I got to see the different perspectives in life. The way different people live and their needs in life. It challenges the way I am used to doing things and it challenges me to move out of my comfort zone.

Ok this is gonna sound like a Grammy’s speech… bear with me yar

I am really thankful for my team members here. They have made my life a lot easier being my translators, my friends and teachers. Bearing with me (I’m quite a messy person) and cheering me on. Though we have our differences, we always choose to do what’s biblical.

Thanks Pris for being my ranting machine.
Thanks Shirls for being my teaching machine…hehee..
Thanks to my dear CG members who remember me through your email, msn and simply asking me how I am.
Thanks Joyce for sending me the guitar chords and games manual because you know that I need them.
Thanks Deb for offering to send me the jap drama…hahaa…
Thanks Jiehui for visiting my parents and passing all the cards…
Thanks Seng, Wyn, Jona, Junhuang, Jasmine, Nel, KS, Dan and many more for your msn and care…hehee..

Also thanks for all your encouragements and prayers. I appreciate them greatly =)
Don’t worry I am doing well… and I think I can give up the hope of losing weight though…hahahaaa…

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Good website for learning guitar

Thanks to Pris who gave me this link http://grahamchoo.blogspot.com/search/label/Matt%20Redman

Its very helpful for learning how to play certain christian songs =) Let me know if you have more resources on chords and guitar playing k? Gracias!

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CG & Team Retreat

We had our CG yesterday. The turnout was quite good and we had 2 newcomers yesterday. One of them was a vet and when asked if she likes animal, she said yes. She loves to eat them 😛 Cindy did a great job teaching and I was the gutarist for Pui See but I think I blew it =(

I tried playing “My redeemer lives” in the faster strumming. As I was playing, I got nervous and lost the beat. I lost a few beat in the worship songs as well. But the CG pple had been very encouraging. They tried to continue singing nevertheless. One of the visitors tried to comfort me by saying that God looks at the heart…heeheee… Then at the end of the CG, another visitor played the guitar and he could play so much better than me. I think I can start passing on this role 😛

We had a team retreat today. It was great. We started the day worshipping & praying and watching a Hope teaching on church growth. Afterwhich we went into an intensive time of planning. We are expecting great things from God this year and from what we have planned,  it seems like alot alot of hard work ahead. But it’s gonna be worth it!

Ps Ben is visiting us 2 weeks later. We hope to assimulate the potential core team members and have a healing rally. Pray for us yar? Expecting growth big time!

Oh please also pray for me to pick up spanish fast! It’s super frustrating not to be able to share deep with the locals because I cant speak and understand their language.

Sorrie my blog is gonna be quite boring. No more pictures as the camerman has gone back…hahaa…

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Faith

The weather is turning cold… Last night it was -2 degrees! Hopefully, that will be the lowest.

I was reminded by this passage this morning. Rom 4: 17-22
 “As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”19Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Holy Spirit encourages me that this is His specialty, to call something that are not as though they were. Faith and facing the reality are not contradicting. I thought that if I was Abraham, I may not have responded like him. He was faced with such an impossible situation and he had NEVER wavered/doubted in God’s promises! No wonder he is called as a man of faith. God has placed certain burdens in my heart… still praying and seeking for confirmation.

We are having a team retreat this Saturday to plan for the church. Please pray for us for wisdom and for God to lead us =) Oh and I will be meeting a visitor tonight. Hope to share with her about Holy Spirit baptism. The people needs spiritual encounters. Please pray with us… thanks =)

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Farewell

Goodbye JH!

Had a farewell CG for him on Friday and yesterday. It’s amazing how time flies! I remember planning this trip with him and now he has gone back. 

 

 

Anyway JH, if you are reading this…

Thanks for everything! You have helped and inspired me in many many ways… Gracias (:

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Back

We just came back from team retreat at Brazil. Believe it or not, we have chosen the place as its cheaper to travel there than any other places. It actually costs more to travel to the north/south of Chile. I think its a well deserve get away for the team as they have worked very hard. The pace here is unbelievably fast. Before I came, I thought that the pace will be slower, that the South Americans will be quite laid back. Its not true in Santiago. Generally people work very long hours here, similarly to that in Singapore. The great thing about Santiago is its efficiency 🙂 Over here, there are many foreigners from other parts of South America. Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina….

 ok back to the trip. We spent 5 days at Brazil.

Sao Paulo airport

 

There are many catholic churches in Sao Paulo

 

The tallest building in Sao Paulo

 

Yummy…. the food was GREAT! (I have no idea what I was doing)

 

my “match making” photo…hahahaa

 

Christ Redeemer at Rio de Janeiro. Would this be one of the new 7 wonders of the world? Results tonight!

 

 

Sugar loaf

 

Home Sweet Home

 

I was so in awe of the majesty of God through this trip. Looking at his creation just took my breathe away.
 

Who am I Lord? Who is man that you are mindful of?

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