“I can”

Spending time with my maker is so amazing…yesterday, while i was at SengKang CC doing my kickboxing, I was just thinking whether I wanna take a bus back or just walk back home…walking back home will mean about 45 mins… just then i felt HS speaking to me “walk with me, I have a date with you…”

So i walked back in the cool of the night  just conversing with Him, walking across the stretch of green field under the the pitch dark clouds, and enjoying the breeze …I just felt His presence, and strangely happy & contented… I was reminiscing the past, and telling him of all my weakness and imperfection… sorry for breaking your heart Lord, for failing again and again… I told him that I find it difficult to even accept myself and I wonder who can? Just then… He spoke so quickly in my heart “I can”

wow Lord just so in awe of your grace, mercy and your unconditional love! Who am I Lord?

 

Time is running out

I was studying in the afternoon and listening to the P&W songs… I wasn’t even concentrating to what I was listening. All of a sudden, I felt the presence of God and I felt a desire to start praying for the lost people. There was also a thought that kept recurring “time is running out, time is running out”  Then He spoke to me that one day I would see Him face to face and for eternity, but there are people whom He loves who would never ever see him again.

As I was praying, it felt as if God was pleading for the people to come to Him. My heart was so overwhelmed, and I felt so broken and helpless. “What can I do Lord?” That day, God gave me just a glimpse of how He felt for the people. I don’t think my heart can take it if He shows me all of it.

I was reminded of a vision I received many years ago. I saw 2 paths, one leading to heaven and the other eternal separation from God. I was walking on the path that was filled with light, and as I looked to the other path, I saw some people who are walking down the path of darkness. Just then its like the Holy Spirit speaking to me, “all you need to do is to tell them that heaven is on this side.”

Time is really running out. What should the people of God do? How should we live?

anger vs passion

I have completely ditched this blog for FB. There are benefits in blogging though, as I read through my past entries, I’m just so touched by His faithfulness in my life. Then I realised that my memory is failing me and I can’t recall what I have done in the past. Hence, this blog serves me well.

Yesterday I was jogging near my estate, after a long while. I was running across the road when a car turned in, and it was really closed to me. But nothing happened and I really didn’t see it coming, thus I continued to run. The car driver started to honk angrily and several times at me, then he scrolled down the window and shouted at me “You wanna die, is it?”  I did not know what got into me, but i was so angry, and I felt so unjustified and thought, what gave this guy the right to shout at me like that. Hence I turned back and ran after the car into the carpark. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind 😛 I didn’t care if I would lose my face, or what the consequences will be…hehee… All I had in my mind was that I had to confront him.

Then I followed his car into the car park, but he drove fast (why am I not surprised?) and I lost him as a result. It was quite a big car park and I actually ran around it trying to catch sight of that car. I couldn’t find it, and continued my running and fuming. As I was going on my way, I was just reflecting why I felt that way, and I myself, was surprised at my response. Just then, I felt  the Holy Spirit  speaking to me in a small still thought… “would  your passion for me be as strong as your anger?”

At that point of anger, I felt I could risk “my face”, and do “whatever” it was to get even. However, regretably at times, when God challenges me to do certain thing, I would feel self conscious, inadequate and I didn’t dare to obey. Sometimes even though I see things done that aren’t honouring to Him, I didn’t “rise up” in my passion for Him. Instead, I just try not to see it and blend in if its possible. It just makes me wonder why is it that I have no fear in my anger, but when it comes to the things of God, there is so much holding back? Shouldn’t my passion for Him be stronger than my anger?

I heard someone said this “If you wanna see God’s face, you’ve got to lose your face.”

Life is really short. It’s never about me, but all about Him.

time to return

It’s time to return to Singapore… It seems like yesterday when I first reached here and now its time to go.

I never thought that i would feel so much about leaving this place. When did i start to embrace this place as my home? 

I have my fair share of complaints, struggles and questions. But now looking back, this has been one of the best experiences in my life. The people whom i have known, the friendships we’ve shared despite our obvious differences, learning their way of life, their passion, language and sharing lives together.

I’m just thankful to be here.

life after 6 months of absence from wordpress

I’ve realized that it’s been 6 months since i last blogged! I even forgot my username!

You are amazing if you are still checking out this space…hahaaa… So many things happened that I don’t even know where to start. To make up for lost time, I will have a super long entry. I shall start with some thanksgivings…

I learnt driving in Chile! It was an achievement for me cos i had to learn everything in Spanish and the theory test was in Spanish too. Also I had to accustom to driving here cos its left hand drive here and the roads are off an opposite direction. Plus the drivers here honk a lot and drive recklessly. I didn’t pass my first practical test cos on the test day, i realized the car I had to drive was a new car. I accelerated the car too rapidly; the poor instructor was hanging on to the seat for his dear life.

Then I went for my second test 15 days later. I drove from my driving institute to the test place and I was all geared up for the test. Then I had to wait for the examiner with my driving instructor. He was explaining to me that there were 3 instructors. One who was very lenient, the other was strict and the third was very strict. My previous examiner was the middle one. He told me that he had 5 students the other with the super strict instructor and everyone failed. I told him to look for the lenient examiner and we were joking that we had to hide our examination slip from the third examiner in case he asked us to take the test with him. Just then the third examiner walked by, he looked at me and he said “vaya conmigo.” Which means come with me… I was groaning… I mean buy toto also not so “zhun”.

I went into the car, checked the mirrors, stepped on my brake, released my handbrake, changed the gear and all ready to go. The examiner was checking my test slip, just then I saw my driving instructor standing in front of the car. He was trying to tell me something… I didn’t put on my seat belt! Gosh…just in time…heheee…

I drove according to his instructions and everything went well. I returned to the parking lot but I didn’t park well. The back of the car wasn’t straight. He said “Estacionas mal” which means you park badly. My heart sank. Then he told me to park again. So I changed the gear and accelerated but the car couldn’t move and it went dead. I tried that a few times and I didn’t know why I couldn’t move the car. He asked me for the reason but I couldn’t tell him. Just then, I realized that I didn’t release my handbrake!! Que tonta! I kept telling him “perdon. Perdon” (sorry, sorry). I managed to park well this time but in my heart I didn’t think I could make it. After parking, he asked me a question (something about the distance) in Spanish. He spoke very fast and I couldn’t understand. I told him to repeat and that my Spanish wasn’t good. He gave me a good 5 minutes lecture on why I shouldn’t have a license in Chile if my Spanish wasn’t good. In order to appease him, I just told him 10. He asked me 10 what? 10 animals, 10 persons or 10 what? I said 10 km. He said no. I said 5. He said no. The answer was 1 km. I thought that I was a gonner and my heart sank…cos if I failed this time I had to wait for a month or so and to convert my license in Singapore I needed to have the license then.

The examiner then passed me my test slip and said “toma”. I asked him if I passed and he said yes!! So I passed and I have a chilean driving license! Ok… I know after this entry, I may have problems borrowing cars from my dear friends… But trust me, I can drive! So long if I release my handbrake =P

Another thanksgiving, God has been providing us! Christine has found a new job as a teacher’s trainer, something that she has wanted to do. Karen has a job from Singapore in which we can work from home.

We are also organizing an event at the end of July. This event is an exhibition for companies who are interested to do business in China. There are about 50 of them and mega food companies in Chile. So for now, I have to hunt for Chinese who can be ushers and actors for this event. It’s pretty fun and difficult at the same time. I realized that there aren’t too many Chinese in Chile.

We are having and also starting a number of kids’ classes. I’ve never thought that i could teach kids and it’s really not easy. However the satisfaction is tremendous. Our 2 year old kids can sing Chinese songs and a 5 year old boy can speak mandarin with our accent. Not bad indeed! With these open doors, we are thinking of the possibilities of starting a children church cos we have a few couples whom we can connect to the church.

On another note, its freezing cold here… brrbrrr.. and its not good for my waistline cos i have a greater tendency to munch! But karen and i are going to the gym, to balance out…hahaa.. and a great way to meet people too. Anyhow, I love the view in Santiago now. We can see the mountains filled with snow surrounding us, its spectacular just drinking in all of it. It’s especially breathtaking when the sun sets and the sunlight reflect on the snow-capped mountains… It’s really beautiful. I tried to take pictures of them but it didn’t do justice to them. We are planning to go ski the next month.

Lastly our cute puppy has grown into a tigress! She has very long legs..Shawn calls her the “Super model dog”. I’ll leave this entry with her pics..

Highlights in Dec 08 & Jan 09

Just in case you are wondering, I’m still ALIVE! It’s been a long time since I’ve caught up with any Singaporeans or heard any “loh”, “lahs” & “meh”…kinda miss them it

Dec was quite a fruitful month for us.

We had our Navidad con las estrellas. This was one of the projects we worked together as a team.

I was trying to act out a word… wanna guess what it was?

Our very special guests

Paula, one of my students kindly invited us to their house for a Christmas dinner. Her grandma was a wonderful cook.. One of the best meals i had in Chile =) Plus, they are really hospitable… love their family

A splendid meal

Getting ready to attack!

A beautiful family

Then we went to a children home to distribute presents. They were really adorable and I realised that i wore the same shirt as last year.

31 Dec 2008!!
We went for a countdown at downtown. It was madness…
The fireworks were great but we were under a big tree so we couldnt have a proper view

We were estatic nevertheless and cheers to a New Year!

The ladies =)

Thank God for 2008. I cant believe how time has flown!! Thank God for His faithfulness in my life. I am growing really fond of Chile. I am grateful for all the friendship i’ve established, the people I’ve known, the language I’ve acquired, the job i’ve grown to love, the team that he’s brought together in this far away land. 2008 will be a year I’ll remember for life =)

Anyhow, i shared my first teaching in Spanish last week! Sad that it took me so long but i was really ecstatic as the Lord helped me to overcome my fears to share my heart in Spanish and without looking much at my notes! It was a tremendous breakthrough for me…yeah!

The Lord also answered our prayers faithfully. We prayed that God will bring new students to our business. Normally Jan and Feb are very cold months in Chile cos everyone will go on vacation, moreover we are in the economic crisis thus people may not wanna take courses. But the Lord never fail to surprise us. We had quite a number of new students in the past weeks and we have just started an English class for the kids =) It’s true that when we put Him first, He will never short change us!

Cultural Event

We had a successful cultural event at U de Chile yesterday! Thank the Lord for the participation of the students. I’m really impressed by their committment as many of the students were still having their exams & this project was voluntary.

These were some of the booths we had…

An imitation of the bamboo dance…

Bassey, from Hope Auckland dropped by at our event too

Shawn, Christine and Jiexian did a great job liaising with the students despite their limited spanish. This was also our first project as a team =)

Cumpleaños de Jiexian

Celebramos el cumpleaños de Jiexian en el sabado pasado. Fuimos al cine y despues comemos en el restaurante de Peruano. La comida fue muy rica y parece mucha la comida de china.

Hey room-mate,
I admire your courage and obedience in taking the step of faith to come here. You have a gentle & sweet spirit and super diligent. Thanks for sharing your life with me,  I’ve enjoyed the times together…jogging, buying veg, meeting friends and the night in which we shared & teared =P  I’m really glad to have a friend & sis-in-Christ like you =)

Singapore, Chile expand bilateral relations

Singapore, Chile expand bilateral relations with education agreement
By Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 27 November 2008 1039 hrs

	Photos 1 of 1       Chilean president Michelle Bachelet (L) and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (R)

SINGAPORE: Singapore and Chile have expanded their bilateral relations to include deeper people-to-people ties.

Leaders from the two countries inked an education agreement on Thursday, paving the way for the exchange of educators and students between both sides.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s visit to Santiago, Chile, was warmly received by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

The two leaders noted that Singapore and Chile are kindred spirits, as the two countries have much in common, sharing similar views on many issues.

In particular, both believe that promoting free trade, maintaining open markets and focusing on education are essential to economic growth and development.

Chile is one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America and hopes to be a gateway for businesses into a region that is still relatively unfamiliar to many Asian companies.

Singapore and Chile have a history of trade links. Chile was the first country in South America that Singapore signed a free trade agreement with under the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement.

But despite the agreement, trade growth has been relatively modest, signalling perhaps that more can be done to enhance economic linkages.

“My intention (is) when we go to APEC next year, I will also go with a business delegation so we can also find out possibilities of investments or joint ventures,” said Ms Bachelet.

Singapore will host the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in November next year.

Also accompanying Mr Lee to Chile on this trip is a delegation from the Singapore Business Federation, which hopes to explore possible areas of cooperation with Chile.

Beyond trade, both sides have also signed an agreement on education which is aimed at enhancing people-to-people links. Chile, for example, hopes to send its post-graduate students to Singapore universities.

“I hope that through this initiative, more Chileans will come, spend time in NUS (National University of Singapore), get to know Singapore and when they come back to Chile, work in Chile. They will be our ambassadors in their own country and they will help us to develop more substantive ties between the two countries,” said Mr Lee.

And cultural exchange thereafter came in the form of what Singaporeans love best – food.

The first Singapore Food Festival in Chile was a gastronomic introduction to local cuisine and a welcomed treat for the few Singaporeans based in the country.

A 36-year-old Singaporean, David Lee, who runs a consultancy training business with his wife in Chile, said: “I’m homesick about food everyday. I’ve eaten more bread in the past five years I’ve been in Chile compared to the 30 years of my life! So tonight’s dinner is definitely different!”

Mr Lee also visited the Centre for Mathematical Modelling at the Universidad de Chile. He will wrap up his trip to Latin America on Friday, when he is expected to address Chilean business leaders and opinion makers.

– CNA/yt

 

A new beginning

Shirls has labelled my blog as a retarded blog and the dates i blog she can buy 4D… ok, you can start buying now…hahahaa..

The new team has finally arrived! It was great having them around. The house is much noiser and livelier. They have indeed added strength to our team! 

Here are some highlights of the previous weeks…

Our first team picture!

Our fav eating place for first time guest =)

And we celebrated David’s birthday on Thursday night.

with a candle light dinner

and my fav =)

We had our first committee meeting for the cultural meeting at out house. We had a game of chap tek (boys vs girls) and the girls won!

The first cg meeting with the team… group discussion