matriculation week + prayer meeting Tuesday, 12 August 2008
this is super overdue, but last week was matriculation week in NUS. what happens is that all the people who's going to study in NUS will come on matriculation week to matriculate (register) into NUS. after that, the freshmen will be led through a maze of booths set up by the various clubs and societies in NUS, Campus Crusade being one of them.
i'm encouraged by this year's matriculation, because i managed to build meaningful relationships with the freshmen that i meet, which was something that i did not have for the previous few years. it gives more meaning than to just give out brouchures to many people, but i don't really get to talk to them much. so i thank God for that.
something else that i am encouraged about is the prayer meeting on the 1st day of school. even though it was on Monday 8am, the response was relatively good and the people who came really desired to seek God for His direction and plans for the campus this academic year. from the sharings, we can see that God has been speaking to us, and i pray that we will continue to sustain this desire and longing for Him throughout the sem. =p
Vision Tea is next week!!!
giving thanks at 23:06 :)
Monday, 4 August 2008
the tears kept flowing from my eyes.
i was in a small church, less than 20 people, in an area of Batam where no tourist would normally go, and the congregation was singing a worship song in a language i did not understand, with 2 guitarists playing out-of-tune guitars, and another man playing the bongos. in such conditions, normally i would have been quite turned off, but this time was different. i felt the spirit within me stirring, and the tears just started to flow endlessly. many times during the worship, i wiped the tears from my eyes and face, but it just kept flowing and flowing... i did not know if anyone noticed, but i did not care. for me, that moment summed up my experience of my mission trip to Batu Aji, Batam, Indonesia last week.
it was an incredibly short trip, just little more than a day. on Saturday we arrived for lunch, then went visiting the homes of a few church members of the local church at Batu Aji where my church and Orchard City Church helped out. after dinner, we had a prayer walk around the church area, before resting for the night. the next day, we attended the church service, some of us shared our testimonies which would be translated by the pastor, and we presented an Indonesian Christian song. after that was lunch and back to Singapore.
during the home visits, i started to understand the conditions and circumstances of the people there. it was really touching to see that though they do not have much, they are still happy with their life, and thank God each day for what they have. this is in great contrast to what we have in Singapore, even though our lives are relatively comfortable, we still complain and want more.
i did not expect much from a 2d1n mission trip, but God showed me much much more than anything i would ever expect (Eph 3:20). my personal lesson: never underestimate what God can do, even in such a short time. He is not limited by our human understanding and constraints. and i thank Him for that =p
giving thanks at 11:30 :)
david chow en yuan