Monday, August 16, 2010

youth workers retreat...

a retreat in rawang with youth workers was time well spent.

it was great to meet with shearn again and also get to know other youth workers in the methodist church from around malaysia. had fruitful conversations and sharing. learnt lots from the other youth workers. as they share from their life, gratefulness overcomes me and i regret the times that i was ungrateful. as they share what happens in their churches, i realise that we are not alone in the quest to God in the youth ministry.

pastor herbert just returned from the missions area in sarawak. it was great to hear news and also how their experiences there changed the lives of the youths who visited.

what the speaker spoke about was encouraging but it can also be said to be discouraging. as he shared about what the bible teaches and later progresses on to how the world has become, it doesn't paint such a pretty picture. i'll just give a bit of some that was shared cause there's really lots to digest and pray over.

public schools are one of the main causes of todays youths. public schools were created to supply the age of industrialization with people that would agree with how the industrial system of working with efficiency. with that, the role that a father should have as a teacher to his children has been handed over to the schools. a one-on-one teaching with love and care, has been exchanged for a 1 teacher, that has no family obligations, teaching 40 students in a classroom.

and that system or mentality crept into the church as well. the spiritual role of a parent has been given to youth workers or youth teachers when it should be done by parents. the sending of the kids to sunday school like baby sitting services, wondering why the youths aren't changing or improving with the hourly lessons that we have with them once a week (compared to 30 hours in school a week) and many more. compared to the what God has taught, the Bible shows how parents are to be teaching their children and spending time with them, be it in the spiritual or education capacity.

of course, this is where we go, how in the world are we to change the system? its a mammoth task.... well, that's in our eyes. what about God's?
we too understand as not everyone has a healthy family. many families are broken. times are tough in KL and many a times, a dual-income family is needed to survive in this expensive world.

what was encouraging was that what he has shared was similar to the goals that God has put in me as a youth worker. through revelations in thoughts and speaking with others about things to focus on for the youths in the church.

it is relationships and not activities that matters. segregations of groups/services within a church is unhealthy. integration of people of all ages with each other is important; young to old and old to young. church is to be building horizontally with others and also vertically with God. be it a parent, teacher or a youth leader, being authentic is important to the youths. family is important and church work should not be a hindrance towards time with your family because the family is the first church that God has given us. i believe very much in this.

i'm sure there are many more. need more time to put more thought into it and digest. this is the part that needs prayer for wisdom and revelation. below is a photo of those of us youth workers who could make it for this retreat. do pray for us all.

Monday, August 09, 2010

another miracle...

my car couldn't start today.

my uncle came by and analysed that the starter is the problem.
of all days to not be able to start, its on the monday. and i am grateful that it is on monday and not sunday because i was teaching SSS.

on saturday night while sending sam home, stopped by 7-11. and while starting the car, i heard something spinning about and a snap. stopped the car and sam and i looked into the engine but couldn't see anything wrong. tested the lights, checked the brakes, engine temperature, etc... all alright. we didn't find anything that dropped to the ground as we traced our few metres of travelling before parking at the side. so we thought maybe we ran over something or some branches though we couldn't find any.

uncle said that a belt is missing and found it snapped and lying on the base of the car. it was too dark on sat night. though we were under the street lamp, sam and i couldn't see it right at the bottom of the base. the belt of the alternator snapped. FYI - the alternator is a dynamo generator that provides electrical power for all electronic parts of the car. still can drive the car but after a while the car will die.

further more, one of the belts was positioned sideways and not flat. did it happen on saturday night or when i was trying to start the car today? if it was on sat night, then i'm even more grateful for God's protection and its an even bigger miracle. i know someone(or many) have been praying for me.

in the past, i would have freaked out with worry, seeing hindrances and problems happening. but through uni and since returning, heart grows tougher and faith grows stronger. God is and has always been faithful. we have to see beyond the problems and focus on God's face.

reminds me of this part from the movie, Patch Adams.

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

could have died...

yesterday evening, aunty brigitte said that there was something wrong with the gas stove. so i went to listen and smell. there wasn't any gas smell or suspective noises. of course, i unplugged the gas-head from the tank first. and to test whether was there anything wrong with the opening, i just went and try to start the stove.

a spark and an explosive fire in front of my eyes as the fire burnt up all the gas.

gas must have leaked into the stove and got stored up somewhere. the spark ignited the gas and the fire burnt it all up. thank goodness the gas tank was already unplugged.

i praise God that there was no worse explosion and that i wasn't burnt or injured at all. as much as the fire exploded close and 'touched' me, my clothes and hair was not singed. i could have died or be burnt severely but i believe i was protected.

i praise God...

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Albert Einstein's Pictures...

i was clearing some stuff in office and came across some old bulletins and this title obviously caught my eyes. an interesting article...

Albert Einstein's Pictures
Throughout his life, Albert Einstein had two portraits on the wall of his home - the great scientists Newton and Maxwell. They were an inspiration, they summed up the drive of his life - science.

Towards the end of his life, Einstein took their pictures down and replaced them with two others - two great humanitarians, Gandhi and Albert Schweitzer.

He explained that it was time to replace the image of success with the image of service.