Mukjizat itu Nyata =)

i learnt this new song from christina [thanks chris!=)] at staff consultation [she learnt it from epin of SU Indonesia, whom we met at ON institute]:

Tak terbatas kuasaMu Tuhan
Semua telah Kau lakukan
Apa yang kelihatan mustahil bagiku
Itu sangat mungkin bagiMu:
Di saat ku tak berdaya
KasihMu yang sempurna
Ketika aku percaya
Mukjizat itu nyata
Bukan kerna kekuatan
Tapi RohMu, ya Tuhan
Ketika aku percaya
Mukjizat itu nyata

meaningful lyrics combine with a beautiful melody to make this a truly heart-touching song. it gives encouragement to those who can't go on in their own strength; and reminds those who think they can, that they have to depend on Someone else.

for those who can't understand BM, here's a translation:

Unbounded is Your power, Lord
All things You have accomplished
Those things which appear to be impossible to me
They are very possible for You
The very second i have no strength
It's your love that is perfect
The moment i believe
The miracle is real
Not by might, nor by power
but by Your Spirit, oh God
The moment i believe
The miracle is real

of course the theology isn't 100% perfect. God isn't a vending machine that dispenses miracles when we put in enough 'belief' tokens. nevertheless, He is the God of miracles and i choose to have faith in Him and depend on Him for all things. and this song expresses that beautifully. =)

Apart from learning this new song, we spent 5 days in Tapah discussing various ministry matters and hammering out our plans for the coming year [oh, and also watching about 10 episodes of Heroes. it's soooo addictive!]. exciting things will be happening in 2008. watch out for updates here! =)

Update (26 Nov 2007)
my cousin sent me this:

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hello cousin! :)

you got the lyrics of Muijzat itu Nyata slightly wrong on your blog. as far as I can tell, it's written by Jonathan Prawira and sung by Joy Tobing, and goes like this:

Tak terbatas kuasaMu Tuhan
semua dapat kaulakukan
apa yang kelihatan mustahil bagiku
itu sangat mungkin bagiMu

Di saat ku tak berdaya
KuasaMu yang sempurna
Selama Tuhan ada,
Mujizat itu nyata
bukan kar'na kekuatan
namun rohMu ya Tuhan
selama ku berdoa
Mujizat itu nyata

I really like the song... XD but what bugged me a little bit at first was that i've always though mujizat was spelt with a k(=mukjizat) - it could just be thatthe indonesians spell it slightly differently, like how they spell karena instead of kerana... but anyway, the way these lyrics go it would translate as "as long as God is present, miracles are real/the miracle is real". there's nothing, really, to suggest putting in belief tokens and God producing miracles like a vending machine... :P I know i'm nitpicking, but that's what editors do... >_<

anyway, take care and God bless you! :)

your (beloved! XP) cousin,
yean


PS: why is it that in your facebook photo you look as though you're in pain? ^o)

I'm Back!

yes, i am back from iBridge camp.=)

camp was amazing. sessions were simply excellent.

david wong, the managing director of tupperware malaysia and their regional vice-president for southeast asia, spoke on the impact of Kingdom professionals in the workplace. he challenged us to see our work as a calling, rather than just a job. he gave testimony after testimony of how christians in the corporate world can and do function as salt and light in their places of work. it was really encouraging to see that it is possible to hold on to Christian values and principles, and still be successful in the 'real world'.

unfortunately it's rather hard for me to apply that as i'm working in a Christian organization. but it did spur me to think hard about how i could strive to be a witness wherever God places me - in the bus perhaps, or on the train. i can't exhort secondary school students to be salt and light with integrity, if i am not practicing it myself.

alvin ung, a vice-president at Khazanah Nasional Berhad, spoke about maintaining and deepening our spirituality and intimacy with God, even in the midst of the pressures, stress, and busyness of working life. he also covered topics like our attitudes towards money and things, and our attitudes towards people and our neighbours. once again, he really challenged us to examine ourselves and see to what extent we have blindly bought into the values of The World and our ethnic culture without even realising it. as christians, we are caled to live Counter-Culture!

i'm still mulling over and reflecting on the things i've heard and learnt at camp. it was a refreshing and renewing experience for me, and i trust that God was at work in the hearts of each of us 100-odd campers there in the cool highlands. now if only we'd all go back to our workplaces transformed, and let God use us to transform our workplaces, i wonder how different malaysia would be?

here's to the continuing journey with Christ. no matter whether we are students, employers, or employees, the Call is the same: Come, Follow Me. and as we follow Him, we shall be transformed from glory to glory. He makes all things new, and He works His works of grace and redemption in and through each of our lives. Amen.

p.s. - i won't be able to blog at all next week - will be away at staff consultation in Tapah. please pray for us as we plan and strategize for the coming years' programmes, activities, and ministry. in some ways, i don't look forward to it; it's going to be like 5 day's worth of staff meetings. but it's a necessary process; so pray for God's hand and the guidance of His Spirit as we go thru it. thanks! =)

first times

last monday night, The Wife and i welcomed a guest into our home for the First Time! (this not including family).

joshua had a client in PD (he's still studying, but does some freelance computer stuff). he decided that he didn't want to go all the way back to PJ on monday night, so he stayed over at our house instead.

we had a good seafood dinner together (butter prawns, fried mantis prawns... yum yum!) followed by a trip to Jusco for dessert. we each had cornettoes; mine was tira-miss-you flavour, which sounded lame and mushy but tasted pretty good. =) we also bought some pasta, and some tinned sauces recommended by joshua. we tried the sausage one last night and it was delicious. =)

the last camp that i'll be involved in this year is Emmanuel EFC's Youth Camp. and this will be my First Time being the main speaker for a camp! The theme of the camp is True Reality. so please pray for me as i prepare my 5 sessions for this camp. pray for the leading, anointing, and creativity of the Holy Spirit. and pray for the youth who'll be coming, that God wil be able to speak to them through me. First Times are scary, so i really appreciate your prayers for me in this! =)

Gender Bender

Frodo is a Girl Dog!!!

let this be a warning to all those of you who may one day adopt a puppy: take care to ascertain the sex of your puppy before naming it. otherwise, be prepared to say things like, "good boy! i mean, girl. i mean, dog."

do you know why Frodo is girl dog? it's because, in the doggy cells of her body, there are doggy nuclei which contain doggy chromosomes. and these chromosomes are in pairs. one pair of chromosomes are the doggy sex chromosomes. if this pair of chromosomes are XY, the doggy embryo will develop into a boy dog. but Frodo (i'm assuming that there are no genetic sex disorders involved here) has XX chromosomes, and therefore she is a girl dog. as they say, it's all in the DNA.

DNA stands for d'Nous Academy (unless you're talking about doggy chromosomes, in which case it's DeoxyriboNucleic Acid). running from the 6-16 dec, it's quite a unique camp. this camp aims to build up a new generation of Christian thinkers. so, people don't just sign up like they do for other camps. they have to be recommended by their Church leader or pastor to come. and get this: they are supposed to complete their reading assignments before they attend the camp! this year's camp, they are supposed to read 2 books: a biography of John Sung, and Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.

another thing about this camp is that it's not just a one-time thing. the syllabus is arranged such that it's run in 3-year cycles. students have to come for 3 consecutive years to graduate. which means, for example, if i miss the 2nd year and come for my 3rd year, i have to wait a year for my 2nd year's syllabus to come 'round again.

please pray for the campers that they will be able to absorb and understand the things that will be taught at dNa. the schedule is quite heavy with teaching sessions (intro to OT, intro to NT, etc...quite like seminary!). there is also a community work aspect of dNa where the campers willl go out to visit various homes and orphanages. this is to try to ensure that the learning is not just head knowledge, but also life application. and pray for us facilitators, from SU and FES (we work together on this camp) for God's strength, wisdom and guidance as we prepare for all the various components of the camp that we are responsible for.

oh yes, the name. wikipedia says, "Nous (Greek: νοῦς or νόος, IPA: /nuːs/) is a philosophical term for mind or intellect." so there you have it: that's why it's called d'Nous Academy. just like our puppy is called Frodo.

and we're already used to calling her Frodo, (plus, she's probably used to being called Frodo too), so we decided not to re-name her. we found out that she was a girl when she was frolicking with the neighbours' puppy. they're the ones who informed us about her gender. we thought that we had recognised a Male Sex Organ on her, but apparently we were mistaken about that.

so, remember: always check your pet's gender before naming him. her. it. whatever. =)

puppy Theology

since The Wife and i adopted Frodo, i've been thinking about how our relationship with him can be an analogy of God's relationship with us.

we picked Frodo up from the streets, saving him from a life of scavenging as a mangy stray. God lifted us from the darkness of a life without hope, saving us from sin and death.

adopting Frodo means we sacrifice our time and money to buy his food, bring him to the vet for vaccinations and checkups, get a licence for him, spend time with him to play with him and to train him, and etc. for God, adopting us meant sacrificing Jesus on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.

whenever we come home, Frodo is ecstatic to see us! he jumps all over us and licks us, and it makes me happy just to see him so happy. =) and so should we be happy for the privilege of being able to meet with our Creator, whether it's in our daily devotions or in our corporate worship with our church.

we took Frodo in hoping to give him a better life than he'd have had on the streets. just like Jesus came that we might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly.

[which reminds me, that's what ZMax Camp (29 Dec-2 Nov) is all about. the 'Z' in ZMax stands for zoe, a Greek word meaning 'life'. so, ZMax = Life to the Maximum! =)

this is a young teens' camp, meaning it's for 13-15 year-olds. it's evangelistic, so please pray that not only many kids will sign up (we're aiming for 30-40), but that they'll bring their non-Christian friends along so that we won't end up preaching to the choir. pray for us as we prepare - the camp is just a little more than a month away and there are many things to tie up. pray that campers will have a great, fun time at camp, and that they will be kept safe (we're planning an outing to a nearby waterfall mid-camp). pray also that Christians will gain a deeper understanding of the Truth of the Gospel and that those who aren't Christians yet will be able to understand and receive God's love which we want to show to them.

right, back to the topic...!=P]

every day we have to leave Frodo alone for an extended period of time, when we both go to work and also when we go to sleep at night (no, Frodo doesn't sleep with us. he sleeps outside). i'm sure, from his whining and soulful puppy-dog eyes, that he sometimes feels abandoned during these times. just as we sometimes feel abandoned by God, wondering why we can't feel His presence, can't see His hand working, can't understand why He's seemingly left us to suffer alone in the terrible silence of His absence.

the analogy breraks down a little here: when we leave Frodo, we really do leave him. but God doesn't, for He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us... we just feel that He's left us. but the suffering's real just the same.

sometimes we have to scold and beat Frodo; to train him not to bite people and things, and not to poop and pee everywhere. and often, i doubt he really understands why we're punishing him. he may be feeling quite confused: sometimes we seem so loving, yet at other times we seem so sadistic. in the same way, sometimes God has to discipline us and allow hardship into our lives, to train us to persevere after Him and to build us up to spiritual maturity. and often, we don't really understand why God does the things He does. we doubt His love for us and question Him.

but through all these things, we love Frodo; and most of the time, he loves us too (well, once he tried to bite me for putting him outside to sleep... he got into big trouble for that!). So too, through whatever life throws our way, God's love for us is a rock that never changes; even when our love for Him wavers like a vapour in the wind.

let's thank God for His goodness, faithfulness, and love towards us all. [and don't forget to pray for ZMax Camp, too!] =)

Frodo made me wear slippers today! =)

ok, let's start off with the NSCFL Camp. NSCFL Camp stands for National School Christian Fellowship Leaders' Camp. quite straightforward, this. it's a leadership training camp for people from SCFs all over peninsular malaysia.

building up new leaders is actualy one of the crucial things that all SCFs must do. this is because students are always coming and going; this years' leaders are next years' college/uni students, moving on to another phase in their lives and no longer suffering/enjoying secondary school life. so there must be effort made every year to train the next batch of leaders to take up the baton of leadership.

please pray for recruitment of campers. pray that leaders and future leaders of the SCFs will choose to come for this camp, although there are so many other (often more attractive) choices of activities and camps that they can go for during the school hols. pray that our sessions and activities will be effective in imparting good practical leadership skills, as well as building up the campers to be spiritual leaders with a vision for their SCFs and their schools. pray that God will be with us as we plan and prepare for this camp. pray that God will work in and through us to impact these campers so that they in turn can go back to their schools, fired up to make a difference for Jesus there.

alright, if u've read all the way up to here, you're probably wondering, "what on earth does the title have to do with NSCFL Camp??!?" heheheh =)

what happened was, last night when The Wife and i were eating dinner, there was a cute puppy hanging around the place where we sat. that puppy stole our hearts, and so we took him home and named him Frodo! =)

i don't have pics, so u'll have to make do with this description. Frodo is about as long as my forearm. he's mostly black, with hints of brown at the paws, muzzle, and above the eyes. his ears stick up and flop down in the most adorable way. he likes to chew and play with pieces of old cloth, and he doesn't like to take baths. and he's sooooooo cute! =)

The Wife and i actually deliberated for a good long while before deciding to take Frodo home. caring for a puppy isn't all fun and games, you know. his food will cost money, then there's licensing and deworming to think about... and the time and attention that we'll have to give him. but in the end, we capitulated to his irresistable puppy charm.

"ah, so what's all that about making you wear slippers then?"

mornings are not the best part of the day for The Wife and i, because we're both sleepy and rushing to make it on time to work. and having Frodo means there are more things to do in the morning: feed the puppy, bring his food and water bowls and his cardboard-box bed outside, etc. So, in the midst of all the activity, i FORGOT to wear my shoes. so i am now sitting in my office wearing slippers! all because of Frodo, hahaha! =)