letter to ophir team members
Hi team
Wah! U all very horrible…1st night only you wan to make me cry..sigh.. So now you will have to endure my letter..(this is my FIRST letter ok? Not to church leaders or my mother but you guys…better read!!)
Thank you..thank you very much..not for saying nice things about me, but for offering me your friendship and a door into a certain period of your life in YMM.
I’m not trying to be polite by saying this but you don’t know much it means to me be able to know some of you as friends. This is especially so for all u from orchid park, yes, that’s u -mich, daryl, rach. Since the day I told God I’ll be willing to surrender my will to serve Him as a teacher there to reach the youths, I have been dreaming about our friendship. You won’t understand my joy when Team 2 got together and we spent time training and preparing. To some of you, it may be just pure fun and running/doing silly things with friends.
To me, it was the fulfillment of God’s promise that He will call out the young people of Yishun and touch their lives. You showed me that serving God was not just a platform to impress girls in my youth group, or to climb the leadership ladder in church. Through you, I saw the reality of lives touching lives. That youths, once a collective noun used in our prayers, become faces that we see, and then blossom into strong young people imprinted by the mould of leadership. 7 years ago, we prayed (we really did…many times) that you will walk into the cinema, worship with us, sit down and hear the word of God with us. You did. The video you gave shows me that God answers prayers.
For everyone of your friendship, I thank God. It was more special to me because after I stepped down from youth leadership, I lost ground with many of you. I must now apologize to people like Kian Kei ‘cause I think I stopped cell leading weeks after telling him I wanted to spend more time with him. I apologized for not following through with my words and I ask you to forgive me. I had some struggles in my own heart and could not go on that year. And after I stepped out of the youth ministry, some of you started growing up and coming in. There was such a pain in my heart not being able to connect with some of you (OPSS) guys. But through Ophir, you gave me a chance to be your friend. Thanks again.
The rest of you were my partners in ministry. Kuen, em, rach, ta tong, Eileen , jus, daryl, kei. In worship, sound, logistics, youths. I get so much joy in seeing you guys blossom and make beautiful music to God.(yes em, you’re still my fav keyboardist). To see you play on the same band( and play so much better-kuen) is a real joy. You know your strengths and you’re serving God with it. That’s the idea! Some of u like kei, daryl, tat tong, Jerome, you’re working week in and out to serve God. I pray you will never go weary in heart but know that you’re giving your strengths (in character) to God. Humility is a tough pill but you guys show your strength in consistency(that's the C in PC by the way). I salute you. Don’t throw in the towel, because God is pleased with your service. If you are physically tired, have a good meal and sleep long hours. But if your heart is weary, don’t quit. Remember that God is pleased and that’s all that matters.
Many of you in this group have tonnes of leadership potential or are leaders and I have told you this before: Leadership starts with your character and lifestyle. You can’t do anything you like and expect people to listen to you. There is a high price to pay. Sometimes you will stand out sorely among your peers when you speak the truth or refuse to compromise about something. My ex-leader told me leadership is lonely the day I took over his role. It’s true. If you don’t stand up for something, you’re probably made of nothing and count for nothing. I was at a missions conference today and am reminded of how young people can really change history when they understand that we preach a suffering Savior (remember paul?), so we shouldn’t be afraid to suffer for Him. But that’s not a popular message. My heart was stirred and I cried at my first sermon in Australia. What’s my hardship (more like inconvenience) compared to His?
What’s this standing up for God business you talking about, simon? I dunno. .But, if you do not wan to go through your youth days, going through the motions of church and school, pretending to be a youth group and christians, then you start hungering for God and He’ll tell you what you have to do. I don’t have a model answer. My generation of friends started early when we were about 16 or 17 and we were quite serious about not being poser christians. We started hungering, praying, asking. Today, half of us are overseas trying to make a difference and the rest are making plans to serve God in greater ways.
Guys, before you know it, many of you will hit the big 30 (like me and Jian long), get all caught up at work and the cycles of life. You believe in God but you know your youth days slipped by you- the best days of your lives. And you didn’t do much to impact the Kingdom we profess to be citizens of. It’s not about doing things. It’s about impacting lives. Not lang-gar leh..but lives strengthing (not damaging) lives. That’s leadership. You have no character, nobody listens, no one follows, no one gets impacted. You’re not really a leader. Then all the potential you have goes into the drain and you’ll remember the “once-upon-a-time-I- served-in-church-as…”
Leaders like Jian Long, Justin, Eileen, Tat Tong…do remember it’s not the structural cracks we see that needs some changes…It’s us.. and anyone of us can rally the rest towards some real spiritual matters. (rite mich?)
And Rachel, you have a really scary amount of potential waiting to explode as a leader. I have not seen someone like you come by for many years…don’t bottle it up…release.
The best part of it all, you guys are friends and have each other now…you just need to keep stirring each other the right way ( not genie har!). Challenge and provoke each other to real issues of our christian life that we see each day. As i grow older, i realised that it's NOT your pastors’ or cell leaders’ responsibility to ensure that you amount to anything in your christian life.
I write bad English but the small caps “c”hristian were deliberate.
You decide how it’s gonna be spelt.
I'd love to hear from you if you have a mountain you need to climb. I’ll like to be there for u and i hope you offer of friendship hasn't expired with ophir.
I miss you guys already.
simon
Wah! U all very horrible…1st night only you wan to make me cry..sigh.. So now you will have to endure my letter..(this is my FIRST letter ok? Not to church leaders or my mother but you guys…better read!!)
Thank you..thank you very much..not for saying nice things about me, but for offering me your friendship and a door into a certain period of your life in YMM.
I’m not trying to be polite by saying this but you don’t know much it means to me be able to know some of you as friends. This is especially so for all u from orchid park, yes, that’s u -mich, daryl, rach. Since the day I told God I’ll be willing to surrender my will to serve Him as a teacher there to reach the youths, I have been dreaming about our friendship. You won’t understand my joy when Team 2 got together and we spent time training and preparing. To some of you, it may be just pure fun and running/doing silly things with friends.
To me, it was the fulfillment of God’s promise that He will call out the young people of Yishun and touch their lives. You showed me that serving God was not just a platform to impress girls in my youth group, or to climb the leadership ladder in church. Through you, I saw the reality of lives touching lives. That youths, once a collective noun used in our prayers, become faces that we see, and then blossom into strong young people imprinted by the mould of leadership. 7 years ago, we prayed (we really did…many times) that you will walk into the cinema, worship with us, sit down and hear the word of God with us. You did. The video you gave shows me that God answers prayers.
For everyone of your friendship, I thank God. It was more special to me because after I stepped down from youth leadership, I lost ground with many of you. I must now apologize to people like Kian Kei ‘cause I think I stopped cell leading weeks after telling him I wanted to spend more time with him. I apologized for not following through with my words and I ask you to forgive me. I had some struggles in my own heart and could not go on that year. And after I stepped out of the youth ministry, some of you started growing up and coming in. There was such a pain in my heart not being able to connect with some of you (OPSS) guys. But through Ophir, you gave me a chance to be your friend. Thanks again.
The rest of you were my partners in ministry. Kuen, em, rach, ta tong, Eileen , jus, daryl, kei. In worship, sound, logistics, youths. I get so much joy in seeing you guys blossom and make beautiful music to God.(yes em, you’re still my fav keyboardist). To see you play on the same band( and play so much better-kuen) is a real joy. You know your strengths and you’re serving God with it. That’s the idea! Some of u like kei, daryl, tat tong, Jerome, you’re working week in and out to serve God. I pray you will never go weary in heart but know that you’re giving your strengths (in character) to God. Humility is a tough pill but you guys show your strength in consistency(that's the C in PC by the way). I salute you. Don’t throw in the towel, because God is pleased with your service. If you are physically tired, have a good meal and sleep long hours. But if your heart is weary, don’t quit. Remember that God is pleased and that’s all that matters.
Many of you in this group have tonnes of leadership potential or are leaders and I have told you this before: Leadership starts with your character and lifestyle. You can’t do anything you like and expect people to listen to you. There is a high price to pay. Sometimes you will stand out sorely among your peers when you speak the truth or refuse to compromise about something. My ex-leader told me leadership is lonely the day I took over his role. It’s true. If you don’t stand up for something, you’re probably made of nothing and count for nothing. I was at a missions conference today and am reminded of how young people can really change history when they understand that we preach a suffering Savior (remember paul?), so we shouldn’t be afraid to suffer for Him. But that’s not a popular message. My heart was stirred and I cried at my first sermon in Australia. What’s my hardship (more like inconvenience) compared to His?
What’s this standing up for God business you talking about, simon? I dunno. .But, if you do not wan to go through your youth days, going through the motions of church and school, pretending to be a youth group and christians, then you start hungering for God and He’ll tell you what you have to do. I don’t have a model answer. My generation of friends started early when we were about 16 or 17 and we were quite serious about not being poser christians. We started hungering, praying, asking. Today, half of us are overseas trying to make a difference and the rest are making plans to serve God in greater ways.
Guys, before you know it, many of you will hit the big 30 (like me and Jian long), get all caught up at work and the cycles of life. You believe in God but you know your youth days slipped by you- the best days of your lives. And you didn’t do much to impact the Kingdom we profess to be citizens of. It’s not about doing things. It’s about impacting lives. Not lang-gar leh..but lives strengthing (not damaging) lives. That’s leadership. You have no character, nobody listens, no one follows, no one gets impacted. You’re not really a leader. Then all the potential you have goes into the drain and you’ll remember the “once-upon-a-time-I- served-in-church-as…”
Leaders like Jian Long, Justin, Eileen, Tat Tong…do remember it’s not the structural cracks we see that needs some changes…It’s us.. and anyone of us can rally the rest towards some real spiritual matters. (rite mich?)
And Rachel, you have a really scary amount of potential waiting to explode as a leader. I have not seen someone like you come by for many years…don’t bottle it up…release.
The best part of it all, you guys are friends and have each other now…you just need to keep stirring each other the right way ( not genie har!). Challenge and provoke each other to real issues of our christian life that we see each day. As i grow older, i realised that it's NOT your pastors’ or cell leaders’ responsibility to ensure that you amount to anything in your christian life.
I write bad English but the small caps “c”hristian were deliberate.
You decide how it’s gonna be spelt.
I'd love to hear from you if you have a mountain you need to climb. I’ll like to be there for u and i hope you offer of friendship hasn't expired with ophir.
I miss you guys already.
simon
posted by ch-eology at 7:23 AM
5 comments
