Fleeting Christmas and Bangkok

What did i do over Christmas?
Mainly packing...Here's a shot of me and my roomie Justin trying to pack.
We have 2 Simons and 2 Justins in my room.
Wasn't easy deciding what goes to Thailand and what doesn't.



but we(Sports DTS) did try to make Christmas memorable. YWAM Perth has a tradition of putting stockings with your names on and people come by to drop pressies inside
(see photo). It's really nice. We had a school Christmas dinner where we cooked ham, chicken, salmon and the usual salad, chips, drinks, ice cream. There was also a gift exchange among us and we had to write a poem about the person we bought the gift for. It was really fun and some poem were hilarious. Just before we left for the airport on the 24th, we opened our stockings and found that we were the "best stocked" school..the other schools also came by at 10pm to say goodbye and it was really nice.

So off we went, transited in KL for a few hours and finally got to smoggy Bangkok.

We stay at YWAM Thailand for 2 nights and it serves as a holding area and orientation for all outreach teams in Thailand. It was nice and fun. Food was fantastic. We shopped, played a scavanger hunt game where we had to talk to students, ask for directions, eat some local delicacies etc.

The next day, we did a temple tour..more like a prayer journey actually. We visited 4 famous temples and prayed hard there. It was pretty cool. I would never have gone to visit temples but we were there for a mission. We prayed and declared God's reign over the city of Bangkok and it was great. It also served as an orientation for us about the Thai people and their way of life.

It was sad seeing people getting small change and dropping them into these little containers, making little tinkles as they drop the coins, hopping to catch the attention of their gods with their acts of charity.

I wouldn't be able to fit into one of those.



spooky !

We then proceeded to Siam Bangkok Church, our home for the next 4 weeks.
This is an excellent church..not too big because it's the holidays and people are home, but they definitely have big hearts. Their prayer meetings are inspiring and really long! But that really shows their desire for God..It's always the size and passion of your prayer meetings that counts



That's our team hanging out at the corridor. This is the corridor like the one we had in Hyderbad in OM base. We have a day off every week and i blew my shopping at MBK mall, and in the process understanding why every other Singaporean has been to Bangkok for shopping.

I bought nothing!!

cool huh?

I surprise myself sometimes.

will update again.

prints of the journey

It’s Week 12 for me and the lecture phase of my Sports DTS is coming to an end. I’ve been totally bombarded with so much that it’ll take a really long while to chew on everything. I will, however, extract some quotes from each week of lectures that really hit me. Enjoy…


Overheard during YWAM PERTH Sports DTS

“God may see fit as you grow older to share with you some of the suffering. And there’s fellowship and intimacy in that suffering.”

“Don’t judge God by the circumstance but judge the circumstances by God’s character.”

“Is there anyone in your life who can say ‘no’ to you and make a stand?”

-Peter Brownhill, Character of God, Week 1


“I wan the ball!! Gimme the ball!!”- posture of worship

“Don’t be a sand sucker. Partake in the feast prepared by the shore- the Voice of God.”

-Worship & Intercession, Week 2


“All that I don’t have, I don’t need.”

“Forgiveness is a choice, but not an option.”

“No way we were able to pay…”

-Ari, Repentance and Forgiveness, Week 3


“How is it that we know how to date but don’t know how to evangelize?”

“Evangelism is not changing people’s belief system. It’s falling in love with God.”

- Ross Toodley, Evangelism, Week 4


“Lordship is not just modifying behavior, but changing your entire DNA- inner desire to please God.”

“Not just plucking fruits, but changing roots.”

“You can’t handle the pressure of being FIRST in anyone’s life. It’s too much. It’s God’s role.”
“He doesn’t always ask us to do the things that are naturally easy for us- He only ask us to do the things that we are perfectly fit to do through His grace. And that is where the cross we must bear always comes.”

“Our good name must not be more important that the task God calls us to do.”

- Colleen Norbet, Lordship, Week 5


“Everyone needs a ‘Wendy’ (Peter Pan), someone who loves and believes in them.”

“Am I good enough?” - sons

“Am I beautiful?” - daughters

- Les Hokyo, Father Heart of God, Week 6


“When we die, we find life. And then we give it away.”

“What do you want?” – God

“Grow up, shut up and do as you’re told!”

“Get over yourself, you arrogant, self centered slob!”

- Mark Parker, Submission and Authority, Week 7


“What you are committed to will shape your maturity.”

“Are you stirring up something that cannot be righteously satisfied?”

“Our only consistency is our humility, not our perfection.”

“I’m not leaving…”

- Shirley Brownhill, Relationships, Week 8


“It’s a deep respect, not a meeting of equals.”

“God is not like a campfire. He’s a Consuming Fire.”

“We’re all slaves. Who is your master?”

“We’re just friends!”- hahaha

-Fear of the Lord, Week 9


“God is on the move.”

“We are on the winning side”

“If it feels so bad, something good is coming!”

- Ken Bartsch, Missions, Week 10


“Jesus said ‘Go!’ He didn’t say anything about a safe return.”

“My Daddy is bigger than your daddy!”

“I was built for the nations!”

“Sometimes, we are more confident of Satan confusing us than the Holy Spirit’s ability to speak to us.”

“You were born an original, don’t die a copy.”

“Get plugged into God and fire at will!”

“We weren’t built to be glamorous. We were built for adventure.”

“If it’s God’s will, it’s God’s bill.”

“We have to know Him in private before showing Him in public.”

- Kristen Williams, Holy Spirit, Week 11



Arrows Pastors Retreat Quotes

Rev Irvine Rutherford
The Suffering Saviour

“You cannot know Grace until you know the Law you have broken.”

“On Golgotha, God completes what He allowed Abraham to be unfinished.”

Ps Edmund Chan
Faith

“God is not just a God who will give, but who has already given.”

“Faith is not just what you give God, but what you have already received.”

“When we see as God sees, we will do as God says.”

“When the Messiah comes to reign, the laws of the jungle will no longer apply. The power of the Kingdom has come.” – Isaiah 11

Leadership

“Feel the pain.”

“You can’t. But I am with you.”

apathy? who cares!

In 1938, a journalist watched from his hotel room the fire on the streets of Shanghai.
This poem came out of that.
The apathy of man.

The Night They Burned Shanghai

Tonight Shanghai is burning,
The flames are leaping high,
And those who fought or kept the peace,
Alike must drably die.

Tonight Shanghai is burning,
The fan-tan games are stilled,
The chips cashed in in blood and gore -
The players all are killed.

Tonight Shanghai is burning,
And we are dying too.
What bomb more surely mortal
Than death inside of you?

For some men die by shrapnel,
And some go down in flames,
But most men perish inch by inch,
In play at little games.

What kind of a man are you?
What games do you play?

Fear of the Lord Application

We had another fantastic week of lectures this week 

me and the great commission

Every thursday nite, our entire YWAM base will go out to the streets to share the gospel..that's about 300+ of us.

For the first 3 thursdays, I struggled even make conversation with my evangelism team members! I was concerned about how people on my team who were new to me, people in the shopping mall would view me, an asian..my mind was preoccupied with the difference in cultures and their response Christians evangelising...



I was basically preoccupied with myself..



somehow, i probably "delegated" the commands of sharing the gospel to other more "fanatical" christians. My "role" was different...my role is...blah..blah..blah..



sigh...

But God is good..in these last 9 weeks..as i allow Him to peel the layers of self off me, I was beginning to see breakthroughs..

I realised evangelism was my outlet to practice all the theory i was learning in my head..and i really wanted to know how much i love Jesus and how much the gospel means to me.

Last thursday, i shared the gospel with 3 men from china. This week, my PNG friend/evangelism partner led me to another chinese man and i shared again...IN MANDARIN!! and tonight, I shared the gospel to 1 chinese girl and 1 japanese guy who visited our base for our weekly public YWAM friday nite meeting.

The 2 of them accepted Christ!! YEAH!!!

It's NOT them accepting Christ that's amazing..

It's how far God must bring us sometimes to be humble enough to obey the simple truths of our faith..

sometimes i want the more glamourous roles/ministry...training..equipping..networking..coordinating..blah..blah.blah..

I'm not trying to belittle anyone's role here, dear friends, but i encourage all of us to try going back to the simple commands of our Saviour to share the good news this season...at least..

and i pray that we will all be able to see where/who our hearts belongs to this Christmas..

that in the simple act of sharing, inviting, striking up a conversation with an ignored guest, that we find and truely understand the joy of heaven when a soul enters the Kingdom.



I've been thoroughly blessed tonight and i asked God,

"How much do you love this young japanese boy, fresh from saying the most important prayer of his life?"



My Bible tells me the angels rejoice and there's a party in heaven...but He asked me



"How much do you love? To speak to the ones i lead you to..

How much do you love? To be led...?"