10 of us (4 bros and 6 sisters) went down to Singapore to attend the Youth Spiritual Meeting on Thurs.
Thurs (20/3/08)
7am- We departed from PJ church in 2 cars. It was my first time driving down to Singapore and what a great experience it was. There was a little jam at the causeway and after applying for the autopass, immigration checking etc, i made my first milestone of driving into a foreign country! Driving there was much smoother and most of the road signs are in English (Ferrer road, Adam road) with a few exceptions like jalan Eunos (i wonder why).
What strikes me was the how the city is much greener, everywhere you see, there are trees and not just trees but NEATLY arranged trees, which makes all the buildings around it look organized and impressive. However some traffic lights there are quite confusing. Even when it is green, you still have to watch out for oncoming cars because the other side is green as well...Sometimes when it is red, you still can turn if there are no oncoming cars. Oh, and when a pedestrian crosses the road in a zebra crossing, cars actually stop to give way to the people..so unlike KL.
11.30am- We reached Adam Road church. TJC Adam Road is strategically located in a road full of churches and beside the abandoned Adam Road hospital. Next to the church, there is also a Bible College under construction.
TJC Adam Road
After a short prayer, we unpacked our stuff at the very well equipped dorm with double decker beds, own set of lockers, an iron and a public addressing system.
12.30pm- A few of the Singapore brethrens brought us to Thomson Plaza for lunch in a church van that worryingly keeps "mati engine".
2.30pm- Since the spiritual meeting only begins on Friday, we went to Suntec City for a shopping marathon. Suntec city is actually linked to few other malls like Raffles city, marina mall, city mall... i can't remember their names because we just kept on walking and walking.
7.30pm- Bro Pek Wah treated us to a sumptious chinese dinner full of meaty and yummy dishes. Learned that he will be coming to PJ as soon as next week as he is training to be preacher. Looks like all 10 of us will have the chance to belanja him back.
8.30pm- After watching a laser show at Suntec city, we headed out to the merlion where we get a spectacular night view of Singapore.
The view was spectacular if not for my camera
10.30pm- We returned to church and slept after an exhaustive day.
Friday (21/3/08)
8.20am- Youth Spiritual Meeting begins. The theme is "A Life of Servitude". Pr Simon Chin is speaking on service from the prophets, while Pr Chin Aun Quek speaks on service from the apostles.
We were the early birds in church!
We were very excited as we get to meet a lot of new faces, there were around 100+ participants from all over Singapore including a group of china brethrens who are working there.
11am- We had an ice breaking session were we have to take down details from 9 other participants from different groups and nationalities. In the end, a few groups of participants were specially chosen to form a multinational choir to sing!
2.30pm- Participants were divided into groups to discuss on a life of servitude based on 2 Cor 4. In my group, we had an interesting discussion on what it means to be hard-pressed on every side as what Paul describes.
2 Cor 4 also tells us on how we should not lose heart..1) 4:16-17: We do not lose heart because the troubles we face in service to God and momentary. Should fix our eyes not on what is seen (discouraged by results), but by what is unseen. 2) 4:1 - We are working in God's ministry, we are plant and watered, but God is the one who makes it grow.
We also discussed on problems faced like having to care for children, responsibility as parent and no time to serve God. A bro promptly explained that it all depends on how we prioritize things, raising a God-fearing child is also part of God's work.
Ultimately we shouldn't lose heart in our service to God because it should be a joy to work for God as God will remember our labours and it will not be in vain.
A few examples of biblical characters were raised like Moses, Job and Paul.
6pm- Bro Chris brought us to the Botanical Gardens which is within walking distance from Adam Road church. There are actually many parks in Singapore, and the botanical gardens is huge. On the way back, he treated us to some refreshing ice-cream.
7.45pm- The church was filled to the max for the night service. What made it more interesting is that we had a variety of members from different nationalities. There were 10 of us from PJ church, 5 from cheras church who attended the event, there was also 10 couples of indonesian members from Bandung church, a group of china youths, visitors from Portsmouth church, Bercham church, Taiwan church as well as the Singapore youths.
9pm- There was a badge designing competition based on the theme "A Life of Servitude". It will also be the souvenirs for this event. All completed works will be hanged outside the walkway to be voted by participants. I stayed back in the library to draw and colour a badge depicting us carrying the burdens of the cross through stormy weather. The meaning was good but the colouring was horrible.
Completed badges were hung outside to be voted for the winner
Saturday (22/3/08)
Summary of all sermon content: Pr Simon Chin spoke on how we should emulate the prophets like Samuel (who was favoured and received word from God), Elijah (who had faith and prayed to God for rain and fire against the prophets of Baal and Asherah).
What struck me most was his sermon on Jeremiah, even though he is alone and instructed by God to preach to his people, he still continued on despite the persecution and misunderstandings he faced from his own people. Besides, his message was a message of destruction of Jerusalem and he asked the people to repent to save them. Today, do we have the courage to take up God's commission to preach to those whom we loved...are we ready to face the persecution that comes with it?
Pr Chin Aun Quek spoke on preaching and prayer in the apostles time. Preaching can be simple...we don't necessary have to win in every bible debate with the truthseeker. It could be just as simple as Phillip to Nathanael - "Come and See" and allow God to open their hearts. But do we have the courage to speak in the first place? During judgement, God will not ask how many people you successfully bring to believe but he will ask how many people have you spoke about Christ to?
4.20pm - The 2 trainee preachers gave testimony. The 1st bro, Bro Kwong (if not mistaken) spoke on how he came to believe in 2002. There was a sister who kept preaching to him about Jesus but she couldn't answer many of his doubts. But what strikes him was her sincerity in preaching which intrigues him. Later on, bro Kwong tried praying at home and he experienced the Holy Spirit. Now he is currently enrolled as trainee preacher. 2nd bro, Bro Pek Wah spoke on why he decided to be a preacher.
6.30pm- We practiced for our sketch later on which is supposed to be based on the theme "A Life of Servitude".
7.45pm- It was activity night and we had a sketch presentation for each group at the church basement.
Group 1- It's about a guy who spent time on doing other things and left out coming to church until one day he is hit by a lorry driver....
Group 1- The reckless lorry driver
Group 2- Makes comparison on 2 different servants. The wise servant takes a good care of his master's house while he is away and gets rewarded. The lazy servant gets punished for drinking and bossing over the servants while the master is away.
Group 3- A conversation between 2 sisters in heaven. The more humble one who served faithfully was promoted to manager in heaven while the more proud and bossy sister becomes a normal servant in heaven.
Group 4- Inspired by the Parable of Talents. The first guy was given a star and he somehow became global and earned few stars and reward from master. 2nd guy was given a scrawny pig and he traded it with a fat pig. The pig gave birth to another pig and was rewarded by master. The 3rd servant was given a gold but he kept it without doing anything and was punished by the master.
Group 5- Our group...We acted based on Shrek 4. Shrek was not happy in far far away kingdom and his family was ruined. He met Prince Charming who was converted to Christian by a group of choir members. Shrek later on discovered that life is not just about wealth but that the true peace comes from Jesus Christ and they lived happily ever after.
9.30pm- We were given time to go and examine the corridor of badges to vote for the best design. It was heartening that the youths also voted for those that still have no votes so that no one is left votelessly embarassed. That explains why I have 2 votes!
10.30pm- Some Singapore youths brought us to visit Teluk Kurau church. After that we headed out to East Coast Park to enjoy a nice supper of chicken wings, satay and "Oh Jian" while savouring the carnival like atmosphere and scenic lagoon view.
Teluk Kurau Church
After makan, we were taken up to mount faber where we get to get a good glimpse of night view of the whole singapore and islands beyond. Very impressive and cooling weather.
On top of Mount Faber
Sun (23/3/08)
9.45am- Pr Chin Aun Quek delivered the last sermon on Upholding the truth as passed down by the apostles. We should guard the truth given to us by the Holy Spirit. All revelations should be based on the truth in the Bible and not the other way round.
2pm- After the photography session and church cleaning, the spiritual meeting came to an end. Went to Vivo city for a look around. Amazing architecture and you get a nice view of the ferries and cable cars heading to sentosa island (i think).
4pm- Departed for home. I remember when we get into Singapore, the immigration guy told me i have to be prepared to wait for 4 hrs just to pass the immigration checkpoint on my return journey due to the ongoing search for the escaped terrorist Mas Selamat. Thank God, we passed the checkpoint in just 5 mins. It is indeed through God's guidance throughout our journey that everything went on really smoothly. Reached PJ in around 8pm.
Afterthoughts: This spiritual meeting was a really a rewarding experience. I have made some new friends including another singaporean brother who has the same name as me! It is really encouraging to experience the love and warmth of bros and sisters there that makes our journey of faith worthwhile. Farewell to my singaporean members...till we meet again on earth....an on heaven for eternity.
Will miss these two adorable kids
PJ Youths
Top left: Dominic, Sze Yuen, Thaddeus, Meng Hui, Mabel
Bottom left: Chui Ting, Harn Ni, Susan, Kar Mee
Somewhere inside church: Junie
Group Photo
