Testimony About Ethan ^_^

Thank you for journeying with Chin Meng & Phayling.

Here's the video presentation from them about Baby Ethan & God's hand of love and mercy upon their family. =)

May you be blessed as you view it. =)

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO PRESENTATION

4th service is moving...

13^th November 2007

Dearest Family,

After a day of slumber, I’m finally awake to face the world and return to work (reluctantly :P). How was your first day back at work? 

This year’s retreat is the first time we have the FOC joining us with the kids and house helpers in tow and boy! has it made the retreat more exciting and challenging! Many thanks are due to the Children’s Ministry leaders who anchored the Children’s ministry time to ensure that the kids are well-occupied during the teaching sessions.  Thank you for your sacrifice during the teaching sessions to be with the children so the parents may be able to benefit from the sessions. 

Huge thanks are also due to the Retreat Committee led by Jiahui who looked into the venues, accommodations, food, programme arrangements for the entire retreat. Thank you to each and everyone one of you for serving the ForeRunner zone in the ways that you have in spite of your busy daily schedules and commitments. 

A big thank you to Adrian as well, for being God’s willing instrument to guide and teach us through yet another series of teaching. To each and every one of you who prayed before, during and after the retreat, thank you for being the prayer warrior that you were, and for partnering God through your prayers.

Thank you also for your individual sharing during the Worship Extravaganza sessions which no doubt encouraged the hearts who were listening. I’m indeed very privileged to be able to hear and witness for myself, the transforming work of God in each and every one of your lives. 

I know God has spoken in His own way to every one of us and I pray that we will continue to take the lesson with us every single day as we come down from the “mountain-high” experience. Let our hearts and minds soak up the goodness of His word to us during the retreat so we may carry them into the rest of the days ahead of us. 

PS/ This is not my testimony; this is my love letter to all of you. 

In His love,

Esther Marikea

The Seed of God's Love, The hand of His faithfulness.

A Testimony From Sister Silvia (Ching Yen)

1- 3 Nov 2007 is our annual staff engagement activity at Cameron Highlands.

It would be the first time i invited my family members to join. And i was delighted that both my parents and my aunt could make it for the trip.

Next come a shocking news: my boss has asked me to invite the pastor from Miri to come and join us, so that he could share the gospel during devotional time.

My task, is to make sure that my parents would attend the devotion as well.

Gup...as i recall how my dad has shared with me in the past that he would debate with those pastors until humiliation is done successfully. I begun to sweat.

God, surely if You have arranged this, you will shield your servant as well, right? Pastor Liik is a very good pastor, i do not wish to see him being humiliated by my dad.

The first day devotion is a killer. The pastor made me cried in public. With good intention. He was inviting me to share on my parents' love to me... very difficult indeed as it has never been said before among my family members...about love. I lost my speech towards the end with tears as i describe how my dad loves me... my mom step forward to hug me so that i no need to continue the sharing. Very embarrassed indeed.

Then the pastor continued with sharing on the love of God. My dad has shown "Bo Cap" face while the pastor is sharing, but he did not say a word to rebuke him.

After the session was over, my parents invite the pastor along to join them for breakfast while we staff continue with our staff session. My heart was worried while they were out. Will my dad debate with him in the car? When they returned, it seems nothing has happened. The pastor joined my family for all outings in this trip. Peaceful and joyful indeed.

When the trip is over, my dad did comment that if the pastor had asked him to share, he will surely share something to attack Christianity. Then he smiled when he said, "He asked you to share instead."

It was the one & only time, my dad sit still to listen to the gospel for 1 hour long. Major motivation for it: i think it is my sharing that has stopped him from retaliation and keep him quiet for the whole session. The pastor encouraged me while we bit farewell to each other: "Do not worry, if he has experienced God's miraculous healing, and now listen to His love, i am sure God has plans to save his life even if he does not respond now."

Yes, i believe so. God is patient in leading stiff-necked people like us to embrace His love.

The second day devotion...somehow God prevented my family members from joining. And astonishing indeed, this time round, Pastor Liik shared about his own personal struggles in life, in serving Him. He brought forth a very important message to me as i was searching for clue on how i should live my life next year in serving Him. He shared how painful it is as he grow up with pride and insecurity...then he concluded, "Forgo the past glories and failures, start from zero, learn to do it all over again like you have never done it before, learn to embrace His wonderful new plans, new wisdom & new experiences. While the previous skills and experiences are what God has given you, your obedience and reliance on Him is the key for you to unlock His plans for you."

It is a wonderful trip indeed.
My dad, has finally heard the gospel.
I know what i should do. Be it my church ministries, my workplace, and my relationships.
Thank God for His amazing arrangements.

Thank God for Pastor Liik Tong Yeu, the ever friendly and helpful Methodist Miri District Superintendent and a pleasant company to be with. Thank you so much. =)

1 week to retreat...

Let us all arise and pray:

1. Remember to put on the armor of God as we go about the preparation for the retreat and our daily lives
2. Pray for the blood of Jesus to cover us and our love ones from the crown of our head to the sole of our feet.
3. Pray for unity among all the people involved in this retreat
4. Pray that all logistics to be available and ready
5. Pray for the hearts of everyone who's going fof the retreat ( to be open, sensitive and receptive when God speak to them)

Dont know about you guys but felt more and more excited about the retreat as the day is coming soon as really having this inkling that God is doing and going to do something during the retreat. SO, while waiting to see what God is going to do, let's partner Him in prayers and start praying NOW if you haven got down to doing it!!! :)

Serving with you,
Mummy Ho - Prayer IC of The Retreat 2007 Committee.

A special thanks from Ms Lim Jing En

RETREAT 2007 - A PASSIONATE LIFE

We are about 6 weeks away from our zone retreat which will happen on 8th Nov till 11 Nov.

Once again, we urged all of you to join us for this annual event and start applying your leave for 9th Nov. :)

The retreat committee has worked hard to recee for the best venue that is affordable to all at Singapore Vision Farm and we are in the midst of firming up the program plus ordering new zone t-shirt for all of us.

The study books "A Passionate Life" have been ordered too.

We are committed to make this retreat a success because we truly believe that all of you will be able to encounter God as we spend 4 days together, setting aside time to learn His word and to rest in His presence.

WHAT TO EXPECT?

1. Doing "A Passionate Life" book study by Mike Breen and Walt Kallestad

This is a 8 sessions group study and we will complete 4 sessions during retreat and finish the remaining 4 sessions after retreat. (Details to be confirmed of post-retreat)

http://www.lifeshapes.com/

Introduction from textbook

Countless people today are disappointed with the way their lives are going.

Although they truly believe they were created for a Divine purpose, deep in their hearts, they wonder "What's so great about knowing God?"

Perhaps you can relate.

Do you have friends who talk about how wonderful God is and what he's doing in their lives and secretly long to know him the same way?

Maybe you go to church every week, only to go away empty and thinking There's got to be more.

There is more!

Mike Breen and Walt Kallestad want to show you how to live A PASSIONATE LIFE!

You will learn how to live your faith the way God intended.

You'll learn what it means to be a true follower, and by using easy to recall shapes (Called Lifeshaped),

you'll learn to apply those steps to every situation and relationship in your life.

Soon the enthusiasm you'll be feeling will be real.

You will have a PASSIONATE RELATIONSHIP with the Creator of the Universe.

You will have a PASSIONATE conviction to impact the lives of the people in your life.

You will have A PASSIONATE LIFE!

2. SILENCE TO FIND GOD

Have you been busy with your work and trying to juggle your church commitment and ministries?

Finding it hard to rest and instead of growing in your spiritual walk, you are getting burned out physically..

Instead of hearing from God and resting in His presence, you are frustrated with your duities and responsibilities?

Then it is timely for you to learn to hear God in retreat.

Yes in silence, right in a farm, we want to devote few hours to rest in His presence and renew our sense of hearing His still small voice.

3. WORSHIP EXTRAVAGANZA

God gives us different stories and unique life experiences.

Worship extravaganza is a wonderful opportunity for you to MAKE A DIFFERENCE in a small and fun way. :)

Share and express your story or your worship to God in anyway you are comfortable with.

You can do it alone. Or you can grab someone else to create an item to bless the rest of the zone.

THIS IS NOT SELF-ENTERTAINMENT. IT IS A WORSHIP.

We have been deeply blessed by the transparent sharing and authentic worship put up last year.

I am sure this year will be another year of breakthrough for many of us.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

4. ZONE T-Shirt

I think we are the only zone in Ang Mo Kio Methodist to have a Zone Tee Shirt? :)

We see the need to have a lighter colour teeshirt since the weather is getting hotter in Singapore. Ha!

Which is why we are going for a brand new white colour T-shirt. Design will be the same as the black-one (design by Aichoo) :)

We encourage the whole zone to order the new Tee-Shirt and this will also help to reduce the cost further with more quantity purchased.

Cost - $12.50.

Sizes will be the same as the black t-shirt the previous time.

For those without forerunner t-shirt presently, to ask a friendly cell member of approx the same size to gauge size :-)

Please let your cell leaders know your size in COMING WEEK.

Deadline: Cell Leaders to let Jiahui know by 12 Oct 07.

THANK YOU FOR READING TILL HERE!

LET US PREPARE OUR HEARTS TO MEET GOD IN RETREAT! :)

FROM 2007 RETREAT COMMITEE

God comes through once again!!

This is an update from previous prayer request by Sister Ching Yen.

Hi everybody,


Camper registered to date: 5216 (numbers are still growing, we have about 200 cards have yet to key in).

Well, we will normally cater for a 10-20% drop-out rate, but we foresee we will have some to turn up on the spot to register.

Funds received as at 11 Sep : RM1,074,681.00

Interestingly, the moment we invite God to help us on the week of 21 Aug, and send an SOS message to you all, the funds and numbers came in with a double - triple jump from last week.

The camp is on this Sat, and i am reminded by Him again to learn from Moses. "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here." - Exodus 33:15
Unless God goes with us, we will not move.

Tomorrow we will have a final staff brief, i will make it a point that we will keep this verse in mind. Some of us will have a prayer walk the day before the event.

And yes, i will fast and pray starting tomorrow onwards.

Thank you for all the prayers. May His will be done. =)

chingyen

A Testimony of Melissa Danielle Brown (A friend of Jessica)

A testimony from my friend, Melissa. May it be an encouragement and inspiration to you as well.

.

I developed Hemiplegia Cerebral Palsy before birth. The doctors did not detect cerebral palsy until fourteen months after birth. Hemiplegia means that I have choreoathetosis, or uncontrollable movements. The words "cerebral palsy" by themselves mean brain damage. Cerebral palsy affects your fine motor skills. Most people with cerebral palsy are unable to walk, talk, write, or do any of the other things that a normal person can do.

Since my disability was undetected until I was fourteen months old, it was at that time that my parents were told that I would never be able to walk. However, created in the image of my Heavenly Father, He has a plan for me. Since He has a plan for me, I was only unable to walk for the first six years of my life.

When I was seven, God performed the greatest miracle of my life. My family and I were at one of my brother's soccer games. It was not quite time for the game to start, so my brother carried me over and sat me down next to the field. He then went over to the playground and started playing with my sisters. I was fine by myself for a few minutes, but then a desire started to grow deep inside me to be with my brother and sisters. As a result of that desire that started to grow deep inside me, I got up from where I was sitting, took two steps, and fell down. I did not give up. I got back up and started all over again. With every two steps that I would take, I would fall down. I still did not give up. Taking it two steps at a time, I eventually made it to my brother and sisters.

I moved from Charleston, South Carolina to Greenville, South Carolina my seventh grade year, and at the time, I had a dislocated kneecap. As a result of my dislocated kneecap, I could not walk at all and needed surgery. After I had the surgery and had recovered enough to start walking again, I was praising God and thanking Him for my ability to walk again.

One of my favorite verses, Jeremiah 32:26-27, says this: Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" This is one of my favorite verses because it reminds me that there is nothing in this world that is too difficult for our Heavenly Father to handle. There is nothing too hard for Him.

Since we all fall short of the glory of God, we need to try to remember that He gave us forgiveness through the Ultimate Sacrifice, His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 3:21-24 states: "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

Our Heavenly Father forgives and still performs miracles today. His love for us conquers anything that the devil tries to throw into our paths. When we rely on God's strength, nothing will be impossible for us to accomplish when we believe in ourselves.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 4:37-38 that "Because He loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, He brought you out of Egypt by His presence and His great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today."

When you have your mind set to doing something, believe in yourself and you will find that nothing is as hard as it seems. Learning how to walk all over again after I had my knee surgery took a lot of hard work, but it has paid off. I have noticed that when I have a surgery and have to sit in my wheelchair, it drives me up a wall. Life is full of overcoming obstacles and hard work. If we are never trying to overcome obstacles and work hard, we will never get anywhere. Allowing certain things to happen in our lives is God's way of showing us how much we really need Him. So I give God all glory for the events that have happened in my life. I pray that you will find Him in your circumstances too.

Thanksgivings and Updates from Ching Yen

This is an update on the prayer request posted for Ching Yen on the 30-Hr Famine event.

I had a very busy week last week, thank you for praying and asking me for an update. When i saw ur mail, i do not have the info still for update from finance dept.

To date, we have 4140 registered campers, and the numbers are growing still.

God sent us last minute break-fast meal sponsor last week! Gardenia has graciusly sponsored 6000 packages of cakes to us, and we manage to get in some free merchandise to sell in recovering the t-shirt printing cost! Praise the Lord for His provision!

I am reminded to fast and pray for this event as it can be a spiritual famine that we are eperiencing here and God may have intention to restore the broken-hearted people who are coming for this event with His spirit working in the midst.

I will fast and pray, really hope to see His works done beyong our human understanding. =)

Kindly share this with those who are praying for me, thank you so much for upholding me in prayers when i am weak. ^-^

For those interested to find out more about the 30-Hr famine program by World Vision, the website is http://www.30hourfamine.org/

An Exhortation - Romans 12:5

1st Corinthians Journey – Phase 1 conclusion

An Exhortation : By Swee Ching

As we came to the end of Cafe Charis and the teaching on Sectarian Spirit, just feel the need to do a sharing on some of my thoughts which I hope can encourage us to apply what we have learned from cell.

This is a long email so please take time to read. Thanks!

Verse from Roman12:5

..so in Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

The key word here is belongs. Normally when something or someone belongs to us, we own that that particular subject.

Eg. the Mazda car belongs to me, so I am the owner of the Mazda and I am responsible to take good care of my car.

So the above verse says "EACH MEMBER BELONGS to all the others".

So when each member belongs to all the others, it will mean that the rest own the member!

What I want to touch on now is the sense of OWNERSHIP.

I'm going to break this ownership into 2 levels.

1. Personal ownership

- Take ownership over your own spiritual life. All of us have personal responsibility to do our own QT and to seek God for answers in our prayers. On Sunday, Pastor Leslie taught that when you remain stagnant, you risk backsliding. How many of you know that you are stagnant but you are not doing anything about it? Start now!

Practical steps:

a. Tell someone! Be accountable and take action.

b. Go back to the fundamental and build your spiritual disciplines and fundamentals with word of God.

c. Start serving in cell and ministries and mix with people who can help and spur you in your spiritual walk.

2. Ownership over the rest of the cell group/zone/church.

- Once you understand the personal level of ownership, take on a 2 ^nd level of ownership for your cell/zone/church. The verse says that we are a body of Christ and a member belongs to us! What are we doing about this ownership that God has given to us? Are we pro-active in helping the weak in faith and are we a blessing in cell/zone/church? Or are we simply there to receive?

- Start making a positive difference in our cell group.

a. Transparency/ accountability. Pastor Stanley taught about having a spiritual friend. Be one and look for one now! Start sharing authentically and be accountable. If not, start with your cell leader.

b. Lack of people serving. Start encouraging people to share testimony and to start serving and bless in small ways. Offer your help in small ways! Start small! Affirm one another's spiritual gifts and service.

c. Being serious in word of God. Come prepared for cell word. Read Corinthians and anticipate God to speak through Adrian. Listen attentively and meditate and chew on the truths you learned.

Infact it is natural that cliques are formed. There are healthy cliques and unhealthy cliques (like what Xinhui shared with me). Healthy cliques support one another spiritually and challenges or rebuke one another in love. It includes others unconditionally and uses its strength as a clique to be a blessing to the others. Unhealthy cliques stick to themselves only and are selective in who they want to bless.

We are a big group and we are diverse because God created us differently. However the beauty of unity is to see it in diversity and to see His people standing together in times of blessings and in times of crisis. Do we stick together or do we run away when there is a need for help?

God bless and may we stand together in good or bad times.

love,

SC

Testimony from Esther Marikea Tan Su Cheng

Saturday, August 11, 2007

(Quietly, introspectively, as I sit here in the night, writing this story, may I be reminded that this is Your story of glory and of triumph, of how You have redeemed this person from a life of depression and doom that she seems to be destined to. This story is inspired by You, for You. May it bring You all the glory only You deserve. Amen.)

Allow me to introduce myself – I am Esther Marikea Tan Su Cheng. To some of you, I may be an unfamiliar face while to some others, you may know that I’ve been a part of the Forerunner/ AMKMC family for the past 3 years and you have been witnesses and partners to my journey here on earth. For that I give thanks to God for you have been such an integral part of my journey that I cannot do without.

I am here today to share with you the story of the past months of my life and I pray that through the sharing, you may be encouraged, wherever you may be in your walk with God right now, I stand here to testify that God is good and His perfect plans for you will come to pass.

This will be the first time I’m sharing this and it is difficult because it is not something I want to be talking about or to associate with me. I fear what you would think of me if I were to be so honest and transparent with you, especially if you do not know me well…Yet I must persevere and acknowledge where I come from, for it is by doing this that I bring glory to the One who has brought me out of the miry clay unto the sunshiny path I now walk on.

Let’s go back to 2001, after a failed attempt to pass my A-levels with flying colors so I may gain entry to the local university. I was despondent and felt that my life was over because I couldn’t “right the wrong” by getting myself to the university. I felt utterly lost and didn’t know what was to become of me.

I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep and I was diagnosed with clinical depression. Not long after, I was admitted to the hospital when the doctor deemed me too dangerous to be left on my own after I cut myself with a penknife.

There began the yearly admissions to the hospital because I got too suicidal to be without medical attention. It seemed like a never-ending cycle and a pattern of sorts that I had developed for myself.

I thought the breakthrough came in 2004 when I wasn’t admitted for the whole year and that I had found a job in spite declaring that I had depression on the application form. I thought that it was to be the year I would be healed from depression and the hospital admissions and the medication, but it was not to be for in late 2005, I was admitted to the hospital yet again.

And lesser than six months later, in 2006, I was hospitalized yet again for two weeks. I was working full-time at that time and I was also struggling with many issues which coupled with work stress, saw me taking a cocktail of medication one night because I wanted a good night’s rest which I wasn’t getting.

During the two weeks in the hospital, I rested well and in the second week, I had made friends with two other patients and by His grace, I was actually encouraging them and praying with them. That helped me see that in spite of my brokenness, God had His use and plans for me.

Fast forward to 2007, I was going through yet another slump in my life where I was jobless and all the interviews I attended essentially told me that it would not be possible for me to get hired because of my less-than-illustrious employment history. I was very depressed and was convinced that I was never going to get a job for the rest of my life.

After yet another depressive episode late at night, Jingting and Liwei spent the next day with me as I went for my appointments at the hospital and came over to my place to pray with me about the concerns I had about my future. And I know that they were not the only ones to pray that night.

What happened next is nothing short of a miracle – Jingting emailed me a link to a job site where I submitted my resume to an agency. The very next morning, I received a call from the agency to attend an interview! The interview went well and I went home happy.

While waiting for the result to that interview, the same agency called me to try for another job. She gave me the contact to the company and asked that I call the company right away. So I rung up the company and was asked about myself and I was quite sure that the person on the other line wasn’t quite paying attention to what I said. It was a relief actually because I had just woken up not too long before the call!

I was to start work two days later, but I wasn’t too keen as it was an administrative position. Now, if there’s something you need to know about me, it is the fact that I don’t like to do administrative work. Yes, I know it’s inevitable in every position that there is some administrative work involved, and I’m perfectly fine with that. Please, just don’t ask me to do solely that!

I started work two days later, not quite knowing what to expect, but as the days unfolded, I began to see why God had placed me there. I later learnt that my resume had been picked out of a handful submitted and the colleague who picked out my resume didn’t even look through it; she just went by her intuition.

My boss who conducted the phone interview with me, didn’t quite pay attention to what I was babbling over the phone either. If this wasn’t by His divine doing, I wouldn’t know what else to call it!

What is more divine is that I have a boss who also recognizes that God has a purpose for both of us while we are working together and she has recently committed to be my mentor for the next year! I have learnt lots of things from her and she has also given me many opportunities to do so many different things that I would not be given an opportunity to do elsewhere.

Besides that, she has also been a spiritual guide who would not hesitate to give me tough love if the situation calls for it. She has also been God’s voice in reminding me that I have a great destiny in Him and that my role in life is not that of a person who suffers from depression for the rest of her life.

For the first time in my life, I see a future for me, one that is full of light, purpose and endless possibilities. I no longer have to enchain myself to the limitations of my mind because I’ve seen Him work in my life! Every step I take now is one that will count toward my future and I see everyday with a greater sense of meaning than I ever used to.

I’ve also recognized strongholds in my mind that needs to be torn down because they were stopping me from fulfilling my purpose for Him. I believe that the evil one tries so hard to trap me with his lies because he knows God has a great purpose for me and he feels threatened by it. If he is able to trap me with his lies, I will be one less force to reckon with.

I may still be on medication for depression, I may still have issues I need to work out, His purpose for me remains unchanged. I may not be able to figure out where His big picture will be leading me to, His purpose for me remains unchanged.

What I do know is this – I will be faithful to every little thing He has called me to so it will build character for where He is leading me. I will be His light unto the world so that others may see Him in me and give glory to Him in the highest. I will stand and testify of His love for me that has never once failed.

Here my story ends, for now. Join me as my journey continues to unfold; I promise excitement and things you never imagined possible happening because I have seen it and tasted it for myself. 

In case you are wondering, yes, I’m back for good. I’ve disappeared for the earlier part of this year because I held a grudge against a sister in church. By His grace yet again, we’ve reconciled and I’ve also learnt the importance of bringing up issues early instead of allowing the evil one to use it to sow discord especially between sisters and brothers-in-Christ!

To my dear friends, Forerunners and Perdana cell members,

I am requesting for a personal prayer.

My work: 30-Hr Famine

• This year the planning of the campaign went totally out of hand. Initially plan to have it in Jul, was being postponed by the stadium to mid Sep that is clashing with major exams like PMR & SPM & some of the uni programs.

• We have an objective to raise RM1.5 million for KL Famine.... we still have less than a month, 26 Aug is the closing date, and we have only gotten 12%....

• Everything that was planned earlier went out of hand. Initial intensive promotion to schools went down to the drain.... we circulated nearly 2500 cards to interested schools, colleges and universities during Apr-May, so far only 191 returned (incl. 50 blank cards) when we initially plan for 31 Jul is the closing date for them. Reasons given are absurd, unexpected inccidents pop up that disrupt the flow. 26 Aug is the closing date and we have only 131 registered for the camp so far....and i am not sure why we still have 6000 cards floating in the market now and could not come back.

• Initial working initiatives with the media met with lots of difficulties & changes as well. We are facing difficulties in delivering effective messages to the public now. In the past, our media partners have always guaranteed good publicity exposure for this campaign.

• When we plan to rely heavily on the website, it fails us again by giving us poor website company that could not provide us with prompt and efficient services.

• The key success factors for the program: AV, Emcees and Group Leaders. We are facing problems in meeting the production deadline due to insufficient/delay info provided by our partners; lack of one bilingual emcee who could work well with chemistry. The initial 2 emcees that we have, one is good, another one could never make it for rehearsals due to tight schedule....we are frantically searching now for a replacement. Group leaders.... still in shortage and the quality cannot be guaranteed.

I am requesting this for prayer for i sense something not right. I am not sure if i should pray against the works of Satan now or i should pray for repentance now if we have been doing it by our own wisdoms and plans but not His. ( ok, something pop into my mind that says: "Not by wisdom, not by might, but by the power of the Holy Spirit" when i ask Him... pls help me to discern what He means. Is He withdrawing the blessings becoz of our disobedience or He is planning something for us to glorify His name?)

I received 2 verses on Hab. 2:3 & Psalms 27:14 in asking me to wait boldly... but i am not sure if He is refering to my personal prayers for my family, my friends, my future & my church OR my work now. I need help in discernment.

Lately doing the 40-day prayer plus preparing myself as one of the prayer ministers in the upcoming methodist prayer conference.... strange "God's inccidents" happened too that shows His mercy works on people, but i am no longer sure what is happening and discerning His voice for which prayers i had.

Well, i thought i can manage things alone with God through prayers... somehow this time round i sense that He wants me to get help?

If you have any impressions from Him while you pray, do kindly share with me what it is so that i could make adjustments accordingly.

Thank you for your precious time in prayers.

God bless,

chingyen

Thanksgiving from Matthew & Joan

Dear Forerunners,

Joan and I would like to share a brief testimony of thanksgiving on what the Lord has done and has been doing in our lives since day 1 of our wedding prep all the way to post wedding update.

Indeed God has been constantly reminding us to "be still and know that He is God"... time and time again He told us to wait upon and trust in Him especially when things don't seem to fall in place, during difficult and hectic work situation and schedule, feeling faithless, arguments over petty issues, feeling down and out etc.

Just when we were feel like giving up and stop whatever we are doing eg. house hunting and wedding prep, even honeymoon etc. God answered all our prayers! He provided a brand new house for us in Jalan Membina (after almost 1 yr long of house hunting) and a strong contingent of helpers who came together during our wedding day and executed swift and smooth delivery of their services, putting all things together and presenting the best on that very special day! From the perfect weather to the lighting of the unity candles under windy condition, all the way to the fine details of the banquet... God made all things beautiful! And we even managed to chance upon a short holiday package for our mini honeymoon the day after our wedding. Last but not least God provided our every need especially in terms of finances for the wedding. We are really grateful and thankful for what our Heavenly Father has done for us as we looked back.

For those of you who are still "waiting" for the Lord in answering your prayers... He is Faithful... and... His Love Never Fails...

Matt & Joan

Adrian, Serene & Jenna

Just want to post our testimonies and thanksgiving through the last week. I pray that it'll be an encouragement to all who prayed, and sharing with us in tasting the Lord's goodness! :)

Our testimonies (too many to 'report' so I'll keep it to point form so that it's easier to read k?)

1. Adrian

• Yes the laptop is still crashed. But God gave him a new laptap replacement. (the best news is yet to come... read on.)
• The presentation he was working into the night for went very well. His boss' boss (who's the CEO) was impressed and happy with the work presented.
• The best news now- He got news that he has been promoted to the next ranking before his presentation!! Apparently his boss has been 'pushing' for his promotion for a while, and the confirmation came this week when all things seemed not to go well... but hey! God knows and He lifts us up when we hang on and give our best!
• So.... PRAISE THE LORD!

2. Jenna

• She recovered from her fever almost immediately after i sent out the prayer request!
• Despite cough and runny nose, she remained active and cheery.
• Davinia (my beloved sis-in-law), together with Robilyn, my helper, has been a blessing in caring for her.

3. Me (serene)... :)

• I surprised myself for being able to sit through 2 days of intense meeting without feeling sleepy at all!!
• I was also shockingly good tempered and joyful despite lack of sleep. (err... ask adrian, he'll tell u the horrors of living with a lack-of-sleep serene.) *thanks for praying for me to have a sweet and gentle spirit through this season... *
• God assured me time and time again of His promises and presence through your sms-es and reminded me during sunday service that I'm to constantly lift Jesus' name over my household- a precious lesson for me to remember.

Thanks for praying for us! I literally live through the week by your prayer-generated power! Let's continue to persevere in interceding for each other, cos there's really great power in united prayers!

Love you lots,

Serene

God Blessed The Broken Road – A Testimony

By Esther Marikea Tan Su Cheng

I found some old letters addressed to two of my ex-boyfriends the other day and what I read made me cringe! God has been reminding me of the relationships I’ve had and as I remember each of these guys He brings to mind, I wonder what I saw in them then! I guess I must have been blinded by my desire to be loved, to be accepted, and to be special in someone’s eyes that drove me to just jump into a relationship with any guy who showed that he was interested in me like I was in him.

My first relationship happened when I was 19. Too old, by the standards of the romance novels and Hollywood movies I had been feasting on. So you can imagine my hunger and eagerness (and desperation!) at the possibility that this guy I was conversing with could turn out to be a boyfriend! A real boyfriend! At the ripe old age of 19!

I met this guy on mIRC. In case you don’t know (where have you been?), mIRC is a popular software for chatting online. I was crazy about IRC because it was novel and exciting. Anyway, I started chatting with this guy, K and we were spending a lot of time chatting over the phone before we decided to meet up. I was already attracted to him because he could speak English well. Yes, believe it or not, I was attracted to a guy I had never even seen the face of because I thought he could speak English fairly well. *cringe-worthy moment*

My heart was brimming with excitement, I couldn’t think of anything else except that this would be my dream coming true, my Prince had finally arrived at my doorstep! Boy! Was I excited at the very real possibility that I could be having someone to call my own real soon!

We finally met up at Bugis Junction after several weeks of conversing with each other. He didn’t turn out to be ugly, thank goodness. I was already besotted with him even though I prayed quite faithfully that he didn’t turn out to be ugly!

He asked me to be his girlfriend, yes, over IRC, when we got home that night after the first date. I, of course, agreed! That was the moment I had been dreaming of and hoping for all my life, wasn’t it? Yes! My dream came true! It was about time! There is a God after all!

Well, truth be told, the five months that we were together was hardly the stuff that romance novels were made up of. He wasn’t the man of my dreams that I had waited 19 long years for. If anything, the relationship I had waited all my life for brought me to a decadence I never thought I would experience.

To be with K, I stayed away from home for weeks at a stretch which broke my parents’ heart. I smoked heavily, experimented with drugs. The only thing I did not do was to worship the 小鬼 (ghost child, a kind of occult idol) that K and his friends were worshipping to help with their shady businesses.

All throughout the relationship, I felt God (I had already accepted Christ when I was 15) calling me back to Him. But out of the intense shame and guilt from the decadent lifestyle that I had been leading, I could not see myself returning to Him, to a church, to my friends whom I had dumped for K. Even though my conscience told me that K was bad for me, I could not leave…

In my dreams one night, I saw God waving me to Him, beckoning me to go to Him. I woke up crying. An opportunity to get involved in a local theatre production I desperately wanted to be a part of gave me the perfect reason to be apart from K. He also had to go to JB for ‘business’, whatever that was. Perfect!

The intense feeling that this relationship was so wrong for me did not escape me even though we were physically apart.. One night, while we were both on IRC, I told him that we should break up. He agreed, after calling me a “bitch”. It was after we broke up that he told me that he was still sleeping around with his ex-girlfriend behind my back. But by then, I was more than relieved to get away from him to care that he had cheated on me.

The relationship left me broken in more ways than one. By the end of it, all that was left of me was an empty carcass that needed more love than ever to heal the deep scathing wounds within me. If I was hungry for love before the relationship, now I was dying for it.

So I became a woman with a mission – find love to heal the wounds that were hurting me so badly. I was back on IRC with a vengeance and it was not too long after that I met E, my second boyfriend. I bared my heart and soul to him and he seemed to understand and still accepted me for who I was even after I told him how much of a filth I thought I was.

The only problem was that he was in Australia pursuing his degree at that time and all I could do was to wait for him to come online to chat with him. There was only dial-up at that time, so you can imagine the horrendous damage the waiting online was doing to my parents’ wallets, and it wasn’t a pretty sight…

In addition to that, I was also making calls to him every Friday. Now that I think about it, he never did once call me! He did get me a gift for my birthday though and I was over the moon when I received it. I thought I had finally met the man of my dreams, and he was E.

He came back to Singapore in December 1999 and that was also the first time we met face-to-face. Again, I had been praying faithfully that he didn’t turn out to be ugly and when he didn’t, I thought God was smiling on me finally! I thought that God knew how much I was hurting from the broken relationship with K and decided to bless me with E, the man whom I thought loved me for me. He had to, right? I mean after I shared my story with him, and he still stuck around, I’m sure it means that he loved me, right?

The answer is a resounding NO! *TOOT* He claimed that I wasn’t serious about the relationship and broke up with me. Though in hindsight, I think he broke up with me because I didn’t want to sleep with him. Regardless, the break up left me broken x 2 because I thought he was the answer to my broken heart and now that the answer to the broken heart broke my heart once more, I was just like a porcelain doll cruelly hurled to the ground and shattered into a million pieces.

I picked myself up and went straight back to IRC again. There I met my third boyfriend who just disappeared after a month together. Yes, that’s right, he just disappeared. He didn’t contact me, he didn’t answer the phone when I called or sms-ed him. I became quite a deranged person after that. My friends had to put up with my endless wondering-aloud of what happened to him, my tears, and my anger, etc.

Eventually, I found out that he had gone back to his ex-girlfriend because she had threatened suicide. I only had myself to blame because I was after all, the catalyst that brought about the demise of their relationship prematurely.

The relationship that came after that lasted a lot longer than all the three previous relationships combined. We were together for 3 years. I thought we were going to last forever.

The most recent relationship was with a non-believer who broke up with me because he did not want to suffer with me in future. Apparently I did not have enough money in my bank account for the comfortable lifestyle he wanted. The tiny amount of love that I had managed to find for myself disappeared with that judgment on my bank account. Instead of kind love, I found cruel judgment that essentially told me that I wasn’t good enough.

Because of the relationship, I stopped attending church, I stopped going for cell and I stopped staying in close contact with the friends I had from church. I was terribly ashamed that I had gone against better judgment to start dating a non-believer and I was sure that all my friends in church would see me that way as well.

It was with the break up that God opened my eyes to see what had been there all along. He showed me that the love I had been longing for and dreamt of had been with me all the while - it was in their endless and selfless giving that my parents showed that they loved me, it was in the jump-to-my-defense-no-questions-asked when I informed my friends of the break up and the reason he broke up with me, it was in the hugs that I received from friends that told me instantly that I was loved, it was the worth of me that I saw in their eyes that told me that they loved me, it was in the tears that they shed just because I was hurting that told me that they loved me…

All these and more, were God’s way of showing me in the way that I would understand best, that He loved me for me. Yes, that elusive love that I had been searching for all along had been with me all the while. Each time my heart got broken, He was always the first to arrive at the scene, pick up the broken pieces and to lovingly glue the broken pieces back together. I just never allowed Him to complete His healing work in me before I hurriedly snatched the broken pieces from Him to give to someone else who came along.

It is in Him that I found the love I have been searching for, the love that gave and gave, the love that forgives and forgives, the love that accepts and accepts, the love that hopes and hopes, the love that will make sure that only the best is given to me, His beloved princess because I am worth it. I have to be, because Jesus chose to die for me. 

Published with permission.

(This testimony was shared in Forerunners Friendship ConneXion 2006 by Esther herself.)

June's Reading Challenge

Press on in sowing into God's Word.

For surely in due season, you will reap what you sow! ^_^

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Jing Ting's MBBS Testimony

Jingting's testimony:
I must give my *heartfelt thanks* to the Lord too, for His faithfulness and grace towards me throughout the exams. I felt I didn't work as hard as I * could* have and was in fear of failure daily UNTIL a point before exams started when God caused me to trust on Him fully and thereafter, increased His favour upon me! Indeed, as they say, *1 day of His favour = 6 days of our labour*.

Throughout the period, I didn't miss a single QT but spent my much needed time with Him and sought Him daily.

When exams started, there was such a great peace throughout the entire period of my exams and I came out of it feeling like *not a strand of hair was out of place*! My results were slightly better than what I had expected too (hee...) and I'll be doing my posting of first choice at KKH paediatrics, starting May 2!

All these blessings *cannot have happened without the Lord's grace and without your prayers towards us*. Thanks be to God and to you. As they'd say, my victory is yours too. =)

Love you guys,
Jingting Ruth (now Dr. Teo-- muahaha! Juz kidding.
Pls don't call me that.)