Tuesday, June 19, 2007

TURT Update

Hi Friends,

After a week of ministry and SIX gigs (!!!), the TURT team enjoyed a well-deserved break over the weekend, with some needful R&R time, together with the local thai staff!

Please pray for their concerts for today and tomorrow.

Today: Classroom performance to an english class at Mahidol University at 2:30pm SG time

Tomorrow: Outdoor open-crowd gig at Krasesart University at 7pm SG time

Some encouragement from Simon, the staff mentor on the trip:
"It's interesting to see how God answered our prayers... for open doors to make know the mystery of Christ!
If u recall, when we made the decision to re-route to Bangkok, we only had 1 gig possibility. But our gung-ho tour leaders, Eeleen & Dan both felt that they would like to trust God for more. Then came the email 3 days before we left, on our packing day, that there are not 4 confirmed gigs!! (And this was exactly the number Eeleen & Dan said, when I asked them the day before how gigs they'd like to trust God for!)

I share this with you guys.. to recall God's faithfulness, and trust that your hearts are encouraged too!"

Some prayer requests from the team:
1. Pray for wisdom for Dan & Eeleen as they lead us in a different setting.

2. Traveling in BKK can be quite stressful. Yesterday, about 9 of us squeezed in the back of a pick-up truck (with some of our equipment!), in BKK traffic for a good 1hour 15min. Our butts were aching real bad after that. =( We are requesting mini-van for next week.. hopefully it works out.

3. Also the heat has been the most draining thing for everyone. So pray for greater tolerance.. and cooler weather I guess. =)

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

The Couple with the White Bench

Hee...

Those who have read the Shoppaholic series will know how this title came about (In the book, Becky wants to be 'the Girl in the Pink Vespa Helmet')

Yesterday, we bought our first piece of furniture for our new home! It's also the first piece of furniture I have ever bought!

It's a beautiful foldable cream bench.

Maybe I will post a pic sometime.

Anyway, it was really nothing short of a miracle, so I must share!

On Sunday night, we went down to Ikea to scour every nook and cranny and write down all the stuff that potentially would be great in our new home. We are planning to wait until the August sale and get in one fell swoop! =D

That's when we saw the lovely benchy.

However, as it was under As-Is, you have to take it immediately (no storage provided, and delivery is $40). So we thought, nvm lah, since it won't fit in the car, and we don't know how it will fit into our home, let's forget about it...

But that night, and the next morning, I kept thinking about it! And visualizing how it could fit into our living room. And, really, the more I thought about it, the more right it felt. As in, I could really see it fitting in! =D Somemore because it's display piece, so it was being sold at 30% off!

So I emailed Mel, and he said he also had been thinking about it, and liked it too. Haha! so...

That evening after work, Mel came over and had very quick van orientation to ForeRunner van. Then we drove down to Tampines Ikea (where we saw the bench).

BUT...

As we walked excitedly towards the As-Is area... there was NO BENCH!

ARGHHHHHH

We walked all round the area, but no, no bench =(

We asked the sales guy and he told us it had been SOLD?!?!

Oh no...

We were both so disappointed, esp after all the trouble it had taken to get oriented to the van and to drive across the island.

But not his fault lah.

THEN...

Mel happened to take a peek into the storeroom next to the As-Is area. AND GUESS WHAT??? The Bench was there!!!

We asked the sales guy about it. He finally told us it had been reserved by a Manager in Ikea.

Oh.

We tried to get him to give it to us anyway, telling him how much we liked it and all... and he was VERY NICE about it, but said no, cannot.

Sigh

So we looked for the bench section, thinking if we really liked it that much, maybe we should just get a new one. BUT IT WAS SOLD OUT!


Not just that. It was summer collection, so no more stock coming in!

Bother.

So we went to Customer Service Counter to ask them to call Alexandra branch to see if there got.

There also out of stock.

I tell you... my face fell like a limp rag.

=(

As we were going to walk out of the store, we decided... Aiya, just give it another try lah.

So we went back to the poor sale guy and asked him again. He was kind of laughing at us I think, cos he had seen us circling the area for almost an hour. Finally he said... ok he will check with the Manager. So... he rang up this Manager, and told him how much we liked the bench, and that we really would like to have it.

And the Manager said YES!!!

Hee...

i was kind of jumping for joy! Melvyn was a lot more calm and composed about it.

haha...

So anyway, that's how we got our White Bench. I'm sure that I will never forget this memorable experience in getting our first piece of furniture. And I will definitely share this story with my kids in future.

And just so you know, the very nice guy that helped us is called Hatif. If you're in Ikea, do watch out for him, and flash him a BIG smile on our behalf! =)

Sunday, June 10, 2007

The Ultimate ROAD Trip 2007 begins!

Yes, the ROAD TRIP bit finally begins!

Later today, the team of 10 students and 5 staff will be leaving for a 2-week concert road trip. Not all the staff going. I am one of those 'left behind'. heh) We have made a decision that we will not hold any concerts in Hatyai, due to the recent spate of bomb scares. However, we still feel strongly that God has called us to be His light in the land of Thailand during this time. So they will be spending the first few days in Nakhon Sri Thamarrat, before taking a coach up to Bangkok, where they will spend the remainder of the trip.

It wasn't an easy decision to make, but even right after we made that decision, God has confirmed the work of our hands in so so many ways. One of which being that we went into the decision to go Bangkok, with only ONE potential gig up for the team. But over the past few days, God has confirmed that for us, and added in 2 gigs. So there are now a total of 3 confirmed gigs in Bkk! Wow. Also, a few of the students' parents had been very anxious the week before, and even considered pulling their children out of the trip, but as God encouraged their hearts, they have agreed to trust God with us, and allow their darlings to go! =D

As we have spent the past 4 weeks in intensive band preparation, do pray that we would also be ready spiritually, emotionally and mentally, to engage in God's work. Due to the late changes in schedules and flight plans, there are many details to be worked through, and this can be very draining, especially for the staff.

Here are some personal prayer requests from the team.

Simon Seow - staff mentor
1. The joy of the Lord as I serve Him
2. Pray for Lillian & kids, for them to lean on the Lord in my absence
3. Pray for opportunities to minister God's grace & love to the Thais & to the team.

Daniel Ho - staff, team leader and program ic
1. Strength to get through this season
2. Able to lead the team well
3. Wisdom in decision making

Eeleen Lin - staff, assistant team leader and advancer/finance
1. To keep my eyes on the Lord in all circumstances
2. Physical health and strengthm esp for stomach (no diarrhoea!)
3. To lead the team from a place of intimacy with Jesus.

Manson Koh - staff, band director
1. Health
2. Spiritual protection
3. Safety
4. God's love being demonstrated in the team.

Evon Ee - staff, assistant finance
1. Keep my heart close to God even amidst the hectic travelling.
2. Wisdom to handle huge amount of money on the road as a few of us are the main finance peeps for transport and day to day things for the whole team. I am one of them.
3. God will watch over my family even more so while I am away.

Liow Ee Jun - student, bassist
1. Pray for my parents to have peace in me going to Thailand and to know that my life is in God's hands so they need not worry
2. Pray for me to love the Thai people and to do my best to bring forth the Gospel there
3. Pray for me to strong both physically and spiritually to endure a tiring schedule and to have joy in what i'm doing everyday.

Jeremy Wee - student, drummer
1. Smooth deferment from reservist
2. Guard my heart n mind against spiritual attacks
3. Safety

Paul Wong - student, acoustic guitar
1) Good health. I always fall sick when I enter into a new environment.
2) Peace for my family and friends and assurance that God will keep me safe.
3) To grasp a deeper revelation of the Father's heart through TURT

Joshua Tay - student, electric guitar
1. Pray for my health during this period that i will not fall sick
2. To be spirit-filled at all times
3. Pray for family members back home who may be anxious.
 
Mark Szto - student, electric guitar
Please pray: I think I'm slightly panickky about raising money for the China trip (another trip he is going on after TURT!) , particularly cos I think I need about 1k more than I thought I need.

Crystal Soh - student, keyboards
1. to be able to handle the hygiene standards there
2. for family not to worry while i'm there
3. for God to teach me and use me the way He wants to(:

Michelle Lim - student, sound tech
1. Strength to sustain throughout the road trip
2. God's peace to be with my family and friends
3. To come back feeling that God has changed my life!

Michelle Cheam - student, vocalist
1. For my family that God's protection would be on them.
2. For my testimony that God would work through me to touch the people there.

Evangeline Lee - student, vocalist
1. Peace for family members and friends
2. Safety
3. Tons and tons of seeds sown into His kingdom
4. For us to know Christ more as we make Him known.

Matthew Low - student, vocalist
1)remember all my lyrics and testimony
2)throat no problem ha
3)Focus on GOD


For those who want to see the team off at the airport or receive them when they return, here are their flight details:

Departure from SIN to Hatyai on 10 June 2007
Flight no TR138 (Budget terminal)
Departs SIN at 14:00 Singapore time
Please note that Hatyai is one hour behind Singapore.

Arrival from BKK to SIN on 22 June 2007
Flight no TR109 (Budget terminal)
Arrives SIN at 23:30 Singapore time

Monday, June 04, 2007

life change doesn't come easy

the past few weeks have been chockful of activities, deadlines, stresses, conflicts, decisions... in some ways, it's been a bit of a blur, but i know God has been really chiselling into my heart through this time.

i say 'chisel' cos that's an analogy i got from a bill lawrence talk i heard last year. he was sharing that, a lot of the time, the journey from the head to the heart is a painful one. because our hearts are often hardened to the Truth, or to what God wants to say to us. so God, as the Master Scuptor, has to use His chisel to 'break' our hearts, so that the truth can 'drop in'.

i feel like i'm being 'chiselled'.

mentally i'm being stretched in more ways than i've been used to. tasks and responsibilities and people's feelings and stewardship of resources to juggle. i'm learning that the peace of God really can guard my heart and mind, and take away the load of feeling so anxious about the next bump in the road.

socially, it's not my 'thing' to be surrounded by people every day. i miss times of solitude and just 'doing my own thing' and not having to think for others. so sunday was a welcome day of rest for me. we had work that night, so i spent the morning at home, woke up late, climbed stairs (my new form of exercise on hot hot days), tied about 40 ribbons on my helpers' gifts =) and then finally changed and went off for the TURT showcase that evening.

physically, i'm tired. lack of sleep, and what sleep i do have, i take very long to get to. ie, i take very long to sleep cos of all the thoughts swimming around in my head. not just related to TURT but to wedding plans too, what-ifs etc... but through the nights of fretting, and sometimes tears, i've had no choice but to turn to God, and to share all that i'm feeling with melvyn too.

emotionally, i'm exhausted. but also freed. a bit hard to explain... the pace and intensity of my emotions has left me feeling drained, but also amazed that i CAN feel that much, and that God can handle each one as it comes and i lump it on Him. phil 4:6-7 has more meaning for me these past few weeks, and i feel so thankful that i have Someone who truly understands me, at times when i feel so misunderstood, unappreciated, unworthy, unlovely.

He dances over me, nevertherless =)

so, spiritually, i feel like i have finally experienced what it's like to 'cling' to God, to rest in the shadow of His wings. i have a taste of what that's like, and it's scary, cos it's a scary world out there. but it's safe, too, to watch that world from His protective embrace, and to know that all that really can't touch me.