Friday, February 24, 2006

Personality Test

Someone convinced me that I should do this test - I actually did it before but I forgot my profile and decided to do it again... Quite interesting insight of myself(at least - it is to me)..

EFNJ - Keirsey

ENFJ profile

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Transitioning

Phew... Had my first Greek test today and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would go. I think my lecturer's pretty satisfied with my work. I had to do a reflection paper on a controversial article on Christmas that came out on times magazine a couple of years ago called "Behind the First Noel". It was a bit tough getting into the mode of writing an essay. It took a lot of starts only to get stuck... Managed to finish the paper to my satisfaction five minutes before the class started (and decided to skip dinner along the way). Thank God for my friends who go to mamak or else I'd still be hungry now. :)
Another interesting highlight of the day - today's the third time I've attended the Anglican services. I have attended three out of four of their meetings and that apparently is an anomaly for a non-Anglican. They invited me to join them for their after service gathering - having some snacks that they brought from home. It was great to have potato salad! :) That aside, it was just great to hang out with them and just hearing some of the issues and challenges the Anglicans are facing right now - everyone around me was just joking that I've officially been adopted into their Anglican fold - since I now knew their problems too. It was pretty funny. Think that they are a bunch of great people (not just because they shared food with me). Am constantly amazed and touched by their dedication for God despite all the difficulties that come with their denomination.

Dear God,
Thank You for Your faithfulness and Your goodness. Am constantly in awe of You. Especially in lecture today where I am reminded that You are truly my great father in heaven and that You discipline those You love and that if I love You, I should be obedient to You.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Transitions

It feels like ages since I've last blogged - probably because it's true... The last two weeks have just been rather hectic. I feel like everything's been let loose and it just get overwhelming at times.
Chinese New Year was a great break - it was good just to spend time with family on top of the eating and resting... Decided to study(I actually brought up most of my work up with me and managed to glean through some of them). When I came back to STM last week, just got this horrendous feeling of being overwhelmed by the amount of work that needed to be done - and I blame this on the time that I took to actually do my schedule, count the amount of work that I needed to read and sorta realised that it was just going to be really really tough to finish all my readings on time AND do my assignments at the same time.
The weekend was just a non-stop series of meetings and was just really exhausted(and glad!) to get back to STM yesterday evening at an earlier time than I expected to.
Woke up with a pounding headache and puffy eyes. By the grace of God, am just feeling much better than when I woke up!!! Have my first Greek test that I think I'm prepared for but have to complete two reflection papers(one of which is quite challenging and controversial, the other is just a 'huh??' kind of paper).

Dear God,
I need you and your grace to see me through the week and the rest of the semester. Juggling between work and study is just going to be really hard and there are times when I've just reached my limits. Help me to trust in You to see me through. Thanks for friends who just supports me and loosen me up when I get too stressed out. I see You working through them.

Monday, January 23, 2006

Second week at STM

Have started my second week of classes. Have been overwhelming at times (there's seriously just heaps of work) and have had to make a conscious effort to take a break and yet not too much of it.. :P
Otherwise, I AM enjoying the subjects... Some subjects have been rather mind blowing - challenging my own views on that topic.. The rest of them has just been about learning new things..
It's been a struggle at times to get back to student life.. But on the whole it's been very good. :)
The thing that encourages me the most is my fellow students here... They've all been very encouraging and caring.


Thank You God for leading me here.

CONGRATS TO MY BIG BRO AND VERN!!

Just want to wish a BIG congratulation to my big bro Johann and Vern Li on their wedding yesterday! May God Lord bless your marriage as you begin your journey together.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

First day of classes

Today's the first day of classes.. Was a rather heavy day.. Makes me wonder if I should audit the extra subject tomorrow.. Hmmm...
Despite it all, I've enjoyed my classes-Church History, New Testament Survey and Critical Reading and writing... Though am slowly beginning to think- wow! There's heaps of work!! We've been handed our assignments and there's quite a fair bit to do.. A plus point is that the lecturers here are VERY supportive-so it really helps...
Will have pastorate group breakfast (yay!!)in the morning. I also quite like the ppl in my pastorate group - they're quite multicultural actually.. :)
Am struck again about how blessed I am to be here.. The ppl here are very friendly.. Really enjoy the community life here(tonight, someone brought back Nasi Lemak Ayam for supper :) ). Also, I had the opportunity to spend some time in the anglican chapel last nite and tonite just to play on the piano (although it was somewhat out of tune) and just worship Him on the piano. There's just a strong sense of the presence of God as I just sat there and worshiped.


Thank You Jesus for leading me here. Thank You for new friends here. It's just been really awesome knowing You more and knowing them.

Monday, January 16, 2006

View from my window

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My Study corner

Hmm - not a very good photo.. but this is my study corner..
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:)

This is another STM resident.. heheh
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Thursday, January 12, 2006

A glimpse of life here at STM

My wi-fi connection's finally set up !!! I am having a rather awesome time here even as I get adjusted to life here in my first week... As I settle down and getting adjusted to living my life as a student again, I find that I am really looking forward to what the Lord has in store for me this year..

Different experiences
It's just been great to have been exposed to different denominations here and getting to know the future leaders of the Malaysian church.. Majority of the ppl here are from Methodist and Anglican background so it's interesting to worship doing devotions with them. Apparently, the Anglicans have their own prayer services at 7am on one of the mornings and the Methodist will have their own prayer service in the evening. Am planning to join them to get a feel of what it's like. :)

There are two other EFC ppl here. It's been good to have them around in view of the overwhelming(at times) ppl who are mostly from Methodist, Anglican and Lutheran background.

My Roommate
Apparently, part of the STM experience is to live with another person - as part of preparation for church ministry in dealing with difficult ppl and resolving conflicts. My roommate's a first year student from KL Chinese Methodist Church.. I've been quite fortunate to have her as a room mate as we discover that we're both not very particular - we both don't mind noise and we can sleep with the lights on. :)

Lecturers
I've really like the lecturers that i've met so far - they have been very approachable and friendly... They join us for our meals and remember our names!! It's also been a comfort to have a lecturer whom I know from my home church here at STM.

Students
We have quite a few international students. Am looking forward to learning from them as I get to know them better..

Besides all that, I really LOVE the library facilities here....
One of my challenges is that I really feel like a 'banana' here some times as most ppl seem to speak chinese here and I mainly speak English...


THANK YOU GOD FOR SENDING ME HERE... AM SO LOOKING FORWARD TO KNOWING YOU MORE THIS YEAR.

Friday, January 06, 2006

Blur-ish

It's been a rather blur-ish week.
Sprained my ankle on New Year during the afternoon, John came to town on Tuesday, getting stuff to go to STM, rushing around in the office to tie up loose ends, etc...
My next blog entry will prolly be when I'm there - I can't wait!!

Friday, December 30, 2005

New Year resolutions

1. Travel to a country that I've not been to before (which can't be too difficult as I've only been to Australia, Singapore and Malaysia)
2. Tell a God story every week
3. Have a more exciting year than 2005 (which is going to be pretty difficult as 2005 have been pretty awesome!!)
4. Keep in touch more often with my friends overseas.

Random stuff

Thank you God for:
- the past Christmas that went VERY well (especially since the run through on Christmas morning was a near disaster) and for the souls that came to know You on that morning
-Christmas pressies (All were really nice but I had an extra nice one :) )
- a great break with family in Camerons
-meeting with Ps Mark and family. Justin is soooo cute... He just talks and talks and talks and talks... but he's one of those precocious kids. :)
-people around me that care and are concerned and give great advice as I prepare for Bible School (note to self - pray for a prayer partner and look out for a lecturer to be a mentor)

Just finished reading:
- Devotion explosion (really good book on how to make your devotions interesting!!! One of the tips is to choose a book of the bible and write it in your own handwriting. The other good tip is to type out your prayer.)

Preparing for:
The new year and Watchnite service!

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Christmas ramblings

Christmas is coming!! Thank God for sustaining me. Am quite surprised that my stress levels is not any higher than it is now despite all the hitches in the planning for Christmas.
Have been having a pleasant time catching up with some of my ex-OCF friends. It's been a rare treat to meet up with some of them TWICE last week!!!
Doreen's wedding was also on last Saturday.. Had a good time there - though the dinner went on till quite late (we finished about 11.30pm)!!

Foresee a slight struggle this week - it's Christmas activities vs. Christmas reflections. Am hoping to be able to sit down a little longer with Him than my usual 'pockets of time' (which I suppose is better than NO time at all with Him).

Feel like I'm rambling now. Will stop here.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Meeting up with old and new friends

Had a great time yesterday evening. Had TWO dinner appointments - a first for me.
The first was with the TeenStreet committee. Daniel and I, who are the service team leaders were invited along. It was just really good to meet up with all of them again. They are just a bunch of fantastic people who, though busy, give their time and energy to God and young people. It was great to catch up with Daniel in the car too. Found out that he went to Kuantan with a bunch of friends from youth group for a day trip - how fun!!

My friend CQ from Singapore gave a surprise call on Tuesday evening and he invited me to join him and MT and CT for dinner. It was great catching up with them. Of course, we discussed OCF friends whom we've lost contacts with, who's getting married soon, ministry, work, etc...
It was a great evening. CQ's quite entertaining. He always has heaps of stories about his foot and mouth disease. :)

Dear God,
Thank You for different people whom You bring into my life and make it richer. Am so blessed by You.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Thinking of my friends overseas

Was just talking to Simon Ng, Kevin Chew and Wan Qiu online yesterday... They were all part of OCF Melbourne Uni and it just always is good to catch up with them. Kevin says that he'll be coming over in Feb!! Yay!! Was very sad to miss Wan Qiu last week.. : ( was sick with a really bad flu (had to go to the doc to get medication ) and had to go off to Teen Street. Hope that she'll be able to come over again sometime this round..
This morning when I was on my way to work, I was wondering how my other friends were doing: Adeline, Poh Lyn & Karen (the green house girls and my ex-housemates :) ), Johann, Liz, Francis, Eric, John, Jason Tan, Janice Tan, Charlene, Marcus, David, my ACF Rowville friends etc...


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On another note, my sis is going to start work in January!! She's got a job in KPMG... Praise God for opening doors for her!!!

Friday, December 09, 2005

Post Teen Street

Am back from Teen Street Malaysia.. Am just bursting with stories to tell!! Hahaha - have just been sharing about TeenStreeet to the ppl in the office the whole morning and just looking through photos with them.. One of the commitments I made at camp was to share 'stories' of God's work in my life every week to someone...
Miss the crazy fun stuff that was happening at camp.. Really enjoyed the prayer day, the TNT (Teens Need Teens) wacky race... RM25,000 Was raised up by 150 teens for the Dalits.. It was really awesome.. Enjoyed the worship singing sessions too.. Was quite an experience to worship alongside setting up the cafe (I had to leave the hall early most nites to set up for Jungle Time which was after the Throne room sessions). Miss my room mates - crazy though they were...

Was really blessed to get to know the OM Malaysia staff a bit better- they kept on wanting to bless my service team... Dexter, Foo Seng & Jin Ai, Ken and Val are just such great ppl as well.. Was really blessed by their heart for TeenStreet and their encouragements along the way..

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Miss my service team members..
Jee Lee - my very dependable member of the service team. She's 21 this year and is studying English in NUS, Singapore. She's worshiping in Life Chapel. She was a great help with the ice blended drinks...

Christine Tiong - she's my ice cream lady and my room mate. She's from Good News church in Kuching, Sarawak and she's just absolutely zany.. She was just so desperate for Maggi Mee Tom Yam one nite and it was absolutely funny to watch her..

Wei Li - Wei Li's my other room mate and she's one cool lady. She's working in PWC as an auditor and was helping out in the jungle.

Daniel Lee - Daniel's another crazy but fun guy from SAGC... He's absolutely dependable and gets the job done..

James - James has the weirdest comments sometimes but it was just great having him in my team. He was very good with the torches and the lamps.. Also a very good salesman though not a businessman - if he keeps on giving free food away just to make ppl happy, our cafe would've been broke... :)

Eu Wei - Quiet guy but gets the job done.. The poor guy was tuckered out most of the time I saw him.. Probably cos he was at the camp site setting up too..

Moi Sia - from Sarawak too... She was my drinks lady.. Am glad to have her on my team as she has a warm heart..

Ekkpan a.k.a 'Boy' & Pattipan a.k.a 'Pai'- From Thailand.. Both was helping Jee Lee out with the ice blendeds. Pai especially is really funny. He went around with the guitar singing 'Come, Now is the time for ice creams.' (to the tune "come, now is the time to worship")kekeke...

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!!!

Happy Birthday to my Beloved Mother. She's an absolutely awesome mum - a little crazy sometimes and does things that just "normal" parents don't do. But I love her anyways... Have especially appreciated her blessing in releasing me into ministry the past year. It's not always been plain sailing but it's great to know that I have a WISE mum who's always there and giving advice and support in my ministry work.

Thank you God for my fun, wacky at times mother who's there when I need her and whom you've used mightily to mould my life... :)

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Teens Street Malaysia 2005 doing God Time Kingdom Code
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TeenStreet Malaysia

Am now here in TeenStreet Malaysia and am having an absolutely fantastic time here! Hip Hop's music going on in the background now for the Hip Hop workshop conducted by Joel Tan for one of the Extreme Base Camp (Workshops). Watching him is like watching poetry in motion.. He's really fluid and really great at the hip hop stuff... He apparently started the Urban Groove here in Malaysia to promote Hip Hop in a clean way and to shine for JC.

The camp has sorta been a blur for me... Have been meeting heaps of new ppl and am working alongside and leading a fantastic service team... Our role as service team members is to basically serve the teams.. We've been having great fun selling ice creams, setting up the cafe and selling snacks and ice blendeds.. We're also in charge of setting up for the TNT(Teens Needs Teens) wacky race and the prayer station... It's been rather a lot of work but we have been greatly blessed by the committee(with TS goodies and dinner!!)...

It's been great watching Dan and Suzy Potter take the Wild Kingdom times.... They just work really well together and I've enjoyed watching the dance and drama as well. It's just been really great just being reminded about Loving God and Loving Ppl by going through the Wild Kingdom Code- God Time, The Walk & Net (Loving God); Serving, Support & Story... (Loving Ppl)...

Have heard this so many times in my Christian walk but it's been brought forward to me in a very refreshing way again. I wish more of the youth from my church came. Sue Zen and Kit's here(praise God!!!). The young ppl here has been really blessed. Will post up my photos shortly. Want to go watch the Hip Hop now!!! - Am thinking that Sue Ann and Hsien Ling will definitely love this.