All of us have teachers that made an impact in our lives or their teaching stays with us for a long time. I have a few of these teachers in my secondary school and Pre-University school.
I remember this one teacher in my Pre-U who taught us in our GP (General Paper or English lesson for those who do not know the syllabus of Singapore schools). He was a tall Malay gentleman. And his teaching technique was considered very creative in the early 80s. For example, once he came into the class, wrote a statement on the blackboard and asked the own class to compose an article from that statement he had written. After 40 mins (the length of our class), we expected him to collect all our compositions for grading. However, he asked the whole class to throw away what we had spent 40 mins squeezing our brain writing! His explanation was very simple. He just wanted us to exercise our brain. The grading is not important.
One of the thing that he taught in the class that stayed with me till now is his explanation of 'assumption'. He taught that each written sentence has 3 meanings to it. First, the meaning of the sentence itself. Second, the meaning of the sentence from the writer's point of view. Third, the meaning of the sentence from the reader's point of view. And how it is so dangerous for a reader to assume what the writer means if the reader do not know the background of the writing or know the writer personally. And how in most instances, such assumptions by the readers are proven wrong when the one get to know the writer or when the writer offered a clearer explanation of why he/she wrote certain sentences.
To make us remember the danger of assuming what others are thinking, saying or writing, he offered a very simple meaning to the word 'assume'. He said that to assume will always make an "ass" out of "u" and "me"! We (at least I am up to now) were totally blown off by his creative way to drill into our mind not only the meaning of assumption by also how it can hurt others and ourselves as most assumptions are wrong.
Over the years, I have made so many assumptions when reading or hearing what others wrote or say. And in most instances, it really made an "ass' out of the other party and me, and in worst case, hurting the other parties.
So, the next time we want to make any assumption, just remember the meaning of assume as offered by my GP teacher, though it is somewhat crude.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Honoring People - The Unknown Man
I had an brief encounter with this man years ago while I was still in my Secondary School or probably Pre-U 1.
I do not know his name and definitely cannot remember how he looked like. My encounter with him was probably only 5 minutes or so. But God used him to protect me from walking down the wrong lane.
As mentioned, we were in serious financial problem when I was in my Upper Secondary School years and all through my Pre-Uni years. Every school holiday, I will look for temporary jobs so that i can earn pocket money for the holidays and also to buy some school essentials. So, I had worked in paper-box factory, factory that assemble comms set for cabs, bell-hop in hotel, waiter, sale promotor etc.
During one of the school breaks, I was very desperate to get a temp job but do not seems to be able to find one. After looking through the chinese paper, I found a job opening in a local bar at Bras Besah Road. It is a opening for part-tme dishwasher in that bar. Yes, I was desperate enough to even consider working in the bar and I reasoned that there is really no harm because it is just a part-time job.
I remembered walking down that lane beside Bras Besah Road until I found the bar. It was day time when the bar was still not open for business yet and so, only the back door was opened. I entered into the bar, which was almost in total darkness (first and the last time) and found a small room where this man was sitting inside. He might be the owner or the manager, I don't know, but definitely not someone to mess with.
He asked me what I wanted and I pointed at the job vacancy that the bar advertised on the chinese papers while my heart was racing away. He looked at the advertisement and look at me. He just replied that I was not suitable for the job and ignored me completely. I walked out of that bar thinking how can I not be suitable for being a dishwasher? Am I not tall enough? Or look too skinny? Or look too young? How can I be disqualified from being a part-time dishwasher?
Yet as I look back at my brief encounter with this man in the local bar, I am so glad that he did not give me the job. If he has given me that part-time dishwasher job, I might live a very different life now and might have even walk away from God.
I am glad that God even used this non-believer to protect me from falling away.
I do not know his name and definitely cannot remember how he looked like. My encounter with him was probably only 5 minutes or so. But God used him to protect me from walking down the wrong lane.
As mentioned, we were in serious financial problem when I was in my Upper Secondary School years and all through my Pre-Uni years. Every school holiday, I will look for temporary jobs so that i can earn pocket money for the holidays and also to buy some school essentials. So, I had worked in paper-box factory, factory that assemble comms set for cabs, bell-hop in hotel, waiter, sale promotor etc.
During one of the school breaks, I was very desperate to get a temp job but do not seems to be able to find one. After looking through the chinese paper, I found a job opening in a local bar at Bras Besah Road. It is a opening for part-tme dishwasher in that bar. Yes, I was desperate enough to even consider working in the bar and I reasoned that there is really no harm because it is just a part-time job.
I remembered walking down that lane beside Bras Besah Road until I found the bar. It was day time when the bar was still not open for business yet and so, only the back door was opened. I entered into the bar, which was almost in total darkness (first and the last time) and found a small room where this man was sitting inside. He might be the owner or the manager, I don't know, but definitely not someone to mess with.
He asked me what I wanted and I pointed at the job vacancy that the bar advertised on the chinese papers while my heart was racing away. He looked at the advertisement and look at me. He just replied that I was not suitable for the job and ignored me completely. I walked out of that bar thinking how can I not be suitable for being a dishwasher? Am I not tall enough? Or look too skinny? Or look too young? How can I be disqualified from being a part-time dishwasher?
Yet as I look back at my brief encounter with this man in the local bar, I am so glad that he did not give me the job. If he has given me that part-time dishwasher job, I might live a very different life now and might have even walk away from God.
I am glad that God even used this non-believer to protect me from falling away.
Honoring Others - Mary Matthew
Today, I want to share the story of another teacher in my Pre-U school days. Her name is Mary Matthew. She had passed on a few years ago.
She was our form teacher in the last year of my Pre-U. She taught us 'Economics' and she was a very strict, no nonsense teacher.
I remembered that when we returned to school from the year-end holiday to start our last year in the Pre-U, she started the class by giving us quizzes for the previous year's economics lessons. Of course, most of us have forgotten much of what we learned after a 6 weeks break. For the first question that we cannot answer, we will be made to stand on the chair. And if we still cannot answer the 2nd question, we will be made to stand on the table. Imagine the humiliation of a 16 yrs old (boy or girl) being made to stand on the chair or table. From that day onwards, all of us did not slack in our economics lessons. Did we blame her for being harsh or hurting our emotion? No, i don't think so. Or at least not for me. What we learn is that there is a consequence to all our action. We don't study, we don't pass. Its that simple. And this principle will translate to the working world and whatever we do in life. I rather get humiliate in my class in school than face with a major adverse consequence in life because of a bad decision.
The second thing that really touched me was my payment to sit for the A level examination. As shared my other posting, we were down and out as far as money is concerned. So, i really cannot afford to pay the exam fees in a lump sum. What Mary Matthew did was, she first helped me to calculated the exact total cost (she knew that i was bad in my maths). Second, she paid the full sum from her own pocket and worked out an installment period that I can pay her back on a month basis.
This might be a simple gesture to some. But to me, it meant so much. And she did it without making it known to the class or anyone. She helped me when I needed help most while at the same time taking care that I will not feel embarrassed.
She will be another teacher that I would love to meet on the other side of Heaven. A teacher that taught us with her heart rather than her method.
She was our form teacher in the last year of my Pre-U. She taught us 'Economics' and she was a very strict, no nonsense teacher.
I remembered that when we returned to school from the year-end holiday to start our last year in the Pre-U, she started the class by giving us quizzes for the previous year's economics lessons. Of course, most of us have forgotten much of what we learned after a 6 weeks break. For the first question that we cannot answer, we will be made to stand on the chair. And if we still cannot answer the 2nd question, we will be made to stand on the table. Imagine the humiliation of a 16 yrs old (boy or girl) being made to stand on the chair or table. From that day onwards, all of us did not slack in our economics lessons. Did we blame her for being harsh or hurting our emotion? No, i don't think so. Or at least not for me. What we learn is that there is a consequence to all our action. We don't study, we don't pass. Its that simple. And this principle will translate to the working world and whatever we do in life. I rather get humiliate in my class in school than face with a major adverse consequence in life because of a bad decision.
The second thing that really touched me was my payment to sit for the A level examination. As shared my other posting, we were down and out as far as money is concerned. So, i really cannot afford to pay the exam fees in a lump sum. What Mary Matthew did was, she first helped me to calculated the exact total cost (she knew that i was bad in my maths). Second, she paid the full sum from her own pocket and worked out an installment period that I can pay her back on a month basis.
This might be a simple gesture to some. But to me, it meant so much. And she did it without making it known to the class or anyone. She helped me when I needed help most while at the same time taking care that I will not feel embarrassed.
She will be another teacher that I would love to meet on the other side of Heaven. A teacher that taught us with her heart rather than her method.
World View -1
Saw a news report this morning on Channel News Asia and the local HK news channel that the police in Guangzhou had just closed down two factories that disguised industrial salt as table salt, re-packaging them and than sell them to consumers through local super-markets.
News about Chinese business people making fake stuff is not new. We know of fake eggs, fake milk powder, fake soya sauce, recycling used cooking oil taken from the drain and sell them again, breaching old rice grains that were not sold to make them look like freshly harvested rice and sell them again in the market etc etc. And these does not include the fake iphone, samsung phone etc etc.
As I ponder over the latest scandal of faking industrial salt as consumers' salt, I thought about the Christian population in China and wonder what kind of influence Chinese Christians have over China.
I am sharing my thoughts here where some of you might want to contribute your thoughts too. I am also aware that as I share my thoughts, I might just offend some Christian leaders (both inside China and outside China).
From the internet, it is said that the number of Christians in China ranges from 70 millions to about 117 millions out of the population of 1.3 billion. This is to say that there are about 5-9% of the Chinese in China are Christians. These numbers had grown in leaps and bounced after 1949 and is set to continue to grow further. I have also heard of some Chinese leaders who claimed that they have more than 1million believers in their group.
And I know of many Chinese Christians that talked about Back to Jerusalem movement, wanting to be involved in foreign mission and build more churches in China.
My question is 'If there are 5-9% Christians in China right now and it is forecast to continue to grow, where is the positive influence of Christians in the 7 spheres of China's society?' From my simplistic observation of what is happening in China, it seems like there are more corruption cases surfacing, lack of confidence in local products keep going up (which is why many Chinese flock to HK to purchase anything and everything that is not made in China), the moral fibre of the country seems to be slipping more and more etc etc. Something did not click here. If we are having more Christians in a nation, wouldn't that also means that we can see a clearer positive influence of Christians in all or at least majority of the 7 spheres of Chinese society?
Or, we simply have more Christians in China without a real change of their worldview? Have the leaders only focuses on spiritual equipping of Christians, building up their own churches or group but did not bring about a real change of their people's worldview. Did we (including myself), who come from the outside, who have a heart for China and wanting to equip the local Chinese also fall into the same problem i.e. focusing only on the spiritual without bringing about a real change of the worldview of the Chinese Christians? If this also the reason why I have so much problem recruiting local Christians to work with me to helping the Left Behind Children because it is seen more like a social/charity work rather than mission work per se?
And I thought about the African continent. Many churches, mission organisations and missionaries had and continue to invest much into every nation of this continent. Yet, today, Africa is still lagging behind in almost every aspect of the 7 spheres of society compare to the West and even some of the Asian nations though the Christian population had grown. Why? Is it because though many Africans had become Christians, including some who are even leaders of nation, there is no real change of their worldview?
Would China become like Africa where we can see a grow in the Christian population, but it has little impact on the society as a whole? Will we make the same mistake as focusing only on the so-called 'spiritual' equipping without seeing the greater need to have one's worldview changed like what Paul talked about in Roman 12:1-2?
I am not criticising local or foreign Christian leaders who have been putting their heart into wanting to see more Chinese becoming Christians, more churches being set up and more spiritual equipping. I am just saying as we observe or read news such as the latest on faking industrial salt as table salt, should we, as Chrstian leaders (both inside and outside of China) who work closely in equipping local Christians,ask where has we fail?
Just sharing my thoughts and observation. And my realisation that unless the worldview of my own co-workers in China is drastically changed by Father, they will not live to the full potential as someone that He can use to influence their own society.
Maybe, this is a major part of why Christ come and die for us? Not simply for that spiritual relationship with Him but a deep change of our hearts and worldview so that He can use us to truly bring about a positive influence in our own society.
News about Chinese business people making fake stuff is not new. We know of fake eggs, fake milk powder, fake soya sauce, recycling used cooking oil taken from the drain and sell them again, breaching old rice grains that were not sold to make them look like freshly harvested rice and sell them again in the market etc etc. And these does not include the fake iphone, samsung phone etc etc.
As I ponder over the latest scandal of faking industrial salt as consumers' salt, I thought about the Christian population in China and wonder what kind of influence Chinese Christians have over China.
I am sharing my thoughts here where some of you might want to contribute your thoughts too. I am also aware that as I share my thoughts, I might just offend some Christian leaders (both inside China and outside China).
From the internet, it is said that the number of Christians in China ranges from 70 millions to about 117 millions out of the population of 1.3 billion. This is to say that there are about 5-9% of the Chinese in China are Christians. These numbers had grown in leaps and bounced after 1949 and is set to continue to grow further. I have also heard of some Chinese leaders who claimed that they have more than 1million believers in their group.
And I know of many Chinese Christians that talked about Back to Jerusalem movement, wanting to be involved in foreign mission and build more churches in China.
My question is 'If there are 5-9% Christians in China right now and it is forecast to continue to grow, where is the positive influence of Christians in the 7 spheres of China's society?' From my simplistic observation of what is happening in China, it seems like there are more corruption cases surfacing, lack of confidence in local products keep going up (which is why many Chinese flock to HK to purchase anything and everything that is not made in China), the moral fibre of the country seems to be slipping more and more etc etc. Something did not click here. If we are having more Christians in a nation, wouldn't that also means that we can see a clearer positive influence of Christians in all or at least majority of the 7 spheres of Chinese society?
Or, we simply have more Christians in China without a real change of their worldview? Have the leaders only focuses on spiritual equipping of Christians, building up their own churches or group but did not bring about a real change of their people's worldview. Did we (including myself), who come from the outside, who have a heart for China and wanting to equip the local Chinese also fall into the same problem i.e. focusing only on the spiritual without bringing about a real change of the worldview of the Chinese Christians? If this also the reason why I have so much problem recruiting local Christians to work with me to helping the Left Behind Children because it is seen more like a social/charity work rather than mission work per se?
And I thought about the African continent. Many churches, mission organisations and missionaries had and continue to invest much into every nation of this continent. Yet, today, Africa is still lagging behind in almost every aspect of the 7 spheres of society compare to the West and even some of the Asian nations though the Christian population had grown. Why? Is it because though many Africans had become Christians, including some who are even leaders of nation, there is no real change of their worldview?
Would China become like Africa where we can see a grow in the Christian population, but it has little impact on the society as a whole? Will we make the same mistake as focusing only on the so-called 'spiritual' equipping without seeing the greater need to have one's worldview changed like what Paul talked about in Roman 12:1-2?
I am not criticising local or foreign Christian leaders who have been putting their heart into wanting to see more Chinese becoming Christians, more churches being set up and more spiritual equipping. I am just saying as we observe or read news such as the latest on faking industrial salt as table salt, should we, as Chrstian leaders (both inside and outside of China) who work closely in equipping local Christians,ask where has we fail?
Just sharing my thoughts and observation. And my realisation that unless the worldview of my own co-workers in China is drastically changed by Father, they will not live to the full potential as someone that He can use to influence their own society.
Maybe, this is a major part of why Christ come and die for us? Not simply for that spiritual relationship with Him but a deep change of our hearts and worldview so that He can use us to truly bring about a positive influence in our own society.
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Journey into China - 2
Continue from yesterday's sharing.....(one of our niece was very curious as to what happened after both Catherine and I resigned from our jobs)
I left the military service a few months after Charmaine was born and Catherine had already left her senior manager position. I remember that we were still living in the masionette in Jurong West at that time. It was our matrimonial home so to speak. So, we have a new born baby, a house mortage to pay, a calling to China and totally no income. Thank God that we do not have to worry about the house mortage because at that time, we still have enough in our CPF to pay for the mortage. But, still no income at all.
It was in those months of waiting (please do not think that i spend my entire day fasting and praying. i am just a very normal guy learning to listen to His leading) that our good friend, Gordon Hoo shared with us about Antioch Mission, Derek Prince Ministry and Ross Peterson, and what that ministry is doing. I remember in the same week when we were in a prayer meeting, we hear the same presentation about Derek Prince Ministry and Antioch Mission. We take it that Father might want us to be involved with this specific ministry as another step closer to the calling that He has for us for China.
I met with Ross Peterson, shared with him about our calling and he shared about what Antioch Mission and Derek Prince Ministry is doing in Singapore and that there is a sale posiiton open in the Derek Prince Ministry if I am keen to join the team. I have never done sales before except for those months during my pre-university days going door-to-door selling fund raising stickers for community centre to earn some extra pocket money.
But, we felt that it is a good way to start learning what it means to serve in a full time ministry. The 'pay' that I first receive when joining Derek Prince was S$800, which is less than 10% of the combined income that Catherine and me used to receive in 1997. This amount will have to cover my own daily travel and food expenses, and 'supportin' a family. But, we learn to be thankful as this is the amount that the ministry can afford to give us while we fully expected to serve without any salary.
It was not easy but one thing that we learn is never complain about not having enough. We learn to re-adjust to a simple life-style. We had some saving and started using it because $800 is really not enough when you have a new-born baby (those who are parents know how much milk powder and diapers a baby can use!).
I served in Derek Ministy ministry for one year, helping to sell his books and worship CDs to the christian bookstores in Singapore and Sunday booktable in various churches. It was in Derek Ministry ministry that I gained some experience in marketing and also a glimpse into China ministry.
Even though I served for one year only, Ross Peterson gave me a pay raise of $400 i.e. from $800 to $1200 as he knows our financial situation. I remembered that he gave us this increment when the ministry is not doing well financially. But, he saw our needs and felt that the ministry should take a step of faith to give us that 'increment'. Shortly after he did that, Derek Prince Ministry received a huge offering from one of the supporters! PTL!
After one year with Derek Prince ministry, we felt it is time to leave and join another pastor who have ministry inside the mainland. There is nothing wrong with Derek Prince ministry. In fact, it is an amazing ministry with much fruit all over the world. We left simply because we felt our time there is done.
So, we started with Pastor John Lee, learning from him how to work with the mainland Chrisitans and the dynamics of the work within the mainland among the local groups. And our financial support......dropped back to.....'zero' again. Pastor John Lee's ministry is totally a faith based ministry. The only thing that the ministry can cover is my travel expenses into China. As for the living expenses in Singapore, we need to raise our own fund.
It was really a learning experience for us to raise funds. Raising funds to support ourselves is really not a common thing in Singapore as most 'full-time' workers are supported by the local churches. I remembered that we could only raised $600 per month, which is even less than what Derek Prince first gave us.
Again, we learn to re-adjust our life style another notch down and not to complain at all. We sold our matrimonal home and downgraded to a 4-room HDB apartment. We sold our home at a time when the housing market was hitting rock bottom. We did not make any money out of our home but was glad that we can use the proceed from our sales to pay of the 4-room HDB flat completely. And we continue to dig into our saving.
Through that 2 years of experience, we learn that if we set our heart to follow Him, there is no sarcifice too big. I don't remember Catherine complaining about not having enough or that we have to downgrade to a small house when everyone around us is talking about up-grading to bigger house. In fact, we never felt that we had sacrifice. That word hardly come out from our mouth when we shared about our initial years of learning to follow His calling. All we remember is that though we did not draw that same amount of salary, we have never (yes, NEVER) starve once. I have never skip one meal because I had no money and honestly, we never know how that was possible. (He knows that I am one that need to eat all the time. lol)
Tomorrow, I will continue to share how we eventually end up in Hunan.
I am doing this series of sharing because i see that our life is one big story that reveal who He is. It is not who we are. It is seeing how He works in our lives that bring Him the glory. And also to honor and acknowledge those whom Father brought into our lives.
Today, it is about Ross Peterson and Pastor John Lee who took me in and let me learn about China ministry without holding back anything. It is about Gordon Hoo, who was the link for us into the initial years of China ministry.
just got back from my bikng exercise. want to add on to what i wrote above.
it is about the word ' sacrifice'. it is a word that we seldom use as far as our sharing goes, almost a taboo word actually. just like i do not use the word 'awesome' loosely because i feel that only God deserve the word 'awesome', because we stand in awe of Him.
we learn not to use the word 'sacrifice' because we have not sarcifice anything as far as following God in this journey. only God has sacrifice His Son for us. whatever we have left behind like our job, or salary, home or even love ones is nothing compared to what He has sacrifice on the cross for us.
we also learn that if we have the mentality that we have 'sacrifice' alot to follow His calling, than we will also expect Him to provide everything that we need as though He owe it to us. nope, He did not owe us anything. again, it is us who owe Him everything.
i believe this is one of the most important lessons that we have learn in the 1st two years of learning to hear His voice and follow Him. we had so much joy and testimony. yes, there are challenges which are stressful. but the reward of following Him far outweigh all these.
I left the military service a few months after Charmaine was born and Catherine had already left her senior manager position. I remember that we were still living in the masionette in Jurong West at that time. It was our matrimonial home so to speak. So, we have a new born baby, a house mortage to pay, a calling to China and totally no income. Thank God that we do not have to worry about the house mortage because at that time, we still have enough in our CPF to pay for the mortage. But, still no income at all.
It was in those months of waiting (please do not think that i spend my entire day fasting and praying. i am just a very normal guy learning to listen to His leading) that our good friend, Gordon Hoo shared with us about Antioch Mission, Derek Prince Ministry and Ross Peterson, and what that ministry is doing. I remember in the same week when we were in a prayer meeting, we hear the same presentation about Derek Prince Ministry and Antioch Mission. We take it that Father might want us to be involved with this specific ministry as another step closer to the calling that He has for us for China.
I met with Ross Peterson, shared with him about our calling and he shared about what Antioch Mission and Derek Prince Ministry is doing in Singapore and that there is a sale posiiton open in the Derek Prince Ministry if I am keen to join the team. I have never done sales before except for those months during my pre-university days going door-to-door selling fund raising stickers for community centre to earn some extra pocket money.
But, we felt that it is a good way to start learning what it means to serve in a full time ministry. The 'pay' that I first receive when joining Derek Prince was S$800, which is less than 10% of the combined income that Catherine and me used to receive in 1997. This amount will have to cover my own daily travel and food expenses, and 'supportin' a family. But, we learn to be thankful as this is the amount that the ministry can afford to give us while we fully expected to serve without any salary.
It was not easy but one thing that we learn is never complain about not having enough. We learn to re-adjust to a simple life-style. We had some saving and started using it because $800 is really not enough when you have a new-born baby (those who are parents know how much milk powder and diapers a baby can use!).
I served in Derek Ministy ministry for one year, helping to sell his books and worship CDs to the christian bookstores in Singapore and Sunday booktable in various churches. It was in Derek Ministry ministry that I gained some experience in marketing and also a glimpse into China ministry.
Even though I served for one year only, Ross Peterson gave me a pay raise of $400 i.e. from $800 to $1200 as he knows our financial situation. I remembered that he gave us this increment when the ministry is not doing well financially. But, he saw our needs and felt that the ministry should take a step of faith to give us that 'increment'. Shortly after he did that, Derek Prince Ministry received a huge offering from one of the supporters! PTL!
After one year with Derek Prince ministry, we felt it is time to leave and join another pastor who have ministry inside the mainland. There is nothing wrong with Derek Prince ministry. In fact, it is an amazing ministry with much fruit all over the world. We left simply because we felt our time there is done.
So, we started with Pastor John Lee, learning from him how to work with the mainland Chrisitans and the dynamics of the work within the mainland among the local groups. And our financial support......dropped back to.....'zero' again. Pastor John Lee's ministry is totally a faith based ministry. The only thing that the ministry can cover is my travel expenses into China. As for the living expenses in Singapore, we need to raise our own fund.
It was really a learning experience for us to raise funds. Raising funds to support ourselves is really not a common thing in Singapore as most 'full-time' workers are supported by the local churches. I remembered that we could only raised $600 per month, which is even less than what Derek Prince first gave us.
Again, we learn to re-adjust our life style another notch down and not to complain at all. We sold our matrimonal home and downgraded to a 4-room HDB apartment. We sold our home at a time when the housing market was hitting rock bottom. We did not make any money out of our home but was glad that we can use the proceed from our sales to pay of the 4-room HDB flat completely. And we continue to dig into our saving.
Through that 2 years of experience, we learn that if we set our heart to follow Him, there is no sarcifice too big. I don't remember Catherine complaining about not having enough or that we have to downgrade to a small house when everyone around us is talking about up-grading to bigger house. In fact, we never felt that we had sacrifice. That word hardly come out from our mouth when we shared about our initial years of learning to follow His calling. All we remember is that though we did not draw that same amount of salary, we have never (yes, NEVER) starve once. I have never skip one meal because I had no money and honestly, we never know how that was possible. (He knows that I am one that need to eat all the time. lol)
Tomorrow, I will continue to share how we eventually end up in Hunan.
I am doing this series of sharing because i see that our life is one big story that reveal who He is. It is not who we are. It is seeing how He works in our lives that bring Him the glory. And also to honor and acknowledge those whom Father brought into our lives.
Today, it is about Ross Peterson and Pastor John Lee who took me in and let me learn about China ministry without holding back anything. It is about Gordon Hoo, who was the link for us into the initial years of China ministry.
just got back from my bikng exercise. want to add on to what i wrote above.
it is about the word ' sacrifice'. it is a word that we seldom use as far as our sharing goes, almost a taboo word actually. just like i do not use the word 'awesome' loosely because i feel that only God deserve the word 'awesome', because we stand in awe of Him.
we learn not to use the word 'sacrifice' because we have not sarcifice anything as far as following God in this journey. only God has sacrifice His Son for us. whatever we have left behind like our job, or salary, home or even love ones is nothing compared to what He has sacrifice on the cross for us.
we also learn that if we have the mentality that we have 'sacrifice' alot to follow His calling, than we will also expect Him to provide everything that we need as though He owe it to us. nope, He did not owe us anything. again, it is us who owe Him everything.
i believe this is one of the most important lessons that we have learn in the 1st two years of learning to hear His voice and follow Him. we had so much joy and testimony. yes, there are challenges which are stressful. but the reward of following Him far outweigh all these.
Journey into China - 1
In early 1997, both Catherine and I sensed that it was time to resign from our jobs to pursue the calling that Father has placed in our heart.
As many of you are aware that I was serving as a full-time military officer with the Singapore Armed Force and working in a department under the MInistry of Defense.
When I put in my resignation letter, we still do not know when He will open the door for us to go to China. And we do not have a church that will send us out nor were we with any mission organization. Yet, we sensed it was time to put in our resignation (Catherine to the company that she worked in as a Senior Manager, while I resign from my military position).
All we know was it was time to resign. We do not know when we will go to China. We do not have a church that will send us out (i.e. spiritual covering and financial support). We do not belong to any mission organisation. We do not know how to raise fund. In short, we had nothing in our hand except He had called us.
There were some meaningful Christians in my department that advice me to look for a good mission organization that will support us financially or to get the church that we were attending to support us. And to leave only when all these practical supports are in placed.
Honestly, instead of being encouraged, I begin to get frighten after hearing those well-meant advices from good solid Christians. And I kind of wonder if I have 'jumped' ahead of God by resigning when nothing had been set up at all. And not to forget to mention that Catherine was due to give birth to Charmaine at that same period.
Than God used two person to confirm to me that my resignation is prompted by Him.
First one is a sergeant called Gerard Steward. He worked in my team for a couple of years. One day, he saw me in corridor and stopped to talk to me. This is what he said, "Sir, I heard that you have put in your resignation letter and your reason is that you want to be a missionary. Even though I am a Catholic and you are a Protestant Christian, I can talk to my church's father if the church can help you financially when the time come for you to leave and you still do not have any financial support."
I was totally surprised by what he said to me. I know that it is not possible for his church to extend any financial support to me. But, I know that God was using Gerard to tell me that He is in control of our situation including our financial situation.
The second person was Warrant Officer Alan Wong. He served in the same branch with me for a couple of years too. And he is a totally a true blue warrant officer if you know what I mean i.e. not only he is not a believer, he swear, he smoke, cynical etc. A few weeks after I put in my resignation letter, he saw me and this is what he said to me, "Sir, I heard you have put in your resignation to go and do mission work. I believe that your God will provide all that you need. You do not have to worry."
I was totally blown away by what he said. This was the final confirmation that placed a deep peace in my heart that my resignation is done according to His timing even though there was no church, mission organization or support structure that inplaced for us to go into the field.
Every time I face with some challenges in the field, I will remember Gerard Steward and Alan Wong. I remember them because God used them (the least that I expect) to confirm our calling. He uses people that we do not expect to speak to us.
I want to thank them for being the channel used by Him to confirmed our calling.
And I want to encourage all those who read this posting that He can use anyone, including the non-Christian, to speak to us, if we learn to open our heart and spirit.
As many of you are aware that I was serving as a full-time military officer with the Singapore Armed Force and working in a department under the MInistry of Defense.
When I put in my resignation letter, we still do not know when He will open the door for us to go to China. And we do not have a church that will send us out nor were we with any mission organization. Yet, we sensed it was time to put in our resignation (Catherine to the company that she worked in as a Senior Manager, while I resign from my military position).
All we know was it was time to resign. We do not know when we will go to China. We do not have a church that will send us out (i.e. spiritual covering and financial support). We do not belong to any mission organisation. We do not know how to raise fund. In short, we had nothing in our hand except He had called us.
There were some meaningful Christians in my department that advice me to look for a good mission organization that will support us financially or to get the church that we were attending to support us. And to leave only when all these practical supports are in placed.
Honestly, instead of being encouraged, I begin to get frighten after hearing those well-meant advices from good solid Christians. And I kind of wonder if I have 'jumped' ahead of God by resigning when nothing had been set up at all. And not to forget to mention that Catherine was due to give birth to Charmaine at that same period.
Than God used two person to confirm to me that my resignation is prompted by Him.
First one is a sergeant called Gerard Steward. He worked in my team for a couple of years. One day, he saw me in corridor and stopped to talk to me. This is what he said, "Sir, I heard that you have put in your resignation letter and your reason is that you want to be a missionary. Even though I am a Catholic and you are a Protestant Christian, I can talk to my church's father if the church can help you financially when the time come for you to leave and you still do not have any financial support."
I was totally surprised by what he said to me. I know that it is not possible for his church to extend any financial support to me. But, I know that God was using Gerard to tell me that He is in control of our situation including our financial situation.
The second person was Warrant Officer Alan Wong. He served in the same branch with me for a couple of years too. And he is a totally a true blue warrant officer if you know what I mean i.e. not only he is not a believer, he swear, he smoke, cynical etc. A few weeks after I put in my resignation letter, he saw me and this is what he said to me, "Sir, I heard you have put in your resignation to go and do mission work. I believe that your God will provide all that you need. You do not have to worry."
I was totally blown away by what he said. This was the final confirmation that placed a deep peace in my heart that my resignation is done according to His timing even though there was no church, mission organization or support structure that inplaced for us to go into the field.
Every time I face with some challenges in the field, I will remember Gerard Steward and Alan Wong. I remember them because God used them (the least that I expect) to confirm our calling. He uses people that we do not expect to speak to us.
I want to thank them for being the channel used by Him to confirmed our calling.
And I want to encourage all those who read this posting that He can use anyone, including the non-Christian, to speak to us, if we learn to open our heart and spirit.
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