haha, my migraines are coming on & off again... happens when i get stressed. the hectic-ness has sure been on the rise, with work & ministry load increasing at the same time. Yet again, i'm reminded that it's only through the trials that i will see more miracles; the hand of God moving to guide me, anoint me, bless me & cover all my blind spots. I have a faithful God, an omnisicent God, an all-loving God :) I'm looking forward to see how He's going to use my weaknesses & fears once again, to achieve His victories. He's always teaching me the lesson of stepping out of the boat to walk on water with Him; and teaching me the lesson that it's not about me, but Him. As i surrender my all, the good & the bad, He will use them for His glory & lead me to fulfil the purposes He has set out for my life.
Thank You Jesus for all the little blessings i pray i will never take for granted!
listenin: quietness of the night in my in-laws' home @ KL
feelin: at peace
What If
- Nicole Nordeman
What if you’re right?
And he was just another nice guy
What if you’re right?
What if it’s true?
They say the cross will only make a fool of you
And what if it’s true?
What if he takes his palace in history
With all the prophets and the kings
Who taught us love and came in peace
But then the story ends
What then?
But what if you’re wrong?
What if there’s more?
What if there’s hope you never dreamed of hoping for?
What if you jump?
And just close your eyes?
What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?
What if He’s more than enough?
What if it’s love?
What if you dig
Way down deeper than your simple-minded friends
What if you dig?
What if you find
A thousand more unanswered questions inside
That’s all you find?
What if you pick apart the logic
And begin to poke the holes
What if the crown of thorns is no more
Than folklore that must be told and retold
You’ve been running as fast as you can
You’ve been looking for a place you can land so long
But what if you’re wrong?
What if you jump?
And just close your eyes?
What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?
What if He’s more than enough?
What if it’s love?
Last week was a more eventful week than usual.
On weds James' mum got a sudden massive stroke. Doc said she was in life danger and asked 4 their family members overseas to come see her. When we got the news, the group immediately went into emergency mode - visited everyday lunch and dinner; prayed, fasted, msged one another whenever anyone had the latest update on Auntie’s condition. I think it was the first time we were so desperately united in prayers. The unity & love shown was unprecendented. We prayed for God to do miracles. We appealed for God to show His mercy, that our love for our bro in need would touch His heart. As of now, the miracle is that auntie is still alive, out of ICU yest, and actually doing better bit by bit (tho' still half paralysed)! Coz e docs predicted she would go into coma on sat... More about this miracle later…. as we follow its unfolding we have been dumbfounded by the hand of God at work...
I was to go for a retreat over e weekend but decided to stay in S’pore to be on standby for James family. It wasn’t nice of me to do so as i know my leaders had put in much effort to organise any gathering. But i felt too burdened and praying thru, i felt the go-ahead from God. So i stayed back in s'pore. CN left for the retreat but i wasn’t alone at home since kae was staying with us. She stayed with us last week coz her hostel stay was up.
It was a memorable weekend.
Fri i had a great time with kae, rae, caroline. As farewell for kae we went to take the cable car which was a better experience than i thought! Sat i sent kae off with jedi3 and we had a good fellowship time at the airport. James was so loving to join us too. Then i had a good time talking heart to heart with rae, and when i got off at orchard to go home, i met tracy who just got off too! It couldn’t have been more divine coz i was thinking to talk more to her about certain issues, and she asked about those issues even before i brought them up! We ended up chatting for more than an hour since we were stuck in e rain anyway. The rain stopped and i left for home where lucy and ben were waiting for me as they wanted to use my place to discuss some stuff. Lucy was going to stayover too coz she has not been sleeping much the past few weeks as her rented room is full of cockroaches. In the end i cooked a simple dinner for all 3 of us :)
Though i could just feel God’s leading in meeting the people i met that day, the highlight of sat for me was spending some extended time with Him. After ben left, i went before God in the quiet of the night (sitting at my balcony) with so much in my heart. I prayed and cried, and prayed and cried. I told God my burdens for the people esp. at this time when so many are under spiritual warfare, and cried out all the fears within me. In my tears & conversation with Him, i could just hear Him speak to me more than usual. At the end, after His promises and assurance, I said sorry for having little faith, for letting my fears grip me. I repented.
Then i felt the holy spirit prompting me to go into my room to kneel as God had something to tell me. I thought it was just my mind, so i just continued my journaling till the prompting repeated itself another 3-4 times, and i knew i had to obey. So i went to my room, closed e door (as lucy was in living room), and knelt. I told God, “Here i am Father. Your servant is before you. Speak and i will listen. Speak and I will listen...”
(to be continued...)
March is a month of birthdays!!!!
In March we celebrate the birthdays of dear brothers - James, Ben, Name, Melvin, Yoppy, and our british sister Tracy! There's so much to Thank God for them... James for his servanthood, gentleman heart; Ben for being such a faithful servant of God over the things others would not be able to do; Name for his serving, humble, sweet spirit; Melvin for bringing joy to all of us and for being a really loving person; Yoppy for his eagerness to learn & huge love for people! This is really just the summary... I'm really so so so so blessed to know them and serve with them in Jedi. It's such a privilege from God and i really love them like my real brothers :)
Tracy is God's blessing to me personally! It's amazing how God crossed our paths... I thank God she's enjoying our fellowship and so eager to learn & grow in God!
May God shower His favor and blessings upon all my beautiful brothers and sister :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
oh, CN's the exception in Feb ;o Thank God for his safe & fruitful missions trip to Kenya!
The other photos show some of the past saturdays' highlights. Thank God for charmaine teaching us about Cultural Sensitivity, we sure had fun and much insights to how to love people of different cultures and background. Another Sat we enjoyed ourselves chilling-out at the esplanade listening to live bands and just hanging out with one another!
feelin: praying & fasting for healing of James' mum
listenin: american idol on tv
God has been very very very good to the people of JEDI the last 2 months. No doubt the warfare and trials have increased as God is in the process of molding and purifying this year, yet we have been expriencing personal breakthroughs and blessings at work, ministry, walk with God etc. I firmly believe it's because we have stepped up in our prayers, having weekly mid-week CG prayer meetings, monthly unit prayer meetings; and disciplining ourselves in daily devotions & obedience to God's word. God has answered many prayers and caused hearts to be surrendered more to Him. We are really excitedly looking forward to seeing how God will use us to enfold & equip many more internationals this year!
Below's one of the recent testimony of how God used us to bless a sister in dire need and we really saw God's miracle and power through this incident!
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"On Sunday 15/02/09, there was a Myanmar girl who joined the service and i got a chance to meet her. A sister brought her to meet me & our Jedi leader. But it seems a bit strange for me because I saw she wanted to cry when she talked to the people. We don’t know so much about her but after awhile realized that she faced a difficulty. We invited her to join the care group for lunch, treated her to lunch and helped her call home as she hadn’t called home due to lack of money.
She shared very slowly about her difficulties as her working place was not good and cannot get any salary for five months. I was surprised. She came here for work as a domestic helper and also had to pay Agency fee of S$3000. But her salary is S$320 per month. Every month agent will take S$300 of her pay. So, she got only S$ 20 per month. At that time we really had no idea how to encourage & advice even though we were trying to help. Yes, we prayed for her and she cried and cried. She found that at least God people are around her and still treated her like brother & sister.
Ser reen & me accompanied her to her way back home and we had a dinner together at Great World city which was nearby her working place. Again we had no idea how to encourage her. So, I just prayed and say thanks for our meal and asked God to protect her. She enjoyed and praised the Lord. After that we were waving our hands to her & her boss Good Bye.
Two days later, her friend called me up and said that a miracle happened to the Myanmar sister. Her agent told her that she is able to choose the working home she prefers (out of 3 homes she had worked with) and the agent won’t charge her for agency fee from then onwards. I couldn’t believe it was true! Yes, that’s why she told the news to her friend and asked the friend to tell me (because she couldn’t call out). Thank God! Finally, she got what she requested for her prayer point.
It encouraged me that God is alive and he still saves us even though we are weak & imperfect."
- James Ray (Myanmar brother-in-Christ)
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Yeah! JEDI "Operation God Loves You!" 1 is now launched!
It's an idea that God inspired. Every Jedi got a seed sum of money to bless someone in need in a tangible way as the Spirit leads.
Can't wait to hear the testimonies! :)
