Surprise, surprise!

Updates 3 from Joyce Goh @Dili, East Timor

This is painful - I was supposedly almost done when my laptop died and my autosave
function wasnʼt turned on. So here goes the second time round!

This week has been filled with squirts of surprises, pleasant ones of course! Meeting with
the various ground workers working in Timor has always been an amazing experience for
me, hearing how God has called, kept them and is moving in their lives, always brings
such joy.

I met Naomi and Priscilla, whom I met the last time I was
here and we had a barbecue dinner out at the beach.
They minister to the PRC Chinese community here and
they live just a road down from where I am now, donʼt we
live in a very small world? They are such fun loving and
warm people to hang out with! The barbecued dinner
was amazing since we neednʼt have to do any cooking
and just dig into the glorious food which has such
amazing squids, fishes and 3 layered pork :)

Half of Saturday was spent at the beach (which I visited
last year too), with the youths of the Church of Nazarene
that SL, LS and me attends, every Sunday. You see,
where young people are, there is always bound to be
games and we played this ridiculous looking relay game,
where each team member had to grab an item that at the
end of the day, you have a team member decked out in a
helmet, sunglasses, jacket, a bag and running on the hot
beach with a pair of flip flops!

I have been getting busier with the kids too, after being invited to lead the kids into singing
the “I am Ready” song which is sung before the beginning of every lesson and is very
much a part of the Cocoon culture here. It is actually to
the tune of 3 tigers/三只老虎!

This is Caroll and Joy (我是大
Joy), and they are my
favorites:) Joy is special
because she only speaks
Bahasa Indonesia and the
classes are conducted in Tetun,
so I usually hang around her to
make sure she is comfortable,
helping them with their coloring or writing exercises. She hasnʼt
spoken anything to me yet and I am still waiting and wondering
what her first words to me will be! Caroll is special to me since he is
always in such amusement and childlike wonder whenever he colors
and looks at you. Cute right?!



This is Ateto! He was specially assigned to me last week because of
how special he is - He tends to go into his own world and it can get a
little disruptive during lessons and I will be there to quieten him down.

He was quite a handful last week but this week, he is much better and
has now won my heart, as we took a walk to the library as we held
hands together, and he showed me the coins he had in his hands, as I
watched him climbed unto higher platforms and then jump off to flat
ground again, makes him adorable :)

Apart from that, I have been busy making
friends with Mr Dictionary. I am still trying to
grapple and learn Tetun, heh and it reminds
me a lot of the days I was trying to learn
Chinese, and I practically have to search for every word of a
Friday weekly article to do my written assignments.


I was trying to translate a Tetun story that was written by SL/LS
and draw storyboards for the stories to go unto big books, to be
taught during the kids club.

So this is what I have been
busy and will be busy with for the upcoming weeks -
Illustrating the characters of Aze, a rich man and
Migi, the hero which has yet to be drawn. It has been
real fun creating these characters and bringing them
unto life as I discuss with SL/LS how they should
look like.

I actually havenʼt drawn at all since my failure of an
entrance test to a media and arts program at NTU, 4
years back. I remembered as I drew my first stroke
on a paper 2 days back, I remembered the failure but the thought of the kids (think of
Carrol and Atetoʼs faces) made me finish what I wanted to depict and I am just glad it was
well received by LS/SL who thought it looked really nice.

Just the start of the week, I was thinking how I could contribute and help in this Cocoon
project and I was looking at some childrenʼs book and was actually just entertaining a
random thought of - “wouldnʼt it be nice, if I could create/draw the pictures to a storybook?”
and towards the end of the week, LS approached me if I would like to draw the pictures to
a story they wrote, which is quite similar to the Samaritan woman but contextualized
towards the local setting of things here.

As I spend my quiet moments with God, I realized how much He actually bothered about
my random thoughts. It was not the first time but with it happening again always comes as
a reminder of how much He knows me and my thoughts, that if it matters to me, it matters
to Him.

I was looking at a word that was released to me 2 years back, from this lady (who doesnʼt
know me at all), who saw me in a very colorful and creative environment and how God
thinks I am a very creative person, how much joy I bring to Him and how proud of me He
is.



I have come to realize how much I do enjoy creating, colors and just like the word she
gave, “You are a creator, how much you like to go into new things, enjoy beautifying things
and bringing hope to others/drawing beauty into the areas of my life”, I completely agree
with the word and I think the greatest joy and fun is having the privilege of walking through
what was just a world of words, into having it become a living reality and I am currently
living in it and what I previously couldnʼt comprehend in full, now I am experiencing the
context and fullness of things.

Someone often tells me how I should enjoy my time in Timor, and I am glad to say now, I
am really living the time of my life, kids, colors, drawing, creating, blocks of quiet time to
journal and read. It has only been coming 3 weeks here and I have seen a promise come
to life! I am actually waiting for more to reveal and unveil to me, just wondering what else
lies ahead of me :)

Just another note of how God knows me and wants me to know myself even more, He is
faithful and has been ever so faithful and good to me here. Iʼve been having good reads
here - The Genesee Diary by Henri J.M Nouwen. I do have this current interest in people
spending some time of their lives in monastery and they journey on to realize the beauty
and the art of solitude, quietness and a prayerful life and their insights into the word.
Perhaps it is a reflection of what I am desiring and am seeking and working on in my life
right now.

Thanks for all the prayers, keep them coming. Do pray for:
- Successful application of Cocoon as an NGO
- The Bible Study/Discipleship groups SL/LS has been leading, has been having
breakthroughs, keep praying that the students/student teachers will experience Him and
His love and be transformed by Him
- I will be leading to teach a song tomorrow during the kids club, pray it will be good and
fun and in all that I do, be filled with His love and grace :)

Loves,
Joy Joy