Covenant Youth and Youth Adults

WORSHIP Jesus through Word. Outreach. Revivalist. Supernatural. Honor. Impact. Prayer

Psalms 27:4

Becoming dwelling places for Him to dwell in

Monthly Extended Worship

Spend time soaking and being in His presence, talking to Him as He speaks to us

CG/BAG Time/Bible Study

Your weekly Cell Groups or Basic Accountability Groups, ploring over the word, journeying together

Our Core Values

Jesus is the focus of our worship.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

EXTENDED WORSHIP 2012

Psalm  145:3 His greatness no one can fathom

Let’s start 2012 with a time of extended worship, asking God to reveal His greatness and His holiness.

It will also be a time of welcoming the new youth CG and new YA BAG. After 1st service, come to the basement for your breakfast and fellowship prior to the extended worship.

Come with a hungry heart, God has a hard time rejecting hungry and desperate worshiper!!


Henry Wong

Monday, December 26, 2011

TMT team 2 Final Report

Shouldn’t you be on your way to the airport to pick us up? (no really)

Sunday
We got up and had breakfast. We left rather early for service; (oh merry Christmas from zac) and most of us went to Thanprapon church for service; 5 went to Tachang for a special item.
The kids at Thanprapon are quite cute. We started off with songs and a game where they got very noisy and hyped up. The game went something like; shaun asks them for their name (kun chi aray) and then hits them on the head. Its amazingly entertaining for all involved. Im not sure I got the details nailed down though.
Youth was great (from zac). We had worship and then the Christmas tree game. We blindfolded the youths with Christmas hats (because we blindly forgot to bring the blindfolds) then we like err uh let them memorise how we placed the ornaments on our model tree then they had to paste it on the exact same spot.
On their own trees.
While blindfolded.
Then Reuel gave a message on what God is like; it was great. He listed the names of God; the Bread of Life (made them eat bread); the Good Shepherd (pasted cotton wool on their faces and pretended to be sheep) and Light of the World (gave them lightsticks). We then did artwork on our fears and dreams and ambitions; the most common things drawn were things like policewoman and doctors and teachers. This was a symbolic act of committing their futures to God.

Thanprapon Church Service
Som Sak (who you may remember we prayed and received healing a few days ago) came to service with his wife; he walked up the stairs on his own! Thank God! Bpaa Lamuk’s grandson came to church; he was pretty well-behaved and involved in the programme. Ps Henry gave the message about God’s messenger and that God uses not just angels but people to carry His message of love;  he gave an invitation and almost all responded to the challenge to become God’s messengers.
Uncle Wee Seng and Grace shared her testimony on how members they visited had God encountering experience and healings during the past 7 days. Ps Henry then opened for a time of ministry to pray for people who had any pain or sickness. One lady, Pi Sin Yang, was prayed for her knee and back pain and received almost instant healing for her pain, which had hitherto lasted for weeks. Both Pi Som Sak and Bpaa Lamuk shared their testimonies of being healed and touched by God before the service ended.  Our God heals!!

MEANWHILE AT TACHANG…
We had the dance item from nat and sam; it went splendidly. Very beautiful, according to the reports. Meanwhile, Pa Noy came to church and was fine; she was walking well and was totally healed. She was so happy she gave Mark a hug and a kiss. (awwwwww…) The lady with aids who we met at wai yat soy village was there in church as well; she can respond to people and do things on her own without constant help – she could walk on her own as well! Thank God! We prayed for her that day as well. Do pray with us that she will receive complete healing.
NIGHT TIME
We went to Singburi City Church; which is located in a pretty urban area of the town (the other churches are in predominantly rural locations). So there we attended the Christmas programme that was hosted by SCC but was conducted as a joint effort by all the other churches – there were items by the main Singburi church, Ta Chang church and Inburi church and covenant Presbyterian church. It was pretty fun. There was a cowboy dance and fried chicken.
A girl named Ice received Christ after the event as well! Thank God that He has been working even through this event.
LATE LATE AT NIGHT…
While we were preparing to sleep, suddenly we saw Air on his moped stopping outside Ps Eng Kiat’s house; this was extremely confusing to the tired team twoers. This was followed by a vanfull of not-tired Christians from all the churches in the area; mainly Ta Chang but also from Inburi and Thanprapon church. Angelic voices broke into song; the melancholy and exhausted mood broke into spring , a new dawn. The sounds of voices in unison and harmony, familiar, strange and magical and wonderful.
Anyway they sang three songs – Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Pian Ruk and We Wish You a Merry Christmas (the third song was in very accurate and precise English!) Then we gathered as a whole and there and then they paired up with us and prayed for us individually – it was genuinely a wonderful moment in the dark; in that moment the language  and cultural divides that separated us just melted away. Once again God’s love prevails and is shown.
END OF DAY 7
BEGIN DAY 8
Wha today we wake up very late. Very happy. Wake up that time not tired man. Super good.
Had a great time of devotion led by boss Cass. We wrote words of affirmations on every team member. Sadly none of us have actually finished this yet except yours truly (keith and zac – we are just generally good at writing things down fairly speedily. Zac claims that my record isn’t valid because I wrote things down in point form but clearly he is mistaken. I was faster than him. Zac disagrees! No zac  you cannot tell the people what you think)
Then we slacked around for quite long then went to the famous beef ball noodle stall for lunch which is run by Pi Gaet and Pi Gung, who both attend Singburi City Church. Their brother Pi Gaea runs a chendol shop next door. Super good stuff. We spent about two and a half hours at the market shopping. (we’re not exactly sure about what…) but that was the afternoon. Pretty chill.
Next the team of busy and untiring trippers jumped up the songtiao and rushed to the Inburi rice mill where we had a children’s club. We did the story of the prodigal son (zac was the bitter and unforgiving and mean older brother) and then we made crowns for them. Think they liked it. Our team actually make balloon animals quite good. Even zac can do it man.
Meanwhile, some of the boys led by the resident yan dao (josh) played football with a few local boys. Sadly joshua’s team lost. (Thanks to Keith) (hey I tried my best lor, we were outnumbered and then gea and ta’s son was on the other team he is 15 and as tall as me) (excuses!)
Oh and we had the evangelistic concert there and everything went great; we danced our "
'Walking on Sunshine' dance and then did our second skit which was super good and flawless (for the first time hahahahaa) even though it was outdoors and bicycles and motorbikes occasionally drove between the stage and the audience and the technical setup was difficult (but we had uncle ws and ah gui and mark who set up things nicely [technical team take note of these names])
Anyway after that gui jia shared his testimony which was really relevant to the thai people there, and keith did a clincher to invite people to receive Christ– after it all ended three women prayed to receive Christ! Thank the Lord for this greatness! This is really what we want to see.
A few of us prayed for Pi Tong – a lady who had back, knee pains and fever; she was instantly healed! Its wonderful to see these things – the genuine look of joy and of love when they receive the healing; Jasmine and zac had visions for her – jasmine saw her dancing our “walking on sunshine” dance and zac saw her dancing a jumpy thing on white fluffy clouds – that was pretty amazing, right? Yay zac! Hahahaha but we’re really very grateful to God for this – these things minister to the people there but it also just shows us how real God is; how He answers when we ask in faith.
Concert ended there though, it was a really sad moment when we bade goodbye to the people who have now become family; people like Gae and Ta, and Tanong Sak and Naa Saen and their daughter Melody who is really super cute (zac agrees) and Fai and her daughter Pinky (also very very cute); people who we’ve known for just nine days but who we’ve seen regularly and prayed with and went crazy with – but its okay! We bade them not “la gorn” (goodbye forever) but “sawadee kap” (goodbye, for now)! Really gonna miss these people a lot.
Anyway after that we headed down to Chu’s super secret birthday party at Ta Chang church. The team was super happy on the songtiao; it was a really long journey but we spent it singing and it didn’t feel long at all. Actually we were quite sad when the ride ended even though it is really squeezy. Must be the double portions we eat at every meal seriously its super bad (and supper)
Speaking about food…
MUUUUU GA TAT!!!!!!!
When team 1 came back to SG they were absolutely raving about this muu… ha… what? thing? that they had; we were like so nice meh? Then they were like YAAAA OMGOSH DUDE ITS SUPER SUPER SUPER NICE BEST THING ON EARTH!!!!!!!! HELLO?????
So on first day we asked shaun whether we were gonna have mugawhat then he was like no, no time for this team then we were quite sad but then later on they decided to have a surprise birthday party for chu (who’s a church worker who’s very good with kids and cooks amazing vegetables) and then we had mugawhat and it was super good! Its steamboat with a hotplate in the middle (which sounds suspiciously like seoul garden…) but like better lor, says zac. Yar la its really better. Like the pork very nice like that don’t know why also. Then the vegetables also like very nice like that. But I don’t like steamboat soup in general so I give it only 8.5/10. Zac gives it 9 and is offended that I don’t like steamboat soup. Joshua gives the mugatat 10/10 perfect score! Ya la it was really very nice.
Then halfway through dinner Pi Kritsana came out with a brownie cake thing that auntie anong made (and was very nice btw. Omgosh, very nice leh, says zac) then we sang a song
Happy birthday to chu
Happy birthday to chu
Happy birthday to chuuuuu…
Happy birthday to chu!
Haha!
But I think he was super touched la. Chu is like a quiet and like sensitive and likes to wear nice nice things kind of guy so he’s generally quite private about public things like birthdays so this surprise was a really nice thing to do by the Ta Chang people. (also we got to eat MU GA TAT!!!)
Dinner ended at 1030pm for everyone (reuel’s table ended at like 1130) because we were stuffed and then we just hung around with people like Pi Na and her husband Ming and her grandkids btw are the cutest and most guai kids in the whole Thailand, and chu, and air, and theuy, and saiyan, and nook until about 1230 and when we left it was really very sad all over again. Im sure that if these guys with us had the chance to just drop everything and take 6 months in Singburi… that wouldn’t be something completely crazy.
So anyway here we are – last day of the trip before we head back tomorrow. God has been great, and awesome in this place; He has gone before us and with us and after us; all three in the literal sense, and the transformations that have taken place and are taking place are just amazing to see as they unravel and fall into place as part of a Greater Plan that we follow by faith even though we cannot see all of it.
Thank God for taking care of us and giving us the strength and energy and love and just touching lives and comforting people around us.
So here’s keith and zac signing off, sad that this is over and yet hopeful for greater things to come in this city! Arunee and Sue who have just finished watching hello stranger say hi to everybody see you all soon. See you guys at the airport 930pm tomorrow and if not, then this coming Sunday! We await seeing you guys again with eager hearts. God bless, and merry Christmas! We fully expect at least half a log cake waiting at home.
Keith n Zac

FINAL REMARKS BY PS HENRY
Team 2 members are leaving Singburi with deep gratitude in their hearts – many lives touched, many people received healing, and even salvation. The team is really thankful for the unforgettable friendship forged with the Thai people. Both Ps Eng Kiat and Pi Kritsana (Tachang leader) told me that we are like close relative visiting them. The friendship between the Singapore team and the Thai church members has moved from being just friend to becoming family.
The unity amongst the team members is awesome. Imagine 18 people living together for 9 days in close proximity and no one was angry with one another. There is an overdose of love, and members can really feel God’s presence wherever we go. It is because of God’s presence that we saw the extraordinary happenings in the last 9 days.
But I want to acknowledge
-          Firstly, the prayer warriors and loved ones in Singapore who covered us with an invincible prayer shield
-          Secondly, the TMT team 1 who has done such an amazing job in bringing God’s love that made team 2’s work so much easier.
-          Finally and most importantly, the fantastic work that Ps Eng Kiat, Anong, church staff in the local churches who worked so hard to plough the land, sowed the seed, so that we could have the privilege of participating in the harvesting.
I thank God for anointing the team members from both team 1 and team 2 with LOVE and POWER so that they really soared to a level that exceeds their imagination.

When asked “Who wants to be back next year?” – all hands went up. That says it all. :))
Ah Jaan Henry

Saturday, December 24, 2011

DAY 6- THE CHRISTMAS EVE OF NO SHOWER

Chilly morning, probably the coldest morning in Thailand. J
Woke up bright and early, realizing that THERE WAS NO WATER COMING OUT OF THE TAPS so no one could shower. 
WATER RATIONING!!!!
 Brush your teeth and off we go to Thanpraporn church!

While everyone else went for English homework club at 10am, uncle Henry, uncle Chengkie, Zachary, Mark and Grace headed to Pa-Noi’s house instead. 
Last night after caroling we were actually praying for her knee because she fell while caroling.  Nothing happened and she went home limping. Pa noi felt bad that we were still praying for her at midnight. So uncle Chengkie suggested that we visit her today again to pray for her since we’ll have more time!
Early in the morning she visited the doctor and thank God x-ray results showed that there was no fracture/dislocation! Whoooo!:) 
We spent some time getting to know her, her family and Loong-Piak (her neighbour who is also Cream’s grandfather who attends tachang church). 
We prayed for Pa-Noi for 4 times and the first 3 times, the pain was still there. We decided to press, continue praying!!! 
  Pi-Saiyan took out a bottle of anointing oil and Mark applied it onto her knee cap. Mark felt heat while laying hands on her and she felt it too! After praying, she stretched her leg and started moving it around! We asked her to stand up and she could walk! YAY! 
Asked her to rate the pain level before and after prayer, and PRAISE GOD it dropped from an 8 to a 4! COOOOOOL STUUUUFFFFFFFFFF! :D

We didn’t get to visit her mushroom farm though, but received 2 bags of mushrooms… ENGLISH BREAKFAST HERE WE COME, thanks REUEL!!! ;););)

We moved on to pray for Long-Piak who has diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and a persistent headache that’s been troubling him for a long time… Got to know that he has been taking painkillers everyday for the past 10 years D;.  After praying once he said the pain level dropped from a 9 to 8! We continued praying and then he said it became a 4! “4 is good enough!!” says Long-Piak. HAHA. Really thank God for the 2 healings! Yay!

English Homework Club at Thanpraporn church was going on concurrently. While many of us struggled to teach the kids well with our grasp of the Thai language, it was rather amusing seeing uncle Weeseng emerge from the kitchen with woks and frying pans as demonstration to rather terrified children!

But truly it was super duper encouraging to not only spend time colouring with the kids, and even see new 5 girls from Wat Pra Phang come for the first time to the club, as testified by Shaun!! Praise the Lord and we pray that the seed of gospel will indeed be planted in their hearts.

Teehehe but Guijia was so tired he fell asleep colouring stars with a boy. O_O hahahaha!

For lunch, We had a taste of what Shaun and P-Air would have for a typical lunch at Thanpraporn church (super spicy and YUMS local fare like Keith’s fave Thai basil pork rice and beef horfun ) then went back home for worship devotion and rest.

During devotion, Mark shared about Hebrews 11 - That when we pray for people, we just have to have faith even though it’s as small as a mustard seed. God can still use you as his instruments to fulfill his plans.

Then we headed over to Thong En church!  Keith preached a message on the true meaning of Christmas - John 15:18-16:4, how we’re all part of a bigger story and how Christmas is just chapter 1!  Indeed how the end in mind is one of eternal reality. Awesome stuff, amen to that! Then Zachary shared his testimony about how he struggled with people in school and succumbed to peer pressure to acting cool in school which didn’t turn out well. One day he really submitted everything to God and stood firm by being himself and God blessed him in walking in His righteousness by granting Him favour among his friends. Both of them really did a super good job, the crowd was captivated and encouraged by what they shared!:D

While service was going on, the rest of us were having children’s club!

Aunt Marita had the kids role-play to the story of the Prodigal son, and we had taught the message of God’s eternal love for all His children with the craft of green bean shakers and shiny crowns! The kids were really adorable fastidiously penning down “God loves me!!!! <3” all over hearts on their crowns and shakers. Then we worshipped again!! ^^

Hungry, we sped over to Inburi church for dinner, which was kindly prepared by the caretaker, Pa-Kanchana! The noodles were soooo good that Jasmine tried to learn how to cook it but sadly missed out on one sauce HAHA. Wuwuwu :3  After dinner we played the cup game and broke 2 cups. OOPS! :/

But what was really epic, was the intense time of joyous worship that emerged immediately after dinner; we dragged out the church’s entire worship ensemble and jammed jumped sang till we honestly collapsed in surrender after 1.5hours.

We did a cursory necessary obligatory 7-11 trip to stock up on cheese sausages, Oishi and paos paos paos. I have put on 2 kg, according to the electronic weighing machines all over Singburi ._.

Today is Christmas eve, so we came back and did up the whole place!!!!!!!!!!!! Super nice! Hahahha and caroled at Ps Engkiat’s room at 12 midnight, THAI STYLE!!!!!!! Aunt Anong, Arunee and Supanee woke up to our warbles of ‘Silent Night’ and “We wish you a Merry Christmas’. :D Ps Engkiat didn’t wake up at all to the shouts of 19 pple… O_O We gifted them 2 huge jars of Marmite though haha!
The water was still out at midnight and we were to sleep without bathing… honestly the biggest bummer of Christmas eve and I seriously almost cried!!!

Then at 12.05am WE HAD WATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT, PTL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;’) ;’) ;’) ;’) ;’) ;’) ;’) ;’) ;’) ;’)

Prayer pointers:
 *After our 1.5hours of spontaneous worship, the Inburi church worship team requested for prayer for a revival and inspiration to really bring their worship to greater heights… indeed lets continue to uphold them as true worshippers in spirit and truth of the ever-living amazing God !!!

·        * For the Lord to continue to redeem, restore and renew the hearts of the thai! Amen!

love,
CASS AND GRACE

Friday, December 23, 2011

Day 5 - CHRISTMAS MIRACLES n CAROLS

HELLO ALL who’s wondering how we are, we’re VERY GOOD!  =)
Prepare for a VERY LONG post, but, it is a MUST read! We can’t help it!
God’s presence has been so VERY with us the whole of yesterday. Debrief on the Song theaw (yes, we had debrief on the Song theaw THIS MORNING because we were all too tired by the time we ended the day yesterday! Happily tired I mean!) ended off with Ah jaan Henry saying that he felt that we were like angels carrying the message of God’s love, since he felt that it came across most powerfully yesterday! HAHAHA. So awesome right? Everyone who’s reading, pray that we continue to carry God’s love, and that it increases and increases and just continue to increase each day!
So now, this is how we were like messengers who brought GOD’S LOVE. HAHAHA!!!!
We started off with a visit to Palamut, a really warm lady who many of us felt was like our grandmother (esp Uncle Wee Seng- Go talk to him to find out more! HAHAHA). She’s a faithful servant of God, with a really huge heart for her grandson. Her daughter went to Bangkok to work thus she has to shoulder on the responsibility of taking care of her grandson, however she always remains optimistic and joyful, which is something we really respect her for. Anyway, it’s pretty cool. Read on. HAHA. There’s this divine link going on.
It started with Reuel checking with Uncle Cheng Kie to find out which passage on Isaiah 52:6-7 “How lovely are the feet of those who bring good news” which was then read to Palamut in Thai. At the same time, Ah jaan Henry was prepared a pail of water to wash Palamut’s feet. As I don’t understand Thai, and had no idea what was going on, Uncle CK told me the verse, which I knew then that OKAYYY, it’s time to dance (even though I still don’t understand how this works, but HAHAHA).
 After Ah jaan Henry washed her feet, Joanne anointed her feet with olive oil, and Natalie and I danced, somehow, I think the spiritual climate just changed, don’t ask me how, i don’t know. HAHA. But I think it did. So, pretty cool ah? =)  Palamut just got touched and I saw tears in her eyes!  Uncle Wee Seng approached Palamut with tears in his eyes, and said she reminded him of his grandmother who love him deeply despite his naughty past. He affirmed her that she is sowing seeds of love to her grandson who is naughty and not close to the Lord.
At the end of the trip, many of us just simply felt the love. Palamut stood at the door, waving all the way until the Song theaw was out of sight. Such an AWWWWW moment right? =)=)=) According to Guijia, it REALLy touched his heart.
Our next trip was to Som Sak house. Another REALLY COOL trip. For those who know him, cool stuff happened to this really faithful servant of God again! =) He was suffering from cataract (couldn’t really see in his right eye) and kidney problems caused by diabetes, that had him hospitalised for 2.5 months (I think), which was a close shave to death. HAHA. So we just prayed. While we were praying for him, Jasmine (who also drew a drawing for him last year) saw a vision of him at the hospital bed, where Jesus was at the foot of the bed, healing and bringing him back to life. When this was communicated to him, he acknowledged that he indeed saw Jesus coming to him when he was in the hospital. Later on, Jasmine then saw a vision of a new body that entered him. Damaris, Jolyn and Natalie of us who were praying also felt tinkling on their fingers and heat going through their hands and fingers during the prayer (which was acknowledged by Som Sak).  
We prayed for healing of his cataract and strength to return to his body, especially his legs. At the end of the prayer, his right eyes were able to open fully and he could see better. Wow!! And Som Sak was able to walk long distances that he never was able to walk. He was even able to jump! Yes, JUMP! =) Haha. Like the previous trip to Palamut house, Som Sak was also waving to us at his doorsteps. Really awesome, since he never was able to walk to the doorstep previously! This is the first instant healing during this trip, and also the first experience of watching someone get healed instantly to many of us!
Okay hi hi! The Joanne Ah Ler Ler’s hereeeeee. I was praying for Som Sak’s wife, Pa-Chuan with some of the others, Nat, Jolyn etc. Pastor Engkiat mentioned that she wasn’t growing in faith as strong as her husband thus we decided to pray for her regarding that. Besides, she had a painful past of having her daughter committing suicide. We prayed for her and continued to release words and visions that God gave us upon her. She kept saying that she was fine when we asked her about her feelings with regards to her daughter’s death. She told us that someone cheated her of her money but she wasn’t angry or whatsoever anymore. However, we noticed that she penned down the date of when she was cheated on her calendar, which proved that she still bore a grudge. Thus we prayed for inner healing. After the immense session of prayer, not only did Pa-Chuan feel encouraged, we too were in high spirits. We set off for our next destination, Som Sak and Pa-Chuan saw us out and waved goodbye to us. PRAISE THE LORD (: Wheeeeeeeeeeee! He’s so awesome isn’t it? (YOU HAVE TO AGREE) (:
Our next destination was the evangelistic concert at ACET office at Thachang. We became super excited during the journey there so we began to sing worship songs from our handy dandy TMT booklets. It was an awesome time of worship and it really uplifted our spirits. We reached there and started off with ice breakers and introduction of ourselves. We performed our Christmas skit and I (Joanne) shared a testimony. Everything went well and joy was certainly stirring up in our hearts! (Uncle Cheng Kie adding in here: after the concert Pi Miu mentioned that when the ‘Jesus’(me.haha) walk in after  the angelic dance, she sense a strong presence of God.I also saw  Joanne’s testimony as an arrow with a fiery tip. So, we pray that her testimony will be penetrating to the hearts of the listener. )

OH BUT. Hahaha we have one more thing to share. (JOSHUA MELTED THE HEARTS OF THE GIRLS AT THE CONCERT HEEHEE) With the great advertisement from Guijia, Joshua was the superstar of the night (BECAUSE THE GIRLS SAID HE’S LOR MAK MAK), they were surrounding him and grabbing his light sticks, desperately wanting the chance to sit beside him. Awwwwwwww what a hilariously cute sight. Of course, GOD is the real superstar (:
Sam back again!! We ended our day with Carolling, we sang to doors. HAHAHAHA. It’s a culture thing probably, which we all stood outside doors to sing, while the home owners hide behind because they are supposed to be SURPRISED! Haha. We had the privilege of singing at the district Mayor’s house as well! Thank God for giving us all the strength to walk and sing even though some of us were kinda tired. It gave us a peek to how Christmas is like over here in Thailand! We pray that as messengers of Christ, we really brought Christ’s presence into the neighbourhoods!
Last but not least (otherwise, our post will never end):
1)      Not forgetting our trip to the hammer pork shop (the lady treated us to so much yummy pork).
2)      We also have to thank the really BIG hearted Thai workers who has been so faithful, that really have the feat, perseverance and heart. Without them sowing the seeds, we cannot reap. We also can’t do anything without them ploughing the seeds that we sowed. People, I think they really have A BIG BIG HEART. Really pray that they will have God’s strength and perseverance to just keep going! HAHA. It’s not easy! =)
3)      Our leaders, who faithfully went to buy bread from 7-11, when all of us were asleep on the Song Theaw. Give it up for Chass and Skeithz! (CLAP CLAP*)
4)      DADDY GOD for having gone before us, and for always being there, and for simply everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In His love and ours,
SAM and Joanne Ahlerler.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Day 4 - Visitation + Evangelistic Concert! :)

Sawadee ka!

Sending all Covenantors Warm Greetings from Singburi, Thailand! It has been a great day, isn't it? Time certainly flies...we are now into Day 4! As usual, we will begin the day with breakfast . . . sometimes even on the Song Tiao. But this morning we have are truly blessed with a chef in our midst - Reuel. His delightful creation using Maggie Mee, eggs, hot dogs, tomatoes & mushrooms. Yummy!!!!



After breakfast & worship, we set sail towards Inburi Church. There we witnessed GOD's mighty work in building up the church, which accordingly was build pillar by pillar, level by level . . . It is almost complete with a large sanctuary on the second level. We took the opportunity to pray for the lay leaders, Gair and Thar of Inburi Church, upholding them with words of encouragement. Some were even inspired by visions. For instance, Auntie Marita got a vision of Gair teaching God's word in front of several of children during the prayer walk at Pi Song Si's house. The interesting bit of this vision is that Auntie Marita have not seen Gair before! So we praise God for that! :D


We also had the opportunity to pray for Fai, from Thong En Church, who was visiting. Fai is suffering from severe headaches and is suspected to have a tumor/blood clot in the left side of her head. She is scheduled to have a medical checkup this upcoming Monday & the youths below prayed fervently for GOD to heal her completely . . . after the prayer, Fai reported that her head felt lighter. PTL!!! 



Melody & Pinky - Really Cute lei!!!

After which, we went to visit Dawrung and her family, an Inburi staff worker in her two storey 'chalet' overlooking the breathtaking Chao Phraya River. During the flood this year, the water rose to the second level of the house! Thank God that it didn't really affect their lives as they are still able to stay in the second level.  One life lesson we learnt from them, is the ability to adapt to all extreme circumstances, such as doing your 'toilet business' (doing it in a plastic bag & throwing into the waters). 


Arriving at Dawrong' house

2nd level - Waters rose to the shin level during the flood  
Chao Phraya River(background)

Gair with Fai's daughter, Pinky
Scenic View of Chao Phraya River(background) 


Shuan Ho with Wolverine (who more handsome?)
Oh! We met Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) too! The Thai version, A, Dawrung’s hubby. They are expecting their first child. Whooo! A group of us then gathered around the family for a time of prayer and chat a little about their love life. :P While, the others gathered around Fai's mother-in-law to pray about her health condition. Guijia was inspired to sing song 53 (God Is Good To Me – Prajao dii tor chan). Just then, Uncle Cheng Kie was reminded by a verse, Isaiah 53:5. Little did they know, Dawrung and A's house number is 53/5! Pretty amazing right? 
The Team Praying for Dawrung

Praying for Fai's Mother-In-Law

Lunch was provided in a roadside stall that sells delicious noodles such as beef kuay tiao, wanton mee and so on. Everyone had more than one bowl of noodles! Haha. We had an opportunity to see how popcorn is popped in a roadside stall too! The popcorn is definitely a healthy snack in this case. :P 


Beef  or Wantan Noodles, Anyone?!? 

Feasting before the Evangelistic Concert 


We arrived in Sawaeng Ha Church to find a house full of kids for an evangelistic concert. From ice breakers, song and dance, the team entertained the children. We had great fun with the kids until we were all energized; particularly the kids. The team put forth a skit which touched and captivated the audience. Jasmine came up next to share her cute testimony. About 10 children responded positively to the altar call. Praise God! We truly felt GOD's presence and were so greatly encouraged.


 Fun & Games

 Balloon War!!!

Putting up the Skit 


 Testimony by Jasmine


We ended the day with Joshua leading us in a time of devotion. He touched on the need to forgive, Luke 6:27-29. FORGIVENESS IS THE KEY TO BEING FREE. We customized our own keys to remind us to forgive our enemies! J              




PRAYER REQUESTS:

·        -  Thank God for the visions that He has been showing to the team and pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to reveal even more.
·        -   Pray for good health for each and everyone on the team, especially Jolyn and Grace who are having some throat irritations.
·        -   Pray that we would continue to go forth in joy
·        -   Pray for more children to attend the Christmas evangelistic concert tomorrow.
·         -  Pray that people will respond to the gospel.
·        -   Pray for salvation 

Blessings from Jolyn & Wee Seng

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Day 3 - Teaching at School

Hi everyone! How's everyone been!? For those who have been following up with our blog, we thank you!!! God has been doing amazing things in this trip and every night there's bound to be testimonies and thanksgiving items to be shared with each other. As we share how our day has been, we hope it ministers to you as well!

Our third day started early @ 7am so as to be on time for the flag-raising ceremony at Wat Pra Prang School. Our team was invited to be there to teach English to the primary 4-6s. It was an eye opener for many of us who are here in Singburi for the first time and we also felt it was really fun to be finally the teacher instead of the student! We thank God that the English lessons were executed smoothly.

The P4 team (Charissa, Uncle Cheng Kie, Reuel, Joshua and Natalie) taught them how to make cute bunnies as well as animal names. Uncle Cheng Kie is awesome. He played this super awesome animal song for the kids to sing and dance along too!

The P5 team (Keith, Uncle Wee Seng, Jasmine, Grace and Zach) taught their students how to fold paper hearts with love messages. Even though this was a simple activity, the kids were so into it that they did not want to go for their tea break. The students even gave us the hearts that they folded with love messages on it. The team was really touched by their love messages as the students went around pasting hearts on their t-shirts. At the end of the lesson, Keith shared that while folding the hearts was fun, the team also wanted to teach the students that they too had to love one another, and whenever they see the hearts they will be reminded of that love.

The P6 team (Mark, Damaris, Samantha, Guijia, Auntie Marita and Joanne) started with ice-breaker games followed by a crossword puzzle on vocabulary. All of the students were really happy and were smiling cheerfully as the games we taught by Joanne. They later ended the lesson by teaching the students how to dance to the song "walking on sunshine!".
We were also requested to coach the boys in football and the girls in volleyball, as the school was going to enter a provincial sports championship in early Jan 2012. Again, many of us found it an interesting first time experience! First time teaching English and then first time being football and volleyball coaches! Although we encountered language barrier, we managed to overcome it with our enthusiasm and tons of sign language! Thankfully, we have the two JOs (Joshua and Jolyn):D  to really go forth and teach the students new tactics and skills to play. For soccer, we ended the training with a friendly match which ended up with a DRAW (1-1)!  Overall, the fellowship that we had with the students was awesome :) Here are some of the actions that happened in the school!







We also give thanks that the skit also ran smoothly! Cas and Shaun started off the session with a little ice-breaker involving the EVER FAVOURITE "Sawatdii krap" song and dance, followed by the "Walking on Sunshine" dance that was taught to all the classes today! The team then presented a very interesting and engaging mime. The kids listened attentively and at times also clapped and laughed loudly as they saw their teachers acting! After the skit, Grace went up to the front to share her testimony about how God helped her to overcome her addiction to Korean dramas and later managed to improve in her studies. The kids later presented each one of us with hand-drawn cards! They are such sweet and adorable children!




We finally ended the hectic (but enjoyable) day at Chaiseng Shopping centre where we had dinner as well as a time for shopping! We reached home pretty early for once and decided to have an extended worship and prayer! Grace Fong led the evening devotion as well! She shared a passage on Joshua 1:9,
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you where ever you go.”
Grace shared that she had many fears in her life and even had some fears on coming for this TMT. But last night before she slept she suddenly thought of this verse and when she was asked to share her testimony in front of the entire school, she didn't back down but bravely stood up to the task as she remembered God's promise that He will be with us where ever we go. She also interestingly pointed out that we have been COMMANDED to be strong and courageous, so she also don't really have much choice but to "gan gan lai" and chiong forward! She then led us into a prophetic session where we asked God to show us what was some of the biggest fears in our lives and to write them on pieces of paper which we then crushed and burned away.


This was a symbolic act to show that we have cast away our fears forever! We should learn to step out from our comfort zone and be courageous for God will be with us in whatever we do. Finally our worship leader, Reuel Kong, ended the evening with a BANG with thunderous, awesome worship! In fact, our worship has been very spirit-led the past few night and we pray that God will continue to show up!!!

All in all, we had so much fun today and already have SO MANY things to give thanks about. And it's only Day 3! We're really excited and cannot wait for God to show up! Continue to keep us and our health in prayer!

Prayer Requests:
1) Joanne's jaw is hurting. Pray that the pain will leave her and not affect her eating and every day activities.
2) Cover the team in prayer as we visit church member's homes in Inburi and Thong En districts. Pray for a good time of fellowship and that we would have an opportunity to bless the Thai people!
3) Pray that many children will attend the kid's club at Sawingha Church in the evening! We will be putting up an evangelistic skit and pray that many hearts will hear the gospel being preached!

Love,
Guijia, Damaris and Shaun

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Day 2 - Visitations at Tachang!

Hi we're back again!! Day two has finally ended and we're here to update you on the day's super exciting events.


So.. We started the day with an amazing breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, sausages and toasted bread glazed with butter prepared with the sweat and blood of Charissa, Grace and Damaris who woke up extra early while most of us were still snoring away.  
Then we had a wonderful devotion led by Joanne and Samantha. Joanne shared a vision she had before the trip, on how we all should have a heart of love and how God has already gone ahead of us and how we do not have to worry about anything because God has already won the battle for us. She had another vision of hearts raining from heaven which Cass affirmed her vision by telling us that they prepared an activity for the children where paper hearts were to be given out to the children to let them know that they will always be loved by God and that we loved them too! :D So with our hearts on fire and filled with love we headed to Pi Song Si’s house for our first visitation! She’s one of the elders of Tachang Church and we just wanted to go down to bless and encourage her. She started to share about the struggles in her ministry and the new Tachang Church that was going to be built right beside her house and also her back problems. We all gathered around her to pray for her. Everybody was just so eager to pray and many were so bold to share visions, verses and prophetic words of encouragement. Reuel and Uncle Cheng Kie also released bible verses. Reuel shared Psalms 1, Isaiah 40:30-31 and Uncle Cheng Kie shared Habakkuk 3:17-19.
We then did a prayer walk around the plot of land where the church was going to be built on it was so encouraging to see the first-timers like Grace, Zachary and Auntie Marie. It was really really cool how Grace and Zachary had the same vision. They both saw how Tachang Church would be a lighthouse that would shine through the darkness. Auntie Marie saw streams of youth that were going to the new church. All the visions and words of affirmation were very encouraging and Song Si felt really blessed.


Then we went to Tachang Church to eat our number one meal of the trip (so far)!!!!!!!!! THE FOOD WAS AWESOME! We met two new missionaries that were attached to Pastor Eng Kiat, Chris and Sarah from the United Kingdom! We had a good time fellowshipping with them and the church workers over lunch. We then sat through the church’s leaders meeting and we saw how our words of encouragement and visions that were being shared to Pi Song Si became a testimony and encouragement to them. :D
We split into two groups and visited both Pi Miew and Pi Mao. At Pi Mao’s we learnt that her husband disappeared 5 years ago, she just had one of her legs amputated in an accident, her son is a drug addict and daughter doesn’t want to accept Christ. We felt that she needed to forgive many people but she was reluctant to as she rather just forget about it. Pi Saiyang then shared his testimony on the importance of releasing the anger in your heart and slowly we led her in a prayer to forgive her son and get rid of the bitterness she felt. As she prayed that prayer, there was definitely a change in the atmosphere and she seemed happier!!! Praise the Lord :D
At the same time over at Pi Miew, (the one who owns the pig farm #asyouallknow) we found out that she went to the doctor and learnt that her arteries were no longer clogged! YAY!! As well as the two nerves in her back that were deemed “dead” became “alive” and were slowly recovering!!!! We thank God for such a testimony of His healing. We prayed for her eye that was twitching and we saw our first healing of the trip as it stopped twitching after an hour. WHOOH. This definitely encouraged all of us and it showed that God really loved the Thais! The lucky few that went to Pi Miew’s house got the chance to go FISHING!!!  Grace, Zachary, Uncle Wee Seng, Auntie Marie, Damaris actually caught fishes :) (so good. Not fair :'''''( ) “in Singapore it is impossible to catch 4 fishes in 15 minutes,” said a very jealous Keith. We all met again at Watyaisoi for Children’s Club. The group that went to pray for Pi Mao was late! But Uncle Wee Seng and team handled the kids like champs whooh! They played games and got the kids really excited. Samantha taught the story of the Prodigal Son and each of the children had a puppet representing the characters in the story. They were made to act it out as Samantha told the story and it had most of the kids laughing happily. Pi (ka) Chu and Cass sang children worship songs with the kids that had cute actions and that got everybody really high. The kids then made a cape and crown each that had endless amounts of paper hearts stuck on them to assure them of their identity in Christ and His love for them (and ours too!).  In the meantime other people were making awesome balloons for the kids! We had such a wonderful session and we’re just so glad that the kids enjoyed themselves :)



We met this lady with AIDS and the virus has spread to her ears and her eyes making her partially deaf and blind. Ah Jaan Henry found her leaning against the wall thus we went forth to pray for her. Initially she could hardly understand us but after 3 rounds of praying she finally responded and even smiled at us. She felt better when Pi Shaun asked her how she felt. Praise the Lord! :) We gobbled down our dinner and had cell group led by Uncle Cheng Kie!
The theme of the lesson was on family upbringing and he displayed four possible parenting styles: 1) Uninvolved (don’t care), 2) Indulgence (spoil them to the max),3) Authoritarian (Hitler style), 4) Authoritative (fierce but reasonable, the ideal style). We did a short skit for each of the individual styles and had the Thais sit into groups for sharing. One of the sharing that was encouraging was that one of them felt that he was under the “Uninvolved” category and  he felt really lousy and after we prayed for forgiveness for the lack of care for his family, he decided to adopt the Authoritative style on his grandchildren!! This affirmed us that the lesson was a success!!!!!!!!!!! :)
We headed back and had a short time of sharing because we have to wake up super duper early tomorrow to go the school. So be really honored and grateful that we wrote such a long a detailed post for all of you and sacrificing our beauty sleep (not that we need it).
Okayyyy that ends our post see ya tomorrow.
Prayer requests:
- Thank God for everything he has done for us so far :)
- Pray for protection for the team
- Pray for God to go before us tomorrow, that we would make a difference during our teaching stint.
- Pray that we would continue to go forth in joy
From, The Babies. (mArK and naTaliE)
P.S - Hi everyone! Please follow updates on the YaYA twitter (@cpcyaggers)!!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Day ONE - L4D: Light 4 Darkness


5.00 AM. Singapore. Changi Airport Budget Terminal. A strange group of half-awake zombie-like creatures were spotted chomping down on pancakes, hash browns and other forms of starchy things at MacDonald’s. They seemed to keep a distance from meat-like objects, for reasons such as “preparing for battle”, or “the love of Thailand”. After much gobbling, this strange gang was surrounded by much prayers and love from close allies before swiftly departing. They boarded an Identified Flying Object known to some as “The Tiger”.
9.00 AM. Bangkok, Thailand. Suvarnabhumi Airport. The peculiar group was spotted leaving “The Tiger”, slightly less zombie-like than before. Lugging ten giant suspicious looking objects, they decided to change their mode of transportation. Whispers like “when there’s a wheel, there’s a way” were heard from among them, and very soon, they were on the move again. Zombie A (aka Joshua Tan) was heard complaining to Zombie B (aka Guijia) that his fuel cells need refueling, to which Zombie B answered passionately in the affirmative. Zombie C (aka Keith Wong) expressed that he desperately needed to have some meat as soon possible, to replenish his severely depleted meat cells. Hence, the group made a brief stop at a familiar “Meating place” with an enormous yellow M, where they carried out Operation Break Fast.
1.30 PM. Singburi, Thailand. “THE BASE” (aka Ps Eng Kiat’s house). The zombies arrived at a warm homely place, which was to be their home for the next 9 days. They were given a few hours to recharge themselves, during which some of them decided create intricate sculptures from balloon-like objects, while others lazed around in their quiet corners. A short briefing was given on the operations that awaited them in the coming days.
5.00 PM. “THE ARMSKOTE” (aka Tesco Lotus). The zombies were seen alighting from a unique, open air vehicle known to most as “The Songtiao”. The mission objectives now were simple: Gobbling Mee and Shopping Spree. They moved stealthily into The Armskote, where they quickly consumed a range of different flavourful delights. Whispers of “yummy pork stew rice”, “tantalizing beef noodles” and “crispy mussel omelette” were heard from among them. Operation Second Helping had to be implemented for some of them. They then proceeded to complete Shopping Spree. Their weapon of choice: Barrage of Shiny Trolleys. They split up into their assigned divisions and swiftly embarked on Operation Grab and Go.  And grab grab grab they did, till Barrage of Shiny Trolleys was quickly exhausted, filled with mountains of gifts, sweets and daily necessities, both for their own use and for giving away. It was an exceedingly successful operation and all the mission objectives were accomplished well.
10.00 PM. “THE BASE” (aka Ps Eng Kiat’s house). The zombies returned back to base to pack their plunder into 300 gift packs. Production was very swift and was completed within an hour. At this point, Big Chief (aka Ps Henry) felt that the zombies had been zombies long enough and something had to be done. Hence commenced a short time of worship and devotion on the theme of Isa 45:2-3 “”I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who called you by your name.”” (ESV) Big Chief then laid hands on the 2 Zombie Horde Leaders (aka Charissa and Keith), anointing them with olive oil and praying for them. Immediately, they were transformed from Zombies into Christ-like Warrior Chiefs. The 2 Warrior Chiefs then passed on the impartation in the same way to the other Zombies, anointing them with olive oil, laying hands and praying for them. One by one, the Zombies received a touch from The Highest Chief of All (aka God) and were transformed into Mighty Warriors as well. It was an awesome night, full of God’s love, and the Warriors were now prepared to march confidently into the battlefield to claim the victory that is already won!
Prayer requests:
-          Thanksgiving for all that the Lord has done today
-          Continued good health for the team, complete healing for Joshua who has slight fever
-          Great unity love in the team
-          Visitations at Tachang tomorrow
-          Children’s Club and Cell Group at Wat Yai Soi: interaction with the children, Parable of the Prodigal son will be shared by Samantha Fong, Uncle Cheng Kie will be leading a parenting workshop

Zombies turned Warriors signing off,
Jasmine and Reuel :)

Friday, December 16, 2011

TMT team 2 : 19-27 Dec

We thank God for the safe return of Team 1. 

Do continue to pray for Team 2. Their flight on 19DEC is TR2102 departing from budget terminal @ 7.10am. Team members are Charissa (Leader), Keith Wong (Asst Leader), Grace Fong, Jolyn, Damaris, Guijia, Samantha Fong, Tan Wee Weng, Marita, Jasmine, Joshua, Joanne Ler, Reuel, Natalie, Mark Ho, Zachary, Cheng Kie, Henry. 

Pray that God's presence will go with the team throughout their stay in Singburi!!

NEXT 3 SUNDAY...

Dear YaYAs,

Please note the schedule for next 3 Sundays:

Sun, 18 Dec - Youth CG and YA BAG time.

Sun, 25 Dec - Christmas Evangelistic Service, follow by Church Christmas lunch @social hall. Invite your pre-believing friends, classmates or colleagues for this special event.

Sun, 1 Jan 2012 - Extended Worship + welcome for new Youth CG/YA BAG. Venue: YA room.

Henry and Carol :)