Special Christmas Service - 11am, Sanctuary

Amazing way of sharing the Gospel.
Coming to Covenant Presbyterian Church on 25 Dec, 11am service. Bring a friend!!

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TMT 2012 Day 7 Update

Greetings from your lovely 2012 TMT leaders! 

Haha.. Okok, we are terribly sorry for posting out updates so late. Please forgive us hee! Anyway, its never too late to know how awesome God was during our trip! Here we go!!

We started the day with an awesome time of worship!! Its really nice to start off the day praising God and getting our hearts ready to do His work! After which, we went to visit Pi Miew! ( She is the lady who owns the pig farm which was funded by our very own Covenant Green Store!! )

I just want to thank God for my awesome team's love for her as they release many prophecy, word of knowledge and encouragement to her that God is always with her! :)

Visitation at Pi Miew's house

- sharing about the financial situation

- debtors taking the land away because the debt cannot be repaid

- feeling sad that the house/land she had work so hard to maintain will be gone soon

- a debt of 1,250,000 Baht.

- Daughters studies are good but having uncertainties about the future.

After which, we headed to Tachang Church for our lunch and to join them for their Ministry Combined Meeting as they confirm and prepare themselves for the AMK team that is going up this coming Monday! After that, we went over to ACES center where they spread to the people the importance of not having sex before marriage, follow up on Aids patients and to spread the gospel whenever they have a chance to! We Just feel that God is going to use this ministry to open many doors for the church to share the gospel and to let people hear about God! :) 

Next, we went for another visitation at Cream's house. She is only 16 years old and already have a daughter and a 3 week old baby girl! It has been really tough on her to raise up 2 kids. Prayed for her and even prayed for healing for the baby girl who was sick. 

After praying, we were already behind schedule and was going to be late for  children club. Haha, *Opps*! So anyway, we travelled to Wat Yat Soi to conduct the children's club. Initially when we reached, we were abit sad when there were ZERO kids present for the English club due to a performance in the village to celebrate the King's birthday! We didn't give up but instead went out to look for kids around the village to invite them over! I am so glad and thankful that we managed to have about 8 kids who appeared and had a wonderful time singing and dancing with them! 

Next, we had dinner there and waited for the cell group to start! Had a wonderful time worshipping together with the Thais and we are just so encouraged when they shared their testimony and thanks giving. As they were sharing, it just reminded me of how important it is to always make time to do it and will be sure to implement it when we are back in Singapore with out CG and BAGs! 

We did the car activity and it was nice hearing how the Thai leaders and workers were feeling and what they wish to be in 6 months time. We prayed for one another and our very own Grace shared a short lesson and testimony with all of us! After her awesome sharing, we just broke into smaller groups to continue praying for one another and we thank God for the couple of healings that had happened! We than bid our final farewells to the Thais as we won't be seeing them anymore until the next trip. :( Sighs, we wish it never had to end.

We went back and had our debrief and I am just so encouraged by their sharings and thanksgivings. As leaders of this trip, we are just so happy that everyone was happy and had an awesome time experiencing and doing Gods work! So thankful that throughout this whole trip, there were no arguments and everyone was just so helpful and encouraging to one another! Loving the culture of Honor in this team! :))

Well, that will be all and we thank each and everyone of you back home who have  been following our progress and keeping us in prayer! We could have never been able to do it without your covering and prayers! To God be the Glory! 

From your lovely leaders,

Mark and Jerone HO!

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TMT 2012 Day 6 Update

Hi all,

Sorry for the really late update! We are just so touched by the love of the Thais!! Even though Monday is their only rest day, they still made an effort to plan a trip to the sunflower for us! Firstly, special thanks to Phi Chu, Bpaa Nan and Son as they used their free time to wake up early and serve us. 

Next we had out lunch at Tachang Church prepared by our awesome chef Pi Na!!

Amazing beef noodles. The food was awesome and all of us enjoyed it. :) After lunch we went back to Ps Eng Kiat's place to rest! Very thankful for that one hour rest after our lunch before we head down for visitation to Da Rong's husband's workplace then to Inburi Rice Field.

Da Rong and Hubby

- Recently gave birth to a baby girl called Hosanna. 

- Praise God that Da Rong was able to use her daughter's name to preach the gospel to the doctors and nurses at the hospital, and their neighbors too!

- Her husband has a motorcycle repair shop of which the startup fund was seeded from Covenant's Green store; previously he was a car mechanic for Chevrolet.

Inburi Rice Field

- Had less than an hour to finish our performance for them and thus, we weren't able t go int the village and call more people to join us for it. 

- Carissa shared her testimony and led the alter call. Her testimony touched many and she was very brave.

- Our God is indeed a God that never fails. 4 healed and 2 people saved. 

- Thank God for having this mini revival in Inburi and that there weren't as many mosquitos as we expected!!! 

All in all, God has been really good to us and to the Thais. Really saw the love of God being poured out and it was really encouraging to see the whole team constantly moving around and finding more and more people to pray for! All Glory and praise to God!! 

- Sean Tng and Carissa Fok

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No News Is Good News

Hey guys!
Sorry for the series of postponed updates, we've been staying out late and getting back even later, so the team has been really tired. We do ask for your forgiveness! We'll be coming back tomorrow, so do keep the team prayer for the last stretch, and we will see you in a bit,, exciting updates coming soon! :)

Love,
Jerone

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TMT 2012 Day 5 Update

day 5 update!!!!
Hi Everyone (: today Alex and I (Gift) are blogging! Today was a rather relaxing day with breakfast prepared by Mark, Daryl and Charrissa. We had scrambled eggs,breads,sausages&hams.hahaha.

we left home(pastor engkiat’s house)at around 8am to travel to Thanprapon church for a special early Christmas service.we had both worship and a sermon,which we couldn’t comprehend a thing the pastor was preaching,but afterall,we enjoyed ourselves taking care of the kids who came for the special service at the church,despite having kids that were rather wild and were jumping all around us&on our backs,we had a lot of fun playing with them though.After attending the special Sunday Christmas service at the Thanprapon church,we had a great lunch with many dishes with the people there. I felt pretty sad when we had to leave to the next destination though,because we really had fun there playing with the very active kids

we arrived at the sawaengha church around 3pm and we were splitted into three categories. When we arrived, we saw that 6 girls who attended the English camp actually turned up for church! Coupled with the youths from Sawaengha church, the room was literally bursting full, an answered prayer! For most of them, it was their first time stepping into a church. We thank God that they were engaged in the worship and sharing of the story of Daniel. Our TMT song, Amazing God, (written by Vanny and Daryl & translated by Arunee) was a major hit with the youths, even those who are pre-believers! A few of them are planning on singing it at their school - Sawaengha High School where we taught at two days ago, during the Christmas concert! This will be an amazing opportunity for a Christian worship song to be heard by hundreds of students! Praise the Lord for this divine opportunity to share about our Amazing God!

The adult one which they did worship, sermon by Shaun and had a wonderful testimony by Sean (BOOMZ) which some of the Thais could relate to.
We also saw Aunty Somsi today when she said that her back was in a good state now and was no longer in pain. Thank God.
We also saw Aunty Chrishina and her back was also no longer in pain. She had to rely on the back braces initially, but now, she says that after the prayer upon her, the day before when she felt a stick going through her back, she felt a lot better. There was no more signs of pain and she even had the thought to remove the back braces,because she thought she wouldn’t need it anymore,but still,for safety precautions and also that the back brace would provide and further protect her back,we advised her not to remove it first,till she is really really sure that she can do it without the back brace.Our God is so good!
next!we had a really delicious (AROI MAKMAK) dinner at Tachang church.prepared by aunty chrishina.Shes a really great cook and a blessing to all of us. Even Ahbi who seldom eats vegetables ate a lot of vegetables and rice.hahahhahahahahahahaaa.
Goodnight!!!!!!!!!!!!!
chewychewychewychweyulalalaalalalalallalala- Alux(alex) and Gift

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TMT2012 Day 4 Update

1 December 2012

Good morning, sorry for the late report. Yesterday was very eventful wheeeee.

We had our English camp today! God really answered our prayer about wanting such a great turn out that we wouldn't be able to handle it. 60 children turned up for camp although pastor EK only expected about 45 kids. Eight students from Sawengha High school came, like woah they really came! (Shaun says that the students always say they'll come but don't in the end, so thank God they did) During the english  camp we split up into 3 groups as there were more kindergarten children than we expected. 

Vanessa did a fantastic job managing the kindergarten and lower primary group. Everyone relied on her and the programmes she had planned. Chu and Chris also played a really big role, as they were helping us to translate to the kids and they were also very good in getting the kids attention and they were able to pay attention to Vanessa's lesson plans. We all worked together very well and the lesson was more than successful! 

Shaun, Elaine and Darryl was in charge of the upper primary class. They started with introduction and a game of wacko. Then they taught the children about positive adjectives by acting it out. They also played charades and held an activity which was about to write positive adjectives to affirm themselves. The kids were very smart and the learnt the adjectives really quickly. 

Qi Hui, Alex, Carissa, Grace and Jerone motivated the upper secondary students by sharing about Nick's life. The students were very engaged and a few of them even agreed to come to church on Sunday for the Christmas programme! 

We had our concert after lunch and children were superrrrrrrr enthusiastic when we did our dance. The skit went very smoothly and Joshua shared his testimony of how he found God, how God helped him overcome his anger problems and improved his relationship with his family. 

While Jerone and Sean entertained the little kids with craft, we had a session to prophecy and pray for the older kids. Since we were always the ones gettingmprayed for in situations like these, it was a first time experience for many of us. Furthermore, the kids were running to us in big groups as pastor EK thought that it would be less intimidating that way. That was definitely unusual. :O 

God worked nonetheless and many affirming words were given, new bonds and friendships were made and strengthened during that time. it was really cool how Gift drew pink flowers for a girl only to realize that was exactly what her name meant after the picture was given to her. We learnt that prophecy not only encourages the person receiving but the person praying as well. 

Everyone was very tired after giving it their all during then english camp. We had our well deserved rest before very yummy dinner at tachang church. God is good hahahahahahaha. 

We had work to do again after dinner. Some of us prayed for Pi Christina and her husband while others prayed for her grandson Mark. During prayer we felt that  Pi Christina was burdened because of her son who was recently released from prison. We also prayed for  restoration of the couple's relationship and that love will grow between them again. Pi Christina was crying as she felt touched by the holy spirit. 

The group praying for little mark were playing the guitar and singing songs that we felt ministered to Pi Christina. Pi Christina said that Mark was facing some rejection from his father and also facing some problems in school. The group encouraged him by playing guitar with him and little Mark was a really good guitar player. We prayed for him at the same time and he was more cheerful after that. And we also prayed that he will grow up to play the guitar for god and that he will grow more as a Christian. 

Now comes the reason behind our late report. Our dear leaders felt that we needed to foster a culture of honor within the team so we had this session of affirming one another which lasted all the way till 1.30am. 

The trip's been so exciting thus far and we're trusting God for even more in the next half. Pray along side with us, for strength, for his presence to be with us everywhere we go and that you people will have even more interesting blog entries to read! :) 

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TMT 2012 Day 3

TMT Day 3

Dear Concerned Parents and Valued Stakeholders,

Your children are doing very well. We have slept well; eaten very well (too well); and have managed to poop regularly. We want to thank you for all your prayers back home in Singapore, as we continue to experience the Holy Spirit’s work during this trip. God is truly amazing.

Please find a breakdown of today’s activities below:

Teaching at Wat Pra Prang School

The day started with a three hour lesson with primary school children (Primary 4 – 6) at Wat Pra Prang School. The lessons were very engaging across the levels, and the children enjoyed themselves tremendously. Elaine shared that she was not very good with children, however, her primary four class, loved her so much that she had mini-bodyguards with her the entire time! The children were enthralled by our impromptu games during the classes, especially Sean ‘BOOMZ’ Tng’s “Oppa Gangnam Style” impersonation.

We mingled with the children and even managed to squeeze in a quick game of football. Joshua was the star player, showing off his football prowess against a whole horde of younglings (children). During the game, Ps Henry, forgetting he was 50, took a tumble and injured his shoulder. Please pray for complete healing, and alleviation of discomfort in his shoulder.

Concert at Wat Pra Prang School

After a very tasty lunch of fish, egg and soup, we proceeded to hold a concert at the school, for the children that we taught earlier that day. It was amazing that we could openly bring a Christian themed concert to the children in the school, as Wat Pra Prang School is a temple school, much like how ACS and MGS are mission schools in Singapore. The children loved our dance and the skit that we prepared for them. Gift and Wesley gave an Oscar-worthy performance, earning them critical acclaim from the skit critics in the audience today. Elaine gave her testimony and we also invited the children to the English camp that will be run this Saturday. We were pleasantly surprised when the children presented another skit for Team Singapore. Please pray for the Children, that they will be responsive to the gospel and that they will be able to attend the English camp.

Rest at Thanpraporn Church

We were presented with a well deserved break at Thanpraporn Church (homeland of the Shaun Ho). As it was quite a hot day, we set out in search of cold drinks and desserts. Vanessa and Daryl came across the same lady that we prayed for two years ago, this time she was walking and did not need her wheel chair, a stark difference from her condition before. Hallelujah.

The team was divided into two groups to go for visitation.

Visitation at the Hospital

Due to hospital regulations, a smaller group visited the hospital. Loong Thong Lok (the fish farm guy) was warded because of kidney and lung infection as his the wound on his back had not recovered since his fall a few months ago. He had an oxygen mask on and the doctors were not sure how long he would have to be warded for. We did a short worship in the hospital ward and the boys – Wesley, Sean, Alex and Joshua - all laid hands on him to pray. Alex gave a word that God was pouring forth his anointing oil on everyone present. Vanessa saw a vision of calm waters and assured him that God has given Loong Thong Lok peace. Loong Thong Lok said that he had difficulty breathing the past few nights but he actually managed to sleep during our prayer. Wesley said that he also felt that Thong Lok’s breathing improved after the prayers. PTL!

Visitation at Ba Yuan’s Home

The team had a taste of Ps Eng Kiat’s work by visiting Ba (Read Auntie) Yuan’s home. We caught up with the happenings in her life, and found out that she had a fall preventing her from attending church regularly. Please pray that she will be healed and be more able to attend church regularly.

Children’s Club at Pakathan Village

After the visitations, we ran a children’s club session at Pakathan Village. We were reunited with familiar faces and also had a good time catching up. The children really enjoyed the programme and had a lot of fun learning about Samson and Delilah. At the village, Ps Eng Kiat took the opportunity to ask the team to pray for Gaey’s father’s new motorcycle. This was also a divine to pray for him as he is a pre-believer. Gaey inspired all of us as she is only 12 years old, yet she stands up for her faith in school and her father’s cyst was healed because she persisted in prayer for two months. Mark, Grace, Wesley, and Carissa stepped up to pray for two older ladies, blessing them with prayers of healing and encouragement. The presence of the Holy Spirit was strong and a few of them were moved to tears.

Dinner and Christmas Setup at Thanpraporn Church

After a filling dinner, we proceeded to pray for Pii Som Sii, who has had a bad back and thigh. Qihui felt that Som Sii was like a strong pillar for the church and that we should sing our TMT song and march around her seven times. After some prayer, the pain that she usually felt was much reduced. Praise the Lord. Please pray for her healing as she is one of the elders of the Thanpraporn Church. We also helped Air with the Christmas decorations in the church.

Our God is Amazing!

Daryl and Vanessa

30 Nov 2012

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DAY 2 YAY!! EVEN LONGER POST AHEAD WAHAHAHAH.

We woke up at 6am and headed to SawaengHa High School for our day of teaching. It started with assembly where all the students, Secondary 1-6 gathered to sing the national anthem and recite their pledge. The Thai National anthem was relatively short but their pledge was extremelyyyy long compared to Singapore's! The students there were generally very polite, greeting everyone with the waii (Thai greeting) whenever they walked past us.

The TMT team were split into 6 teams and allocated to teach different classes. We definitely have to thank God for the great favour with the students and teachers and the rapport we managed to built within the short few hours! :) After finishing our lessons, their English teacher gave us feedback saying that their students really enjoyed themselves and some even requested for us to stay to teach them everyday!

The amount of favour God poured forth for us was really beyond what we had expected or asked for. Despite it being a predominantly Buddhist school, God allowed us to pray for 2 of their teachers! The girls prayed for the English teacher who has been suffering from diabetes for the past 20 years while the guys prayed for the male teacher. Elaine shared her vision she got with the English teacher and she actually affirmed it, agreeing that the picture and descriptions Elaine drew looked exactly like her. Overall, the teachers appeared to be really thankful for our visit to the school and even, for our prayers. They even presented us with locally hand-made fans and small pouches for souvenirs!

After school, we proceeded to Lek's house to pray for her family who were recovering from their son’s death. They were a family who came to Christ only after the accident occurred; hence it was so heartwarming to see that rather than being bitter towards God, they were so faithfully and earnestly seeking God, knowing that they will meet their loved one in heaven one day. They even opened up their home for cell group meeting every week! After praying and seeking God, the group had a small sharing session where we shared about what God wanted us to bless the family with. Charissa shared a short passage from Psalms 23:5-6: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This verse was also very much relatable to the vision that Uncle Henry saw, which was of a river overflowing and streaming through their household. Charissa later reiterated with sentence from a song that goes: “though the sorrow may last for the night, my joy will come in the morning”. Qi Hui also shared a verse from Romans 8:28 that goes: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Afterwards, we went to the nearby Sawaengha church and Ps Eng Kiat explained how this new church started as a children club 4 years ago. Since then, God has brought many new believers to this church. As we were about to leave the house, Grace, Qihui and Arunee came back with an amazing testimony. When Grace was in Singapore, she had a vision from God that she should pray for a limping man with different leg lengths that would be walking by. As she was outside the church toilet, she saw the exact same guy!!! Qihui and Grace then proceeded to run after him, and stopped him just in time before he drove off with his wife. They prayed for him, and found out that actually he had not been attending church regularly. After praying, he said that he was very encouraged, God had sent a messenger to bring him back to Christ! It was a divine appointment. Teary eyed, he promised to come on Sunday J PRAISE THE LORD! KOP KHUN PRA-JAO!!!!!!!!!

We then went to Tachang Church to have dinner!! Phi Naa made us a very very gooooooood dinner J We had Thai curry, lemon soup and stir-fried vegetables. The taste that exploded in our mouths was unparallel to any delicacy we had eaten in Singapore! After dinner, we then prayed for Phi Naa and her family. She has a slipped disk and experiencing excruciating back pain L As we prayed for her, the atmosphere was suffused with God’s Holy presence, and she was truly exultant. She could turn her back without any pain. However, she was still wearing the back brace when we left, so please continue to keep her in your prayers!! J

We then prayed for her son, who was recently released from jail. While praying, many of us got a ‘download’ from God. Aunty Carol received a word of knowledge that his life with similar to the design of his shirt. The shirt was half tattered and the other half was normal. Aunty Carol felt that it was like he was running away from God and moving to another phase of his life. She felt that he should turn back to God; even while facing all the struggles in his life, God was always by his side. Sean also had a phrase from God, ‘You’re all I need’. Elaine had a vision of a yellow carnation, with dried and wilted leaves falling apart from the budding flower. The yellow bud was blooming and growing, larger and larger, under an immense light which represented the favour of God outpouring upon the man. Whereas, the blooming flower represented the man whom God was nurturing and growing under His favour.  The colour yellow, in relation to the yellow ribbon, also represents acceptance.

We also prayed for Phi Naa’s daughter-in-law, who was a pre-believer. While praying, Charissa had a vision of a beautiful red rose, enclosed in a fence. Grace’s word of knowledge was also related, the daughter-in-law was resistant to becoming a Christian because she feels that she is unworthy to receive God’s love. God wants her to love herself as much as He loves her.

We ended at around 8pm and went back to rest J
Prayer update for today: please pray for Pii nan, a worker at the mushroom farm who was just bitten by a snake! Pray that the snake is not poisonous.

That’s all for today, we’ll be going to Wat Pra Prang Primary tomorrow! Pray that everything goes smoothly JJJ TATAAAAAA

Reported by: Elaine and Carissa ;)
p.s. Thanks to Ps EK who translated for us!!

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TMT2012 Day 1 Update

28 Nov 2012

We had a short and easy flight to Bangkok. Immigrations clearance was extremely good - there was nobody in the queue so we breezed through the Immigration counters.

Cheng Kie was there to greet us when we stepped out ! The team members were pleasantly surprised and Cheng Kie should be back at home now. He was waiting for his flight back to Singapore.

We headed straight for a long awaited meat feast at our usual Macdonalds. We had big macs, or double big macs ? and lots of fried chicken.  All of us were extremely happy with the feast.

We reached Ps EK's house and after resting for a short while, we spent some time worshipping God and did group devotion.  

Jerone shared :

Be the best that we can be . 

Lay down the stuff that is hindering us.

His plans are better than ours.

Mark shared :

Lay down whatever things  that are hindering  us and to reflect on  what is it ? Felt that the team were physically and spiritually tired, asked them to ask God for renewed strength for the trip, that their cups will be filled!

Qi shared that during the devotion, she felt very warm and saw a vision of a 

water fall -and we are under the water that is flowing. It was refreshing and cleansing.

She also saw a stone, akin to everyone of us, and it was being cut into a diamond, revealing our valuable identiy in Christ.

She saw a black veil lifted up as we worship and signified a new and pure beginning

Elaine shared that she rec proverbs 6: 9-11

How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 

10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 

11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. 

Alex shared that we think we are like a  small green shaker but actually we are the big green shaker.

Cas - heard the song lyrics -hungry I come  for I know you satisfy 

Psalms 23: 5-6

Cup overflows, similar to waterfall sensation as shared by Qihuu

Have to drink deep from Christ to be filled as His vessels

Battles been won - we start being amazing henceforth 

Henry heard the word "open heaven", and remember in John 2,  Jesus told Nathaniel that he will see amazing things - an open heaven and angels going up and down . This signifies the dawn of something very important.   'kJust as Jacob saw a similar vision in Genesis 28 at bethel, it was the beginning of his struggle to find out who he really are and who he belong to ? Two important questions to ponder on for the trippers:

Who are you ?

Whose are you ?

we headed to Tesco for our usual loading of goody bags, food for breakfast and toiletries and more. We bought 7 trolleys of stuff.

During the night we prayed to God for :

Pi Cristina - she is having bad pain now. Pray for complete healing for her.

Pi Som Si - she is having bad pain too - pray for complete healing for her too 

Sawengha school -

We are the 1st group to teach in this secondary school and this is the 1st time that Ps EK has access to the school.  Pray that we will follow God's leading and that we will have loads of favor.

And that's all for tonight !!! 

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YaYA Biking + Stayover

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Coming in Nov: Culture of Honour Workshop

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YaYA EXtended Worship (30 Sep 12)

Jennifer Heng’s difficult years as a young person have given her a passion to help people find confidence and security in God. A prolific communicator, she was a radio presenter, copywriter and marketing professional before becoming a pastor. 

She is currently Lead Pastor of Good Gifts City Church, which started in November 2010. From 2007 to 2010, she was Head of the Youth Division at Church of Our Saviour. Jennifer is married to John and has an amazing one-year-old girl, Alexis

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Sell all, Live Meatily Together (SLMT 2012) Day 2

Day 2 (this is a backdated copy!) Woke up bright and early, had an awesome breakfast lovingly prepared on the bus. Yes, I mentioned prepared on the bus. The chaos that ensued can be left up to your imagination, but whatever you imagine prob won't be far off from what happened. So many firsts on this trip haha. Thank God that we all didn't get a tummyache despite our lack of sanitary conditions :) anyway day 2 is a busy day, with lots of stories to share! Had 3 visits to various different places, 4 in total. First one was to Roshan, he's like a real cool surfer dude who owns like a surf school cum restaurant at the beach. Rebuilt it after the tsunami hit. Sang for him (imagine: sun sea and guitar music) to encourage him, and I think attracted a few of his colleagues/friends attention! Haha we really wanted to have a beach concert there, but that pending discussions with our tour manager haha. Hopefully our arrival is a step to sth greater, I think PL released a prophesy that he is a lighthouse to his friends and Auds corresponded with the image of an umbrella reflecting the sun rays in its seven colored splendor to his friends. We then went to visit Gomez, in a history filled (300 yo) church quite near like some colonial administerial district. He has a testimony that is really colorful (read also: long) and was really sleepy then so pls forgive if I don't do it due justice. He was actually a Buddhist chief, but one day  had a dream where he saw the temple being destroyed and the church built in its place. So he decided to join the winning side and told the monk he could no longer be a buddhist. Naturally being a Christian in Sri Lanka is one fraught with difficulties, society, family and communities just dont support you. Told us abt his struggles to balance societal commitments with Christian expectations.  Also had the caretaker told us abt her story in the tsunami, super drama and cool! If you want to know, go to Sri Lanka yourself.  Joyce had a WOK for back pain. Couldn't quite figure out who had it, until a woman came in suddenly. Prayed and she had no more pain, even broke out into song praising God. Realized that the Slankans really enjoy praising God, haha we should really learn from them!  We also visited the hospital to visit a nurse returnee and also, Ps Sunil's (a pastor in a church near Kataragama) church. Ps Sunil was one of the four young men who came out to start churches after the senior pastor in Kataragama died. Will tell you abt the story of the wife who is an awesome woman one day, am really tired right now. Anyway ps Sunil is a really welcoming chap, and Ps Keith had a cricket exchange with the kids. And the church is being built with funds from farmers, so just can imagine the seasonal nature of the funds. We then went to the Agape children's home, met the coolest, wittiest pastor (Ps Dayak, if i didnt get his  name wrong) I have ever met. And our pastors in church are really awesome already so yea you can imagine! Haha he had a really interesting story to why he opened this children's home, it all started with him being asked to bring a kid to the orphanage. But he didn't as he couldn't find one. Abt one week later a guy brought a kid to him, saying the kid drank pesticide as he was suicidal. The kid died in his arms, and only later did he realize that it was the same kid that he was supposed to help earlier. Prayed for a second chance and abt a week later the first kid of many (103 in total) came into his life. Had lots of struggles in the way, but God has provided much, such as a friend giving free milk powder when he ran out, so much so tt he had to resort cutting down on milk given to the children under his care, and tt included his own children. Also, a van (which he didn't order to come) delivered like two fridges and cupboards and towel racks one day just out of the blue, when they required supplies to build up their home. Also he has like a Road Runner Coyote like relationship with a Buddhist monk, it's really funny but God always comes through and wins the authorities over to his side. Ask any SLMT member and I'm sure they would duly relate the details to you.  The Programme we ran was good I guess, many children came for prayer. Just glad we could just play with them and show some love and attention to them, am pretty sure they are in good hands  under Ps Dayak.  Also met Ps Don at agape, a ps from US. More stories were told, shall not delve into them here. Interesting it seems like this mission trip we have really come to be ministered to, ourselves be refreshed and inspired by all these people in Sri Lanka. Good stuff mans. Join SLMT next year if you feel as if you need refreshing in your life.  Okay signing off now, Louisa.  P.S if you want the full stories, just approach me after I come back okay!

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Sell All, Live Merry Together (SLMT 2012) Day 4

Okay today will be a short one, not that it is not eventful, but because its too eventful that now I am really tired and hence, I will make it a really brief one. Prob will try to catch up if the wifi works and when I have the time, and day 2 is finished but the wifi is ... uncooperative. So, as I always say, good things require some waiting yes? But enough on updating abt updates, and let's plunge into the day itself.
We had as mentioned in the previous day, school of healing (SOH) day 2 in the morning today, followed by the night rally. SOH was good I think, was out playing duck duck goose with the kids, but came back in time where we had impartation of love (from Ps Keith) and also healing of any newcomers who require healing. Prayed for healing and as expected from God, most people were healed, some more exciting, some not so much. Not too exciting since such healings are only to be expected from God no? Well but anyway not to focus too much on the healings, but more on how to equip the leaders to continue this in their lives, that they can just learn some you know, "guidelines" (for lack of a better word) on healing and also just be empowered to know they have this authority and power to heal.
Anyways, we heard the testimony from the lady whose husband was martyred and it is a really powerful one, but due to time constraints (it is 12 am SL time here and I am currently dying) shall not go into it. Will definitely share it with you guys one day, pls look forward to it :)
The healing rally was electrifying (their av system was somehow not grounded properly so they had minor current leakage). But actually, I think through the night rally (which lots of people were healed, and lots of "fallings" haha) the SLankans really opened their eyes to the signs and wonders (not that they haven't seen it, I just think they haven't seen it done to so many people and they themselves doing it) and the power of God's presence when He just falls onto a place. Kinda shocking always huh, the first time lol. And I think they are fired up to just do this as part of their everyday life, it's kinda exciting to just see where they would bring this movement to. Just know it will sweep through SLanka.Detailed accounts next time. THEY OWE ME THAT.
Prayer pointers for tmr:
Will be splitting up to individual churches, just pray that God's presence will just continue to be with us throughout the 3 churches. Whatever you are praying its working so haha just continue!
Rising up of the local leaders
Continued good health for the team
Thanks for the prayers guys!

LOL,
LOOISA.

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Sell all, Live Merrily Together (SLMT 2012) Day 3

Day 3 Hey all! Today is day one of SOH (aka school of healing)! Having it at kataragama where a church leader was martyred by Buddhist monks, yet in his place rose his wife and four other young men who carried out his calling in life.  It seems apt that we are having this SOH right in the church where his wife is the senior ps of! Shows how God is ever faithful!  Anyways moving on to the main story (as told by UH, additional info from me!) School of Healing today was awesome. Things started slow. Then Ps Keith gave word of knowledge for hip pain. One lady Esther came fwd, I prayed & she fell n God healed her. Few more people got healed, of aches and pains that have been disturbing them.  Here louie comes in with little addendum. There was a woman with a wrist pain, who was wearing a cast because her shoulder was in pain too. After praying, she move her arm fully!  Another woman with pain in her toes came forward after a WOK was called, her toes were cracked. After praying she said she felt a heat in her legs, and after a few rounds her pain was gone! K back to UH's account.  Neo then taught on Word of knowledge, he asked participants to practice. Esther came out, and she gave a WOK for stomach problem. (Louie: admire her lots, will never ever be the first to  go out) A lady came fwd, we asked Esther to pray 4 her. The lady fell n got healed! Talk abt chain rxn huh.  I spoke in afternoon on 5-step prayer model, follow by impartation of gift of healing. Everyone came up; the SLMT members prayed for them. Very charged up. The SOH participants will be our ministry team at tomorrow night rally. It is our prayer tt the Sri lankans would be able to rise up and really step into their identities as healers, prophets and basically the anointing given as children of God. And tmr is gonna be the real deal, the slankans are going to minister beside us as we do the rally.   So prayer pointers: That the slankans would step into their identities as children of God, for courage and the understanding of this truth Presence of God just go forth before us the healing rally, that all lots of miracles would be seen and lots of people would be ministered to, and people ministering would be ministered to as well Covering over the trippers, good health (some are sickish) and blood of Jesus just be with us. Tmr would be an awesome day, we would be carriers of God's presence everywhere we go, people can't help but be drawn to the majesty of his glory.  Lots of love (LOL), Louisa Ps. Day 2 coming to theatres near you soon...

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Sell all, Live Merrily Together (SLMT 2012) Day 1

Day 1 Hey all! Sorry Abt the media blackout last few days, the journalist is enjoying the time away from the Internet. Okay here is quick update on the first and second days. We have reached sri lanka safely, it's a place that is definitely not what I imagined, pretty modern with large swathes of beauty. It's called garden of Eden for a reason! I think that is apt that we started with the trip with this idea as us as little children, carrying streamers of love and joy with us as we go ard SL. went to church, and the next day went grocery shopping cos everyone is a food monster and cos we gotta buy some gifts for the various orphanages we go to. After that, went to mahagarama orphanage where we had our first prog in the open field, with a makeshift stage demarcated with plastic chairs and eager faces ard us. We have also found a sure fire way of ice breaking with children, with a singoff competition amongst the children! The power of worship, brings so much laughter! Audrey was being dragged on the dusty floor, but I guess it was all worth it as many kids raised their hands to express interest. For Jesus says let the children come to me, and I guess they can't help but to draw close to his love.  Went to New covenant church for the youths, they are a really awesome bunch of youths, moving strongly in the Spirit. Many words of knowledge (wok) released, one abt father issues was released and a newcomer came forward. Said  he identified with everything (haha meant the skit) and dedicated his life to God.  Went to niwala, were super late! Do you know that slankans sleep at eight and wake up at five. Cannot imagine that! Perhaps has sth to do with the tendency for blackouts in sl, the children who had an item for us performed in total darkness. Our skit too was in darkness, illuminated by two torchlights. Really fun times! Anyways enough Abt blackouts, the children there are really well brought up, speak really good English and many aspire to be pastors, missionaries, doctors and lawyers. Ps Sudaiman said cos the emphasis in this orphanage is on the children, hence, they are a real talented bunch. Makes me wonder what I wanted to be then, if I'm not wrong, it was a policeman, then a oyster opener or sth to that tune. Really glad they have found security in their identity in Christ :). Okay I'm tired and really backlogged on updates so shall end here, day 2 coming soon!

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Jul-Aug SOAP

I am really excited that we are entering another 40 days of S.O.A.P.

Here is my S.O.A.P for yesterday: 

Psalm 19

Title - Fear of the Lord

Scripture

The fear of the Lord is pure,

enduring forever. 

The ordinances of the Lord are sure

and altogether righteous. (Psalm 19:9 NIV84)

Observation 

The fear of the Lord is the cleanest, purest form of fear. It is fear without tyranny or coercion; it's the awe when you are in the weighty presence of God. We are created for a healthy longing for the unknown and uncontrollable mystery of God. The reward of those who walk in reverent fear of the Lord is revelation of our identity in Christ. We will even receive strengthening through angelic visitation (Ps 34:7). When we walk in reverent fear of God, following his commandment is so much easier, so much more desirable.

Application

When all my reverent worship is towards God, I will have no other fear. I am so secure in my sonship in Christ.

Prayer

God,

Release your Spirit of the fear of the Lord and the Spirit of Knowledge on me.

Thank you God that when I revere you, I have no other fear!

Uncle Henry

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Sri Lanka Mission Trip

Prayer for Team

•       Ps Keith, Ps Bandara, Ps Henry, Audrey, Cheryl, Deborah, Louisa, Peilin, Joyce, 

         Keith, Shi Wei (team leader)

•       Health and Safety of Team 

•       Lots of energy through God’s grace

•       Being united in love/ bond of peace

•       Outstanding teamwork (different gifts, same mission)

•       Individual members

•       To be confident in their identity as children of God and a royal priesthood

•       To know and operate out of God’s Love(Theme: Father’s Love)

Prayer for Ministry

•       Interpretation (Bandara and Sudaiman)

•       T-net Training sessions

•       Minister to hearts thru programs  @orphanage, School of Healing, Wesley College

•       Encouragement for returnees during visitation @Matara & Colombo

•       Establish warm relationships with New Covenant Life Church and the 3 churches in Kataragama

•       Anointing (move mightily in power and love of the Spirit)

•       Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit (heed and promptly obey God’s voice)

•       Change of spiritual atmosphere through the release of God’s presence wherever we go 

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