MCPP 2 Presentation at Mission Weekend 14th & 15th Oct 2006

Siew Mei is probably the 1st person who inspired me into missions. She’s has done so much. She was encouraging me to join her on the short team trips in 2002 even before she went on Doulos. I knew I would be most guilty when she returned from Doulos in 2005 and I haven’t even gone on a short term. Thand God I finally went to Nepal. Since back with DUMC, she has been helping to coordinate lots of training and activities. Well, also encourage a number of us to GO by faith!

Siew Mei is really good with mime…I have watched her perform it a few times. Well, she’s a natural performer. Anything from acting to dancing, she nails it.

So, for mission weekend, she taught us a mime. It was really cool since most of us have never done it before. Since we had to do it 4 times, we had quite a bit of time to kill. So took some photos and went around scaring people. ;-p

APSSC Team Building @ Marriott Putrajaya Sept 9th –10th, 2006

I didn’t feel like going…I feel like I had to work during the weekend…!!!!! So not fair. Thank God for nice colleagues. Oh and nice hotels… the Marriot in Putra Jaya is pretty nice. Especially the pillows…..oh feather super soft pillows…so nice. Could just sleep through the weekend. Hehe. The thing was the talk...talk talk talk....nothing new that I haven't heard of...Maybe I attended way too many leadership seminar when I was with Leo... maybe I heard a lot in church as well....but the thing is, I think many would agree with me that sit down kind of team building, is just to for the bulk of us.

My team...the Piranhas

Hew Yen had the privilege to get drunk on Sat night...she just laughs....AT EVERYTHING. We had to carry her back to the room...I dunno how many times she fell of the bed, but she was so enjoying it....laughing all the way ;-p

Cambodia 4th-12th Aug 2006

Before I knew it, and since it was a requirement under MCPP 2, I was asked to be in the team to Cambodia. Honestly I wanted to go back to Nepal and there was a team going in September but don’t know, felt a stronger call to be in this team. I have the amazing opportunity to work with Kau Sern, Joanne, Janice, DebbieDebbie, Debbie Loh, Joel, Sarah and the youngest of us all, Aaron. This was youth team and we were there to also conduct a 3-days camp.

We stayed with a 2 church members based in Cambodia. One in Phnom Penh and another in Baray. Well, we were mostly in Baray where our church member have a handicraft workshop and operate a homestay programme. On the 2nd day of the camp, our 4th in Cambodia, 3 of us were little unwell. Our kind host cooked us porridge. We had homemade kaya. Yup, was another one of those pampering trip. I feel so LOVED! Actually one thing about this trip was I didn’t really felt like I left Malaysia. Maybe it’s a bigger team, and we have our missionaries with us all the time, their kids around. Their presence was a blessing to me. As their share about their work, I can only see how great is their faith and how great is our God. They also celebrated Sarah, Aaron and my birthday. God really reminded me how bless I am when I was told that most of the children/youth at camp have never tasted cake before.

I really believe that the mission field is where all the action is….and where life changes and miracles happens everyday. ;-D

Everyone of us get to go on motorbike ride. That was how we get around in the villages unless we were going with the whole group. That was fun. The last time I sat on one was when I was really young. Before coming back, we had a short R & R. That was when we visited the historical "school" the Touslang Museum - we were a little silly to have gone a little late in the evening. Was a bittt creepy. Just imagine how many were sacrifice in the country. I was told that during the difficult time in Cambodia, anyone who was educated or wore glasses were murdered. What we saw at the Museum were photographs of people killed during the Khmer Rouge Regime. Many who were children and babbies.

Anyway, took a while to digest all that. We had dinner on a boat ride on the Mekong River. That was really cool too. There is just so much to mentioned...and I could go on and on...but my roomie...she managed to vomit everything from that trip really well... in a blog specially dedicated to the trip... check out Squaw Red Rim

Leaders’ Summit 30th June – 2nd July 2006

Instead of the usual camp, this year the church has organized a special retreat for leaders. All the families of cell and ministry leaders were invited to this retreat at Awana. Actually the number of us is so huge we took up the whole ballroom. Since it was also World Cup fever, we had a bunch of people crowding and standing the only TV/projector screen at the lounge to watch. Some of us thought that maybe the mamak nearby will have some seat…yeah right! Every mamak with TV was packed.

Trainings 2006...all the way

2006 resolution was really to attend more training to equip myself. So, I started my MCPP2. I finally completed my SOL Level 1 in July!!! And I decided to take up the challenge to commit my self to a 7 months iGIG/Million Leader Mandate. I was really privilege to have the opportunity to take this under an amazing leader who puts so much into the training.

It's quite crazy...

I was schdule to got to Cambodia in August...

1 week after the trip, I was at my last iGIG. I survived and managed to complete all 6 of my assignments….a great achievement for me.
2 weeks after the trip, I was on my way for my second weekend of the MCPP 2 training. And we had assignment to hand in! Hehehe. We survived. I survived!

Biz CG Retreat @ Genting Hightlands – April 2006

I haven’t been to CG retreat for a pretty long time too. I arrived with some later so we didn’t go into the theme park. But had a good time hanging out with the girls. And we did the superman roller coster with Melissa and Irwin…one thing I learned from my host sisters in Japan was, on rides like this, scream your lungs out…and the fear will disappear…seriously works man!!

LiveWire’s 1st Media Conference – 10th-13th March 2006

This was the first time LiveWire is conducting a conference. It received really good responses from different churches. We had like an express lesson on lights, sound and camera! Also had script writing and editing. We were so privilege to have industry experienced professionals to teach us. Our mentor was great too, guiding us on so many details. I think our team did pretty well; all of us were from different churches…different age groups! Think when God’s people come together….amazing things just happens!

Dew Crew Retreat: 19th-21st February 2006

I don’t remember having a retreat in 2005. So thought that this year we should have something. Bukit Tinggi was sort of a more favoured place. At least it’s not that hot. I guess the biggest challenge was to get everyone on the trip. Had to select a date when most people can make it can so decided on a Sunday-Tuesday thing. Quite a number couldn’t make the whole trip. So, Sunday was the only day we manage to get almost everyone together. We had bowling and paintball!!! After our dinner we had a pretty long chat at the restaurant. Thank God it was just at Bukit Tinggi. The 3 cars that returned on that day managed to each KL in around an hour. Of course the next few days were relaxing, visit a few places and took lots and lots of photographs. Truly refreshing.

MCPP 2

It’s normal to get an invitation for MCPP 2 after our 1st mission trip. So since one of the things I wanted to do was to continually equip myself so I thought, great!

Unlike MCPP 1, it’s not just the 2 weekend for MCPP 2 weekends (11/2 & 12/2 and 19/8 & 20/8) that take up the bulk of the time. I had compulsory readings, attend 2 DUMC mission weekends and a non DUMC misision conference…yup, what on earth did I commit myself into?! Oh and of course 1 overseas mission trip...hmmmm

AYA Festival with Delirious - 2nd Feb 2006

Wow, another opportunity to have fun. Had a great time at the concert and my goodness, grammy award winning Delirious sounds great live! Yup, probably the very expensive sound system contributed too.

Puji Nusantara 2nd-4th Dec 2005

Church Christmas Concert with an Asian flavour. We had musicians playing the gu zheng and er hu! Cool huh. Yes! My dew crew team gets to do this live event. Hmmm... how come i don't have any picture on this...

Planetshakers KK and KL – Nov 2005

Barely back for long from Nepal, I was on my way to KK for the 1st time. I don’t know how on earth I have the time/leave from work but God is good. I was flying on my own for the first time. I remembered CE and Alice picked me from the airport. Met some amazing people who shared the same passion of the media. Setting up stuff and slept pretty little for the next few days. We even pose and took photo in the middle of a road at 3am after supper. How hyper can we be? Somehow, by the strength of God, after the 3 nights conferences I still managed to be there to help out a little for the KL conference! Awesome.

Nepal 6th-15th Oct 2005

This trip was really the first time I am pretty far away from home. I was away for a longer time before, my 5 weeks in Japan, but that was a trip that I was absolutely spoilt and treated like a VIP.

After the 2 months of preparation and challenge faced, this was it. I was pretty sad that the whole thing is coming to and end! But let me just mentioned some things. If you are really interested to know more, ask me! I’ll show you my DVD of the trip…done by me! Be warned, it’s pretty long winded.

We stayed with a Malaysian family for most of the trip and a few days at a German lady’s farm. Actually we’re pretty spoilt…at least I feel that way! We got Malaysian food and our host baked apple crumbles….huh, I don’t even get that at home!

It’s amazing to learn of another culture you know. Village Nepalese don’t share food unless they are husband and wife. If you are Malaysian you will understand this amazing struggle. We are Malaysian; we share food all the time, even more so when we are eating something new, because we MUST try each other’s meal. And there are some of us who are small eater and some with great appetite. Hehe. We have to constantly remind ourselves. What a relieved when we finally make it back to the city. We practically pass our plates around…hehehe.

The stay at the farm was new. Thank God for those “inconvenient” toilets CYZ camps always seems to have. It’s like practice! Toilet….don’t wear specs. You don’t have to see everything too clearly. If something is tickling you, just brush it off. Kinda have an idea what our parents have when they were young. Actually I was pretty amazed at myself. I sound like I was pretty adaptable. The one insect I absolutely am terrified of was everywhere in our room. Some are pretty big. No point shooing them away. It’s their territory. The spiders will be back sooner than we can imagine.

The people there are really great. If you can only see how they worship and pray… oh and tithe too! A lot of the men are working overseas, either the Middle East or here in Malaysia. They actually send their tithes back home. Most of them don’t understand English especially the older generations. So we had interpreters helping us out.

Nepalese really like us you know. Just mention that you are from Malaysia that their eyes will lit up. One of the main reasons is because their father/brother or husband is working here. So they feel connected somehow. They are really gentle and trust others easily.

Those 10 days taught me a lot. It definitely shaped my perspective. It is also such a joy that we have a fellowship here at home where we can serve them weekly. Ever since the begining of the preparation meetings, I’ve been serving in the fellowship doing usher, AV, leading worship and everything else that needs hands!

GO!

OoooOoo, I'm leaving for Nepal in a few hours I'm so exicited. Even though I'm actually quite tired from work!...Have yet to pack ;-p, think I should be doing that now. Ok, gtg! Remember me and my team in your prayers!

Calvin, Paulemen, Kelvin
Vivi, Joyce, Hooi Ee and ME!

drama-ness@work

God really work in very very weird ways...I don't understand most of them. But since He knows best, I just have to trust and obey Him.

Coming into this job, I already feel very "conned" on the first day. I found out that we were moving to Cyberjaya and I was the ONLY one who was not informed during the interview. I was also not informed that I will have to work every Malaysian and HK holiday. Unless the 2 countries' holidays coincides, No holiday for me. Well, so what if they pay, it's not just about the money.

I was the only staff in the department to handle tasks from 2 companies using totally different programmes with 2 supervisors. Yup, there were many clashing of deadline. As I "tahan" and work throughout the few months, more and more work were pile on me. It is very obvious that i can't handle, if only i can show you my desk. i've tried working till 12am, and the work is still not finished. I hardly step out for lunch.

I signed up for mission, my leave was not approved, same goes for unpaid. I was told that no one in the whole department never took more than a week leave before. Rubbish. My friend took 15 days study leave when she wasn't even in the company for 2 months. One thing I hate most is being lied to on the most obvious thing!

Of course I didn't point her out. No point.
After 3 weeks of thinking and asking for the leave. Answer was still no. Even the manager says its all up to my supervisor. I don't believe this. How can I work here anymore? I can keep going on and on about other negative things here.

Tender my resignation on Friday. My supervisor got it on Monday. I believe he was going to take it. Probably, some objection from a colleague who taught me lots of stuff made him had second thoughts. Most would think that this is drastic, but I have thought this through for quite sometime. Infact, if really didn't want to come anymore on the 2nd of work. But i know this, it is really difficult to change field. (why on earth did i studied accounts!) I will most probably end up in another accounting job if i do quit now. Eeeww.

On Tuesday, I was asked to stay. My leave was approved and they are hiring another person to share the workload. Apparently I have been doing at least another 2/3 of another person's workload. I didn't do this to threaten him. I just hope it won't look that way. The thing is, it shouldn't have taken my resignation to move them. That was not my intention too anyway. I would assume they can hire someone else better (just have to pay more!)

Actually, I was really happy to know that I can finally leave this place. But looks like God has other plans. Not exactly what I was hoping for. But now, I don't exactly have a strong reason to leave....well unless another job offer comes along...i guess my time here is not exactly over FOR NOW. I still want to leave this place. I don't want to work on my holidays....hulloooo?!! I still don't find my work interesting.
But praise GOd for what He has done now. TIMING....

Maybe God can't bear the sight of me staying at home. Cause I can totally enjoy it! Ahahahahaha. ;-p Hopefully the next time I give the letter, it would be for another job I know I would enjoy doing - definitely not accounts for SURE!

APSSC Team Buildling at Jeram Besu Sept 10th-11th, 2005

At first at thought aiyoh, weekend away…this was like after my first attempt to resign. Was pretty fun indeed. We all had our individual “bungalows” ….tent to sleep in. Hew Yen was my neighbour. This was the first time I get to try abseiling. Quite fun actually. And a few different methods in doing it. Hehe. After being taught how to use the compass, we were required to complete a few task…we absolutely fail in using the compass and map. Even the river “kayaking” was very much a joke. But you know what, in the end; we somehow manage quite alright…haha. At such events we get to make some new friends too ;-D

firsts

Ever since I started working, I did some stuff quite "unimagineable" not too long ago. Like what? Like when ppl call me out to mamak/1 utama etc, i actually replied, "dun wan la, I'm tired". But there is one that is even worse....I actually fell asleep watching tv! It has never happened before! I mean I fell asleep when I was "trying" to study for uncountable times but never when I'm watching tv!!! Weird man...

But nope, still don't prefer studying accounts...so stubborn huh... ;-p

Being positive?

I haven’t written anything for like 10,000 years…fine, I like to exaggerate (I assume all of you who know me can tell when I’m exaggerating and when I’m not ;-p). But that’s just how I feel. Work…not fun. And nope, still don’t prefer studying accounts to that. After working for a while, I realized how many things were not revealed to me during my interview. Well, lesson learned: ask even the most obvious question next time. I have tried and I am still trying my best to stay in this job. I do try telling myself that I will CHOOSE to be happy at work. It works, sometimes. But lately, things are getting a little overwhelming. I can write a 5000 word essay on that. But I think I better not dwell in that too much. There are 2 things that I really do like. I met some really great people and the current office is just one LRT stop away from DSP.

I’m setting a limit. One last straw, if it doesn’t work then......... hey, everyone has a tolerance level.

Ok, time to talk about something much more happier and interesting! Let’s see, not too long ago, I attended Rueben Morgon’s concert. To me, it wasn’t just a concert; it was a really amazing worship experience. Those of you who were there will know...wish there are more of such "concerts" around.

I had a great birthday makans! Ehehe. One session at TGIF with Mei Peng and Annette (eh, mana photo lah, only show off your new phone but never share the photos), one session with Paul at the now famous Sri Paandi (i think we ate at the corner lot one), one session at Manhattan Fish Market with Debbie, Joseph, Choon Ean, Karen and Andrea, another makan with movie with Monica and Debbie, and one more at Chili’s with Jee Ing, Charmaine, Yvonne and Lydia. Wah, I feel so blessed…a bit bloated too maybe! Hehe.

Despite the haze, you gals still made it. Thanks yeah! And thanks to everyone for remembering my bday, the pressies and not forgetting the video...ahem. Please, no unauthorized filming or screening. Yih Wen, I know my rights… I am the law…

Then there was last Friday’s Planetshakers@DSP. Thank God I manage to get half day off (wasn’t exactly easy when I was leaving that afternoon) for the rehearsal. But I had an excellent time. It was just awesome, enjoyed so much. Was such an honour to serve along with them, although I didn’t do much. :-p

I felt it ended too quickly....too soon! Probably because I knew I was going to work the next day…

People, do pray for me. I really want to get another job….FAST.

Nepal

I just agreed to be in this team to Nepal. Dunno why, just felt that there shouldn't be any reason for me not to go. Have yet to apply leave, but I'm just going to trust Him. No idea who was in my team until I agreed just now...don't know most of them, but, I know this is going to be...interesting!?Can't find the right word to describe....just can't wait la!

truths

We have no right to decide where we should be place, or to have preconceived ideas as to what God is preparing us to do. God engineers everything; and wherever He places us, our one supreme goal should be to pour out our lives in wholehearted devotion to Him in that particular work.

The proof that our relationship is right with God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.