SportsCare Basketball Clinic

Nic (back row, in black) and cousin Shannon at the basketball clinic. It was Shannon's first time at basketball and she enjoyed it.

SportsCare Badminton Clinic with Cheah Soon Kit

Church Presentation by Pre-Teens

Here are the young ones with 'God of My Forever'. [October 19, 2014]

Note of Encouragement

Holiday Camp

Each day the kids receive a note from the teachers. It is a nice touch indeed.

Birthday Surprise at Camp

It is day two at Community Baptist Church's Camp Mission Possible and yesterday was fantastic. Nic thoroughly enjoyed it. We reached the church at 8.10am and her team mates (Team Snow Leopard) on seeing her began to sing 'Happy Birthday'! Now that really was a surprise, to all three of us! Thanks!

MADWORLD - Mind-blowing Stage Show

We attended the joint production by two churches, DUMC and SIBKL today and it was FANTASTIC! Thanks to Sammie who alerted us to be early as the crowd on Friday was over the capacity (I think the Dream Centre holds around 3000).

We arrived around 2.30pm and the queue was snaking around the main block towards the rear. We did not wait to long before the doors opened and we got seats on the upper section with a panoramic view of the stage and musicians. DUMC productions are always top notch but this one is unbelievably good - class act! And yes the show also featured the song Mad World. I was so into Tears For Fears back in 1982 when the song charted.

The next shows will be on December 24, 25 and 26 at SIBKL auditorium. Free admission as well but with tickets. If you missed the show - catch MADWORLD this Christmas! I cannot do the show any justice by writing - just go watch it. They ought to charge a fee for this good stuff.

Bob Fitts - Love Remains

We attended Glad Tidings PJ to watch Bob Fitts , a singer, songwriter who is gifted in leading worship. As the Saturday slot is primarily a youth meeting, the majority of the attendees were just that - youth. In fact I'd say over 30 per cent were college students mainly from Botswana many whom already attended the first session the day before.

Barely a minute into the opening song, Bob breaks a string on his guitar and he played on to finish the song. His wife Kathy promptly helped re-string his guitar. I must say the Botswanan worshiped freely unlike most of us who tend to be more 'restrained'.

It was good to watch Bob live as we had enjoyed his earlier songs like He Will Save You and You Are My All in All. Bob will be leading a tour to the Holy Land next March - I can imagine what an experience it would be.

DUMC - 180 The Musical

We attended DUMC's 180 The Musical on Saturday and it was fantastic - we enjoyed it! What a talented lot!

Nic liked the comedian Joe with his Cantonese jokes even though she could not understand it. We met Sammie for a few minutes as she was on make-up duty.

After the show Pastor Daniel asked those who predicted that Spain would win the World Cup to raise their hands. Nicole raised hers - yeah right.

Church Discovery Days

Nic attended our church's Discovery Days kids program held over two full days. Yesterday (day one) was a lot of fun and Nic came home very tired. She said she enjoyed it very much and that they had many fun activities.

The majority of the children came from a couple of orphanages while another were from a group of single moms. Pastor Reynold said that in one case the mother could only afford to feed her baby, wait for it - Chinese tea. Yes there are indeed folks living in desperate conditions.

Today the main program was the visit to the KL Bird Park. We were invited to come by at 4pm for tea and we watched the kids do their presentation - each group sang their song.

Easter Sunday

Okay I have not been attending church for a while now and Nic insisted I went to watch her on stage. She said if I did not go God would punish me. No one taught her to say that - she is good at convincing , I'd say. The Sunday School kids presented a simple medley of songs this time.

Today's speaker was Pastor Moses Soo whose untiring and selfless work with the poor (yes there are poor people in Malaysia) has seen him in the crosshairs of the government especially in his work with the Orang Asli (indigenous) folk. You may recall the demolition of a church in Kelantan back in 2007 - Moses preached the gospel to them (Orang Asli) and the entire village accepted Jesus as Lord.

Living among the tribes is no mean feat - watch this video and you will see what I mean.

Jesus said, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29

God Came Near: What Are You Looking For?

We attended DUMC's Christmas event last night and it was very enjoyable. The musical comprised of both a children and adult choir that refreshed my memory with songs I used to sing as a teen in Setapak Gospel Centre's youth meetings like He's Everything To Me , a Ralph Carmichael song from the 60s.

For me the highlights were the kids choir and the male solo at the end - powerful! I don't know the song but I'll search around and post it if I find it.

Glad Tidings

Our first time at Glad Tidings church in Section 13 Petaling Jaya. I think it was one of the first mega churches in PJ. As long as a church is built to look like anything except a church - there will be no trouble. So it really is built in an industrial district and certainly looks like a warehouse from certain angles.

CBC Sunday Celebration

Pastor Richard was the speaker today. In fact it was his first sermon at our SS2 center this year. As always he had a joke or two to keep the congregation attentive.

He also shared about the church's progress in Myanmar and how the people were rebuilding their lives after last May's cyclone disaster. The church has donated machinery like a tractor and funds to build a few schools. The folks are very grateful and would bring out the best seafood whenever our mission staff visit.

Nic at Sunday School

Being Buddhists they were initially very wary of our help but has since warmed to the church's aid. As the church's entry is on NGO permits thus are barred from preaching the Gospel. However it has not stopped about sixteen locals to be touched by the love shown and they gave their lives to Jesus.

Sunday Celebration Sermon

The message was about death. Not a topic one might expect to hear especially with Chinese New Year so near. I have no issue with the topic as it is imminent. In fact I think about it a lot, okay maybe once a month. Most recent was when I was hospitalised during Christmas. It was not because my condition was critical but places like hospitals do make me ponder about the fragility of life. I think of Nicole and what the future holds if both of us were no longer around? I also think about her education expenses, etc even if we're both around. You get the idea?

Anyway back to the sermon. Elder Ong was on hand to remind us that death is only temporary as we will be raised from the grave incorruptible to be with Jesus and all the saints who have gone before us.

1 Corinthians 15:52-57
In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Whose Dream?

“I have a dream that one day I will be a chef,” says the son.
“I have a dream that one day YOU will be an accountant,” says the father.

The year is 1985. Mr and Mrs Khoo run a successful prawn mee stall in Kepong. They have only one son, Ah Kiang, in whom they put all their hopes. Mr Khoo has put together the ‘perfect’ plan for Ah Kiang to study accounting in Australia. Ah Kiang’s passion, however, is in something completely different and he is determined to pursue it. ‘Whose Dream?’ is a story of clashes of hopes, dreams, family love, gratitude and most importantly, having one’s heart in the right place.

We attended the DUMC play on Friday 8.30pm (thanks Sammie for the tickets). As with any DUMC event it was very well done (I think I have taken their quality for granted by now). We tried to enjoy the play as best we could as Nicole was not interested at all.

Community Baptist Church

We went back to our 'home' church today and the topic was about 'When All Seems Lost'. It was a very interesting sermon as Elder Tan as always gave a smooth, clear and lively sermon. He spoke about Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers and endured years of hardship. It all looked hopeless for him but his faith withstood trials and tribulations and he eventually found favor with his Egyptian captors.

After church we popped over to Amcorp Mall and browsed about for an hour or so. Then it was over to A & W Drive-in to check out the informal 'Sugar Glider' gathering. There were about a dozen or so 'suggie' fan there and Nicole was ecstatic to be able to handle a cute little suggie.

After a root beer float and waffle wth ice-cream we decided to head home.

Worship at DUMC

We decided to attend DUMC today as we liked it so much the last week. The added incentive to meet our nieces Sarah and Sammie was also a big draw.

Nicole was in her element today, roaming in and out of the auditorium at least six times so I had to stay out in the foyer to make sure she doe not run outside.

We had lunch at the cafeteria again and Nicole even insisted Sue and I posed for a couple of photos. Check out the 2 pics Nic took of us.

DUMC

We have attended DUMC celebrations back at the former Ruby cinema premise but not the new ultra Dream Centre in Section 13, Petaling Jaya.

We reached the center at about 9.50am and parking was a breeze. We then made our way to the main building and it was impressive. There was the cafeteria and also a cosy bookshop where we browsed while waiting for Sarah and Sammie.

Sarah and Sammie arrived about ten or so minutes later and we proceeded into the sanctuary and it sure was huge (pic). The worship team was already into the second song I think when we got to our preferred seats at the right wing.

The sermon by Pastor Daniel Ho was on Adultery & Divorce and it was as always, clear and precise.

After the service ended we had our lunch at the cafeteria. The menu was rice with mixed selection of dishes, spaghetti, pies, lasagna and so on. Lunch was very comfortable in the spacious dining area.

Easter Celebration

We missed church for a bit now so we made it a point to attend CBC's Easter combined celebration. Nicole's Sunday School group (age 0-4) were busy with their last-minute rehearsal and teacher Linda asked if Nic wanted to join the kids up on stage to which she replied yes. I said to Sue that she would chicken-out at the last moment.

The moment of truth came and out trudged twelve tiny-tots (mostly) with our little Nic leading the way. The video is a bit grainy (no, it's not my video but I am very grateful someone took it) and if you're wondering which one is Nic she's the one on the extreme left doing what she does best, jumping up and down! Aw, that was a sweet moment for us.