Happy Dobby

We broke record - this is the highest no. of pax in our house!

Mr. Jang always takes on the role of Dobby whenever my friends are around, so when I learnt that his whole team would be coming down to our house for team bonding, I took leave so that I can be his Dobby and help out in the kitchen and other miscellaneous tasks.

Had a great time chatting with his colleagues in between cleaning up and putting out more food and drinks on the table.

I think I made a happy and diligent Dobby!

Inspiring lives, realising dreams.

With the event mascots on the last day of the event. Check out the eye bags that came with the 3hrs of sleep per day week! 

My poor paint-stained "brokenstock" after days of walking, climbing stairs and tripping over paint brushes.

We did it! Over four consecutive days we reached out to close to 90 low income families to help their children create a more conducive environment to study, so that they can concentrate on getting a proper education and take one step closer to realising their dreams and ambition.

Personally, it was the toughest event ever (not even APEC can match it) because I was the overall planner and coordinator for internal comms, scheduling the video crew and photographers and producing daily coverage on the website until post midnight. Thank God for my hardworking intern who slogged it out with me at the base and in the office (and also for 2B for her help in getting the interviews and vetting our content). I was quite pleased with the results and grateful that the coverage was rather well-received. Our efforts have not gone into waste.

One of the more touching moments for me during this event was when my "students" from the earlier camp recognised me and gave me bear hugs (yes I was covered in paint!) and big smiles when I visited their homes. I realised truly what it meant when my dad told me "people might not remember what you say, but they will always remember how you made them feel." Even though I had to drag myself out of bed early on Saturday for that camp, I found that it really pays to make that effort and make a difference in these children's lives. They may not remember the money concepts I've taught them, but they remembered that someone care enough to teach them that day.

In another 2-3 months' time there is a possibility of me not being with the current company anymore. It's really a short stint but I enjoyed the portfolio while it lasted and am glad that I made some good friends there. Every job is an opportunity to grow wiser and better in developing skill sets and handling interpersonal relationships. I hope my colleagues have also found me a pleasant colleague to work with. :)

Train a child in the way he should go...

"They have short attention span." " They lack joy in worship." "They don't know how to pray." "We need more parents' involvement in the children's spiritual life...." "We need more teachers!" "Got more budget?"

Interesting thoughts from about 20 of us at the Children Ministry retreat held at the British Club today. I had thought that only the worship team (where Mr. Jang and I were involved) faces such issue since we deal with a big group of kids but in fact, the smaller care groups are facing just the same challenges as we do.

My 1000km/h brain immediately thought of the solutions to all these and I was wondering why PC, who was organising the session, kept asking us to hold discussions on the solutions. I realised after lunch that she wants us to think through why we are here in the first place: Our purpose (the "mission" of Children Ministry), Our product (we actually want the children to be disciples of God who produce more and more disciples!), and Our priorities (building an atmostphere of love, a dependence on prayer, a tripartite relationship with parents and the larger church, a word-centred ministry and inculcating the proper knowledge of Christ and the Gospel).

And then we think about Our processes - do we want more parents-teachers interaction, do we want to plan local missions to orphanages and old folks homes, do we try to have a greater alignment of adult worship and children worship? All these will have to be thought through with the first 3 Ps in mind.

The session was peppered with funny moments too - thanks to Mr. Jang. Our team tried to come up with hilarious acrostics e.g. for the values of Children Ministry, we had "iSWAT" - i) not "I" but "others", ii) Servanthood, iii) a heart of Worship, iv) Applying biblical wisdom to life and v) Togetherness in prayer, sharing of each other's burdens and encouragement.

I was also secretly glad that Mr. Jang and I were in the same team - more that just being husband and wife, I think we complement each other well in that I take down notes and do the writing while he does the talking (what he is good at). Also got to learn much from H and EK, who had loads of insightful thoughts.

The session was finally over after long discussions and presentations (and loads and loads of food!) The road to building an effective Children Minstry won't be easy with so many distractions for the kids today, but at least this team of dedicated teachers will persevere to the end despite occasional burntouts! A demonstration of servanthood indeed!

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it." - Proverbs 22:6

Solitude

I love being alone. I love the quietness, the sense of peace and tranquility that makes you go "hmmm, I am breathing in a beautiful, amazing world."

I love the quality time spent with myself be it sitting there pondering over something or picking up my ukulele and singing gentle worship songs. Clears my eyes and mind to "troubles" that shouldn't even be defined as such in the first place, and restores the inner balance I need after a long, hectic day at work.

I love just penning down my thoughts in moments like this, because having the ability to write is something that we take for granted most of the time, let alone typing on a laptop when some poorer parts in the world are still coping with the lack of electricity and illiteracy.

When I am alone, I also learnt to appreciate what good company means, and how I need to strike a balance to ensure the growth of a healthy relationship.