Owner: tenforty URL:http://tenforty.blogspot.com Join Date: Fri, 08 Jun 2007 11:03:41 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: travel tales in the Far East; Cambodia, China, the Philippines, Singapore; photo blog; inspirational poems and quotes. Site statistics:Click here
From Church Camp To Colorful Circumstances 2007-06-07 07:25:00 - an email report from Pastor Noe received on 7th JuneIt was a joyful and renewed day for our brethren from GLBC-Koh Kong when they left the camp site at Prey Nop on May 16 at 11am. A very fair weather as the hired van started to journey back to Koh Kong after the Camp. One of our students 13 yrs old had seen me conducting the baptism during the camp and he told the group he wanted to be baptized as the two delegates from KK followed, yet he was scared, because he thought that he will be drawn into the water. Beside, he told Sister Marissa also that, if his father finds out he might be scolded for not telling about it (most of the story goes like this with teenagers in Cambodia). Eventually, on May 31 he confidently asked me to baptize him.I followed up the decision and planned to baptize at Baklang after the Sunday afternoon service. We rented the van and everybody is excited to roam around. When we arrived at Baklang... what a surprise!, the ocean was low tide and we need to wa Read more:Church
, Colorful
About Me 2007-06-05 09:24:00 My brains are still rather distracted by the GSS - if you're not from my part of the world, the GSS is the Great Singapore Sale which started on 25th May and runs for two months. As you have seen from my previous post last week, I think I have been wasting too much time roaming the malls and charging all kinds of purchases to my credit cards. Sigh!Anyway, this blog is now almost two months old, and I figured it's time to do an "About Me" post. Many visitors in the past few weeks were those who know me quite well. We meet on Sunday and receive the same scolding from the pulpit i.e. from our pastor and then we eat lunch and fellowship together, thus there wasn't any need to introduce myself, but things have changed lately, I'm now getting traffic from all over the world plus some surprising reviews too. It's only fair that I share a little bit about myself. I won't bore you with my entire life history but I do hope it's enough to keep you coming back, to visit this blog, and subsc
He Sends It 2007-06-02 02:35:00 Though the rain may fall and the wind be blowing,And cold and chill is the wintry blast;Though the cloudy sky is still cloudier growing,And the dead leaves tell that the summer has passed;My face I hold to the stormy heaven,My heart is as calm as the summer sea,Glad to receive what my God has given,Whate'ver it be.When I feel the cold, I can say, "He sends it."And His winds blow blessing, I surely know;For I've never a want but that He attends it;And my heart beats warm, though the winds may blow.-- Unknown
"Mission" Shopping Trips And The GSS 2007-05-30 23:53:00 I’m very distracted by the GSS lately. Already been twice to charge too much $$ to my credit cards – my favourite haunts in Singapore are Robinsons and John Littles. The crowds you see there... they’re mostly in the streets and the MRT, actually the shops inside were quite empty of shoppers on a Saturday evening. Last Sunday at lunch in the canteen, someone who knows me a bit too well asked – so when is your next "mission" shopping trip?Deb: Ehhh... what you mean by putting the “mission” in inverted commas… shouldn’t it be the other way round?Friend: Oh no, Deb, I know you too well, hehe, so when is your next “mission” shopping trip?Deb: Um… second half of July. My air ticket is already booked and paid for. Passport and visa form handed over to the very busy co-ordinator.And then I remembered the friendly Dr K, when he was last here with us, told me that where we’re going, there’s nothing but camels to buy. Camels?? Hmm, we’ll see. I’m kinda expecting big Read more:Mission
, Shopping
Praying For Revival 2007-05-28 07:39:00 Read Isaiah 64:1-12V. 1 Pray for God's supernatural power and presenceV. 2 Pray for purity among God's peopleV. 3 Pray for the focus to be on ChristV. 4 Pray for increased faith in GodV. 5 Pray for a proper view of GodV. 6 Pray for a proper view of ourselvesV. 7 Pray for others to join in prayerV. 8 Pray for yielded livesV. 9 Pray for a sense of urgencyV. 10 Pray for our cityV. 11 Pray for our churchV. 12 Pray for the release of God's mercy
Let Me See 2007-05-26 11:14:00 Lord, purge our eyes to seeWithin this seed a tree,Within the glowing egg a bird,Within the shroud a butterfly,Till, taught by such we seeBeyond all creatures, Thee.-- Christina Rossetti
A Sleepy Little Town 2007-05-22 09:49:00 Before you decide after my last depressing post that you’re definitely not heading to Cambodia any time soon because you don’t want to go to the genocide museum, do take note that nowadays since our ministry is in Koh Kong, in the south of the country, we travel via Bangkok and there’s no stopover in Phnom Penh. I’m now looking forward to another Koh Kong trip which is hopefully, probably towards the end of this year. Anyone wants to go with me??Koh Kong is a very, very sleepy little town. It’s so sleepy that there’s absolutely nothing to do here. Deacon Colin, Marissa and I went for a walk after breakfast from our hotel, the Asean Hotel, to the church, and I trailed behind the two of them with my camera, keeping my eyes peeled for something… anything happening, and it wasn’t easy.We passed some very nice houses in Koh Kong. Really good ones, and here are the photos. Nice, aren’t they?? If you had come to Koh Kong about five years ago, buying the land and building suc Read more:Sleepy
Hymns: The Way We Might Sing Them If We Were Honest 2007-05-19 07:57:00 -I Surrender, Some-There Shall Be Sprinkles of Blessings-Fill My Spoon, Lord-Oh, How I Like Jesus-He's Quite a Bit to Me-I Love to Talk About Telling the Story-Take My Life and Let Me Be-It Is My Secret What God Can Do-There Is Scattered Cloudiness in My Soul Today-Where He Leads Me, I Will Consider Following-Just As I Pretend to Be-When the Saints Go Sneaking In-Sit Up, Sit Up for Jesus-A Comfy Mattress Is Our God-Self-Esteem to the World, The Lord Is Come-Oh, for a Couple of Tongues to Sing-Amazing Grace, How Interesting the Sound-Go Tell It on the Speed Bump-Special, Special, Special-Lord, Keep Us Loosely Connected to Your Word-Praise God From Whom All Affirmations Flow-My Hope Is Built on Nothing Much-O, God, Our Enabler in Ages Past-I Lay My Inappropriate Behavior on Jesus-Pillow of Ages, Fluffed for Me-All Hail the Influence of Jesus' Name!-When Peace, Like a Trickle-I'm Fairly Certain that My Redeemer Lives-We Give Thee but Still Think We Own-What an Acquaintance We Have in J Read more:Hymns
Depressed Tourists 2007-05-16 09:52:00 My very first time to Cambodia was quite depressing. No, it had nothing to do with my traveling companions. Neither was the purpose of the trip a bad one – we were accompanying our missionary to Phnom Penh to get her settled down. It was because, being our first trip, it was sort of obligatory to play tourists and visit a few tourist attractions and… I regret to say that those were really not the usual kind of ‘tourist attractions’ that often came to mind.Firstly, when speaking of Cambodia, nine out of ten people will immediately think of Angkor Wat. Yes, it’s world famous, but it’s waaaaay up north and several hours from the capital, and we didn’t get the opportunity to go there. Not that we wanted to. It is supposed to be the ruins of a temple, but if you really need to see it, here’s a picture we took with the miniature Angkor Wat. (Boy, I looked so slim back then in ‘01!)And so, in Phnom Penh, what sort of tourist attractions were there? Our first stop was a museu Read more:Depressed
Only One Mother 2007-05-13 06:35:00 Hundreds of stars in the pretty sky,Hundreds of shells on the seashore together,Hundreds of birds that go singing by,Hundreds of lambs in the sunny weather.Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,But only one mother the wide world over.-- George Cooper
His Creation 2007-05-12 08:48:00 The beauty of the earth, the beauty of the sky, the order of the stars, the sun, the moon, their very loveliness is their confession of God.-- Augustine Read more:Creation
Don't Forget The Lord 2007-05-09 10:14:00 When the five of us (three pastors, one deacon and me) in the team to Koh Kong gathered at the budget terminal for our early morning flight to Bangkok, Pastor Sam was looking rather tired and down-in-the-mouth, and he told the rest of us that he hadn’t had a wink of sleep the night before, he was itching all over from a rash, and had a touch of flu. He had already seen two doctors at two clinics and had a ton of medicine with him, but those did not seem to work. And while on the way to the airport, he had actually wanted the cab driver to take him to a 24-hour clinic for another consultation, but there wasn’t enough time. We thought, oh dear, this was going to be tough, but perhaps he could get his rest during the two-hour flight.Have you ever planned an overseas trip only to have something going wrong at the last minute and you couldn’t go? No, this is not an advertisement to take up travel insurance. Recently, there was this Singaporean family which was all prepared to fly to A
The Persecuted Church 2007-05-06 06:14:00 The first day of this month was a public holiday, and we kicked off with a morning prayer service in church and a message from Dr K, our frequent visitor and brother-in-Christ from the States. We also viewed a video clip about persecuted Christians. A lot of us in Singapore will say that all this talk about persecution in other countries have absolutely nothing to do with us at all. We are much too comfortable and too busy, aren't we, to care?I'm guilty of that myself. Too comfortable, too busy. I subscribe to a newsletter called The Voice Of The Martyrs, and I confess that often I don't read what they sent me regularly. However, this time, I took a closer look, and went to their website. Here is a link to an account of how three Christians were tortured and martyred for their faith last month. This incident happened on 18th April, barely three weeks ago.Someone asked before the morning prayer service... persecution? It's all in the past, isn't it? (Meaning, several hundred years Read more:Church
, Persecuted
Blogging Tips (And Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due!) 2007-05-04 11:15:00 Just sharing some blogging tips after being at it for less than one month. Perhaps the designer for the new ACTS blog would like to customise your blog too!How to remove that Navbar at the top. I'm not having anyone visiting my blog to click Next Blog and be taken to a random blog which may be objectionable or X-Rated, and so one of the first things I did was to remove the Navbar. The code can be found at this blog called tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com How to place page elements before and after the posts - instead of keeping all the various page elements (like javascript, links etc) at the side, I slipped in one at the top of the posts (the one showing the random bible verses) and another one at the bottom (the one showing the archive). It is also found on this page at Tips For New Bloggers.How to show random bible verses without the advertisments - the code is adapted from this page at Tips For New Bloggers.From this page at hackosphere.blogspot.com, I got the code on how to mak Read more:Blogging
, Giving
Vacation Bible School 2007-05-03 09:16:00 Here are some photos just received direct from the Philippines! Our workers were very busy since last week with VBS i.e. Vacation
Bible School
, because it's the school holidays.They gathered all the kids to teach them the Word of God. This afternoon - 3rd May was their graduation program at GLCC Dumaguete church hall, and Pastor Mechelle preached the message of salvation to parents of the students that had gathered.A message from one of our workers: "We praise the Lord for His sustaining grace given to the teachers as they teach the students starting last week up to now. We praise God as well for the parents who made professions during last Saturday's VBS Graduation program in the two outreaches. As a result we met the parents at last Sunday afternoon's bible study."
How Well Do You Know Him? 2007-05-01 07:10:00 Those who know God the best are the richest and most powerful in prayer. Little acquaintance with God, and strangeness and coldness to Him, make prayer a rare and feeble thing.-- E M Bounds
Faith 2007-04-29 08:15:00 Faith recognizes the fact that God is in control of my life. Whether I believe it or not, it's a fact that God is in control of the world. If I don't believe it, I'm just robbing myself of the enjoyment of the fact.-- Paul LittleI will not doubt, though all my ships at seaCome drifting home with broken masts and sails;I will believe the Hand which never fails,From seeming evil worketh good for me.And though I weep because those sails are tattered,Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered:"I trust in Thee."-- Ella Wheeler Wilcox Read more:Faith
Bangkok To Koh Kong In Six Hours 2007-04-28 01:34:00 We spent about 20 minutes catching up with brother John Waskovsky and his fellow workers. It was crowded in the airport arrival lounge, but it didn’t matter, we just stood in a group and talked until Pastor Noe came along, and he was introduced to the Thai missionaries too, and we continued to talk. The van driver - he probably didn’t understand what was going on - hung about until we were finally ready to leave.Marissa, Grace, Reshmey and Darah Dao (she’s not a baby any more, she’s a toddler!) were waiting patiently for us outside the terminal. It took a while for us to pack ourselves and the luggage into the air-con van, but once we had settled down, we were off, and heading out of Bangkok
! Pastor Sam was very useful, able to speak Thai to the van driver, and the road journey was a pretty long one; about five to six hours, excluding rest-stops. It was half-past twelve when we left the airport, and the Thai-Cambodian border closed at 8pm every day.Nothing much happened that da Read more:Hours
Four And Counting 2007-04-24 18:06:00 Four trips so far to the land of Cambodia, and each one was so different!! Before I grow really old and senile and forget everything (the process of memory loss is already beginning somewhat), let me record it down for all posterity –1) First trip – 17 to 21 Sept 2001 with Pastor Paul, Annie and Diony.2) Second trip – 7 to 11 Oct 2002 with Pastor Paul and Pastor CK to visit Diony.3) Third trip – 26 to 29 Oct 2004 flew alone to meet up with Pastor (gone there ahead) to visit Diony and Marissa.4) Fourth trip – 14 to 17 Mar 2007 with these four wonderful gentlemen Pastor Vic, Pastor Sam, Pastor Sinon and Deacon Colin to visit Koh Kong.Dates are correct because I checked my passport and found all the expensive visas and arrival and departure stamps.I remembered that for the first three trips, I spent more on getting in and out of the country than on shopping. Upon arrival at the airport, Singaporeans needed to get a visa on the spot and that cost US$20/-. And those were the days Read more:Counting
Prayer And Worship 2007-04-22 07:25:00 Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ and expect great things.-- Andrew Murray Read more:Prayer
Koh Kong Mission Trip Highlights 2007-04-20 22:24:00 This series of articles was posted in the e-Serv not long ago. Yes, I know you have read it before, but now I've added more than 10 photos. And I promise to write something new very soon. Really, I will! Please visit again in a few more days. In the meantime, here's the repeat telecast.Wed 14 & Thursday 15 March - Most of you have probably heard the story about the towel doctor and his insecticide diagnosis a few times by now, so I shall try not to repeat the whole story again. Visiting hospitals and clinics was certainly not on the itinerary, but when our team members got sick one after another, these visits gave all of us a great lesson in faith. Pastor Sam, when he met the doctor who wore nothing except a towel, freely prescribed pills with no names and made funny diagnoses, would have fled the clinic in a hurry if he did not have faith in a great God who had led him there.My last trip to Cambodia (Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville) was a few years ago in 2004. Since then, many Gospeli Read more:Mission
, Highlights
Center Of God's Will 2007-04-17 18:02:00 I returned not long ago from a very eye-opening trip from Cambodia. Did you see me with bigger eyes lately? Perhaps not. A month has passed and eyes have gone back to normal size. I’ll share more highlights about the trip here, beginning right from the beginning. We went to Koh Kong, Cambodia by first flying to Bangkok, Thailand.Not many people are heading for Thailand these few months. It used to be a hot, hot destination especially for mad shoppers like me, but recently, the problems there have turned off lots of folk. Quite scary hor, those daily reports in the ST? Well, that’s a very practical option to take... why risk it when there are plenty of safer destinations to head off to spend your precious dollars? As a result of that (hehe!) flights to Bangkok are now very cheep-cheep, especially on the budget airlines, and this is a great advantage for mission trippers!Now, of course if it’s solely going to be a shopping cum eating trip and nothing else, better not go to Thailand Read more:Center
Secret Of An Unsatisfied Life 2007-04-15 09:16:00 The real secret of an unsatisfied life lies too often in an unsurrendered will.-- J Hudson Taylor
Batam Missions Update 2007-04-13 04:50:00 I’m going to start with a country which is actually outside the 10/40 window, which I haven’t been able to visit yet, and so after this, I guess I won’t be writing too much about it until I do get there one day! Apologies, Kamal, Dennis & brethren, I know you keep inviting me!Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world (after China, India and USA). The latest statistics I can find (July 2006) show a population of 245 million, of which slightly more than half live on the island of Java. It is 88% Muslim and is the most populous Muslim country in the world. That is, there are at least 50 million more Muslims in Indonesia than the populations of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia combined. Another sad fact to consider: about 200 thousand Indonesians were wiped out in the Dec 2004 tsunami.Our ministry is in the island of Batam
, and my two trips there were 1) 2004 - for prayer kick off and 2) 2005 - a SF one-day outing, which involved sight-seeing, eating and shop Read more:Missions
, Update
Our Maker 2007-06-09 04:45:00 He only is our MakerOf all things near and far;He paints the wayside flower,He lights the evening star;The winds and waves obey HimBy Him the birds are fed;Much more to us, His children,He gives our daily bread.-- Matthias Claudius
Getting Around: Jeepney Adventures In The Philippines 2007-06-14 10:08:00 Background: A mission trip in northern Mindanao in the Philippines
, with a few brethren from Singapore including Pastor Chin Seng, Dr Shorb (an American missionary), and a few other Filipino brethren, to visit remote mountain churches many, many miles from civilisation.I thank God for several things:-1) Thank God I'm a woman.2) Thank God there were more men than women in that jeepney that day.3) Thank God these were most gentlemenly men who politely told me to "...please leave the jeepney for a moment because we're stuck".4) Thank God I had a camera and that was the hardest work I had to do that afternoon, due to points 1), 2) and 3) above.5) And last but not least, thank God we weren't stuck in that muddy little trail half-way up the mountain till nightfall because if we were, we would have to walk fifty miles to the nearest shopping mall... I mean the nearest town, and all the snakes, bugs and mosquitoes would have come after me, and what if rains, and what if I needed to use the Read more:Adventures
A World In Need 2007-06-12 08:52:00 The world is in need of Good News.It is a world hungry for God. People seek God and His salvation, yet millions have never heard the Good News that God has provided that salvation in Christ.It is a world of inequality. Billions live in poverty and suffering while others even profit from their misery.The 10/40 window, a "window" of land between the 10th and 40th latitudes north, comprises the most unreached countries, peoples, and religions of the world.While the church is growing rapidly in much of the world, this is the "forgotten land" - the area with the most need physically as well as spiritually, but where the church of Christ has put the least resources.When we consider Jesus' commands to "preach the good news to every creature", and to "make disciples of every nation", we would perhaps expect 50% or 80% or 90% of the church's resources to be put into this area of greatest need.But only a fraction of the 150 000 missionaries in the world are working in the 10/40 window, and les Read more:World
Ordination Sunday - Once In 20 Years 2007-06-17 08:08:00 Today, we ordained our new pastor, Pastor Jason Lim, to the gospel ministry. Here is a little snippet (video clip and pictures) of this morning's Ordination Sunday
Service at GLCC: Read more:Years
The Persecuted Church Part 2 2007-06-16 11:06:00 This is South-East Asia, and the line shown is the 10th latitude north of the equator. The countries above it (and below the 40th latitude north) are in the 10/40 window. Singapore, the little red dot, is just below the line, but the south-east Asian countries that are above it include the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. One of these countries which is less than 3 hours flight away from Singapore, which we will focus on today (circled in blue) was in the news a few weeks ago, that they had extended the house arrest of one of the most well-known activists in the world by another year (and I'm not referring to Paris Hilton. She'll be out soon!).Have you ever wondered how Christians are faring in that land? But first of all, are there any Christians there? The answer is a resounding yes. I attended the 7th World Missions Conference in Cebu last year. It was also attended by bible baptist missionaries who serve all over the world. Most of them were Filipinos, Read more:Persecuted
, Church
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