Camps!

This is a period for camps! We just had our University camp at St. John Island. The next one is Family & Children camp, follow by Adults camp follow by Youth camp and then the Mandarin camp!

For the Family camp, Wan Leng updated me that there would be close to 160 Adults. This is a really high number. It is around 76% of the worship service attendance people. Well done!

Pastor Johanes is the keynote speaker on the theme of prayer. We are praying and working towards being the kind of people Jesus wants us to be and doing the kind of things Jesus wants us to do.

Please pray with us as the Family group aims to reach more than 230 people by August in our worship services. Do really pray along with us!

Claudia and I will be leaving for the Adults Camp on next Wednesday. I am very looking forward to it. I look forward to spending time with the people. I am also anticipating great things from the Holy Spirit during the teaching and Praise & Worship sessions. Around 77% of our Service attendance will be there at the camp!

Pastor Simon Eng, the Vice-President of our Movement, will be taking some of the teaching sessions as well! I am praying that God will really impact us in a big big way at Shah Alam, Selangor.

I will update us with more camp info as I attend and hear more ground reports.

Meanwhile, can I ask you to take 30 seconds now to just pray for all these life-transforming camps? Pray also for me that I will be able to minister life and strength as I speak in 3 of the camps. Many thanks in advance.

Exciting Encounters & Happenings

This morning, while Michael was leading the service, we were asked to pray for the people around us. I went up to a particular brother who was all alone and prayed for him.

After praying for him, I asked him which group does he come from and he told me that he was new in our church. This is the second time he was visiting our church. The first time was some years ago.

I immediately connected him to one of our care group leaders. They got connected and he agreed that he would be visiting our services and care groups in the coming week. He comes from a different part of the world where another religion rules. He shared with us about his company here and how he hoped to be able to reach out to his countrymen back home. He said that the vision of our church had attracted him to come back again after all these years.

Two Sundays ago, I saw a couple and a mother who were in our services. I went up and greeted them thinking that they were already regular visitors in our church. To my surprise, it was their very first visit to our church. They were fresh in Singapore and were looking for a church to be connected in.

I connected them to another of our care leader who came from the same hometown as them! The new visitors even had the exact profile of the adults grouping that they were reaching out to! God is indeed the perfect spiritual matchmaker!

In the past weeks, it was very exciting to see our Adults group growing in excitement and numbers. We have grown by around 30 people since the beginning of April. Our Adults leaders have worked and prayed really hard for the Kingdom progress. Well done!

To top it all off, I am so very excited about my two brothers (Joshua & Caleb) who are coming onboard the church staff team. Joshua & Caleb… what a combination!

Joshua, aka (also known as) Wen Jiang, is on the staff team overseeing the University part of the Kingdom plan. Caleb, aka Choon Yam, will be working alongside Michael and me on the Adults side of things.

The Kingdom is indeed moving forward! I am really excited and privileged to be part of God is doing through our church.

King Of Europe!

Have not watched the full game yet but this was sent to me. I don't think my heart would have survived the scare. I would probably have switched off when Terry came on to take the penalty. I could not take teh sight of losing; especailly in such a big game.

Anyhow...we are now

Champion of England and King of Europe!!!

Samy Curry Restaurant

I was first introduced to this eating place back in 1993. One of my friends from Hewlett Packard (it was during my industrial attachment days in HP) bought me to this run down place in Demsey Road. The place was really old and ulu but the food was really good.

After many years down the road, it is now a rather high-class South Indian restaurant. The waiters have dress code and the presentation of the whole store, while still in the same location, is much nicer.

The food is really good too. You must try the mutton and the curry chicken. The biryani rice and pompodom are great too. The basic rice set will come with free flow of 2 vegetables, pompodom and biryani rice. With one more order of the any meat and a drink, it should cost you around S$10. It may not be the cheapest but rather worth it.

For those of you who do not drive, it is not hard to get there.

Check it out!

SAMY'S CURRY RESTAURANT PTE LTD
25 Dempsey Road
Singapore 249670

Tel : 64722080
Fax : 64745024

Missing The Point

Below is an article that I have read from Wayne Cordeiro's book entitled "The Divine Mentor". It is really powerful and has spoken to me greatly. Hope it will do the same to your heart as well.
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F.Kefa Sempangi’s great book called A Distance Grief alerts us to the fact that we can miss the point. Sempangi endured Idi Amin’s horrific dictatorship during Uganda’s oppressive past. As a young minister, he witnessed the persecutions and slayings of many believers. His friends would disappear, and whole villages were massacred. To escape the maltreatment, he fled with his family to the United States.

There he and his wife, Penina, enrolled in a seminary to further train for ministry. As time passed, so did the constant fears they’d lived under for years. The tension and anxieties that had become the norm of their existence slowly became a thing of the past, and they began to have a new calm and security.

Sempangi writes:

Our first semester passed quickly. Penina gave birth to our son, Dawudi Babumba. In the fall, I returned to my studies. It was then, in my second year that I noticed the change that had come into my life. In Uganda, Penina and I read the bible for hope and life. We read to hear God’s promises, to hear His commands and obey them. There had been no time for argument and no time for religious discrepancies or doubts.

Now, in the security of a new life and with the reality of death fading from mind, I found myself reading the Scripture to analyze texts and speculate about meaning. I came to enjoy abstract theological discussions with my fellow students and, while these discussions were intellectually refreshing, it wasn’t long before our fellowship revolved around ideas rather than the work of God in our lives. It was not the blood of Christ that gave us unity, but our agreement on doctrinal issues. We came together not for confession and forgiveness, but for debate.

We cannot miss the point. It is not the program but the progress that changes our hearts as we sit with the Master. This is not an end in itself but a means to the likeness and the mind of Christ. Look closely to Him, not to snag information about Him. Listen for His voice, not for a new idea. Catch the heart of God, and be slow to espouse new information until it bleeds out your toes. Let it sink in first. It’s food for your soul before it’s fodder for your ideas.

Crab Shack

Last Sunday night was a great night. At around 8 plus, Sharon, Claudia and I were already on our way to Crab Shack (some secluded place off Prince Edward Road) to watch our big game against Wigan.

Claudia has searched the net and found that this is actually the United Fans hang out place to watch the matches. So at around 8 plus, we sent out some sms-es, hoping to get more Man U fans to watch the game together.

In the end, 11 of us were there to watch the game. The atmosphere was fantastic. The people were singing and it was an emotionally very draining night. When Giggs scored the second goal, the whole place erupted. I believe there are up to 200-300 Man United fans in that joint.

Channelnewsasia was also there to film the ecstatic scene when the referee blew the final whistle. We cheered ourselves crazy!

Sharon was a delight to have in such events. She is one die-hard fan. This afternoon, she brought me a VCD of the Sunday’s game and some of the photos and video clip. She even brought me some Man U books and other stuff. I will post the photos soon.

Perhaps, for the next season, all the United fans can gather in Crab Shack more often for our games :)

Meanwhile, here’s just 3 photos that I have taken with my sub-standard camera phone to whet your appetite a little bit.

To those of you who were there... thanks for making it a fun and memorable evening together.
















New Photos

We Are The Champions!

Noodles War

I think that God really loves us so much. It was only last week that I began to count our blessings. Do you know that we actually have 3 excellent noodles stall at Cuppage Plaza?

We have the Orchard Yong Tau Foo, the Pontian Wanton Noodles and the Ipoh Curry Mee. All three shops in one location. All no more than 2 minutes walk from Nexus!

It was during last week where some of the Adults leaders told me that the Ipoh Curry Mee is really good. They told me that it was just beside the Pontian shop that is just beside the Yong Tau Foo shop. I must admit that I did not even know that this Curry Mee shop exist until now.

Some of you may be in the same boat as me. The way to find this Curry Mee place is to walk on the outside of Cuppage Plaza. They only have one entrance and it is facing the previous S-11 easting place.

When I visited this Curry place for the first time, one of our members actually took our order. I thought that she was just trying to be salt and light and being helpful. Later, I found out that the shop belongs to her uncle.

THe curry was really nice and tasty. This is defintely for those who do not have strong taste. Do check it out.

Among the three stores, my favorite is definitely the Yong Tau Foo one. In my opinion, this is probably one of the best Yong Tau Foo shops in our island. The soup and the chilli sauce is fantastic. The shop is not conducive for hanging out but the food is great! It is a definite must try.

I was very shock once when I heard from one of our long time members that she had never tried this Yong Tau Foo store before! So near yet so far. If you have not, you should.

Anyhow, do try out in all the 3 stores and determine your favorite.

I Pray For You & You Pray For Me

Wisdom + Courage + Anointing To Do Outreach + Discipleship

Ishikawa

Since it’s the holidays, allow me to introduce you to a very nice Japanese restaurant that I visited recently. My sister has long told me about this restaurant but I just did not take the time to check out.

Anyhow, Claudia and I decided to pop in recently. It has a very nice set up; almost exactly like the ones that you find in Japan. The restaurant owner and his staff were very friendly and helpful to find you select your food. However, those that they introduced to you would not come cheap at all.

The highlight must certainly be the food. They are really quite exquisite and has a surprise (not shock) element when you bite into it. Nice to look at and even better to bite at.

I recommend the set meals (they have set meals for male & female!). I think the difference is the portions. It is very special and quite reasonably priced.

If you love sashimi like I do, check them out. I order the one with the salmon belly and prawns. They were really good!

In my own estimation, this is even better than the one at Sakuraya Fish Mart (December 28 2007 posting)

If you want to eat a really really good meal, bring lots of money. I think it may be worth your while.

Ishikawa Japanese Restaurant
170 Upper Bukit Timah Road
B2-14 Bukit Timah Shopping Centre
Tel: 64660281
Business Hours: 1130am - 3pm, 6pm - 10pm Daily

I was told by some of you that I should also introduce good food that are assessable by MRT as most of you do not drive. I will scout around and do my best to satisfy your palate.