A Fish Out of Water

Have you ever heard the expression a "fish out of water"? Well, no one really understands that more than a Heart of God Church person not at Heart of God Church. It seems absolutely unbelievable that I am not spending New Year's Eve with everyone at church, counting down to the first hours of 2009 enjoying the home and family that we know best. Well, since I've had time to myself to think and reflect, I took time to write down this fish out of water's thoughts on the year that has passed.

We started the year no different on the outside to maybe any other year, but it's ended with so much more. And I'm not just talking about the great experiences we've all had as a church, but the people who have made it special.

To C1 & C3, you guys have been amazing! We really broke through this year not because of all the strategies and brilliance we had, but simply because we stuck it out, prayed and trusted God. Like we've always talked about, though there is a lot of natural talent and ability in the CG, God has brought us through a year where we cannot claim any glory for the things that have come our way... I have a feeling it will stay that way... :) 2009 will be amazing! :)

To G1 & G10, there's a lot of ground to break and take in what we're doing... I am so happy to see 2008 bring in a lot of new faces as well as see the growth in some not so new faces... I think the year has proven itself not to be the easiest, but the end of the year is only a sign of the harvest to come in 2009. :) You guys are tenacious. :)

To the Ops team, 2008 was a year of setting our basics right... It was fun, but just the tip of the iceberg... :) We see such a great team in place, with different people operating in their strengths but at the same time supporting each other. :) 2009 is building up to be an even more exciting year :)

To the leaders in HoGC, serving is a joy when done beside friends.. :) Let's build the best church ever; let's grow old together. :) There has never been a dull or boring moment... sitting in the Philipppines doing the things that most people would probably want to do, I can't sit still because there's such passion and vision that doing or being anything less is shortchanging myself. Thanks for the great year!

It is a privilege to be serving in Heart of God Church... I can't believe the year has passed so fast with so many things happening all at the same time... Looking forward to a new year :)

Signing off... fish outta water.

Hope to be back soon. 

A Month's Worth of Updates

Well, we've travelled the world and back and like I said a week ago to everyone who could hear, I am happy to be back home! :) London was great fun, but there's nothing like home and Heart of God Church...

I know I owe people updates on what's happened over the last few weeks, so I think it's time to start blogging. :) (Yes, Aggie, I am referring to you hahaha) Forgive me for the lack of pictures, which I will try to get up soon, 

but since I have a bit of time, let me ramble a bit about everything. :)

Let's start with last week -- which was totally awesome! Nick Vujicic came on Tuesday and Wednesday and everything completely blew our minds away! Firstly, Nick is like in himself a miracle - as Pastor How puts it, he's turned a life without limbs into a life without limits!

The 2 nights were fully packed with 1700 people on the first night and about 1550 on the second! We've never had so many people come in and out of our doors! But I'd just like to say Heart of God Church is just awesome! :) In fact, everyone was so awesome the people were raving about our ushers and how great the whole set-up was! :) This was despite an early morning prayer meeting everyday with the CHC people at our premises! You guys rock! :)

In fact, after Tuesday night, ushering 1,000 people early in the morning in and out of the hall was absolute chicken feet. To imagine, just a year ago we were stressing about combined service for 600 - 800 people. Haha! With our existing 3 services, we actually have the operational capacity for 3,000 people, no sweat! :) That's totally amazing! :) Way to go guys! :)

If you count the 3 service with Pastor Kong over the last 3 days, we've had a total of 10 services in 1 week! It also means that we've had over 10,000 people move in and out of our premises! Come to think about it, we've done more in one week than some people I know do in a year... life sure is productive in God... especially if you're from Heart of God Church :)

Okay, moving on... backwards... to London... haha... :) Time flew by so fast while we were there and it was quite amazing to see how the story of Heart of God Church once again touched hearts in Europe. Pastor How preached powerfully at a leaders' session where not a dry eye was found in a room full of Ang-Mos... Pastor shared about the Journey of a Dream and I found myself with my eyes welling up in tears too as I thought of how far God has brought us and all the scars we have that will cause the world to understand why we are radical for God... The main session was no different - the anointing was so strong, you could feel a difference in the atmosphere... 

Europe is hungry... and out of this trip is birthed forth our very first HoGC London CG! *cheers* * claps* :) If anyone wants to go overseas to study, I recommend London! haha :) Of course, Singapore is still the best :)

I have got to get some pictures up here soon -- aside from the conference, we went around London and went to John Wesley's (the founder of the Methodist movement) house, the Tower of London, Hamleys (London's largest toy shop with 7 floors!!), among other things. We also discovered the joy of Primark where everything was ridiculously cheap haha :P. As for food, we had the trusty healthy cafe called EAT -- the pork, stuffing and apple hot wrap was delicious! 

We realized 2 things about London's food (1) Londoners don't quite find sitting down a necessity and (2) Good Chinese is hard to find haha :) So, we were very happy to find the famous roast duck at the Four Seasons Chinese Restaurant at the Bayswater... otherwise you would have lost a couple of Singaporeans hahaha :)

On a different note, we also had a chance to watch "We Will Rock You" the musical LIVE at the Dominion Theater! The musical was great in general but being an Ops person, I couldn't help but notice the awesome effects (with 8 movable LED Screens) and the crystal clear sound and the whole aesthetic of it. I also couldn't help but think that one day we'll be able to incorporate such excellent world-class standards for the glory of God in His church. After all, that's where the best of the best is supposed to to be, the house of God... One day... soon... :)

On Sunday, we returned to the Dominion theater but this time at 10:30AM for the Hillsong London service. The glitz and the lights and the glamour strangely familiar, I couldn't help but think to the service in Singapore that had just finished (London is 8 hours behind so our 5PM service finished at 9AM London time) and wishing I was there back home soaking in the great atmosphere on the great service that just happened. Truly, nothing is like Heart of God Church, and I think once you've been away you really, really, REALLY feel what you miss...

Well, last but not least, before we headed home to sunny Singapore (London was freezing and temperatures went as low as -2, colder than most Autumns) we made one final fantastic stop... a couple of us had the privilege of watching an Arsenal vs. Tottenham Spurs game LIVE at the Emirates Stadium! :) 

That night I officially became a soccer fan! haha :o) I even bought myself a shirt for Strike It! this coming weekend! :) I finally understood why people watched soccer! :) It was madness! The weather was freezing (and I had to sit on my hands to keep them warm) but everyone was screaming! And we were sitting right above the Tottenham fans, so when we were about to leave the guards even had to tell us to keep all our Arsenal stuff to make sure we don't get into a fight! Haha! :) Madness! But it was tons of fun! :) I soaked in the atmosphere and tuning out the swearing thought that it would be great to one day have a stadium of our own filled with 60,000 people as energetic and passionate praising God... 

I was cheering for Arsenal and was considering to support them but I want to be clear that I do not consider my team because I can't believe they got so complacent and allowed the Spurs to catch up from a 4-2 lead!!! :(

So that's what's been happening over the last few weeks! It's been exciting and fun, tiring and stressful, but at the end of the day all worth it :) I just love being a part of Heart of God Church, I love God, I love my Pastors and I love my life. :)

time flies by... but it's not over yet.

It's been more than a month since I've posted, so I just wanted to review what's been happening because time flies by so fast and things can just go by in a jiffy...

First of all, I can't believe Ivan's in army already. See you in 2 weeks man...

School's started for everyone and to those taking major exams, I know you guys are studying hard, so wishing you well. To JO, Mong, Megan, Lauren, Shihan, Henry, Eugene, Gwen, Yijin and all those who are still as committed as ever to God, I know that God is honoring you putting Him first. I am wishing you all the best in your exams.

The church has hit pass 1,100. On to 1,400. It will happen. It's going to be awesome. As each day passes, we are making history.

The year is almost coming to a close. A lot of things we were thinking about in terms of church calendar are unbelievably over already. AE, AI, School Seminar, June Holidays, countless speakers and even the South African Ambassador to Singapore, H.E. Zanele Makina has come already. Yet, somehow I get the feeling that the best is still to come for this year.

In terms of growing, it's the same. Looking back at the year, I asked God to grow me in wisdom, faith, and love. He has undoubtedly done that, but somehow I know it isn't over yet, that the last stretch will be the most exciting. But the biggest things do not lie in the events that are coming up. The biggest things have come in the unexpected days, and so they will continue to do so for the rest of 2008. 

It's going to be exciting. I can't wait.

What a Week

It is quite amazing what can happen in a short amount of time.

FOP was great - Friday night in particular. It felt so much like home. But yet, it was really the beginnings of leadership. Hail to the ushers who took the whole East section by themselves!

It's really amazing how the vision for the year is coming to pass so vividly in every aspect of the church. All this was God. All this was Him opening doors. Grow in Stature. Favour with God and favour with men.

One thing... the Indoor Stadium didn't really seem that big. It wasn't intimidating or daunting like I thought it would be. In fact, not with any arrogance, it felt quite small. We could definitely do a hall like that. We could run it but more than that, I feel we could fill it - with an atmosphere of worship and prayer that will fill the halls of our church for years to come.

Lastly, had the privilege of meeting Parachute Band. They were absolutely anointed and amazing at FOP, but more than that, they're very nice people. Omega, Al, Sam, Simon, Reese, Jeff, Matt, and Mark - I will be looking forward to seeing you again sometime.

Sam (Drums), Simon (Electric), Omega (Vocals / Acoustic), Al (Keys), Reese (Bass)

A lot has happened. And that's just one week.

There's much more to come.

Love God, Love People, Love Life.

meet my sis

Since we're in the season of spiritual adoption, this is a good a time as any to introduce you to my sis... meet Yonina.

I don't think we look much alike (though some people have said we do - ?? :S )  She 2 years and 9 months older than me and stands towering above me at 5'11" (1.80 meters) and sports orange-pink-purple hair (she says she might change it to blue in a month or two).

Aside from the striking physical differences, we're also quite different in many other ways. Though we have our fair share of what we are capable of doing, she is known for her writing and her creative side. She's a writer, layout artist, editor, animator, and many other things. Despite the fact that you can hear her a mile away (she is louder than me if you can imagine that) she likes to sit at Starbucks for hours devouring books of all sorts.

She's stopping by Singapore on Friday before she heads back to Manila. There's a chance she might come to church. I think it'll be quite amazing if she does. We used to attend church together when we were little and we even went to a Christian school, but she has not experienced anything like Heart of God Church. She'll definitely be blown away. 

Seeing in the 4th Dimension... :)

Time Passes Fast

I just had to post about this.

I got a message from a friend in the Philippines that she just got engaged to another friend. Two things - they're getting married on the 21st of November 2009, one day before my 25th birthday, AND I've known Charles since I was like 13! Time passes so quickly. (Congratulations Charles & Kaye)

It's not just that, I was looking at some people's blogs and friendster accounts and I realized, the kids I used to teach Vacation Bible School to when they were Primary 1 are now in university!

I also, realize, that it's been more than 3 years since I've been in Singapore and almost 3 years since I've been in Heart of God Church! That's almost the length of my secondary school life, which at the time felt like it was taking forever to finish. 

It really is true that time flies by. Before you know it the things that you once talked about as current affairs become part of history (the airplanes crashing into the Twin Towers happened 7 years ago!), the people you thought you knew so intimately have grown up and changed, and the decisions that we made have led us down a path we never imagined we'd be in.

Time passes quickly so the little things in life matter. Every choice made, every word spoken, every moment spent.

I Am Under Authority

Yesterday's service was great.

Authority, Order, Function, Blessing.

It all made sense.

We must first be people under the right authority established by God for our lives. That brings order which allows for function. Only after that does blessing come.

That affirms what we've been doing all these years.

That affirms HoGC 2.0.

No one will refuse blessing, but yet so many people refuse authority.

No one will refuse blessing, but yet they do not like order and processes.

In order to be a person of authority, one must first be under authority.

Make me and the things that I do a channel of blessing.

It's Been a While

I realized how long I haven't blogged when Hong Bin told me at dinner today that my blog hasn't been updated in ages. Considering Hong Bin's been in C1 for like a few weeks, that's definitely not a good sign. hahaha... :)

By the way... this is Hong Bin (thank you Henry for having all the pics on your blog for easy access) He is known for the tail at the back of his head. *grin* and the fact that his favorite color is pink. :o)

In case you didn't know... he's also a very good chef. He cooked for Roy's birthday! Unfortunately, I wasn't upstairs for the celebration and I didn't get to taste the food because I was helping out with Academic Excellence.

Okay, C1 & C3 seems to have a lot of good chefs. I knew long ago that if we wanted to bond, we gotta just keep on eating. Haha. :) But seriously, I still can't get over Charite's award-wining prawns with cheese! And today, Agnetta showed baking prowess with an Oreo Cheesecake that is hands down better than the one at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf! Happy Birthday Roy!

On Saturday it was Shihan's birthday and today it's Si Hui's so Happy Birthday guys! :o)

AE was just awesome today. Felicia blogged about study rule and Henry blogged about Pastor How's whole message on how going to school is about the training of our mind. We are different because we have the ability to progress and because of that we can be all that we want to be. This is true freedom.

John 8:32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

In any case, this week was awesome. Right guys?

I love my God.

I love my Pastors. 

I love HoGC.

I love my life.

Happy Birthdays, etc.

Okay, so I just realized a gazillion people just had their birthdays or are about to!

  Belated happy birthday Winifred! Cherie! Fedora! Sabrina! K'Matt!

  Happy birthday Cheryl Ng!

  Advanced happy birthday to Vanessa Han! Noni! Weihao! Jiaxin! Isabel! Denise!

Other than that, just had some things on my mind...

  Alvin, come out of confinement soon! Saw your email, we will never pang-seh you!

  Mong, have a great next 2 days of exams! 4th Dimension! 

  Yong Hui & Koon Yew, get some sleep before school starts...

  Garrett, may reservist pass by quickly!

  Yilun, enjoy one last week before reservist :)

  Darren, time to go back to camp... don't worry, just a little bit more

  Fifi, praying for your surveys :) Faith & Success!

  Dawn... come for LONDON! It's going to be absolutely fantastic! :)

I think random rambling tends to come alive at this time of the night... 

Something Interesting...

I was just looking at my old files and I found these very insteresting pictures...

  

Just in case you're wondering.. yup... that's me in the black shirt with the *gasp* curly hair. This picture was taken on October 1, 2005 and it was actually my very very very first time meeting anyone from Heart of God Church. (Fle - do you see your sister sitting beside me? :)

Seems like ages, but I still remember it like yesterday because it forever changed my life. I still can't believe I agreed to go to Martin's house without really knowing anyone. It's all Jon's "fault" -- I was about to back out ('coz Martin lives in Admiralty area which was like the end of the world to me) but Jon came along to pick me up along with some other people.

Speaking of Jon... this is what he looked like in 2005... :)

  

The interesting thing was it was also in Jon's car (right behind the driver's seat) that night that God told me this was my church. I knew it was God because my thoughts were "how could this be my church? I haven't even been to their service? I don't even know what they believe in? What if they're a cult?" 

God is interesting... I bargained with Him and went to service the next day with an open mind and He in turn answered every single question and doubt I had through a sermon Pastor How gave about choosing to be happy today. How can you argue with God? I decided fully plant myself in Heart of God Church and I've never left nor will I ever. :)

To cut the long story short... here I am today, almost 3 years later. I can't imagine what life would be like without Pastors and Heart of God Church... For me, this is for life. Like the song goes...

I have decided to follow Jesus

I have decided to follow Jesus

I have decided to follow Jesus

No turning back, no turning back.

Thank You, Jesus, for bringing me to Heart of God Church

Thank You, Jesus, for Pastor How and Pastor Lia

Thank You, Jesus, for an amazing future

I love God

I love my Pastors

I love Heart of God Church

I love my life

... too bad Jon's aunt sold off the car... sentimental ol' me would've liked to have it around for memories' sake... haha... :)

random rambler comes alive...

Okay, so I haven't been blogging for about a month

But it's just been crazy wonderful for some reason over the past few weeks. Why?

C1 & C3 is growing (literally and spiritually)! -- while having fun at the same time! Faith & success!

Welcome to Alyssa, Cheri, Wei En, Angie, Anil, Hazel, Suhartono, Zi Yan and Guan Xian!

Hope to see you again Daniel! James! Felicia! Joel! Zhuan Liang!

Megan & Si Hui - You guys make a great team! :)

Ee Loo has been mugging away while being the absolutely cutest dancer on Lynette's black list! Study hard!

Welcome back Winifred and Aretha! Happy 19th Birthday Wini!

Charite made an awesome prayer last week!

Yvonne... you rock! You did an awesome job last Sunday. :)

Yijin really really really really likes music and so is listening to her tunes while studying for her exams... Praying for you! *hug*

Ruo'En is breezing through her exams after creating her very own muggers club!

Aggie is growing taller on the inside!

Hi five girls! :)

Let's not leave out the C1 guys!

Hmm... Mong... study hard! We'll chiong in a few weeks time!

Pan - SISPEC! It was great having you out of camp the last 2 weeks!

Army boy Matthew... we shall eat stingray again when you get your next off from serving our nation!

To the guys who love to hang out -- Alvin, Gerald, Henry... next time get stuck inside church not at the white gate. *wink*

I think Ming Jian will gladly join the hang out group! 4th Dimension is the book to read right?!

JO is past soccer season and is now in study season. God bless with your A-Levels!

To all the JC students  taking their mid-years -- you are in our prayers! Gwen! Guan Xian! JO! Megan! Ee Loo! Si Hui! Ruo'En! Zi Yan! Yijin! Anil! Winson! Weien! Angie! Zhuan Liang! Zhuo'Er! Sawwah! and of course MONG!!! :)

Ruo En!!!!  you gotta put up last week's picture on your facebook so i can steal it and put it up here.. haha... :)

Keep praying! Keep believing! Keep on doin' whatcha doin! :)

You guys rock!

Warrior is a Child

There's this song that I really really like and recently I got reminded of it... 

WARRIOR IS A CHILD

by: Gary Valenciano

Lately I've been winning battles left and right
But even winners can get wounded in the fight
People say that I'm amazing
I'm strong beyond my years
But they don't see inside of me
I'm hiding all the tears

They don't know that I come running home when I fall down
They don't know who picks me up when no one is around
I drop my sword and cry for just a while
(Look up for His smile)
'Coz deep inside this armor
The warrior is a child 

Unafraid because His arrow is the best 
But even soldiers need a quiet place to rest
People say that I'm amazing
I never face retreat, oh no
But they don't see the enemies
That lay me at His feet

The first priority is to be with Him then it is to serve Him.

I am first a daughter before I am a servant.

The Best Trip of My Life

What have I been up to?

Just came back from Korea. It was the the seriously the best trip ever!

Something's changed on the inside and as dreams are birthed it will surely come to pass.

In the meantime, check out Yoido Full Gospel Church - Pastor Cho's church. Each service seats about 15,000 and they have like 9-10 services in the main church alone per week! Massive!

 

They have 11 choirs that sing for each service and when you combine them all together they come up to like 2000 people!

The church is built on prayer and faith. The importance of prayer in the church can be seen so visibly -- literally. You can't miss the big structure representing praying hands at the front of the church building on Yoido Island.

This is the church's 50th anniversary celebration -- 120,000 people in a stadium with parades and martial arts exhibitions and floats... you get the picture... It's hard to remember that this is a church when you see the massiveness of everything, seems more like a well-run nation

  

God just never ceases to amaze me at what He can do through people who love Him and give themselves to Him!

So thankful to have witnessed this.

Even more thankful to have been able to go with Pastors--just makes everything even more special. :)

Prayer. Faith. Success.

World Class Church

A world class nation has world class citizens.

A world class church has world class people.

World class people are people who have the character and the substance.

World class people don't just think of themselves.

World class people have world class generosity.

The Zeitgeist of Heart of God Church

A generation that pure and holy

A generation that is competent and successful

A generation of leaders

A generation of great and godly families

A generation of missionaries

A generation of volunteers

A WORLD CLASS CHURCH in a first world nation with a FIRST CLASS SPIRITUAL ATMOSPHERE.

HoGC 2.0

I love my church

I love my pastors

I love my God

HoGC 2.0

The past month has been simply amazing! HoGC 2.0 has been on the move and is slowly coming into place. Though some things (like God or the Bible) will never change, everything else is fluid and flexible. And what a journey it's been -- from follow-up under tables and people wondering why our church name is weird we have stepped into (and are continuing to grow into) the beginnings of leadership. 

But above everything else it's not just about hype and a cool exterior, 2.0 is about building a world class church in a first world nation with a FIRST CLASS SPIRITUAL ATMOSPHERE! Yeah!

Can't wait to go to the next level! :)

Inspired by the End

Okay, so I'm a knowledge junkie. I love learning things and news of Bible Studies like the End Times get me so excited (more than Microsoft Excel makes me happy--I know that's hard for the Ops people to believe). Above that I think Pastor How is the best preacher and teacher I've ever met (and I've heard my fair share)... so I may be a bit biased. But seriously, I have never heard the End Times presented in such a clear and relevant manner ever!

The Bible just blows me away more and more. How everything fits so perfectly despite everything being written by different people who could not have possibly orchestrated a con to make things fit--and over and above that having such vision and accuracy hundreds and thousands of years ago before modern amenities like rubber were invented (I don't think they even had toilet paper then)

I've heard about this end times stuff before but hearing it this time has one major major difference. It is a call to action. Lord, make me pure in heart, holy and set apart, strong in convictions and able to stand in the day of trouble that I might be counted worthy of the calling You have placed over my life. Lord, may I not be so selfish as to keep what I know to myself but to proclaim boldly to the world the good news and the great work You have done in my life. 

I can't wait for this Friday and Saturday. You can bet I'll be furiously taking notes!

Mac is Great

The office has converted to the apple!

It took a while for me to catch on, but I got a mac at a way cool (a.k.a. cheap) price just this month 'cause my aunt from the U.S. came to the Philippines while I was there. Woohoo! :)

If you don't trust the sheer of volume of converts or the fact that it's really really really pretty, I am delightedly willing to share my recently discovered joys of mac. Allow me to name a few...

1. spaces -- a program that allows you to separate your work into different windows so you don't have to rummage through stacks of excel sheets to find what you were working on :)

2. expose -- if spaces isn't enough, this function allows you to "expose" all the sheets you are working on in a particular window so you can easily find what you want to work on

3. dashboard -- a way cool setting that's like another screen where you can put real cool applications called widgets--some widgets can be useful like a Bible Gateway or Google search, while others are just pretty like the lava lamp. :P

4. dock -- the cool looking thing where you put all the stuff you want easy access to--and AND! you can make it pretty too!! by having it magnify as you mouse over the items! haha! :)

5. mighty mouse -- speaking of the mouse, the wireless mighty mouse can scroll 360 degrees! you can also program it to go to spaces or even the dashboard! so cool! :)

I must say... I'm far from done exploring the mac... but it's working out to be more than expected. :)