Farewell Karaoke Dinner at Dreambox KTV Melaka

At the end of March, I received a call from Kelvin K inviting me to join a farewell karaoke&meal gathering specially organised for Godwin and Irwne who were leaving Melaka to live in Kuala Lumpur.

On the first Thursday of this month, I went to Dreambox KTV at Dataran Pahlawan. Some Calvarites were already singing. When more arrived, we got our buffet dinner from another hall and started eating

in our VIP room.

I was sitting among sisters in Christs who enjoyed the food

as well as singing

The karaoke lovers were in ecstasy as long as they were holding a microphone.

Most of the songs selected were in English so that we all could sing together. Being the youngest among those who were there, I sometimes felt a bit disconnected as I had never heard of many of those oldies. Once awhile, I also joined some Mandarin speaking seniors to sing a well known Chinese oldie. This was a good platform for the songbirds to perform outside the church service.

The stars of that evening were of course Irwne

and Godwin, two siblings of different personalities who had been faithfully served at Calvary Life Assembly.

After much prayer, they had found a place in the same condominium with their sister who would be able look after them easily in Kuala Lumpur.

We are going to miss these two friendly brothers in Christ.

Malim-Cheng Cell Fellowship At Newton Foodcourt

During the first Sunday service this year, Ps James announced to the congregation the new monthly church programme. The cell meetings are held on the first two Friday evenings of each month instead of almost every Friday previously.

My Malim-Cheng cell leader Jeremiah's family wanted to start the year by hosting a pot bless as suggested by Ps James. Due to a piping problem which occurred in their house, they were not going to have water supply for a few days. As a result, we had a food gathering at Newton foodcourt at Bandar Hilir last Friday at 8pm.

In 2008, I was a member of the Young Adults cell in the beginning. For some reasons, especially my reluctance to drive alone to unfamiliar areas at night, I transferred to Cheng home cell which was later merged with Malim cell. Since, I got to know other old-timer Calvarites who lived at Malim.

My attendance to cell meetings, especially during the second half of last year, was so poor that Auntie Sally could not recognize me immediately and was wondering who I was when I arrived at their table at about 8.10pm.

I had not seen Sis Cassy for a very long time. She was attending another church. Besides my job, she was very interested to know when I was going to get married, a typical question that the married people like to ask the singles.

I answered, "I'm happy to be single. If God sends me someone, I'll be a happy married person."

Phebe commented, "You'll be happier."

I replied, "Not necessarily happier, but happy in a different way."

She nodded her head. Sis Cassy added, "True, not necessarily happier. You'll have more problems when you are married." She was sitting next to her husband Bro Steven who was savouring one dish after another. I simply concluded that where there are people, there are conflicts.

Auntie Sally, who had come with her daughter, son-in-law and grandson, also participated in our "forum". "Don't rush to get married! If you can't find a good one, it's better to stay single. After all, you're independent." I wished Mum had also told me the same thing when I telephoned her on my birthday last December to remind her that I was one year older.

"Yes! Auntie Sally. It's wiser to open my eyes big big to observe now than to open my mouth big big to nag after the marriage." I was citing my own statement I had once left on Facebook after hearing a colleague's marital problem.

Patricia smiled with a consent, while the men remained silent and preferred to open their mouths only to swallow the delicious food.

Our youngest single cell member Jaden also completely ignored the adults' boring conversations. The only concern this five-year-old boy had there and then was the big bowl of his favorite fish porridge.

My presence brought out another topic which was about Calvary Care Home (CCH). Uncle Kok who used to be a CCH committee member in the past recalled how thin Isaac and Joseph were when they were small. He emphasised that at the age of 77, he was already old. I mentioned Uncle Seelan who had reached 85 this year to assure Uncle Kok that he was still young.

That evening, I was not keen to taste the specialities there because my stomach was still very full with a piece of David's birthday chocolate cake and some dhal curry I had eaten at CCH just before I went to the foodcourt. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the gathering very much. On my way home, I had a chance to chat with Sis Alice to whom I gave a lift.

In this year of increase, let's increase our fellowship!

My Article For "Calva-Write 2010" Ist Issue

Last Sunday, Calvarites finally got a copy of the first issue of "Calva-Write 2010".

Being in the publication committee last year, I was in charge of reporting a few church events. As a volunteer at Calvary Care Home (CCH), I was also required to write my testimony for the CCH 10th anniversary newsletter which was later included in this Calvary Life Assembly bi-annual magazine. The article was quite similar to my blog entry of 25th May 2009.

Dad, you used to encourage me to write. And whenever I had anything published in a newspaper or a magazine, you were always proud of me. Two years after you left me, I took over your career in another way. Now, not only I regard myself as a journalist when I blog, I also feel myself like a nurse when I care for others. My childhood ambitions to become like you or Florence Nightingale, my first heroes, are both being achieved!

I dedicate this article to you.

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“I thank God for transforming my life
through caring for these adorable little ones,”

As a newly committed Calvarite in early 2008, I did not even know that Calvary Care Home existed. I first saw the children’s pictures in the CCH anniversary newsletter and learnt that the Committee was calling for tutors. I had a desire to volunteer but never contacted the Care Home seriously.

When I was an assistant teacher in the Children's Church, the youngest CCH boys were in my upper-primary class. I was aware that they required more attention than those who were under their own parents’ care, but I was not to manifest my special concern for them, which might have been misunderstood as favoritism by other children.

After I had resigned from the post, I still thought of reaching out to these boys at the Calvary Care Home where they were doing most of their daily activities outside school. God opened the door again when Wilson Ti whom I had known at the CCH Fund-raising Jumble Sale told me he needed someone to help in his Chinese subject.

In March 2009, I finally stepped into the Care Home. In the beginning, I gave tuition to Wilson Ti only. After a few times, I also befriended other boys. Soon afterwards, I resumed my baking hobby to share some snacks with them. It was always a pleasure to see them appreciating whatever I brought to them, even though the results of my baking experiments were not always successful. As they grew familiar to me, they were no longer bashful to talk to me.

Along the way, I became acquainted with Bro. Albert Peh, who spared his evenings conducting the boys’ study programme or spending devotion time with them, Sis. Annie Choo and her daughter Adrienne who collected and delivered donated food items to the Home, and Sis. Jothy Bai who often showered the children with motherly love and advice. I realized that there were many others who were faithfully serving CCH from behind the scenes. These loving people were setting a good example for me to be a CCH caregiver aside from my full-time teaching job.

Later, I made regular visitations to the Calvary Care Home to help the boys with their homework. As I got to know the CCH boys better, I was willing to spend more time with them. During the last school holidays, I often participated in their recreational outings, events, sports, preparation of meals, etc. I began to enjoy my new roles of driver, cook and tailor, and to feel at home with this God-given family at Bukit Baru. The children were also comfortable with my presence as a big sister or an aunt.

God has His time and season for everything. I believe that He has put the burden in my heart for the CCH children so that I can be a mentor to them during this stage of their life where they start to form their own thoughts, ideas and concepts, which sometimes lead to conflicts with adults or guardians. Having gone through this transitional stage, I am able to relate to them by lending an ear and sharing my life experiences. In return, I have earned their trust and friendship which are very precious to me.

I was not passionate about caring for children in the past. Now when I look at the CCH boys with Jesus’ eyes, every one of them has the potential to become a great man of God. I give thanks to the Lord for bringing me closer to the kingdom of heaven through caring for these adorable little ones.
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A Very Busy Christmas Day

Last Christmas day, after stopovers at to Tesco Hypermarket to buy groceries, Seri Kenangan Home to bring Uncle Seelan out for breakfast at his favorite Pinang Besar, 7-Eleven to reload my handphone, my house to get ready for the following programme outside, the church to watch the rehearsal in which some of the Calvary Care Home (CCH) gang was involved, CCH to have a simple lunch, Melaka Mall to accompany the gang for some last-minute shopping, Albert P's house to drop the boys for a shower there, the church again to pick Paul who had stayed back, CCH again to let Paul pack his clothes, Albert's house again to fetch him and his father who had decided to attend the Christmas party at Calvary Life Assembly (CLA) with us, I entered the church compound for the third time and could finally settle down for a few hours.

Last year, the three CCH boys who had just graduated from the primary school were still behaving like children. And David was only about my height. One year later, I had to raise my head much higher when talking to them and they were already showing all kinds of signs of adolescence. As a result, I often left these teenagers alone to have fellowship with their peers and kept an eye more on Joel who was only going to be ten years old and whose size made him look like a Standard One boy.

Joel came into the main sanctuary with the face painted like a clown, one of the activities of the CLA Christmas party. Albert's father added a few more strokes on the cheerful boy's cheeks.

Last year, the Christmas celebration put a lot of emphasis on the musical. This year, there was drama composed by different scenes with puppets' talks,

solo singing,

solo dancing,

boys' group break dancing where Paul had a chance to demonstrate his performing arts talent in front of the congregation,

and girls' group dancing.

Their weeks of practice were not in vain. Their message of the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was conveyed through this meaningful drama.

Another highlight in the main sanctuary was caroling. The set-up of the stage was beautiful with red and yellow colours. Albert was the main singer while John was the drummer. Many church members gave compliments to this former anointed worship leader who used to sing in the church services. I had only listened to his casual songs during the Gala & Charity Dinner, Karaoke outings and some other occasions. After witnessing his powerful voice in full volume with my ears, I also officially joined his fans' club and volunteered myself as the manager!

When the celebration at CLA was over, I followed the CCH gang to an open house by a church member's family before I went back to my house at night. It was indeed a very busy Christmas day with a lot of travelling.

Attending Joshua's Baby Dedication Ceremony At Calvary Life Assembly

Last Saturday evening, the Calvary Care Home (CCH) gang attended Joshua's baby dedication ceremony at the church. That afternoon, I was already at CCH with some of the boys. A car drove in and a few Indian first-time visitors left us plastic bags of white rice, nasi briyani, fried mihoon, chicken curry, fried vegetables, papadam, milk tea, coffee, payasam, etc. They had just had a wedding lunch and wanted to give away the leftover food to bless an orphanage. Luke reminded me that we could bring all these ready dishes for the baby dedication ceremony dinner later. So two of us immediately poured out the food into pots and containers. And I quickly SMSed Joshua to tell him about it so that his family could estimate how much more food to prepare from their house.

Later, Sis Annie and Adrienne also dropped by to give us bread and cakes that they had collected from bakeries. Our thoughtful Luke again suggested that we kept the cakes for that evening. So we went to CLA as guests-cum-caterers!

The ceremony was at the end of the Tamil service. I had attended the Vietnamese service once, and the BM service one whole year. This time, the experience with the Tamil language was also very exotic. Sitting at the back behind the Indian congregation, Albert P with a giggle told me that he understood at least words like "Jesus" and "Hallelujah". I thought that was good enough!

It was the first time I witnessed a baby dedication which was so beautiful with the presence of the baby, the parents, the pastor, and of course Jesus.

When I was small, I was often sick. Mum brought me to a Chinese temple to dedicate me to the god of the Emporer of Monkeys to "protect" me, whom I never believed in. Thank God I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, and thus prayed to break the bound. And fortunately I had not caught too much the spirit of monkeys apart from my vivacity...

Since her birth, I had not yet met this cute Joyana. I was a bit surprised that she was dressed in blue instead of typical pink or white for a baby girl.

We finally had dinner after the service at about 9.30pm. As it was quite late, I served only little food. It was a pity that the vegetables and nasi briyani that we had brought had already turned sour and had to be removed from the table. But the rest still kept the original taste. Together with the food from Joshua's family, there was more than enough to feed the whole congregation. The Lord had indeed provided for this baby dedication ceremony.

And The Blessings Continued!

During the Calvary Care Home (CCH) mini-camp, Sis Grace telephoned and told us that she preferred to conduct a separate Christian education course for the boys instead of mixing them with the adults. So that Sunday morning, we did not have to be in church as early as nine o'clock to attend the class. Since Sis Christine was around, we let her continue to minister to the boys at the breakfast table.

When we were about to set off with two vehicles at 9.30am, I could not start my car engine at all. The same drama had happened to me in Batu Pahat exactly two years ago during the Raya holiday. I remember it was also on a Sunday morning. I had not closed the boot properly before I left for a two-day family trip to Kukup, which accelerated the "death" of the already weak battery.

This time, thank God that I was also surrounded by people I knew and that I was not rushing to work. The only problem was that my passengers and I would be stuck in the house without the transport. I did not feel comfortable to borrow my colleague Chew's car who lived nearby. Albert P quickly called Joshua to come all the way from Bukit Baru with the CCH van to fetch some of us and reassigned those who would go to church with his car first. Finally, Luke and Daniel were the ones who had the "privilege" to skip the warden service to accompany me at home.

Joshua arrived about forty minutes later. I took this opportunity to put the boys' own mattresses in the van to send back to CCH. At first, I was very sorry to disturb his free time with his newly-wedded wife. He told us that they could not go anywhere together anyway because she had to go to work that morning. After learning that that day was actually his birthday, I led the boys to sing the birthday song for him.

After dropping us at CLA during the worship, Joshua went off with the van. Albert later made another arrangement with Joseph L to bring the whole CCH gang of ten members to the Home. We had planned an outing to a shopping mall after lunch but it would not be possible with only Albert's car available. The solution was found when the home administrator decided to drive the van.

Since I had begun the partnership with Albert to bring the boys for outings, we always travelled by car. Because of my worn-out battery, I had the blessing to relax as a passenger. Our driver sweated profusely in the van which he described as an oven due to the poor air-conditioning. He was also tired after spending a lot of physical and mental energy for the mini-camp.

He gained half an hour's rest on a massage chair at the new Jaya Jusco (JJ). John and I also acted as if we were potential customers. David who was not allowed by the promoter to try the product could only watch us and count the years before he got a more mature look and harder bones.

In the same shop, David stepped on a jogging machine and accidentally fell down and caused himself light injuries in his both arms after misunderstanding a button. John who had been showing his good leadership qualities recently immediately behaved like a caring big brother to give him some first aid. Later, when my foster son had his snacks, he temporarily forgot his pains.

All of us met again at the parking at 6.30pm and returned to CCH. Albert kindly sent me back to Paya Rumput together with Matthew and John. He also offered to look for a mechanic to solve my car battery problem the next day. As a result, I opened my "lodge" again to receive these VIP guests who had been in my inner circle since last year. A lover of Japanese food and sweet stuff, Albert had bought sushi and doughnuts from JJ to share with us. Nevertheless, he admitted that his appetite had dropped without David's presence.

The next morning, I managed to get help from Chew's in-law's family to change the car battery. I kept my guests until lunch. After they "checked out", I suddenly felt that the house was unusually quiet at the end of the mini-camp and the extended gathering.

I had not felt tired at all with my "kitchen ministry" despite my long hours there and little sleep. Instead, I experienced the joy and satisfaction more than my teaching job. And surprisingly, my fridge still looked quite full after the four-day clearance. Jesus had multiplied my five loaves and two fishes to bless His people including myself!

Calvary Care Home Mini-Camp At Paya Rumput III

John slept on the sofa the two previous nights. According to him, he always woke up automatically at around 5am. So he was the first person I talked to after I started my day in the kitchen at 6am. Albert was the next person to join our conversation. Having transferred from the living room the first night to the VIP guestroom the second night, he managed to gain some sleep to recharge the battery.

David was also one who did not stay long in bed. This time, I could not offer him any swimming pool outing. So I let him be immersed in the nice smell of garlic bread.

My foster son's gluttony "virus" spread to Albert who, since the second morning, had been claiming his special order of kaya-butter toasts and coffee-chocolate drinks. He observed what David had, then he also wanted the same, if not more. He ended up being the last contented person to quit the dining table.

We were supposed to have Sis Christine as our guest speaker in the morning. To save Albert's trouble of travelling several times, I suggested that we rescheduled her talk so that she could take her time to minister to the boys and spend the night at my house and go to church with us the next day.

After David and Matthew left with George who had come as a family to fetch them for tuition, there were six of us left. Albert asked John to organize some indoor games.

This time, he himself became an active participant.

Last December, we saw the boys playing the musical chairs at Avillion Legacy. Nine months later, I was competing with four guys whose big buttocks were all powerful enough to squeeze out mine.

At 5pm, Albert left with his car to send John to church for his music practice, brought Matthew and David back from the tuition centre and picked our third guest speaker in town. I was very glad to have this occasion to receive Sis Christine since the eve of the prayer meeting at St John's Hill last November.

Recovering from a bad cough, she somehow looked energetic. During the teaching session, she urged the boys to take their moves to come forward individually for repentance.

She also reminded us that Jesus is in the midst of us when we worship the Lord together.

Next, she asked us to stretch our arms and imagine the physical suffering of Jesus who was hanging on the cross. Albert and I took turns to count a hundred. After about five minutes, this elderly woman still had no problem keeping her arms lifted. Her junior who had been exercising his back and limbs excessively since the afternoon telematch was already having aches all over his stiff body and needed to apply cream to ease the pains...

A former school teacher, our guest speaker was abundant in words as well as gestures in order to explain to the boys persecutions they as followers of Christ might face in future.

After this mini-camp, I totally agreed that teamwork makes the dream work. I thank God that everything was carried out as we had expected and pray that God continues to bring revival to CCH.

Calvary Care Home Mini-Camp At Paya Rumput II

On the second day of the mini-camp, the person after me who looked forward most to breakfast when waking up was David no doubt, especially since Sis Fei Gin had bought two packets of cheese for the boys. When my foster son was around, I started to attend to his preference to have chopped tomato, herbs and cheese as topping of a banana naan, then wholemeal sandwiches without butter, etc.

Ps Angeline, the guest speaker that morning, arrived later with a tray and a small pot of coffee to illustrate the result of the strong worldly influence in we believers' lives despite our input of godliness. We will be able to get rid of the worldliness only when we come to Jesus for His cleansing. She ended her talk by leading the boys to a prayer of confession.

Ps Angeline was going to break fast at 12 noon. She gave me a hand in the kitchen while I fried fresh bamboo shoots with fish and cooked dried bead curd skin with pucuk manis from my backyard. I did not hesitate to tell her that those were my first experiments and that they were going to be my guinea pigs. She was interested to try new ingredients and recipes.

That afternoon the weather was very mild for outdoor activities. We divided the six boys into two groups to compete with each other. After a session of quiz by Albert in the living room, we led them to the field for a telematch.

I had prepared containers, spoons,

chopsticks, rubber bands,

balls, etc.

I explained the rules; Albert judged and announced the final results. The prize for the winner team was a set of bubble gun which Ps Lee had passed to me the previous Sunday.

To make sure the dinner was ready soon after we stepped into the house again, I had already cooked a pot of tomyam soup to eat with mee hoon. I was so busy the whole day that I had no time to even tear the calendar! I moved to every seat to serve and add food to the campers' plates.

When I came to Paul who always regarded me as his sister, he looked at me and said, "You're like a mother." I had never fancied to be a mother. Suddenly I realised that God must be joking with me by sending me a lot of children to feed!

Luke and Daniel were patient enough to wait for me to soak the second packet of mee hoon for additional serving. Although I finally almost did not have any soup left for myself, their great support was my satisfaction.

Not only the boys' stomachs were well taken care of, their feet were given a treat as well. The evening devotion was about service. To demonstrate how Jesus washed His disciples' feet, Albert asked me to bring a pail of water and a towel. Then he began to do likewise to the boys one after another.

To us adults, it was symbolic. However, to the boys, it was rather amusing to be served in this manner.

I shared Albert's role of Jesus to wipe their feet with another dry towel. Later I had to act like Martha to mop the wet floor.

Thank God we did not have to put up with any stinky feet because all of them had already bathed before the dinner...

The interesting programme did not end there. We took a mat and the bubble gun to go to the field again.

While the younger ones were keen to play

and run everywhere,

the senior ones preferred to sit down to save energy.

John chose a place to be alone. When we were back to the house, he told me that while he was watching the night sky, the symbol of love appeared to him instantly. What a creative way God was showing love to His child who longed for it!