Christmas Eve Service

The long wait before the combined BM Christmas eve service was worthy, because the coming programme was going to make the evening an unforgettable one.

Ps Albert was busy fetching church members who had no transport with the church van. Since Vilman had gone back to Sabah and that nobody else volunteered, Ps Albert had to take over the driver's job. I followed him once to pick a family in town after his morning service in Sungai Udang. Then we went to the afternoon service in Ayer Keroh. The distances between the places were long. And I doubt if he had any lunch break. I would like to give him a hand but I was not confident of driving a big vehicle. The help I could offer so far was still in the Hospitality Ministry.

I purposely dressed up in a red and black to fit the Christmas theme.

Sarma, who was tall and slim, always looked nice in whatever she was wearing.

The service finally started at around 9pm with the worship.

We sang Christmas songs in English and BM to celebrate the birth of our Lord.

Then, Ps Albert asked those who had been born in December to raise their hands and he announced that I was also a birthday star. So, the whole congregation sang a birthday song to me.

When Marten talked about the progress of his health and sang solo to testify his faith in God, it was another touching moment.

CLA members from the Sungai Udang outreach also presented a song on stage to cheer up the festive atmosphere even more.

When I was in France, I followed Nicole and Ernest to the Christmas Eve service in their Catholic church in cold winter. After that, people went back to their respective houses to have the dinner party. Here, the pot bless dinner was part of the programme. I was too busy to fill my hungry stomach with three types of rice and many kinds of nice food, namely fish, chicken, pork, wildboar meat and vegetables, cooked by our sisters, and guava slices prepared by Sarma, that my camera had no chance to witness those mouth-watering dishes. Later, I gave out small packets of cookies that I had baked to children.

The service ended by the showing of a sequence of a film. It was about the birth of Jesus Christ to remind us that God loved the world so much that He gave his one and only Son to save the world through Him (John 3:16-17).

My best Christmas gift this year was the fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

To Ps Albert, it must be the arrival of his beloved wife and two other dear children from Sabah the previous night. Now the blessed family was complete with six charming members.

My Sunday Afternoons II

Had I not known Ps Albert's BM service at the end of September, I would still be spending my Sunday afternoons either at Jusco shopping mall or in front of the television at home.

Now from 2pm onwards, I will be helping Kee Ming and Sarma to arrange the chairs. Then we will wait for the arrival of Ps Albert's team to get ready for the service.

When other musicians or singers are not available, Ps Albert will play the guitar, or sometimes the piano, to accompany Marten who performs a solo to lead the worship.

The dancers dressed like little angels are Ps Albert's skinny daughter Sarah

and Marten's chubby Pamela.

Besides singing, Marten often gives testimonies, especially on his health.

Sometimes, we have a guest speaker. In the end of November, Ps Albert's cousin Ps Alfred came all the way from Puchong to give a sermon.

Some who usually attended the service in Sungai Udang also joined us in Ayer Keroh. During the worship, all the mothers went on stage together to sing praise to the Lord.

As I cannot play any musical instruments, nor am I gifted for singing, I prefer to participate in the preparation and serving of the afternoon tea.

By the time we say goodbye to one another, it is usually over 5pm. So I have spent almost eight hours in the CLA church on Sundays, as long time as on campus during other working days. And God rewards me by blessing my following week!

My Sunday Afternoons I

The meeting of the Children Ministry was towards the end when VC, who was waiting for me to go home together, texted me through his mobile phone that he was at the Bahasa Malaysia (BM, Malaysia national language) service in the multipurpose hall. I decided to find out how the service was like. A few weeks earlier, I had heard their worship while attending a training session from a room nearby. I had thought that those were Filipinos singing in Tagalog.

When I pushed the door and stepped into the hall, I was immediately attracted by the worship in BM by unfamiliar faces. Some were playing musical instruments while others were singing on stage. Two little girls were dancing in front of a standing congregation who were also singing. Ps Albert from Sabah who usually attend the English service for the Holy Communion on the first Sunday of every month was busy filming the worship with a digital camera. I took a seat at the back next to a few ladies. After several songs, VC who was at the front row noticed me and signalled to me to join him. Then only Ps Albert realized my presence and smiled to me.

The worship was specially for the recording purpose and DVDs on the BM service would be given out later as souvenirs for members to bring back to their respective home towns. I was able to sing those beautiful worship songs which were totally unknown to me by following the music and reading the lyrics on the screen.

During the prayer and sermon, Ps Albert talked in a vivid and humourous manner. I did not understand every sentence due to his Sabahan accent and my limited vocabulary. Later VC told me that the language Ps Albert was using was closer to Indonesian than Malay.

After the service, snacks and soft drinks were served outside the hall. Ps Albert warmly approached VC and me. He had been preaching in Melaka since a year ago and was probably going to stay another year. The congregation, mainly composed by Sabahans, Sarawakians and Indonesians, was small but everyone felt being in a family. I also saw a Chinese gentleman. He was the one who had invited VC to the service. He was married to one of the Indonesian ladies and both were studying in a bible college in Kuala Lumpur under the scholarship from CLA.

I really enjoyed the worship, the sermon and the fellowship that day and I promised Ps Albert that I would attend his service again the following Sunday afternoon.

Jumble Sale

The Jumble Sale was organized by Calvary Life Assembly (CLA) Melaka at Mahkota Parade to raise fund for the Calvary Care Home. We had been collecting new or used but salable items during several weeks preceding the annual event. This was the first year I participated in the contribution of items as well as the duties at the stall.

Initially I was asked to help blow and twist long balloons into various shapes on the first day. When I arrived at the mall, I was told that the balloons were left in the church. So I ended up helping other team members to set up the stall and sell the items. The sale was excellent for we were being placed at a very strategic location and since it was the launching day, a lot of staff in the mall seized the opportunity to grab most of the best items at a low price.

A pleasant surprise to me was that my secondary school friend HT, who was pregnant with her first child and was shopping with her husband and parents, was able to recognize my voice from my back. I had completely lost contact with her for years after her marriage. Even though I was told by another friend that HT was also working and living in Melaka, we had not even met once. What a blessing!

The following Thursday, I joined in Ps Albert's team which included his nephew Gideon and his two children. There were also other helpers and volunteers on duty.

Sarah would like to extend her stay at my place but as I had promised her father to send her back on the fourth day, we both left for Mahkota Parade in the morning with all her luggage.

This time our stall had been shifted to a slot between a fashion stall and an accessory stall. The transfer was the result of complaints by the nearby shop of our initial location. Hence we were less noticeable. That definitely affected our sale. Nonetheless, our spirit to help the care home was untouched. I was glad to befriend Wilson who was in charge of the balloons. This young boy was such a sociable person that within a few days he had made friends with several workers of other stalls in the mall.

Some of our church members purposely came to give moral and financial supports. We truly appreciated that. By the end of the day, Ps Albert was the customer who spent most as he had taken out his own money to buy a lot of glassware and decorative items.

I stayed until the last shift, tired but satisfied with my day. It was an interesting experience to participate in the jumble sale. Next year you will see me again at Mahkota Parade busy with the lelong!

Sarah's Holiday III

I was planning to bring Sarah to watch "Madagascar 2". However, she preferred another film "High School Musical 3". I am not a cinema fan and I had not even heard of this Disney movie franchise which was very popular among the teenagers. Since my guest favoured the musical over the animation, I just tried to accommodate her.

When we reached the Melaka Mall, the movie was about to start. After I had bought the tickets, Sarah went to buy some snacks. When I realized that she had ordered two packets of popcorn, it was too late to cancel one. She also bought a soft drink. The junk food altogether cost her more than the promotional movie tickets I had paid for!

When I was a child like her, I hardly spent more than RM1 for snacks. And I remember I first stepped into a cinema theatre only at around the age of 14 and the ticket price then was at least three times less than nowadays.

Well, the twenty years plus of age gap between us did make things a lot different.

During the show time, Sarah helped me understand the story by telling me the relationship among the characters that she had known in the first two episodes. She seemed to like all the clothes that the female protagonist Gabriella wore while her good friend Pamela preferred those of the antagonist Sharpay.

After the movie, we went to the children department at Parkson to see Barbie and Baby Alive dolls. Since my childhood, I did not like toys that looked like real persons. So I never fancied having a doll. Thank God now I like to feed and dress up myself as well as others!

At the end of the three days, Sarah was quite happy with her stay with VC and me. We were invited to write down our information in a small book that she was keeping. We also left some encouraging words. I read through other pages written by her good friends of other races. If only we adults learned from the children to accept one another regardless our races and religions, we could live in peace and harmony.

Sarah's Holiday II

I had to attend a meeting on campus in the morning. I brought Sarah along with me. At first some colleagues thought she was my adopted sister. Actually my nephew Zer Yih was almost of her age. When ZT heard that Sarah was my pastor's daughter, she said, "She is pious. Dangerous!" I knew she was referring to me. She must have related our pastors to their religious leaders. I just smilingly gave her a spontaneous reply "The dangerous ones are those who put bombs..." which made her shut her mouth.

The more pious I become, The more loving person I will learn to be from my pastors who preach about God's love.

When the brief meeting was over, I took her to my office and let her use my desktop.

What do you think a 10-year-old daughter of a pastor was surfing on the net? A Christian website about Jesus or the Bible?

She was more interested in Barbie's games.

Before we left the campus, we took a few pictures near the lake. I used to go to classes in the students' residential blocks by walking up and down the stairs

and crossing the bridge during my first two semesters here. The recent metal handrails gave the wooden bridge a new look.

This path reminded me of my morning strolls alone during the semester break in 2004. It had also been upgraded with bricks.

A guard passed by and was surprised to see us. He must have thought that I was an outsider until I introduced myself and showed him my staff card. Chinese employees were rare in this university and there were hardly any people who took their time to walk at the lakeside leisurely.

We were breathing fresh air instead of the artificial one released from the air-con in my office and the view was much more attractive than the computer screen. But I still wonder if Sarah agreed with me.

Sarah's Holiday I

Sarah is Pastor Albert's third child. She followed her father and eldest brother Mark to Melaka from Sabah about a year ago.

She was studying in a Chinese primary school but her Mandarin was not fluent due to lack of practice. When the school holidays began, I invited her to spend a few days at my place to immerse her in the language. My other purpose was to bring her for some outings, before she reunited with other family members who would arrive later in December.

I love to involve children in the preparation of dishes. This time we were making pizzas. Her task was to chop vegetables into small cubes. It was supposed to be done in the kitchen. As she wanted to watch her favorite TV drama, I allowed her to work in the living room.

The smaller pizza was for her. So she was in charge of the topping.

Don't think I had a giant appetite to swallow the bigger pizza. I was going to share with VC, okay!

When the products were taken out from the the oven, VC teased me that the resemblance between my pizzas and those in the Pizza Hut was merely 30%. After all, they still looked appetizing, didn't they?

When Sarah's whole family is around, I will open my pizzeria again.

Outing To Zoo Melaka

On 15 Nov, Pastor Rebekah, sis Bee Lan, bro Johnson, bro Dinesh and I were bringing 20 children from the Children Ministry to Zoo Melaka. We left with two vans from the church.

As soon as we reached our destination, we headed towards the amphitheatre where a multi-animal show had just started.

We were entertained by orang utans and macaws with their antics.

After the first activity, we continued to observe birds and land animals. The children were given a piece of paper to write down the scientific and common names of the creatures they saw.

The next scheduled programme was the elephant show. We all enjoyed watching those gentle giants' performance.

After almost two hours' walking, we took a break at the lake where each of us was given a Mac Donald's lunch box and a toy of the "Madagascar" animation movie characters. When we regained our energy, bro Johnson, playing guitar, led us to worship God who is the Creator and King of the entire mankind and animals.

Our last visit was in the museum.

Animals were either presented in sculptures or specimens.

There were also two living statues newly added to the collection.

Before we left the zoo, Ps Rebekah gave a short speech to all the participants and awarded presents to those who had written down the longest list of the names of animals.

That ended our short but memorable outing.

Unknown Butterfly Quotes

Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it turned into a butterfly.

We are the wings of a butterfly, bound together with the love of God.

You can chase a butterfly all over the field and never catch it. But if you sit quietly in the grass, it will come and sit on your shoulder.

Children

Let the little children come to Me,
and do not forbid them;

for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

(Matthew 19:14 NKJV)

Johor: Kukup III

The last programme of our package tour before lunch was to visit the "kelong" (floating fish farm).

A teenage boy entertained us by showing us all kinds of fish:
jellyfish,

fugu,

and king crab.

Before we returned to our boat,

I caught a wonderful image of the picturesque "kelong" and the blue sky with white clouds. I thank God for providing Malaysians with abundant seafood.

Johor: Kukup II

The next morning, we checked out from our chalet to visit Pulau Kukup.

As we were in Malaysia where everything "boleh" (can), nobody made noise even though we were more than 38 passengers in the boat and not given any life jackets.

The island is located at about 1km offshore from the fishing village where we spent the previous night.

To preserve this unique habitat in Malaysia,

the mangrove island was gazetted a national park in 1997

and was granted the status of a "Wetland of International Importance" in 2003.

When we saw the suspension bridge, my niece Zer Ning was too scared to walk on it, so her mother stayed with her.

Mum was very excited.

Zer Yih was reluctant in the beginning. With his father's encouragement and company, he finally also crossed the bridge.

We continued to walk along the boardwalk to see different species of mangroves and other plants.

As Ping worked in Johor Bahru, I hardly had occasions to travel with her.

This time thanks to Leong's arrangement,

we managed to gather together for this trip.