Temples & Fruit Trees (... how do you tell you are saved?)

(Talk given to Teens Ministry last week by T.)

Good morning brothers and sisters in Christ, Christmas is coming and we will soon be talking about the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

But today, we are going to talk about temples. Let’s take a look at some of these pictures of temples. Each is a place where people who want to find that religion’s gods will go to look. Can you tell what religion each temple represents?

How about a Christian “temple”? What does a Christian “temple” look like?

Before Jesus Christ died and resurrected, worshippers of God worshipped in the Temple of God in Jerusalem. In the temple is a curtain covering the Holy of Holies, where God’s Holy Spirit stays.

Then Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." (John 2:19).

So, Christ died and the curtain in the Temple of Jerusalem covering the room where God’s Spirit stays was torn in two, top-to-bottom(Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45), meaning the Holy Spirit of God has left the Temple in Jerusalem and will not stay in there any more. 40 years later the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed completely by the Roman army.

Three days after Christ died, He was raised and from then on God’s Holy Spirit lives inside all true believers so they begin to worship in Spirit and Truth (John 4:23), in the way they live. So, we are now temples of God that walk, talking, breathe and live because His Holy Spirit stays in us (John 14:17).

You remember what Brother Angga had talked about last week. He said that we are all temples of God now, in us lives the Holy Spirit of the Living God (1 Cor 3:15-17). Do you know that is how we are saved?

In Hebrew, Jesus’ name is actually Yehoshua, meaning “God rescues”. We all know Jesus is our Saviour, we know He saves by dying on the cross for our sins and we are saved by believing in Him and having faith in Him. But do we really know how this works?

Think about it, after Jesus died and resurrected, He went up to Heaven to be with our Heavenly Father, God. Why does Jesus not stay on earth forever to fight evil, do miracles, heal the sick, cast out the demons and preach the Gospel so more people can meet Him, believe and be saved?

Jesus explained to His disciples, “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7). Who is this “Counselor”? The Holy Spirit of God!

Now, do you know how we are saved because Jesus went back to our Father in Heaven so that the Holy Spirit of God can come to us? This Holy Spirit lives in us, but what shall It do for us? 500 years before Jesus Christ was born, the Lord God gave Ezekiel this prophesy, “And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:27).

What does this mean? It means nobody can do and continue to do God’s commandments and keep His laws on his own. To always obey God, we need God’s Holy Spirit in us to MOVE us to obey. We cannot do it on our own. Even Apostle Paul says, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:18-19)

But Paul knows the secret and the mystery of stopping evil and sin in his life: “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” (Romans 8:9). We need to be controlled by God’s Holy Spirit in us so we can stop sinning and obey God in all that He wants us to obey in.

And through this, God’s Holy Spirit in us will testify that we are God’s children (Romans 8:16), saved by God for God. The Holy Spirit is what God has put inside us when we believed in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior; it is the Holy Spirit that guarantees we are saved and it is the seal, the stamp of authority on us to prove we are God’s children (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

So what does this seal of Christ, this stamp of God’s authority, look like? It is just like how Jesus teaches us about telling what kind of tree by what kind of fruit that tree has. He said, "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.” (Matthew 12:33). Does an apple tree grow a durian? Do durian trees grow an orange? So what kind of fruit do we grow out so when people see that fruit, they can recognize we are God’s trees?

The Bible says, “(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23). Spiritual gifts like wisdom, prophecy and speaking in tongues are given by the Spirit but they will not last forever (1 Corinthians 13:8). But the Fruit of the Holy Spirit is forever. That’s why in the fruit of the Spirit, “greatest… is Love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Now, the Holy Spirit of God will ONLY come into His temple if that temple is clean and kept clean ONLY for God. And God did the cleaning by sending His only Son to become man and to die for our sins, so that those of us who believe in Him will have our sins cleansed in His blood (Hebrews 1:3). And after we are cleansed from our sins in believing in Jesus Christ, we need to have God’s Holy Spirit to come in us. And how do we tell, we have the Holy Spirit of God? By showing to everyone, everyday, “Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.”

That is how a Christian “temple” look like.

That is why Jesus Christ came down from Heaven to be a man called Yehoshua, “God rescues”.

That is why we have Christmas.

FREE while you P**! Gain the Seal of Abram!

Well I never! I'd always thought scissor-happy zealous censors only exist back home amongst our commissioners of films & movies.

Apparently in this land we also have snip-snip-happy censors lurking behind (or within?) urinals, ready to pounce and devour like a lion. Visiting brothers, beware! (Unless you always had the desire to acquire the seal of Abram, in which case, Rejoice!)

T.F.E.E.E.N
Email. tfeeen@gmail.com
Skype. tfeeen
Blogg. tfeeen.blogspot.com

Beautiful Feet ( ...or worldly christian vs. world-class christian)

(Talk given to Teens Ministry 2 weeks ago by T.)

Good morning, dear brothers and sisters in Christ. I thank you for having me speak to you today. When I was asked to speak on the topic of "World-Class Christian vs. Worldly Christian", I became very confused.

You mean there are many “kinds” of Christian? Can a Christian choose to be either World-Class or Worldly? Today, I ask for your help to find out the true answer.

Now, what is a World-Class or Worldly Christian? Christian pastor Rick Warren described them like this:

WORLDLY

WORLD-CLASS

Self-Centered Thinking It’s all about how God can fulfill the Worldly Christian’s own goal & purpose. ( Matthew 16:24-26 ) Local Thinking It’s all about putting first the Worldly Christian’s own self, own family, own friends, own community. ( Matthew 25:41-46 ) Here-And-Now Thinking It’s all about satisfying the Worldly Christian’s lusts and desires NOW with worldly things that will not last forever. (Luke 12:16-21 )

Other-Centered Thinking It’s all about what God wants and what others whom He loves need now. Global Thinking It’s all about proclaiming God’s salvation through Christ to ALL people who are not even own friends, maybe even enemies. Eternity Thinking It’s all about hoping in God’s promise to restore us to our inheritance that’s COMING, of eternal life, heavenly treasure and an incorruptible body that last forever.

So, we have examined each description for a World-Class Christian and a Worldly Christian. We have also put each description to the Holy Bible test of what Jesus says His followers should be.

How many of you now think that the description of a Worldly Christian is actually the description of sinners that Jesus says He reject?

How many of you think that the description of a World-Class Christian is actually the description of true disciples that Jesus says He will acknowledge to our Heavenly Father?

Does it not seem then that true Christians are saved by God for a purpose? They are made by God and saved through Christ for a mission: the mission of telling the world His Good News. (MARK 16:15 )

So, if we say that we are Christians, then we have to prove it by living out our Christian purpose, to tell everyone the good news of Jesus Christ; family, friends, schoolmates, teachers, strangers and even our enemies!

You may ask, “But why must God use us to talk about His Good News? After all, He is the Almighty God and He can do everything and anything! He can make sure the Good News is told to everyone in the world without me, right?”

Do you know the game called “Captain’s Ball”? We have a tougher game called the “Good News Ball”.

May I have 4 volunteers for a team please? Volunteer A will be called the Giver of Good News and will stand far from and facing Volunteer B: B will be called the Needy of Good News but must face away from the Giver. Volunteer C & D are the Passers of The Good News ball. The Good News is this ball.

This is what you need to do:

1. Giver and Needy cannot move from where they are. Giver must pass the Good News ball to Needy
2. Needy must receive the Good News ball in his hands within 5 seconds or else Needy will “perish”
3. Giver can use his Passers of the Good News ball: Passers can move anywhere but when they hold the ball, they must stay still and not move
4. Only both hands can touch the Good News ball. If the ball touches any other part of the body or drops to the floor, the ball must start again from the Giver.

Okay, ready? Great, now divide yourselves into teams of 4 and choose who will be the Giver and Needy. Let’s see which team can get their Good News ball to Needy the fastest. Are you ready? Get Set! GO!

5 seconds are up! Very good! Now, we will have a second round and this time we see which team sets the fastest record of passing the Good News ball to Needy. You can discuss for 3 minutes how to be the fastest team.

3 minutes are up. Get into your teams now, Givers and Needys get into positions. Are you ready? Get set? Go! And what a new record!!!

Settle down now. That was great teamwork and effort. You see, God can do everything and anything. But for Needy to truly repent and turn back to face God, Needy needs to have the Good News ball in his hands first; and Needy cannot catch the Good News ball properly if he is facing away from God. We learn in the Bible that we who are Needy for God’s forgiveness cannot turn around on our own to face God because of sin in our lives.

So God uses His saints, prophets, apostles, evangelists and missionaries: these people are the Passers of the Good News on God’s team. When God uses His Passers of Good News, the Good News can be offered to the face of Needy who is still facing away from God. If Needy accepts to take the Good News from the Passers hands, this will then allow Needy to turn away from his sinful life and the world; it will allow Needy to turn his face back towards God, receive eternal life and not perish. (Ephesians 2:4-6; Colossians 2:13 )

If you truly believe in Jesus Christ and are a Christian, you are then on God’s team. As God’s team members, we are all called to be Passers of the Good News. Like other teams in sports, if we do not do what the team captain is doing Himself, then we are not part of the team at all. (John 17:18; John 20:21 )

So if we are not actively passing the Good News to those who need God’s Good News, we are not really on God’s team. If we do not find out if any of our family, friends or schoolmates need God’s Good News of Jesus Christ, then we cannot pass the Good News to them, we are also not on God’s team.

“For ‘Whoever will call on the Name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News of Good Things!” Romans 10:13-15.

Do you want to have beautiful feet? Do you want Jesus to tell you that your feet are beautiful? Then you will need to bring the Good News of Good Things to those who need it.

I am passing out Beautiful Foots and I want you to spend 5 minutes praying to God for a family member, friend, schoolmate or even someone who hardly know, someone you know need the Good News.

If you think you don’t know anyone, then ask God right now to give you a picture or a name of a person He knows who needs to receive the Good News from you.

Write that person’s name down. If you want to decorate the feet to make it “feel” like this person, go ahead.

Ask God, how can you bring the Good News to him so he will hold it in his two hands and turn his face back to God. Then when you’re done, put your Beautiful Foot with your Needy’s name into this Feet For God Box here as your dedication to God to live your life as a way for your Needy to see the Good News in your life, so that Needy will want your Good News and to turn back to God.

Let’s pray.

Pls Pray 4 E1

Please pray 4 E1 who is down with severe hives 4 past 2 nights. Big red welts itching all over his body, body heat from the auto-inflammatory reaction & exhaustion from the discomfort. He is better but still very tired with residual itching.

Also give thanks on behalf that E2+3+N are well and healthy, and that their health be preserved through grace.

Do keep F. And T. In prayers too: one down with heavy flu and the other with gastric flu for past 2 days. Their school open house to be conducted this Sat and next, so much planning, preparation and tasks to plough through with teachers.

Please ask for strength, perseverance and G's grace upon them and staff to glorify J. these 2 Saturdays.

Thank you and our love & blessings to you all.

T.F.E.E.E.N
Email. tfeeen@gmail.com
Skype. tfeeen
Blogg. tfeeen.blogspot.com

Our Teen Ministry 0th Birthday

We thank G., for bringing us to our new building last month. Our teens, for once, has a room to all their own, to w. and to learn G's W in. Where previously they had to set up and pack up the previous rented space every weekend to leave no trace of having been there, they can now call this new room their sp. home to dress up with praises & thanksgiving.

Our guest speaker from teens HQ was there to bless the teens w/ his talk on being a committed w.per, and called them up for an anointing prayer. A w. leader & trainer himself, he travels across the country to various branches conducting talks, seminars and courses. Our L. bless him richly in his work.

How're you folks back home. It'll be nearing the birthday of J. soon. We remember fondly our celebrating it with you back home the past few years... this year we will miss rejoicing with you.

Take care, blessings to you all!

T.F.E.E.E.N
Email. tfeeen@gmail.com
Skype. tfeeen
Blogg. tfeeen.blogspot.com

See You Later, N2!

We say "See You Later!" to N2 who had stayed with us and been so much a part of our pioneering experience of being sent out. She is now back home with you, please take care of her & love her for us, ya?

Naturally, it's hard to find dry eyes amongst us when we sent her to the airport, and E2+E3 were weeping away on our way back to city.

N2, we continue to keep you in our prayers and deep in our hearts. Esp. from 3ENs, thank you for having loved & continuing to love us, keeping us in your prayers & memories. We love you and miss you a lot.

On a lighter note, 3Es have been learning the local language, esp. Counting. Can you figure this out, "Set you do a tickle armpit?"

Thanks to our L., through H. our host had kindly ransomed our shipped belongings back from the port. What we had surrendered totally to G., H. had caused it to be brought back to us. We have committed to give away all that had returned which can be used in school and ministry. We have learnt to do with and get by with much less than we used to have and we will not want to lose this new blessing from G. of being free from possessions and the sense of possessing.

Thank you all for your continued prayers & supplication. We still are missing you all!

T.F.E.E.E.N
Email. tfeeen@gmail.com
Skype. tfeeen
Blogg. tfeeen.blogspot.com

A Hairy Incident... Revealed!

There you go folks, the answer to the quiz, "Whose Hair Is It?"

It's amazing what a heart full of doubt and fear wishes to see and believe so it's doubt and fear can be validated. I am at least assured after reaching out and pulling up that the strands are truly from a bunch of dried up weeds and roots, no withered scalp nor shrunken skull attached below it.

Dear beloved bro & sis back in 1Leed. Thanks u So much for lifting us to the Lord last Sun. For a brief respite that morning, the heavy cloud over our family lifted and our hearts felt free for the first time since we set foot here, we stopped striving between each other in the family and saw for a while the vision of heaven on earth in this church. But the enemy is relentless: by evening the dark cloud won ground over us and the striving against each other returned.

However, G. also moved H. finger: H. removed the opposition and resistance against my being there to start-up and serve in Eng lang teens min and thus dividing the existing teens in making them choose a lang svc. I was extremely awed when the local min leaders finally approached me for reconciliation and affirmed our unity in service in spite of different priorities between the language svcs.

Only God can win us all to His side of uniting under one, and only one banner of proclaiming the good news of C.

I am grateful you'll continue to keep us in prayer as G. starts moving H. plans amongst us and we see mighty things that we've once thought impossible, i.e. impossible except for G.

We serve the mighty and living G.! How awesome!

TFEEEN+N
Skype. tfeeen
Email. tfeeen@gmail.com

Local Custom Lesson 1 - Mobil Potong Jalan

In the first of our series on local customs, we introduce to you the uniqueness of Mobil Potong Jalan, or "Automobile Cut & Run". This custom is practiced 24/7, 365 days year round. It demonstrates great intimacy and familiarity between fellow drivers in roadship brotherhood.

Performing this custom is very simple but must be practiced till it becomes second nature to you, fluid, graceful and full of courtesy.

First, look for a really crowded street or road, the more jammed it is, the better. In fact, in this city, it is really not hard to find. Just start driving out of your carpark exit or driveway and it will come looking for you almost immediately.

For those extreme adventurers looking for impossible jams that take a whole working day to clear, just look for the "expressways". You just can't miss finding the entrance to the toll because they have really long queues of vehicles waiting to pay for the privilege to be stuck in the worst jams in the whole city. Motorcyclists are blessed 'cos they're banned from these so they don't know what they're missing.

Next, become aware that you have a craving need or urgent desire to perform this custom. Once you acknowledge it, start signalling left-right-both (or don't signal, who cares?! Certainly not the fellow drivers nor the police. In fact signal to raise the difficulty factor 'cos the driver behind you will speed up to cut off your turn) and wait for the inevitable question from your spouse, "Why are you signalling when we're not moving an inch at all?"

Then select the excuse to explain to your spouse (who usually pretends to navigate but really envy your drivership 'cos he/she hungers to perform this custom too). E.g. "Well dear (don't forget a dash of condescension to add spice to this term of endearment), I saw a break in traffic for the next lane to move-faster / reach-the-left-right-U-turn / enter-exit-expressway / grab-an-ice-cream-from-road-vendors / give-alms-to-these-unwashed-4-5-yr-olds. So I took it; you'd done the same yourself"

After the ringing in the ears and starbusts in your eyes fade from the smack upside to the back of your head, inch boldly to the desired lane marking in an "angle of attack" of 30 degrees first. By now most cars behind you in that lane would have started to close up the gaps between each other as a sign of acknowledging your intent to cut into them.

Next, return your own acknowledgement to this sympathetic response and contine to inch forward courageously, not turning to the left nor to the right of your destined path. By this time, the fellow drivers nearest to you will start honking their encouragement. The closer you get to them, the louder and more insistent they'll honk. What great brotherly support and camaraderie! I love this city!

When you actually manage to get your front bumper before one of these fellow drivers so that he can't swing by you without knocking into you, do a fuller turn to change your "angle of attack" to 45 degrees. The driver you had cut off will congratulate you with a single loud and long blast of the horn, followed by continuous short bursts and ending with a final long blaring exclamation. All these are followed by a bulging red-eyed stare to show how excited he is for you. For the more passionate ones, frantic mouth and finger gesticulations will follow.

Finally straighten your car slowly when the one in front starts to inch ahead. Do note that sometimes you get extra encouragement from the cars in the previous lane using the same honking and blaring cheer. Express your thanks by straightening up even slower.

Now, that's the easy part. If you had paid full attention and given some imagination to the procedures above, you will naturally realise by now that clumsy moves performing this custom will not just irritate, but worse, infuriate your fellow road brother.

This will result in insults to your Nth Gen, curses to your Nth ancestor, definite body damage to your car, maybe body damage to yourself, and depending on the thickness of your wallet (we're talking bank notes here, not shopping receipts), on whose side the law will stand on should your friendly neighbourhood highway patrol cruise by to witness the entertainment that livens their otherwise drab career prospects.

So when're you coming here to visit us so you may try this fascinating custom yourself?

Glory & praise to our L. G. Almighty!

T.
T.F.E.E.E.N
Email. tfeeen@gmail.com
Skype. tfeeen
Blogg. tfeeen.blogspot.com

We say Goodbye to "Goldie"...

Today we say goodbye to "Goldie", our little fish that outlasted all the other fishies.

It was one of the fishes given out as gifts @ kids church and we had a few.

Unfortunately many of them did not make it within a week. But "Goldie" inspired us by lasting past her second week.

Today "Goldie" had easily counted 2 whole months with us before she passed on. May she have rested in peace.

Amongst those who stayed just a while with us but had gone on before "Goldie", we cherish them in our memories:

- 5 other fishies
- 2 butterflies
- 2 grasshoppers (well, they were 'sacrificed' to keep the praying mantis alive)
- 1 praying mantis (well, the grasshoppers helped till they were gone and no resupply forthcoming and no more hope for P.M.)
- 2 caterpillars
- 2 spiders
- 1 terrapin
- bunnies, Skippy, Peanut & Oreo (you must be wondering we don't feed kids at all for them to name pets after snack food)

Here is where I play as background soundtrack "Homesick" by MercyMe:

"You're in a better place I heard a thousand times,
And at least a thousand times I rejoiced for you.
But the reason why I'm broken, the reason why I cry,
Is how long must I wait to be with you.

Help me Lord, 'cos I don't understand your ways.
The reason why, I wonder if I'll ever know.
But even if you show me, the hurt is still the same,
'Cos I'm still here, so far away from home.

In Christ, there is no goodbye.
In Christ, there is no end.
So I'll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again, to see you again.

I close my eyes & I see your face.
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place.
Lord won't you give me strength to make it through somehow.
I've never been more homesick than now."

While we're homesick for you guys back home, we have a greater home sickness to be reunited to the side of our H.F. and our L.J. Where we pray we'll have a big reunion party with you and everyone else who believes in our L.

So keep the faith Bro & Sis, continue the race till the crown is won and pacing those ahead of us are all the souls G. had placed in our trust to make disciples of; pacing behind us are those sent earlier to us to make disciples out of us, and right at the tail end bringing up the rear, our L. J. who is the first, the greatest and master disciple maker of all.

GBU!

T.

a Glimpse of a Familiar Face...

In my past time of catching faces reminding me of those back home, here's one who is a dead ringer for our dear Ang L. Maybe he has long lost relatives here in this city?

I'm still earnestly trying to snap a photo of a dead ringer for our Canon... Heh heh...

Well we think our MOE curriculum back home is tough? Wait till you see what our 3Es have to endure in school here. Typical home work exercise (you Bee Gees & Abba generation will reminisce over this):

e.g. The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

Who/What jumped? - "Fox" (Subject Noun)
What was said of Fox - "jumped" (Verb)
Jumped where? - "over" (Preposition)
Over what? - "Dog" (Object of Preposition)
What kind of Fox? - "quick" (Adjective)
What colour of Fox? - "brown" (Adjective)
What kind of Dog? - "lazy" (Adjective)
List the Articles - "The, the"
Divide the sentence - "... jumped over the.." (Predicate)
Write the Sentence Formula - Sn + V / Adj + Adv
Classify the Sentence - Declarative

The school branded this "Classical Education". It's "classic" all right, like 8-track tapes, petticoats and Old Spice.

Yup, they spend hours daily drilling and rehearsing through this routine to perfection that F and I have it carved into our brains.

No wonder they whine and fuss not wanting to go to school, I wouldn't want to either!

Lord help us all to make it through somehow!

T

Whose Hair Is Sticking Out...

We had a nice chill-down-spine moment in school when a teacher reported there was human hair sticking out of the grounds.

With a lot of hymn singing and praising God in spirit, I approached the grounds with a plastic-bag glove in my hand.

Three locks of black strands, some streaked a little gray, and looking half-dried, half-silky... You look @ the picture and be the judge...

T.

The Dip in Faith...

Just last week saw the dipping into repentance for forgiveness @ a private house, 23 new bros and sis. Praise G.!

The background to their doing so was enriching: a pr. raised the qn during svc, "How many of u have yet to be B.?" Not quite a few were gingerly raised and he challenged them to mae a stand for the L. In going thru it. P. the L. for the pr. who had sensed the L. heart to call them into sealing their repentance in water!

We're moving into a one-week national holiday period where the whole country practically shuts down till after the festivities. There're street parades in trucks, buses, bikes, and lot's of thru-the-night chanting and fireworks!

P. for the people of the land as they show great immersion and discipline in what they believe in but do they truly know the L. who created them? P. for us to make it through and not be short of G.'s grace since buying anything needed at last min. is now not possible.

How're u all back home? Pls message us to keep us updated with the homefront and any think we can lift to our H.F. on your behalf?

TFEEEN+N
Skype. tfeeen
Email. tfeeen@gmail.com

Earth Angel... Earth Angel

It's li'l N's first school experience. And it's his first time in a school uniform. Looking totally grown up and "cherubic".

We're praying for Psalm 15 to be the call of the people of this land and their generations to come, esp. with our first hand experience of the way of the land and how people in public office work. All that we sent from home never got through to us, but were impounded till we agreed to certain "terms".

Understanding G. is always & ultimately in control, if H. wishes to strip us of all we had, we humbly submit. We surrendered all we had and informed the relevant dept. we are not claiming any: they will dispose of what we had that benefits them best. We will live with what our L. had graciously allowed us to fly with when first arrived here. Praise God!

TFEEEN+N
Skype. tfeeen
Email. tfeeen@gmail.com

Just to show how homesick...

It's uncanny how many people we meet here reminds of loved ones back home!

E.g. we walk into the kids' school bookstore and one look @ shop manager started me off, "THE-BEE! What're you doing here in this city!" (see pix of our 'local version' of THE-BEE. )

How homesick can we get? Very!

TFEEEN+N
Skype. tfeeen
Email. tfeeen@gmail.com

We are ONE... (Month Old in This Place)

Yup, though it seemed like one year, we've managed to tough it out through the power of H.S. and can blow out a cake candle 1/12th long.

Some of u may had been surprised to see the TFEEEN+N come back for really really brief visit in different alphabetical order: u may be wondering Y 2... well, the explanation will prove many magnitudes larger than the visit itself so may not be worth reading it here. Y we came back may be regaled in trad. folklore oral mode recital under the cold stairs b4 a snug campfire, if u care to come up and visit us on our L.'s coming b.day.

Thank G., we're still ONE, talking and ministering to each other in spite of dark times we went through as posted earlier. Really by H. Grace the cloud was lifted and we can see what's described in Eph6 and can cont. to love & 4give each other in S. Pray we can cont. to keep such C.ward perspective even should H. will us to persevere through the cloud again 4 our sanct. & H. glori.

Coupla wks ago we'd helped out @ a ministry outreach rally, a reminder of Y this land cont. to break the heart of our L. The ppl reached out 2 are below the local poverty line (pls rem. the poverty line here is much much much lower than whatever line U have back home, think doing the limbo rock with head touching heels). The Past. running this is itenerant & indie, no org. or church providing perm & depending on goodwill of patrons to provide.

Here're some pics of the settlem. they live in (tech squatters so any time may be chased out w/ not much belongings), the faces of kids and what was given them. Vol. on duty were gentle but firm w/ discipline of handouts as stampedes and snatching happened b4, such is the fear of att. ppl. afraid of losing out in rear of Q.

Freq. assurances were given to them that there's more than enough to go around: truly indeed, when done, the floor of furn. moving truck was still covered with handouts, yet everyone had something to live on.

May what was physically given unto them not shadow what was spir.tly offered during the outreach svc. After all, our mission is not fleshly poverty relief 4 many secular agencies do so, some much better than we do. Ours is spir.tl mercy relief mission to those desc. by our L. in Mt 5:3-12. These ppl need to know in G.'s eyes they are blessed, much more so, than many back in our home.

Praise G. 4 H. wise-ness beyond human understanding that be-fuddles the Grk & stumbles the Jw. 1Co1:23.

May H. Who is able 2 keep us frm stumbling & falling bless U all in your lives as salt and light to all who fear H.

TFEEEN
Skype. TFEEEN
Email. tfeeen@gmail.com

All I want 4 Christmas...

Christmas wishes came early this year 4 E3 who "lost" his ONE front tooth (though he was ecstatic 'cos 1. The loose tooth had been bothering him so much he was whining a lot like a babe. 2. It's his first milk tooth to drop so he's officially not a baby anymore!)

So sorry, folks, for that long period of silence. Many things have happened since our last post, most significantly the opening & launching of the school. Truthfully, a lot of friction, frustration and mutual recriminations led to easily lost patience, focusing on self first and convenient self-pity. The enemy was fighting very hard to turn our eyes from H.F. & onto our own sinful fleshly selves. L, forgive us! L have mercy on us! L, deliver us!

Things have settled & calmed a bit, though there may be occassional flare-ups. We are reminded that this is no ordinary fight between persons but a cosmic battle for eternal victory that has already been won by our L.J. Now it's just the futile desperate attempts by doomed enemies striving to deny the promise of life eternal from those who are promised that life in keeping faith. Pray for us, I beg you.

So much more to catch up yet so little time & internet airspace to post all. Keep us strong in humility, perseverance and love, oh G we pray.

Our greetings & love to all @ home, & to those young adults entering new phases in their life thru N.S. or O.S., we pray G keep you in His grace and may His S never depart from you always and all-time.

oh, and we may have a little surprise 4 you. Details tonight...

T.

Gd Morning! PTL it is the L's day today! Also the day we'll be formally involved in teens min. onwards. Pls pray for us humility, grace, power & love when we start building bridges into the lives of these teens.

It looks pretty hazy this morn & we pray it will not cause too much respiratory comfort... G. have mercy & give us strength!

Our kindie parents workshop didn't turn out the way expected (L. had own purpose for us) but again all things turned out well in the end. Parents were more anxious about practical issues like fees & teacher quality & curriculum innovation etc. than sit & hear about how to raise their child. But p.G., many of them had 1 basic concern, a C. Kindie that lays a C. Foundation in a child's developing years like SJCK.

Bless Auntie J. who graciously stayed thru whole day w/ us & was the beacon of SJCK's spirit and heart to the parents & our teachers. She'd turn the training on its head into a teachers' session just like that! We'd learnt so much how to bring different ways of learning to suit each child using all kinds of stimulating activities that are exciting, fun & yet easy to do. Thank you Aunty J.!

Thank you all for entreating our great L. over little N. Fever's gone, running tummy is lessening and cheeks' rashes are not as fiery as before. Thanks be to G. for He is great & does mighty things before our eyes to His glory!

Have a blessed L's day & week ahead!

T.F.E.E.E.N+N

yup, another week wisping past our eyes...

Can't wait for Sunday to come round again. It'll be the first Sunday where T. will be pulled into teens ministry. Daunting!

The kids had loved going to kids church as much as SPK, 'cos SPK was the inspiration for this kid's church and, most importantly, J. sitting at the steps waiting for the kids to go to Him.

You'd also prob catch a glimpse of E1 already serving on his first Sunday @ kids church: yup, that's him behind the drums 'cos the regular adult Uncle Drummist was unavailable that day.

Tomorrow Aunty J. is giving a talk to our kindie's potential parents to raise awareness. Please pray for anointing of the H.S. upon her, that her words be continually filled with the grace, love & wisdom she'd always have, and the light of G's message through her talk will shine a light into the parents' souls.

Also pray for kindie owners, teachers, workers etc. Yup, we're still @ kindie pushing through the final touches for tomorrow's parents visit and it has been a looooong week! Please ask our H.F. For perseverance, freshness of spirit, loving heart for parents & children & the unity in the H.S. so we can be salt of earth, light of world.

Little N is still having diarrhoea & rashes though, praise to J., his fever has gone away for now. Please uphold him & his siblings in your heart to become children of the great J., as arrows in the quiver ready to be issued forth in the power of Peace to proclaim the word.

Thank you all, saudara-saudara dan saudari-saudara, and G.B.U.!

T.

Cont'd prayers 4 little N

We got quite a few alarmed inquiries about significant tremors. Thank G., we're all fine. In fact those of us @ kindie didn't feel a thing 'cos we're at ground flr. Even greater is the kids & N2 who were in high rise & reported no experience of tremors. Thank you all for praying & contacting us.

Little N's still "rashy" all over his cheeks, having runny stool, running nose & started running fever that spikes frequently. Not taking to locally-sold milk powder, but, thank G., Aunty J. is flying up this wk w/ pack of usual milk powder to tide over. Pray 4 her journey mercies too!

Till the next post, GBU!

T.

A Land of Ministry Opportunities

We live in a high-rise that spans a view far into the local residential areas, a mix of mid-class & poor neighbourhoods.

The window also overlooks one of the main traffic arteries that starts getting jammed from 6am and only eases off about 11pm. It's amazing how much of their lives are spent in 4 wheeled smoke-spewing crates!

The people are lovely, from our hosts @ the church & school to the common man we meet on the streets. Plenty of heartfelt smiles & gentle "G'daay maits!", local style of course.

Enjoy the view over the city we're posting here: a view of the people which we strive to say a prayer over when we rise & set with the sun.

Do

Drop us a line or two (tfeeen@gmail.com) when you can to keep the home strings firm and taut. We miss you all.

God bless!

T.

(p.s. Report of an earthquake just in, people on the 26 Flr of the bldg our kindie is in are gushing about it! Thank God we're on the ground flr, though N+N, E2 & E3 may have felt it back @ our 46 Flr apartment. Details tomorrow!)

Please pray 4 small N

Please pray 4 small N. Been having diarrhoea, skin rashes on cheeks & now running nose + coughing 4 three days.

Thx & God bless

T.

7 days, 168 hours, 10080 minutes, 604800 seconds

Can't believe it's been exactly a week since we've last left you and reached the land of Batik. As you can see from the time of post, it is the only part of the day we can tear ourselves from work , ministry & family commitments.

Don't despair, though, for lack of things to read here... they'll fill up pretty soon once we get our rhythm to keep putting our thoughts and visions here.

It's been a week... yet it seemed we had just said our goodbyes to you at the airport. Missing all of you already.

Photos will be forthcoming soon. Till then...

God bless and His mercies shine on you always,

T.F.E.E.E.N+N