Unlegalistic Unconventionalism
I think I need to let you all know more about my Hong Kong trip first before I carry on updating on some thoughts that I had. But warning: I have no pictures to post... so too bad....
Yes, I went Hong Kong and I came back. The timeline was from 4 Sept to 7 Sept. We flew on Thursday morning and touched down at Macau at around 1plus afternoon. And me and Mich reached the hotel at 6pm at Tseun Wan Panda Hotel. It was a tiring travel for both of us but we were quite refreshed when we joined the HKU cg later in the evening. It was a great time of fellowship and sharing.
Friday saw the beginning of the LC. The topic's on indigenous church. In summary, it's about local churches needing local leaders to rise up and run the church. It's closely tied to missions and church planting. And for the second time since the Hope Bangkok BLM seminar, I was very convicted on mission and church planting, though I have not have a country in mind. The workshop I attended in the afternoon was titled Personal Evangelism and I have to admit that it was an inspiring workshop by Peter Truong. After listening to him and talking to him, I told myself,I wanted to be like this person and I want to be like him who has a heart for God and people.
Saturday it was another eventful day, though I only remember coming out of the church feeling high. I kept on singing 'I love this family of God', and became quite 'gaga' but by then, God had spoken to me enough to want to go back to Singapore and meet my cg to share with them the experience that I had.
Sunday's preaching in the church service was extraordinary provoking for me. God spoke through Pastor Jeff to show me that I may be on the verge of giving up or discouragement. I responded to the altar call and went forward to be prayed for. And when I was up there, 2 pastors came and prophesied on me. They were specific words, one on my present state which was chillingly accurate and one on my future state which I will hold by faith.
What did I got out of the entire experience? Firstly, I got to know a number of brothers and sisters from Hong Kong and got to make friends with them, added some of them in facebook and msn also. Also, God spoke a lot to me regarding cg and people and missions. These are details that are saved for private ears but I came back wanting to 'chiong' more for God.
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Today, my cg ran a short farewell for Vanessa who would be flying off to Warwick for her further studies. The comments that came from the short time surprised me. She and Zelanie commented that this cg feels like a family, and not like another group of friends. I was quite touched by this comment. Cos all this time, what I'm building for is really a family-like environment in the cg, so that people can be easily enfolded. I still think we have a long way to go but I know we are heading towards the right track. Another comment was that I'm an unconventional leader who practice informal leadership and is not legalistic. I was pleasantly shocked to hear this comment which was agreed by the whole cg. I never know that I am seen as such by the cg as I always thought that I'm leading this cg modeling after the leaders whom I have served under. But then, it may be the fruit of my training thus far as I always want to hold cg in a non-conventional way when it's appropriate to do so. Partly also because this current cg is one that I want to commit myself into building and growing. The irony is what I commented to Vanessa after all this: provided this cg is still around when she returns in Dec. It will still around, but an unavoidable fact is that one day, if the cg really starts growing the way I have envisioned it to be, then it would mean that it will have to be restructured one day. I know the pain of restructuring and I know that it's not going to be easy for a cg which has grown this close. Moreover, one day, me and shuyi will be graduating and someone will have to take over the cg and someone from other ministry is going to join the cg thus changing the dynamics. Yet close as we might be, close we need to be. As far as I'm concerned now, the cg is my number one priority in church, and it will continue to remain so. It's part of me and in some sense, I know that its prayer is my personal prayer.
Yes, I went Hong Kong and I came back. The timeline was from 4 Sept to 7 Sept. We flew on Thursday morning and touched down at Macau at around 1plus afternoon. And me and Mich reached the hotel at 6pm at Tseun Wan Panda Hotel. It was a tiring travel for both of us but we were quite refreshed when we joined the HKU cg later in the evening. It was a great time of fellowship and sharing.
Friday saw the beginning of the LC. The topic's on indigenous church. In summary, it's about local churches needing local leaders to rise up and run the church. It's closely tied to missions and church planting. And for the second time since the Hope Bangkok BLM seminar, I was very convicted on mission and church planting, though I have not have a country in mind. The workshop I attended in the afternoon was titled Personal Evangelism and I have to admit that it was an inspiring workshop by Peter Truong. After listening to him and talking to him, I told myself,I wanted to be like this person and I want to be like him who has a heart for God and people.
Saturday it was another eventful day, though I only remember coming out of the church feeling high. I kept on singing 'I love this family of God', and became quite 'gaga' but by then, God had spoken to me enough to want to go back to Singapore and meet my cg to share with them the experience that I had.
Sunday's preaching in the church service was extraordinary provoking for me. God spoke through Pastor Jeff to show me that I may be on the verge of giving up or discouragement. I responded to the altar call and went forward to be prayed for. And when I was up there, 2 pastors came and prophesied on me. They were specific words, one on my present state which was chillingly accurate and one on my future state which I will hold by faith.
What did I got out of the entire experience? Firstly, I got to know a number of brothers and sisters from Hong Kong and got to make friends with them, added some of them in facebook and msn also. Also, God spoke a lot to me regarding cg and people and missions. These are details that are saved for private ears but I came back wanting to 'chiong' more for God.
-----------------------------------------
Today, my cg ran a short farewell for Vanessa who would be flying off to Warwick for her further studies. The comments that came from the short time surprised me. She and Zelanie commented that this cg feels like a family, and not like another group of friends. I was quite touched by this comment. Cos all this time, what I'm building for is really a family-like environment in the cg, so that people can be easily enfolded. I still think we have a long way to go but I know we are heading towards the right track. Another comment was that I'm an unconventional leader who practice informal leadership and is not legalistic. I was pleasantly shocked to hear this comment which was agreed by the whole cg. I never know that I am seen as such by the cg as I always thought that I'm leading this cg modeling after the leaders whom I have served under. But then, it may be the fruit of my training thus far as I always want to hold cg in a non-conventional way when it's appropriate to do so. Partly also because this current cg is one that I want to commit myself into building and growing. The irony is what I commented to Vanessa after all this: provided this cg is still around when she returns in Dec. It will still around, but an unavoidable fact is that one day, if the cg really starts growing the way I have envisioned it to be, then it would mean that it will have to be restructured one day. I know the pain of restructuring and I know that it's not going to be easy for a cg which has grown this close. Moreover, one day, me and shuyi will be graduating and someone will have to take over the cg and someone from other ministry is going to join the cg thus changing the dynamics. Yet close as we might be, close we need to be. As far as I'm concerned now, the cg is my number one priority in church, and it will continue to remain so. It's part of me and in some sense, I know that its prayer is my personal prayer.
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