SEA conference 10-12 Apr 2009

Over the Good Friday weekend, the Singapore Church hosted the SEA conference and we had disciple from the SEA region- Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea and Japan. We had John Causey from the LA church as our guest speaker.

The conference program begins as early as Friday morning. Since it was a public holiday, many disciples were able to make their way here on Thursday night. As for me, I was in Melaka on Friday as Malaysia does not celebrate Good Friday and hence I still had school. At 4pm, I left school and drove back with a classmate. I got to church at 830pm and heard John Louis communion lesson entitled The Blessing.

The service doesn't end after the lesson. I went around fellowshipping with disciples especially the overseas disciples. I met disciple that I know for years- Jack Ngui, Choong, Yufeng, Hee Jung.

I met Wang Shik too. We met for the first time at the last SEA conference. 1 afternoon, I join the Korean brothers for a game of waterpolo at their hotel. They are good at inventing games to compete with each other. From waterpolo, we went on compete in swimming. We were split into 2 teams and Wang Shik was on the other team. He was still sore that I beat him at the relay. How interesting he remembers stuff like that!

I met new friends too. On saturday morning, together with my buddy Zach, we went over to Tampines Mall to meet Moony, Joy, Hee Jung and Lee Lee (the host for the 3 korean sister). We wanted to get together for lunch and to do quiet time today. Moony is a very jovial sisters and she makes the people around her laugh. Although she couldn't converse very well in English, she makes alot of effort to talk to me. She even prepare a set of question she want to ask and a short sharing about herself. I really appreciate her heart. Lee Lee and Moony left at 1pm to attend a meeting in Church so we continue to stay at Coffee Bean to read and share about the bible.

I was most impacted by the sharing. Though there was minor language barrier, we make effort to understand each other. There is an unexplainable bond as Christian. God is our common language.

Single's mixer cocktail party
Wanna thank the organiser for having the faith and courage to have the party at the rooftop. Many disciple would have think twice about hosting it outdoor. But I love it. I love the outdoor set up, the standing around fellowship, cocktail, Michael Buble and other jazz pieces.


Sunday 12 Apr
Already, the straits hall is packed to its brink. Christians are standing on the side aisle. Additional chairs are set up as far back as possible and spill over the the lobby. I didn't get up to Mezzanine Level but I think it's as packed as you can imagine.

I wish that our church will outgrow the capacity of this building. Maybe we can have an building extension. Or even a church building at a different location (not Jurong West please...). By then, Singapore church would have been in excess of 400 members and we will definitely need to rent a huge function room to host a conference.

True to our conference tradition, we have Mataku T'lah Melihat Kemuliaan as the 主打歌 (theme song) and many 插曲. We repeated the verse "he is exalted" so many times I think I am getting exhausted. Not forgetting Prayer for Boldness with 1980's Kung Fu movie music arrangement.

Baptism
After sevice, there were 4 baptism. I'm excited to see Bruce baptising the first Seremban fruit. June and Bruce set off on a mission trip in Dec 2008 to Seremban. Seremban is June's hometown. Must have been challenging to be on a 2-man church, but God has been kind. A brother baptised in Uganda joined them not long after and now Michael, also from Uganda is baptised. Now the Seremban church is 4 man strong. As for me, I am still a 1-man Church in Melaka.

Then comes the most rewarding and also most exhausting part- Fellowship. So many disciples to talk to, so many contacts to exchange, so many photos to be taken. The atmosphere was just phenomenon. The overseas disciples looks as though they couldn't bear to leave. 1 last word, 1 last photo.

But by 230pm, most of them have left the straits hall. Probably to answer calls to their groaning stomach. Luckily I had breakfast before the service.

This afternoon, I'm joining Jason to hang out with some Japanese sisters, the fellowship of the Mi sisters- Mami, Nami and Ayumi. Eventually, we hang out without Ayumi as she had some other program. Nami is from Osaka Church. She wanted to have lunch with the Kid's Ministry christians to learn from them. So I had dinner with Mani and Jason and we had more talking. Man!!! WE talk to much, by 4pm I felt drained. I think I've exceeded the maximum number of words spoken per day for an average male. We travelled down to Bugis. More talking on the train. It was nice to hear Nami shared about the city she loves.