Christmas at Orchard

WOW! Carolling at Orchard on Christmas eve was a really fantabulously exciting experience. Haha. I have never ever had such a Christmas eve before. Actually, my main objective for this event was really to get to know my friends better and have fun as we carolled together... Then the week before, I was asked to become a small small group leader. At first I thought that it will be quite manageable… after all, it’s just 5 people in my group. Haha... but I was so wrong. Orchard Road was so super duper crowded that keeping 5 people together is actually quite challenging. I felt like some mother hen trying to make sure that all the chicks are together, and that no eagle comes swooping down to snatch them away. I did a head count like every 5 seconds man. Haha. But I was blessed even as I chose to lead the group… indeed it is a privilege to serve. I learnt how to take care of my group: break them into pairs to buddy each other, ensure that they are taken care of by asking them to drink water, ensuring that they have the lyrics for the carols, making them comfortable and keeping their energy levels up etc… all in all, learning to love them.

Indeed as Ps Khong preached, love focuses on caring, in which we meet the needs of the people with all we are. Yesterday was a little experience of how I actually did that. An instance was when we used bags and paper to shield each other from the nasty smelly foam that people kept trying to spray on others. Another was when we made sure that we walked in a choo choo train so that no-one will be lost. haha. There were many many other instances where we did little acts of kindness for each other that amounts to theh love for one another.

Love fosters confidence as well. Something that I have always been struggling with is to use a firm voice when leading a small group. Perhaps it is because of my fear of rejection because of childhood experiences. Throughout the year, in many instances where I led a small group, I hardly discipline them at all and treat them merely as friends. But yesterday, I felt the freedom to do so. There was an atmosphere of love for me to freely switch from serious mode to fun mode and back to serious mode again.

Before the event, as I prayed for it, God promised that His presence will be there with us in Orchard Road. And indeed He is a faithful God! There was such an atmosphere of joy and love as we sang Christmas Carols and worshipped the Lord. =) I thank God that the crowd caught that joy from us as well though our carolling was so messy… haha… Despite all the technical glitches, the crowd didn’t seem to care… cos the atmosphere of joy and love was already there. =)

Indeed, all in all it was a fruitful event and I thank God for it! And here's wishing all of you out there MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! =)

Intercession is Exciting!

I realise that I havn't been blogging for long... so must quickly update.

Haha… it has been a really really long weekend… but I enjoyed it loads and loads. =) I went to expo on Friday, Saturday and Sunday… and it’s not as if I stay very near expo either… so it was quite tiring… but each time as I went and served The Lord, He always refreshed my spirit so that I go home with joy. This is the first part of my reflections cos the weekend has been really long and I havn't finished my reflections yet! =X hehs.

On Friday, I was on intercession duty for the Magic of Love… I remember going there with a heavy heart cos I had so many things that I was thinking and struggling about… But I knew that I had to clear my mind of my personal agenda and start to fix my mind on Jesus… or else my prayers won’t be effective.

[James 5:16] “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

I reached the intercession room 40 minutes early. I was like the first person who came man… So I started to prepare my heart, worshipping The Lord as the worship leader practised for worship… and as I did that, I surrendered all my concerns to God and confessed any sins that were within me… It was really an exciting time of praying… I have never prayed for 2 hours (excluding worship) before!!! =))) haha… and the amazing thing is that I didn’t even feel weary or tired but I just felt like I could keep praying and praying. Haha… Thank God for that! I was also very excited to be able to support Ps Khong by interceding for His show.

After the whole intercession session, I had a debrief with Sharon. I thank God that she chose to go with me because she wanted to help me further develop my gift of intercession. She helped me to see that the devil has been putting me through many trials and testings because he didn’t want me to pray… because he is afraid that when I pray, his plans will be thwarted. Haha. So I must stand stong in The Lord… so that I can be that righteous man whose prayer is powerful and effective.