merdeka! (yay!)

On this the 50th independence celebration of Malaysia we went to the beach. Calvary had a baptismal service and there was pork to eat along with other food they made me, yeah thats right they made me try. Cannot say no one. All the aunties and uncles ah. Try this, try that one... But it was good la.


I discovered i'm fascinated by cloud formations. They're so beautiful with lots of patterns. So if you see me staring at the sky with a grin you know why.


By the beach, so many people came out to have picnics and enjoy the day off work


the beach. Didn't get a chance to play in the water but who needs water when you have bbq pork?


another view of the beach


playing with a rugby ball. I would have called it football if this was american and it wouldn't sound awkward but this is not american and it sounds awkward to call it football.

Later in the evening we went out for a simple meal near DPS. I ordered beef noodles with soup and the lady brought fork and spoon for me and for some reason i just felt wrong. I didn't feel comfortable using them anymore so i asked for chopsticks.


Not what you think. Its actually chinese tea in a deceptive cup.


close up shot of my plate


The mee was very good.

I know you love me
With regard to my previous post, i'm sorry with i caused a stir or scared anyone. I am ok just that sometimes things happen and emotions get the better of me.

I just want to say prayer works. It so freaking works. And don't underestimate the power of kindness to turn seemingly dire situations around. God is pure good. And He cares more than we ever can. 

I really thank God for friends who I can share things with and I really thank God for the family of believers that we have. Sometimes we can take that for granted.

I really like this song by superchick, We live.

We live by superchic[k]
There's a cross on the side of the road
Where a mother lost a son
How could she know that the morning he left
Would be their last time she'd trade with him for a little more time
So she could say she loved him one last time
And hold him tight
But with life we never know
When we're coming up to the end of the road
So what do we do then
With tragedy around the bend?

We live we love
We forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

We live we love
We forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

There's a man who waits for the tests
To see if the cancer has spread yet
And now he asks, "So why did I wait to live till it was time to die?"
If I could have the time back how I'd live
Life is such a gift
So how does the story end?
Well this is your story and it all depends
So don't let it become true
Get out and do what we were meant to do

We live we love
We forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

We live we love
We forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

Waking up to another dark morning
People are mourning
The weather in life outside is storming
But what would it take for the clouds to break
For us to realize each day is a gift somehow, someway?
So get our heads up out of the darkness
And spark this new mindset and start to live life cuz it ain't gone yet
And tragedy is a reminder to take off the blinders
And wake up and live the life we're supposed to take up
Moving forward with all our heads up cuz life is worth living

We live we love
We forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

~shalom~

i know you love me

I feel a need to express myself freely but I really can't so its hard to go about living a 'normal life' because things have changed and i feel weird. Argggggggggggggggghhh.

I want to rest in your arms Lord, take away this heaviness, give me true joy again. But i resign to let your will be done. I know you love me :) I know you love me.

In a way i like the burden, I like that it draws me closer to you. I like that it liberates me to experience more meaningful relationships, friends, brothers, sisters. I like that i have this burden, in a way. I like that i get to feel your heart, even for a while.

At the cross - Hillsong United - Mighty to save 

Oh Lord You've searched me

You know my way

Even when I fail You

I know You love me

Your holy presence

Surrounding me

In every season

I know You love me

I know You love me

At the cross I bow my knee

Where Your blood was shed for me

There no greater love than this

You have overcome the grave

Your glory fills the highest place

What can separate me now

You go before me

You shield my way

Your hand upholds me

I know You love me

You tore the veil

You made a way

When You said that it is done

And when the earth fades

Falls from my eyes

And You stand before me

I know You love me

I know You love me

~shalom~

thank you Father

Got back from the VCF camp last night {sunday night}. The camp was great, lots of fun but the main reason why we went was not lost in all the fun. I must say, atleast for me the highlight of the camp was the talentshow.

We were all divided into groups according to certain bible characters. I was in Noah and we were asked to present some kind of drama or song well naturally we decided a drama was the way to go. I have videos but i'm having trouble uploading them but besides our group i think the drama by Moses was very good. Every team was very creative in the way they presented these bible stories and it made for a really fun time.

thank you Father
For some reason yesterday{monday morning} when i got up to pray i could not help but just say thank You Father for everything. Sometimes i feel this way. I was singing one of my favourite songs by i think its Paul Baloche - offering. There's a line that goes...

I bring an offering of worship to my king
no one on earth deserves the praises that i bring
Jesus may you receive the honor that you're due
Oh Lord I bring an offering to you.

And for some reason those words just hit me real strong, i was thinking here i am in the midst of people who love the Lord, and i was thinking of those people who shared the word of God to me, and how it must have been a struggle sometimes for them because i also go through struggles when it comes to sharing my faith. And how it must have been a sacrifice for them but God used them anyway. And those people who must have been praying for me to be saved, called out God's mercy on this naughty little boy. And here i am... Alvin Slaughter in his song run to you says ...surprised to be loved. The emotions just overwhelmed me, and with tears i just thank God for everything, everything i get to enjoy, every trip, camp, every experience. I like to say God is pure good. :)

Recent event have got me worried, yesterday i got some bad news but i know in all things God works it out for the good of them who love him and as i was just going through some word to help me through this one thing that kept appearing is the love of God especially in Romans 8:35 nothing can s-e-p-a-r-a-t-e us from the love of God, nothing. And that became some kind of help to me. Only a few people understand what i'm talking about and i'll like to keep it that way but all i can say is pray for your friends. God can do anything.

pictures time

first thing i saw in the toilet was this little bugger.


signpost


Noah


Jeremy, Kelly, and someone


Remember i said we had games? This was one of them. We came first in these games


LOok at all the food we had to eat


Li ai and there he is again!


We had to cross this river to get to the other side where the cave is.


my first time on a boat. Look how scared ooja was.


the other end of the boat.


we took the wrong turn at some point in the journey but this sign was reassuring


even though it was raining, they kept singing all the way


that explains alot


after walking for hours we came here and the path was under construction


they were selling drinks and some crafts.

The camp committee decided it was not safe to go through the path under construction so we did a fun thing; walk back.


this is an alternative path but its longer and they say mud can get up to your knees. We passed.


we got back and guess what we did.


eating


my room


they spelt my name wrong, where got L?


my roomies


look at all the cool people with cool t-shirts. At this point we were getting ready to leave.


no we didn't have the camp in the bush, we just had to stop.

I can't possibly post all the pictures i took here. Well actually i could but it would get very long but you can look at some more over at my flickr page. Or to get another perspective of the camp try this one.

I really thank God for my phone, it made the camp more fun, and i could share with y'all.

~shalom~

batu niah camp

I'm going away on a camp tomorrow for the weekend. We'll be going to niah cave, my first cave experience in miri and in malaysia.

I dont really like caves, they're cold and they have bats and insects and other creepy things. But i hope we won't be spending alot of time in the cave. I really look forward to having fun and fellowship with people.

So thats about it, will update with pictures when i get back.

~shalom~

free2be amplified

Wah what a week. For three nights Miri has been on fire. Chris long was in town with his family for a youth rally at the Miri indoor stadium: free2be Amplified.

Its actually organised by the scripture union but involved alot of the churches around miri, kind of like what happens for nights of fire in Kuching.

I thank God for the opportunity to be a part of the meeting. Was able to go for all three nights and for the most part i was right in front of the crowd just to make sure they stayed organised and for the most part they were except for a few naughty ones who were too excited.

The first night saw over a 100 first time decisions for christ with close to 2000 young people in attendance. It was just amazing.







No price for guessing what song is playing at this time. We had alot of fun :)

~shalom~