Preparing for a busy week ahead!

This week I am working on the Wed eve message (b/c Ping has to doing some military running tests), Friday college and career devotional (and activity), Sat ProTeens lesson (and activity), J-high S.S. lesson, Sun Eve message, (Sun morn back-up message in case Ping’s baby decides to come). I am looking forward to all the good preparation of being in the Word, but pray that I will have the time to do adequate preparation for each message and that I will be able to concentrate on what the Lord would have me to communicate.

I am also looking forward to being able to Skype with the J-high back home!!! It will be very fun to  be able to talk and see everybody!

Now that I have been in Singapore for a while everything is becoming pretty routine and I wonder what I should write about. There is usually nothing different to write about as far as what I do each week- whether you are in the States or in another country it is very similar. Pretty much every week I do the same thing: study, teach/preach, help out with the admin stuff…The ministry is not exciting b/c of new, extraordinary experiences that you might have every week (hence the lack of new pictures – I would rather blend in with the people here than to still act like I’m a tourist taking pictures of everything I see, which is pretty much the same ‘ol things to me now). The ministry is exciting b/c of what you get to study and share with others. It is exciting to be able to sit down one on one and share with a teen how they can battle sin in their life because of the transforming power of God. Here’s an example:

Faith/Repentance/Conversion

Repentance must not be confused with reformation (Mark 10:18–23), contrition (Ex 9:27; Num 22:34; 1 Sam 15:24; Matt 27:4), or penance (Rom 4:2ff; Gal 1:8–9; 2:21; 3:3; 5:4). Repentance is a change of the inner man away from sin and toward God; it is a change of view, feeling, and purpose respecting God, sin and one’s own sinful self (1 Thess 1:9; Acts 20:21). Repentance demands a knowledge of sin that apprehends what it really is and means (Regarding the intellect, there is a change of view concerning sin cf. Ps 51:3) Repentance demands a genuine regret or sorrow for sin since it is against God (Regarding the emotions, there is a change of feeling or attitude cf. 2 Co 7:9–10; James 4:7–10; contra Luke 18:23 Repentance must not be confused with remorse or shame; it is sorrow for offending God and is concerned with one’s relationship to God and his holiness.). Repentance demands a desire for pardon that submits obediently (Regarding the volition, there is a change of purpose to abandon disobedience cf. Ps 51:10; Acts 26:20). Repentance is godly sorrow for one’s sin with a resolution to turn from it (Prov 28:13). The sinner repents because of the influence of the Holy Spirit (2 Tim 2:24–25; Acts 11:18). Guilt demands confession (1 John 1:9).

Saving faith (cf. Fear of the Lord in the OT) is the knowledge of, assent to, and unreserved trust in the accomplished redemption of Christ as revealed in the Scriptures. Faith is an apprehension of the truth (knowledge/intellectual aspect cf. Heb 11:3). Faith is rational (believe in order to understand certain content cf. Rom 10:8–9, 17; 2 Thess 2:13; Tit 1:1). Faith is an affirmation of the truth (assent/emotional aspect cf. Matt 13:23; Rom 4:21; Heb 11:1). The knowledge must be accepted (cf. Acts 26:27–28; James 2:19). Faith is an appropriation of the truth (trust/volitional aspect cf. Prov 3:5; John 1:12; 2 Tim 1:12; John 3:36; Heb 3:18–19). The knowledge must not only be approved, but also surrendered to in reliance. Saving faith is in a person, Jesus Christ (Messiah in the OT), revealed in the Word of Truth (i.e. not faith in faith or the spiritual cf. Acts 16:31; Rom 10:9, 17; John 1:12; 9:35–38; John 17:20; 20:30–31; 1 Thess 2:13; 4:14). Faith is a work of the Holy Spirit (1 Pet 1:8; 2 Pet 1:3; 1 Co 12:3; 2 Co 5:7; Matt 16:17; Eph 2:8–9; Phil 1:29 cf. Luke 16:30–31; Acts 26:26; 1 Co 1:21; 2:4–5). Guilt demands faith (Heb 11:6).

Repentance is inextricably linked to faith; it is impossible to have one without the other. They are two aspects of conversion (i.e. a penitent faith/believing repentance). Conversion is a turning away from sin toward God, establishing a new relationship (Ps 19:7; Prov 1:23; Is 55:7; Acts 3:26; 14:15; 26:18). Conversion expiates sin (Acts 3:19), grants forgiveness and an inheritance/hope (Acts 26:18), illumination (2 Co 3:16), and produces Christian service (1 Thess 1:9–10).

1 Month in Singapore

It is hard to believe that I have been here for one month already. It seems like I just got here yesterday. Yet so  much has happened.

*I love the people.

*I love the food (for the most part – it is the same as in America – the healthy stuff does not taste as good as the unhealthy stuff)

*I love love love love love the weather

*No huge culture shock has set in yet (it helps they speak my language)

I have enjoyed being able to study the Word and declare it. I hope that I can just be as supportive as I can in my role. I am looking forward to beginning a new series of material for the Fall for the Teens: The Exceeding Sinfulness of Sin for ProTeens and Daring Deliverers (the book of Judges) for Jr. High.

I was able to get a lot of office work done this last week printing off all of the new Sunday School material for the Fall and organizing everything (and keeping track of it in an excel spreadsheet). I’m starting to get down the process for printing the bulletin and the church calendar. There is much to do to stay busy!

Hope Thou In God

Romans 15:1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. 2 Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. 3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU FELL ON ME.” 4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus…13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This last week was quite busy and difficult from Tuesday through Sunday. Little did I know but I only had two precious weeks to know one of my teens. She passed away last Tuesday. I am so glad I had the opportunity to know her. We praise the Lord for the family’s trust in the Lord through a difficult time. The Gospel was preached thoroughly four times. Pray for the church family and for the Lim family through these trying times.

Last night we had a good fellowship with a few families from the church and I showed them some American culture – Jackie Gleason in the Honeymooners Tonight we had a surprise birthday party for one of the elementary kids. I think he was really surprised and had fun.

A Busy Week = A Profitable Week

This week I was able to get a lot of studying done:

Tue: ProTeens prep on Acknowleging God/Following His Will; Wed: J-high S.S. prep on Money/Materialism/Gambling…; Thur-Sat: Amos 3 (it is here under Aug 16 – scroll down). It is very exciting to be able to study out the different truths and seek to communicate them to others. Nothing could be better.

I also enjoyed fellowshipping (and eating) in several different homes and Hawker centers this week. Last night I had some extremely spicy stuff (on the side) for my One Ton of Noodles (Wan Tan noodles ). I liked the Wan Tan noodles a lot. I also had some opportunites to visit and do some tracting. One of the teens helped out a lot. Sometimes he would need to speak to the person in Chinese. You also have to be careful in soliciting a Malay (Muslim) apartment. Ususally there is a symbol outside their door telling you not to bother them.

Church Work Day, BBQ and Study Day

Monday was a church workday. It was really neat to see everyone pitch in, especially the teens. There was a lot that got done from painting the gates, to gluing more songs into the back of the hymnals and lots and lots of cleaning and organizing. After the work day a lot of us went over to the Yeo’s place for an all you can stuff yourself (literally) BBQ. There were about 15 courses for the meal Marinated chicken feet (JUST KIDDING), chicken wings and legs that is, shish kabobs with chicken, pineapple, eggplant, onions…, hot dogs, steak, fish, crab (the whole thing – eyes and all yum yum), squid (see the pics), shrimp, rice and whole lot more.

Today I spent a lot of time getting work done studying for the book of Amos, S.S. and Proteens. I also started doing my favorite thing (ehm) = laundry.

First Week In Singapore

Today was National Day for Singapore (Aug 9, 1965 = Independence) so it was a day of celebration.

Much has happened. Where to start??? ALWAYS the FOOD – Singaporeans favorite pasttime and small talk Ahh what a hard life. I had a great meal tonight at a hawker center (food court). It was like a feast and very very yummy – nothing like American Chinese restaurants. I had shaved ice flavored as Mango and one flavored as coffee. Kind of like a snow cone, but piled high on a plate instead. I absolutely love the weather – nice and warm and humid every day. I’ve met a lot of great people that spoil me way too much and go out of their way to help me all the time. I really appreciate them all.

This week I enjoyed studying for the Pro Teens class on the use of the tongue and the J-high S.S. on Friendships. This next week I’ll add in studying the book of Amos for Sun evening. The teens are great (see picture here)- we’re going to have a very fun year I also learned how to do the bulletin and other random admin stuff. All in all I am getting settled into the routine of things.

Arrival and First Exposures to Singapore Culture

This is the first time I have really had time to sit down and write. I still have not had time to get good videos or pictures of the church yet. Hopefully I can post those soon.

Traveling to Singapore

My flights went really well. I made all of my connections without a problem. They were not very fun though because there wasn’t very much turbulence. I think I like turbulence so much because the first time I ever flew (by myself to Louisiana) the plane was dropping thousands of feet straight down and I thought it was normal (even though passangers around me were screaming  – ha ha). Anyways, the flight from Seattle to Tokyo was the best because I was able to lay out across 2 1/2 seats in the middle of the plane – Talk about flying first class.

I think I have slight Jet Lag because I wasn’t able to keep a good sleep schedule while flying on the plane, but I think switching to Singapore time last Sunday helped a lot. I arrived around 1 or 2 in the morning on Friday and met my friends Ping and Melanie and another guy at the church, Willy. The airport is only about 10 min from the church so I got to see a little bit of the city on the way to the church and talked about Singapore in the van until we got to the church.

Accomodations

Ping gave me the crash course on how to get around the church – lock the gated area that lets the van into the courtyard, turn on and off the lights, showed me the kitchen which is off the courtyard to the left and the study which is off that kitchen, showed me my room which is further down off the courtyard to the left… I tried to get some sleep but decided I might as well unpack since I couldn’t. So I unpacked almost everything and put it in its place until 5AM when I felt tired and slept till 8AM. Then I got up and finished getting unpacked and got ready for the day. At about 9:15AM I decided to jump on SKYPE to see if my parents were on so I could tell them I arrived. They happened to be on so I was able to talk to them and my brother (he was on the cell phone with my parents).

First Exposures to Singapore on Friday

Can you believe what I ate for breakfast?? Actually it was quite American Melanie brought some monkey bread YUM!! Then Ping and I went out on the town so I could open up a bank account and go shopping at the grocery store, Fair Price. It was quite the same as you would see in the U.S. Melanie said she would have to take me to the Wet Market sometime to see something unique. By the time we got done with errands it was 1PM and time for lunch. Can you believe what I ate for lunch?? Actually it was quite American Melanie made pot roast and carrots, mashed potatoes and some Zuchinni with some sort of meat stuffed in it. By that time I was getting a little tired so I slept for an hour to catch up on some sleep so I could be awake for the evenings activities. Then I woke up and did some more organization of my stuff. At 5PM Ping and Melanie took me towards the downtown area of Singapore and I got some pics of the city while driving. We also went to an observatory deck near the Singapore Straits (see pictures here).

Next we went to the Teh’s home for dinner. This was my first really induction to unique food. They just had come back from Indonesia so they introduced me to a whole variety of that kind of food. It is quite different from what you have ever tasted before. Some of it I liked and 2 or 3 things were quite difficult to get down. But they were kind and didn’t want me to force myself too much. We had a good time of fellowship until 10:30PM.

Saturday

The main things that took place today:

I learned how to put the bulletin together, print it, and fold and stuff them.

I observed the opening singing that was combined with the Joy, Patch, and Pro-Teens clubs and then sat in on the Pro-Teens lesson about the Tongue. I was able to meet most of the teens and talk to them a little bit.

I studied for speaking on Sun morning – giving my testimony and speaking on James 1 (see it here).

I went out with Ping and Melanie and Willy for dinner at an outside food court. I had some excellent Indian food: Indian pancakes, one with an egg cooked in the middle, dipped in a spicy curry sauce (which wasn’t really all that spicy to me). I loved it.

I came back to the church and took some pics of a festival parade (see under picture tab) and spent a lot of time updating my blog here.

Ready to Go!!!

Proverbs 3:5-6

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him, and he ^will make straight your paths.

Although these are familiar verses, I desire that they not just be familiar to me, but to also be mainstays that I hold onto as I face all kinds of new challenges this next year. It is so easy to work hard at being organized and prepared (which are good things to do ) and then depend upon that. Then, when something goes wrong, it is easy to focus on working hard at getting re-calibrated to those plans again. Instead, I need to put my dependence in the Lord (which includes my part of organizing and planning as best I can). Then, when something goes wrong, focus upon him so that I can address the problems biblically without losing my temper, being stressed out….

I take off from Detroit Metro in just a few hours. I am really excited. Whenever I have flown before I have enjoyed it (the more turbulence the more fun). Just ask yourself: What could be more fun than being thousands of feet in the air going faster than ever in a tiny tube of metal? I can’t think of anything more fun, can you? Okay, so many of you are not convinced that it is fun or safe, but I am happily deluded anyways. Hopefully the 28 hr flight won’t change my optimistic impression. I arrive in Singapore at 1AM Fri morning (1PM Thur afternoon EST). I should be ready to sleep when I get there. I switched to Singaporean time Sunday night and have been doing pretty well sleeping for 7hrs during the day so I am hoping I won’t have any jet lag and will be able to jump right into things on Friday.

Things to pray about:

1. That I will have opportunities to simply share the Gospel in a right manner

2. That I make all my connections and that my bags do too

3. That my flight truly is safe and comfortable

4. That I will be able to sleep on my first flight to Seattle and on the first part of my flight to Tokyo, and then sleep from 1AM-8/9AM Fri Singaporean time

5. That I will have a productive day on Friday settling in and setting everything up

Thanks for your prayers and interest!

Kevin

Singapore’s Independence (1965-1985)

history cont.

Singapore’s independence brought mixed emotions. The political leaders such as Lee Kuan Yew had struggled to merge the two territories. But the independence of Singapore would bring peace from the racial/religious tensions and free Singapore from the trade restrictions from Malaysia. However, Singapore was such a small island with no natural resources and no military protection; its survival was questioned.

Many changes began to take shape beginning two days after Singapore’s independence. Singapore became a republic with a parliament and a president. Singapore was recognized as a country and admitted to the UN. The national language of Singapore was Malay with Chinese, English, and Tamil as official languages as well. Singapore is known as a multi-everything country. There is so much diversity. Yet, in the midst of this diversity, the government sought to form an identity unique for Singapore: “If we of the present generation can steadfastly stick to this policy for the next thirty years, then we would have succeded in creating a Singaporean of a unique kind. He would be a man rooted in the cultures of four great civilizations but not belonging exclusivelly to any of them” (Singapore: A Country Study, p. 58). The government integrated the schools and the housing. English was a neutral language that was used in the education (as well as the student’s mother tongue) and business for every race.

The government also worked hard to fix the economic problems. Singapore branched out from depending on Britain as it main source of investment to include Japan and the United States. Singapore passed tough labor laws to stop the labor union strikes in order to attract business. One of the biggest challenges to Singapore’s continued succes was Britain’s defense forces pulling out of Singapore completely by 1971. This would affect 25 % of Singapore’s Gross National Product and also the 21,000 Singaporeans that worked on the base. This issue was crucial in the next elections. The PAP won all 58 seats, tightened up policies on labor, which prevented strikes from occuring and the productivity was striking. In 1972, the U.S. businesses began to flood into Singapore contributing to a large percentage of the foreign investment in Singapore (46%). And ” by the mid-1970s, Singapore was the third largest oil-refining center in the world”  (Singapore: A Country Study, p. 60). Singapore’s success caused the need for more workers, opening the door for foreigners to come into the country much easier to find work. In the 1980’s Singapore’s economy continued to soar. “Lee Kuan Yew attributed Singapore’s high economic growth rate, low inflation, and full employment during the period to its hardworking work force, political stability and efficient administration, regional peace, and solidarity in ASEAN. Singapore’s successful economic strategy included phasing out labor-intensive industries in favor of high-technology industries, which would enhance the skills of its labor forece and thereby attract more international investment” (Singapore: A Country Study, p. 62).

Singapore Becomes A Part of Malaysia (1963-1965)

history cont.

An agreement was signed to unite Singapore and Malaysia on July 9th 1963. However, Singapore would be a part of The Federation of Malaysia for only a short time. The merger actually caused racial and religious tensions. Furthermore, the merger did not produce the financial advantages hoped for by the people. In fact, Malaysia wanted more of Singapore’s percentage of revenue to pay for the damages caused by the racial/religious violence. Also, both territories began to interfere with each others politics. Finally, on August 9th 1965 the Malaysian parliament separated from Singapore with a vote of 126-0.