I'm starting to realise that probably after Christmas and maybe Chinese New Year, this time of the year is probably the best to be back in Singapore.
A week ago today, we celebrated Singapore's National Day. Even though we didn't do anything particularly festive on National Day, just being amongst others who knew the significance of the day (regardless of how much or little it meant to them) is still refreshing.
On Sunday, I got to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Church of God in Singapore, the church that I grew up in.
The kids and youth presented a few special items in celebration. It was one of many moments this week that made me realise again, I'm not as young as I think I am anymore. I couldn't recognise any of the kids anymore because most of them were teeny babies when I left. And when Carissa and Yan Zhang got up to sing, I could not have been more proud of the not-so-little-anymore MingMing who sounds so much like Ingrid Michaelson, one of my favourite indie artistes.
The theme for this year at our church is to go and make disciples (based on the Great Commission text in Matthew). I'll admit that the cynic in me was already starting to go, "Oh, here we go again with another overdone sermon. Make your three points, la di da and end with the whole go ye therefore and make disciples, do the altar call and be done so we can go eat." Even if the preacher was someone I had quite a lot of respect for, how different can Great Commission sermons get?
And then he launched into Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship.
Yup. Had me totally suckered in. Even if the main message of his sermon was somewhat cliche, that he talked about Bonhoeffer and drew several parallels to the personal journey that I've been on in the last seven years made it difficult for me to write off the message.
After service was over, there was the usual anniversary lunch. As always, it was fun to be back with the old gang and feeling like (at least amongst some) I've never left. And then there was that little big surprise.
My pastor had told me earlier that week that there was an old friend that I needed to meet again when I was at church that Sunday. This was the father of a guy whom I was in the same class with in Primary 1 and 2 (1st and 2nd grade), who also happened to be a part of my pastor's accountability group. As it turns out, he had a gift for me that was beyond anything I had expected. And now the fundraising effort for this year is even closer to being done!
The festivities continued as the old gang (that now included the "generation" younger than us) migrated to someone's home where we found their parents had also invited their friends (many of whom were parents of our peers) over. The after-party consisted of way too much ice-cream, running around with babies and teaching them to not be afraid of dogs, Uncle Jeffrey showing off his brand new coffee-maker and a lot of card games.
It was good to be home. One of many homes.
Tutoring
This week has been one of those times that I wish I spoke Thai. I've been working with a kid from Thailand to get him ready for his English entrance exam. While he's already able to communicate fairly well, trying to explain this whole grammar and sentence structure thing is a pain. Something comes up every night that boggles my mind. Last night I learnt that in the Thai language, it's difficult to differentiate between the R sounds and the L sounds. So when he tried to say "close to the coast" we got variations like, "crose to the clothes," and "clothes to the coats."
Visa Updates:
Well, I've had many queries about what's going on with the visa, so here's the quick lowdown.
I was initially supposed to apply for a 1-year visa, but after some conversations with the church in New Zealand, we decided that it might be easier to go ahead and apply for a 2-year visa so that we don't have to renew it again next year. But there are extra documents required for a 2-year visa, which include a medical exam and a background check. As of earlier today, the medical exam is done and I'm clear to go. I've turned in the paperwork for the background check, so now we wait. It's likely I won't be able to leave before Sep 1 as we had hoped, because the background check won't be ready till Aug 29, and it will be another 10 days or so before the visa gets approved.
Alright, I have more to write, but I'm about to head out for dinner with an old friend from Anderson who's in town, and will be off to Penang for the weekend.
Love you all.
A week ago today, we celebrated Singapore's National Day. Even though we didn't do anything particularly festive on National Day, just being amongst others who knew the significance of the day (regardless of how much or little it meant to them) is still refreshing.
On Sunday, I got to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Church of God in Singapore, the church that I grew up in.
 |
| Kids doing their special item |
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| Rev Timothy Khoo |
And then he launched into Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship.
Yup. Had me totally suckered in. Even if the main message of his sermon was somewhat cliche, that he talked about Bonhoeffer and drew several parallels to the personal journey that I've been on in the last seven years made it difficult for me to write off the message.
After service was over, there was the usual anniversary lunch. As always, it was fun to be back with the old gang and feeling like (at least amongst some) I've never left. And then there was that little big surprise.
My pastor had told me earlier that week that there was an old friend that I needed to meet again when I was at church that Sunday. This was the father of a guy whom I was in the same class with in Primary 1 and 2 (1st and 2nd grade), who also happened to be a part of my pastor's accountability group. As it turns out, he had a gift for me that was beyond anything I had expected. And now the fundraising effort for this year is even closer to being done!
 |
| Solomon and "Uncle" Ben |
It was good to be home. One of many homes.
Tutoring
This week has been one of those times that I wish I spoke Thai. I've been working with a kid from Thailand to get him ready for his English entrance exam. While he's already able to communicate fairly well, trying to explain this whole grammar and sentence structure thing is a pain. Something comes up every night that boggles my mind. Last night I learnt that in the Thai language, it's difficult to differentiate between the R sounds and the L sounds. So when he tried to say "close to the coast" we got variations like, "crose to the clothes," and "clothes to the coats."
Visa Updates:
Well, I've had many queries about what's going on with the visa, so here's the quick lowdown.
I was initially supposed to apply for a 1-year visa, but after some conversations with the church in New Zealand, we decided that it might be easier to go ahead and apply for a 2-year visa so that we don't have to renew it again next year. But there are extra documents required for a 2-year visa, which include a medical exam and a background check. As of earlier today, the medical exam is done and I'm clear to go. I've turned in the paperwork for the background check, so now we wait. It's likely I won't be able to leave before Sep 1 as we had hoped, because the background check won't be ready till Aug 29, and it will be another 10 days or so before the visa gets approved.
Alright, I have more to write, but I'm about to head out for dinner with an old friend from Anderson who's in town, and will be off to Penang for the weekend.
Love you all.
I just started "Bonhoeffer" by Metaxas
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to learning more about your friend Dietrich...