Prayer Works!

Yes, it does! I've had many prayers answered by God but this one is worth mentioning right now! On Monday mornings, for the past 2 months, I've been spending some time with a few friends praying.

Because last Monday was a holiday, we did our prayer on Wednesday. A friend, K, told us that her friend's friend, A, was diagnosed with Tuberculosis, or better known as TB. A is a new Christian, and was saved while he was in Penang. He then moved to Ipoh and got struck by this disease. We prayed for him...

...and just yesterday, on our usual prayer meeting, we got a GOOD NEWS! K told us that A was healed completely! At first, I was just, "Err, cool, good news..." Then it really sank in and I thought, "How can it be possible?!" Yes, I doubted what K said, but it had to be the Devil who put that doubt in me! Soon after, we were all smiles and was just very thankful for God's healing powers over our brother! It was just, "WOW!" How amazing it is, isn't it!? Just less than a week after we prayed, God answered our prayer!

It really encouraged me to continue praying even though I still feel very uncomfy praying aloud in a group... I was once told that prayer is the most important thing to a Christian, cause it's when we spend time with God and that's of highest priority to keep the relationship between ourselves and God!

Thank God for this experience! And thank God, again, for I've got many more of such testimonies to tell in the future... :D

Day 4 Part 2: Thank You, Lord for Using Me as Your Vessel!

We were headed for a new place, with a new mission. The place is Chitwan, where Nepal's first National Park resides, and it is globally recognise as one of the natural heritage by UNESCO. The mission is to visit churches, and the ultimate goal to all the visits is to adopt a church.

The journey was yet again a tiring one. It was a long drive through roads right next to the ravine, with buses and other vehicles honking their way to their destination. I had to napped in the van, and that actually disturbed the driver a little as my head bumped into his shoulder a couple of times. Yar, I was sitting in front, in between the driver and Anil. This time, the van is more packed with people.

The accomodation was much more than we've expected. It's actually more of a resort than anything else. Nice environment, room, beds, bathrooms, etc! I honestly didn't expect such comfortable place when joining this mission trip. I thought we'll be sleeping in our sleeping bags every night.

The Riverside Resort in Chitwan, Nepal

We had to go just after unpacking, that's how tight our schedule was. We took our first journey on the tuk-tuk, which was a bumpy and torturous one. Soon, I'll get used to it... the first church that we visited was one of the daughter churches of the main church that we were due to visit.

The tuk-tuk that we got so used to during the trip

I remember this clearly... as we walked into the building with a cross at the entrance, I thought it was a church, but it wasn't. It was actually a house, with only the small room on the left of the entrance being the place for church-purposes. We went into the room, and it was so tight and small. I took a spot in the place, and before I could put my backside on the floor, one of them told me that it's wet, and that I should sit somewhere else. Yes, I felt it was wet, and since I was the photographer cum videographer, I thought I would sit outside instead, getting a better view and being able to move around more freely. As we waited for the Pastor to get ready, people started to come in, filling up the place, and sitting each and every spot there is in the room. None of them cared about the wet carpet in the room! Yes, the Nepalis just want to listen to the Word of God, and so no matter the situation, they'll do it for their thirst for God is so great!

The church on the outside...

...and the church on the inside

We worshipped, and soon the group was broken into 2. The adults stayed in the house, and the children headed to another house, about 2 minutes walk away. We ministered to the children at the back of the house, which is an open space. Becky conducted the time, with an interpreter helping us. We sang, danced, and played with the kids, and they loved the fun so much :) Always all smiles...

The children of Nepal

While Becky was teaching the kids to sing an English song, a boy came up to me. He looked like he was 15 or so. "Can I talk to you for while?", he said in perfect English. I was impressed and I said, "Yes", of course... "Can we take a walk?" Err, okay, this time, I'm stunned... "Can't we do it here?", I asked, a little frightended. I've heard so much bout the Maoists, and killings taking place in Nepal, and now this? "No, I prefer to take a walk", he insisted. I thought, "Okay, God brought me here to serve Him, and surely He'll protect me against all forms of evil" I really had to take that leap of faith on this one. It really tested me... As we walked, he told me that he's 18, a Buddhist, and that he had this sudden urge to read the Bible. He's been reading 3 Bibles for the past 3-4 days! My eyes nearly popped out upon hearing that... I'm like, "WHAT?! How can you have this sudden urge?!" He said there's suddenly this power in him that made him want to read the Bible so badly, and the more he read about God, the more he wants to know this Jesus Christ that's being told in the Bible! I told him, "You have the Holy Spirit working inside you, that's why you're feeling such powers. I've been a Christian for over a year, and I've never had such great powers in me!" He went on to ask general questions like, "Can I still perform Buddhist rituals when I'm a Christian? It's because I don't want my family to know that I'm a Christian" I said no to him on that, cause in the Bible, it says that one cannot serve two masters. You'll have to serve God, and that's it. No two ways to it...

Suddenly, I realise that we walked a little too far. I stopped, and asked if he wants to receive Christ as his Lord and Saviour. He said no as he wanted to discuss with his brother in law first... Then I asked him if I can lay my hand on him and pray for him, and he again said no. We turned back, and headed for the little church where his brother in law was there listening to Pastor Sam. After a minute of discussion with his brother in law, Samir, the 18-yr-old, finally said yes, he'll accept Christ. We waited till the end of the service, and I spoke to Pastor Sam about Samir, and we prayed the Sinner's Prayer with him.

Myself, Samir and Pastor Sam. I only realised that I might never see this brother of mine again after I left the place. But, I'm sure we'll meet again in heaven when the time comes :)

Woah, 1 soul saved! Samir invited me to stay over at his place, to tell his family that he's a Christian, and that they should all learn to accept Christ! The Nepalis are just such a great bunch of people! You don't go around inviting strangers to your home, do you? I had to reject that very welcoming invitation cause I've got to be part of the team that EPCC sent. Really thank God for using me as His vessel to save Samir. It was a great experience! It's like the people in Nepal will just walk in to church and accept Christ. God is really doing a lot in Nepal, a time of harvest, as how Pastor Sam puts it.

The day ended with dinner at the resort, and a rare early rest for us...

Day 4 Part 1: Good Bye, Youth Camp!

It's our last day at the Youth Camp, and I can feel the heavy heart in me even at the start of the day. I'll miss the camp, the worship, and the people. They've been a great bunch, they were humble, they were happy despite the conditions that they were in, they were friendly, always all smiles when we walk past them, and they thirst for God so much! There's so much that I've learnt from them. I'm so thankful that I was given this opportunity to come to Nepal, to serve God, and in the process, to learn all about life outside my comfort zone, to appreciate all that I have, and to always, always remember that I should be thanking Him and not take things for granted.

The girls in the blue kurtas are in the worship team. They were in that blue kurta for all of the 3 days. Missing each and everyone of them already!

God answered my prayer as I woke up with no aches on my head or neck! It was to be a great day ahead for me! We were served beaten rice, peanuts and tea for breakfast. The worship in the morning wasn't as powerful as the one we had yesterday evening, but it was still awesome. You can see that the worship team has somehow transformed, probably thanks to Pastor Sam's sharing with them just before we went off for star gazing the night before. This time around, I managed to get close up pics of the guitarists, the drummer, and not just the backup singers ;)

The worship team from Dhouligauda, Nepal

Today's all about the community... what these youth can bring back to their respective churches, and how their churches in turn can hep the community. The Pastor preached a relevant message and the people were grouped into their respective churches. Some churches had 20+ people, while there were a few which had only 2-3 people. All in all, there were more than 10 churches present, and they were then led into a discussion by their church representative. When all is done, each of them took turns to tell the camp what they have in mind for their churches when they go back, and it was shocking to hear such ambitions and dreams that they have! They want to do so much for their community that even our Pastor was amazed :D

Just before we go off, we had one last worship session, and this time, surely God can hear the cries from the youth. We clapped, cheered, called for Him, and chanted "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus..." as loud as we can for almost 10 minutes. The atmosphere was just powerful. If you were there, you would feel as though you were in a stadium, with thousands of people cheering for their team in a soccer match. A couple of hundreds in a hall is more powerful than thousands in an open-air stadium, and not to mention, we had the presence of the Holy Spirit with us! This was yet one of the unforgettable moments of my Nepal trip!

Were there souls that were saved in the camp? YES! Thank God for 12 of 'em! I actually thought only Christians would go for such camps, but apparently not, and come to think of it, I wasn't a believer when I went for OCF (Oversea Christian Fellowship)'s Winter Camp in Melbourne, Australia and I wasn't saved till 3-4 months later...

It was then one final lunch for us in the camp and before we took off in the van, I snapped some pics of the place that we stayed in for the past couple of nights. Oh ya, we also exchanged email addresses with a few of 'em, but have yet to hear from any of 'em...

Our "home"

To be continued...

Euwing, It's Too Long!

Heh, that's what I've been hearing for the past few days. Yes, I know my blog entries have been really long, and ever since Day 1, I've been trying to shorten each entry. Sadly, I just can't seem to cut it shorter. It's because there's really so much to tell! Actually, it's a blessing that I'm getting this "complaint", cause it goes to show that God has really done so much!

I'm sure He wouldn't want me to keep all that He's done in Nepal for myself. So, I'll continue to share, but I'll cut my entries into parts, just so there's no need to digest all at one visit. How does that sound?

I sure hope each and everyone of you will read what has been told, and what's to be told here cause only then, you'll know how great our God is :D

I'll be posting Day 4 really soon... hang in there, and God bless ya!

Day 3: Singing, Acting, Sharing, Gaming and Star Gazing!

I woke up with a headache and a neckache because of yet another soft pillow and this one is actually worse. I had to use the top of my sleeping bag with it, else I'll be lying totally flat on the bed, but yet, it didn't help. Had to pray for the aches to go away, or it'll be one dreadful day...

In the Hall, the worship team was already starting the day off with a few Nepali songs. We fell in love with the songs, and prompted me to record it with my mobile phone. Although we have no idea what they were singing, we were sure "yesu" means Jesus, heh! Soon after, we were called onto stage and this time, we sang our English worship songs, a couple of 'em :D

It's our turn to perform!

Most of them don't understand English, so no doubt they don't understand the song. All the preaching and sharing were done with the help of a couple of interpreters, one of whom is Anil, who played a very important role in our trip, and I shall talk more about him as we go.

Anil, one of the best interpreters in Pokhara, and some say in Nepal!

Before Pastor Sam took over, we did a mime. That's acting with no speech. I teamed up with Becky to do Hearts. It goes like this; the boy hears God, and God asks for the boy's heart. Boy considers it for a while, and when he was about to give it to God, the girl comes into the picture, and asks for his heart. Boy reluctantly gives her, and when she has it, she plays with it, and purposely drops it, and stomps on it. Boy is sad, picks up the broken pieces of the heart, and God once again calls for the boy's heart, despite a broken one. Boy gives it to God, and he's transformed, to a new person! God then calls for girl's heart, and girl is persuaded by boy to give it to God. She is also transformed after giving her heart to God. Moral of the story, at least from my point of view... why give your heart to mere humans who might betray your trust, waste your time, and play with your heart like the girl in the story... when you can give it to your own Creator, the One who knows all of you, each and every thing about you, who does not care what you've done, who does not changes through time, who longs for you and who loves you so much unconditionally? We're transformed the moment we open our hearts to Him, and receives His ultimate love, which is everflowing, everlasting, and ever so wonderful. By the grace of God, I was blessed even before I knew Him. That actually made me want to know Him even more, which started my relationship with Him. I shall tell this story in future.

The girl persuading the boy to give the heart to her

Back to the Hall, today is all about BGR, that is Boy-Girl Relationship, which is a very common topic in a Youth Camp. Pastor Sam preached a little and we took turns to share... on my part, the main point is the differences between boys and girls when it comes to relationships. I shared on my recent relationship with this girl I met in college. Then, I had not known Christ, so I thought putting her on top of my list, giving her all of me, all my time, being nice and doing good would impress her easily, but I was wrong, cause I had to wait for a year before we were finally attached. Despite the 1yr+ of knowing her, I still didn't know all of her. I didn't know what she wanted, how she wanted it, etc. Mind you, despite being dumped after 2.5yrs and suffering a terrible 9 days after that, she's not a bad girl... in fact, she's a nice one. But I just didn't know the differences we had, and I always expected her to react like how I would want her to. I made a mistake in doing that.

Instead, I should've taken my time before diving in to go after her... I should've spent more time with her as friends, to learn more about her, and to just basically be a friend before making her a special someone. And so, I ended my sharing by telling the youth that they should put God first, and everything else will come from God's grace, for their faith will surely be seen by the Almighty One, who provides each and every need we'll require.

Lunch was served, and this time around, I've got pics to show you Nepali delicacies :D

That would be chicken, with rice (they call it bhat), and dhal. Or better known as dhalbhat with chicken

Green chilli and salt, to be eaten raw

Just before the session got started again, a few of us were asked to go onto the roof, to have photos taken with a bunch of youth who came from this big church. Check them out!

Nice backdrop with a great bunch of people

The 2nd half of the day started with yet another mime, and this one is entitled "Sin Chair". It's about this girl (could be a guy, but Becky was the actress then) who was flirting with sin and soon got hooked to it (Becky can't remove her hands as it is stuck to the chair). A muscle-man (Pragas) came to her rescue but despite the strength, it failed to unstuck her. I then came in with a cigarette on one hand and a bottle of alcohol on the other, and letting her have some of both didn't help either. The third person, Suba, came into the picture with lotsa money, and even money can't help remove Becky from sin. The last one is Susan, who played a person holding the Bible. Susan helped by asking Becky to go on her knees, and they both prayed together, and soon after, she was finally unstuck from the chair! Yes, that's how it works! It is God who set us free from sin, because He sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for us. When one sins, he is a slave to sin forever, and being a slave means having no permanent place in the family. Only a son can be in the family forever, and so if the Son sets one free from sin, he'll be free forever! Thank God for the cross!

That's Susan praying alongside Becky who's stuck to the "sin chair"

Then, the Pastor preached based on the mime we just acted out. The message was a good one, but maybe I'll write that another day, cause it can be quite lengthy. Tea was soon served, and we went around taking photos with the Nepali team. One of the amazing thing that happened was Pragas speaking in Malay. I was like, "Err, who is he speaking Malay to?!" There was this Nepali who actually worked in Penang before and he can speak very fluent Malay, even better than I do! Woahhh, he was working in one of the factories before, and he told us that there're lotsa Nepalis who work in Malaysia too. No wonder EPCC chose Nepal!

One of the greatest thing that happened in the camp was after tea. It was the worship! It was just amazing! A breakthrough, cause everyone in the Hall was so into it... both sides of the Hall, the guys, on the right and the girls, on the left just kept jumping, singing praises to Him and worshipping Him! In previous worships, the girls just stood there, clapping hands, but now, there were all fired up! We went to the front and worshipped like we've never done it before! It reminds me lots bout how EPCC does it every Saturday night on their SNL service! It was the greatest time of worship for me, really! Will definitely not forget that!

The best worship time!

*phew* All tired and literally drenched from our own sweat, we conducted the games, all of which had a story behind it that relates to Jesus, and His leadership. It was very fun, and seeing the crowd enjoy it so much really made me feel it's worth it all that I've spent; the time, the money, the lost of my own comfortable home... and again, it got me thinking, "Maybe I should do this more often" Hmm...

The Nepalis enjoying the heroes game

The night session saw one of the youth sharing his testimony, and how great God has been in his life. It relates so much to the message that Pastor Sam shared earlier, which I said that I'll share it some other day. Anil translated all of it to English for us.

We may think all this electricity around us is "free", always so abundantly available to us, but to the people in Nepal, it's a priviledge. Halfway through Pastor Sam's preaching, the lights went out, and I had to run to the front to supply light from my torch light. It was obviously pitch black then, since there aren't any streets for us to even have street lamps! It came back after a while, thank God for electricity!!! Every now and then, it seemed as though the lights would go off again... be thankful with all that you have, really!

Day ended with us climbing up to the roof, spent like 15 minutes up there star gazing while everyone else was fast asleep. Again, it was pitch black, only our torches shone the path. This event actually reminds me of 2 dreams I had long time ago. Both were alike, it was me, looking up into the skies, and seeing so many stars, so beautifully laid out, twinkling like it was calling for my attention. It was such a captivating sight, but none of our cameras were good enough to take photos of it. We just looked up in awe and thank God for His creation, for He made all these, and everything else for us to enjoy, for He loves us so much, He would give us anything... that, I'm very sure of :)

Heh, a pic with the help of the tripod