Family Christmas Lunch

Christmas lunch at our place, with all aunts and uncles; cousins and their children. It was my first time roasting a turkey at home, the second one in my life!! (First one was in Malta, 8 years ago!). So, here's the menu:

Garlic Rice

 

Roasted Turkey

with Walnut & Mushroom Stuffing

 

Pasta with Ham & Mushroom

 

Brocolli & Carrots

 

Mixed Salad

 

Pumpkin Pecan Pie

 

Rambutans, Pamelo, Starfruit

 

 

Christmas 2012

SAC with Lifeliners

Cherishing China

So impressed to see this Gothic designed Cathedral of Guongzhou. Amazingly beautiful inside. Was really taken by the Sunset Mass in Mandarin. The choir played the violin and flute. The congregation was so free and expressive, in their singing and in their praying.

My main objective was to take a look at the Canton Fair that was on. With some encouragement of friends, I was really happy to have made the choice of experiencing an expo like this, so huge and organised. Really an eye and mind opener for endless possibilities of business.

Impressions of Guongzhou

Food Haven

Look what they sell in their supermarket...

My short reflection:

The Chinese are very enterprising. Trading is in their blood. You see people everywhere selling all sorts of things. I experienced the selling in the huge expo right down to street food. Sure, a people who are able to survive with a principle. I have something to exchange with you for something else that I need...

You see people everywhere, all busy going about in their everyday lives, like any big city. People are simple and helpful. Poor people are there too. Still, they seem to be able to get some money begging on the street. Still a way of trading...

It was an honour to be able to see my roots as a Chinese. A closer look to where some of my passion and dreams come from. A little closer to understanding myself....

Bea's Birthday - Surprise!

Who would have thought a cake was coming, when we had a serious time of intercession for the Life Centre.

Thank you dear friends for making the day so special!!

Fabulous Fourteen!!

A day at Nexus Karambunai, relaxing, celebrating love and life together...

SAC with Chinese Group 5th - 7th Oct 2012

7 women participated in the SAC, mostly from a Bible sharing group which Aunty Margaret belongs to. She attended the previous SAC 1 & 2 and has since been talking so much about God's work in her life in this new discovery.

We were blessed by their openness and readiness. They were so free in sharing their past, their desires and the work of God in their lives.

My collage: the state of my heart...

Lifeline Camp 7th - 9th September "Be you, Fully you"

Self acceptance, forgiveness and the Creed were among the topics shared by Derek in this year's Lifeline Camp at Pace Bene.

Here are some pictures during their afternoon activity as they prepared their collage after listening and reflecting on the session on Erikson's 8 Stages of Life.

SAC2 31st Aug - 1st Sep

After running 3 Spiritual Accompaniment Courses (SAC), we finally did a follow up to it and conveniently named it SAC2. 7 participants who have done the SAC attended the 2 day course.

This time, we included topics on codependent relationships, the roles in a dysfunctional family and identity. With the openness in sharing personal experiences and practise in listening, probing and questioning, the participants were able to connect and make concrete steps as they recognise certain patterns in their lives.

Through imagery prayer and accompanying the soft toy/doll representing the inner child, we witnessed healing and reconciliation in the participants. It was again a sign of God's presence and faithfulness to His people as we saw lives changed and minds opened.

When praying for the event, I had an image of a nest, a place of safety and new beginnings. We invited all the participants to lay themselves in the nest through the symbol of their soft toy/doll.

Derek enjoyed himself ministering with the keyboard; something he has not being doing for a while...

E2E

Powerful Learning

As I coach many students, I began to discover that students have been forced and pressured to study which brought negative results. This programme aims to help students to see further than their text books and exams as well as expectations from parents. It consists of 8 sessions, helping students to understand their emotional state which would help them study more effectively. I have recently run this programme with Sabah Women's Organisation (SAWO).

Spent the last few days in bed, suffering from great pain in my back. Slipped disc, says the physiotherapist... Since I had to stay in bed, I took the chance to read this book I got last week - My sister's keeper by Jodi Picoult. Wow, what a read!

I was really moved by the story of love, of letting go of rights and justice, of life full of choices yet none is dictated as right or wrong but always to be measured in its context.

It spoke of God being bigger than all that we are. He is the one who creates, he is the one who gives life and he is also the one who takes it away from us. And in all of this, the story is always beautiful, beyond what eyes can see.

As I was lying in bed, the only position I have no pain as I couldn't walk more than 10 steps..., this book spoke of pain in a deeper way and I was able to relate with the pain of the characters. I was so caught up by this book and the wonder of life and events that are out of our control. It brought me to see my choices in life, of how I live it and make the best out of it alongside with many unexpected turns.

While reading, I also received a saddening news of the death of a friend. Liz Lee died after most likely suffering from the effects of her dialysis which she went through that morning. Fell flat on her face after excess vomiting, she was unable to breathe and no one was able to help her breathe again.

Saying good bye to her at the funeral brought back gratitude of a dear friend who introduced me to Jesus in a very personal way. She faithfully journeyed with me in my teenage years, the years I was so on fire for God. She was there to give me answers to my questions about life when I had many of them, gave me a shoulder to cry on and shared lots and lots of laughter and joy together. She believed in me when no one did. She brought me to every meeting or training that she was attending as a pastoral leader which gave me bigger perspective of life in community, of God and of journeying with His people.

I am so grateful to God for this dear friend who has served me wholeheartedly. And now, it's her turn to be served and welcomed in glory. So significant, as she died on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Many things to reflect about in these days of physical pain. Indeed, God has a time and a season for everything under heaven!

So this is what has been happening to me these last 2 months. This agonising pain had kept me awake and really uncomfortable in any position.

With a clear and extensive explanation today, the orthopaedician gave some enlightenment to my situation.

So, there you go. It's old age!! That's what's causing the extreme pain!

Hopefully, as what was recommended, rest and back exercise will bring the disc back to its position...

July Calendar

Derek

JumpStart (12th -14th July)
9 participants attended the recent JumpStart. This time round, 4 people from the JumpStart team presented the weekend. I had only to observe and give feedback. Proud to have seen the team presenting well.

St Simon's Parish - Family Life (21st July)
For the second time, I was invited to speak at my parish on Life in the Family, which focused on principals of reflection of life.

Powerful Learning
I had 3 sessions with a group of teenagers organised by Sabah Women Organisation (SAWO). There were 4 - 10 people per session. It was fun introducing them to getting to know their emotions which has its connection in focussing on their studies.

Chinese Youth (28th - 29th July)
Assisted in ministering to 29 teenagers by ministering to them through the keyboard.

Derek's June Calendar

Weekend with Chinese Young Adults
Topic: Who am I

Derek ran a weekend seminar for the Chinese Young adults called "Who am I". A weekend of discovering the self had led many to a deeper understanding of themselves. The participants were very open to receive such a personal self reflective weekend which could have been otherwise since our Chinese culture is known to suppress all feelings... Sylvester and Serena helped in translating me from English to Chinese. Reminded me of how it was in Germany...

The weekend also brought many testimonies of the participants implementing their learned knowledge in their daily lives.

Spiritual Accompaniment Course for Chinese Women's Group

Both Derek & I ran this weekend with the help of Jeanny. 5 women attended this weekend. I was very moved to hear one of them sharing that she has understood more what was shared in this weekend and made connections in her life than what she did at a course she attended which was run by a PhD holder in counselling... What an honour.

This is the third time we have run such a course and we have been really blessed by the response and steps made by the participants in journeying with others while being journeyed with.


Missionaries Community of Corpus Christi (MCCC) Formation for Mel, Mark & Gerard

Relaxing at the Zoo

Derek has been giving formation and training to this group of missionaries from the Philippines who are now on mission at Palawan in the Philippines. The 3 month programme which ended in June covered various topics on evangilisation, mission and community life. I also had a chance to be with them for 2 sessions. The guys are so eager to reach out and extend help to others. We hope to see them flourish in their mission field in Palawan.


MCCC AGM & Consultation

It has been a year since we connected ourselves to MCCC. We attended the AGM and were actively involved in the forming of the community's structure. The 6 year old community has members from the Philippines, Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak. Derek was elected as one of the committee members and will be looking into the formation programmes for the community.

Singaporeans SOW's Visit

Earlier this year, Derek was invited to speak at the School of Witness (SOW) in Singapore. Some of the participants came to Kota Kinabalu for a visit. They requested for a day of reflection and Derek brought them to Kasih Sayang Resort at Mount Kokol, a cool peak to bring them to a reflective mode, away from the heat in KK...

JumpStart Training
Presentation Training for Trainers

Training in progress. Derek has been training a team who is running the JumpStart programme now. The team has not only been trained of the module but is also trained in their presentation skills. Some members of Lifeline came for the Presentation Training which Derek conducted in the hope of having quality presenters when speaking from the front.

Empowered Weekend Kuching

It was a privilege for me (Derek) to serve the leaders of the Empowered Ministry in Kuching on the last weekend of June. The weekend retreat was on Leadership. I shared with them new perspectives of reflection and why this is so important for leaders.  I felt that these were well received.  It was great to see many of them connected to this perspective and made sense of where they are at and what they want to do next.  Empowered ministry is an incredible ministry that reaches out to many youths and give them a home in the church.

GS Activities in June - Bea

Accompanied World Vision Malaysia to Pukak for their visit with the media team who are preparing a story for the 30 hour Famine. Since PKGS would be one of the benefactors from this event, they wanted to cover a story on the lives of the poor in one of the villages where we are running our ministry.

They interviewed a woman who plants paddy and taps rubber for a living. It's sad to hear that their income is not adequate to sustain the whole family. Sometimes, the children would not be able to go to school because they don't have enough money for the bus fare and the school is about 12 km away.

 

Paddy planting experience for the media team...

World Vision is also sponsoring PKGS in providing a balanced meal for the children who attend our programmes in various villages. It's a joy to see the children beaming, having food on their plate.

Was in KL earlier in June for the Good Shepherd Partnership Gathering. Did the echo session with our colleagues here in Sabah at the end of the month.

Enjoying Photo Taking with Evi

Evi has been here for a week, taking pictures of sunrise and sunset with her cameras. We met Evi in Jakarta when we were there for the PCS. She was here for a conference and stayed on to spend some time with us and enjoy the beauty of nature here.

She blessed us with a 1 night stay at Shangri-la's Rasa Ria Resort which we enjoyed so very much.