Salt & Light

This was an event organized by the Kepong Baptist Church youths (and twenties of course). I was told that it was some small gathering organized by them. But as soon as I arrived there, I got a shock! It's not "small"! But I really like the fact that the whole event was centered around the theme of being the salt and light in the places that you were called to be at.

They started with a little skit, where this two siblings (seen in the picture below) were arguing about which radio station they should be listening to. The sister likes listening to Light FM while the brother likes listening to Salt FM which plays "noisier" songs. Then the brother decides to call the radio station and ask them to combine both the radio stations to become one. Hence, the Salt & Light FM.

The siblings arguing about the radio stations

Then they had a little ice breaker called the "Human Bingo", where you're supposed to go around asking people who fit the description written on the paper to sign. The first three wins a prize!

Sara was one of the first three

Then it was time for praise and worship. One thing that I noticed about the youths there, they are so passionate about their own youth groups, feeling a sense of pride and belonging in their groups. This got me to wonder about the youths in my church. Youths, where are you all? Where's that sense of belonging and pride that you feel about our youth group? Are the youth leaders really that incapable to lead the youth group? Or are we not interesting enough? Not relevant enough?

The youths jumping up and down during worship

Still jumping...

The "radio DJs" of the evening

Going for this event really got me thinking about all these questions. I know. I'm not that young either. But I am in the committee that is leading the youth group. Somehow I still feel that sense of responsibility about the youth group in my church. Maybe it's because I'm called to be one of the leaders of the youth group. But going for this event really opened my eyes to the potential that all the youths have if only they would come together and use the gifts that God has given them.

One of the things that they mentioned during the event was about the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. God has given each and everyone of us gifts and talents. And those who do not use the gifts and talents for the good of others are just being selfish. The consequence? Getting thrown out into the darkness. So I do pray that all of you out there use the gifts and talents that God has given you to serve in the places that you've been called to be. It is time for all of us to rise up and get out of our comfort zone to serve others. We cannot be serving ourselves any longer.

Pain-ball!!!

In conjunction with Wesak Day...Ok ok, I was just kidding. It wasn't in conjunction with Wesak Day. We were merely taking advantage of the fact that Monday was a holiday. Our twenties group decided to be adventurous and tried paintballing.

For all of us with the exception of Ju Lee, this was our first time. So off we set for this place called MudTrekker somewhere in Kuang with thoughts of whether we will return with bruises all over our bodies, and whether will the shots be as painful as what others who have braved this game before told us.

The first thing that we did as soon as we got there was to change into our long sleeves shirts and cover our other body parts that are exposed with towels and caps. Then we were asked to sign an indemnity form. Oooh, scary. Haha. Since paintballing is no laughing matter, we were given a briefing before we started playing.

Mohar showing us how to use the face mask

Mohar explaining to us how the marker works (they don't call it a gun in paintball!)

The marshall looking on as the game starts

Mark's team trying to get close to the flag to stick it in the center of the ring

(they were playing center the flag)

Brandon trying to cover his team from the back

Mark waiting for an opportunity to center the flag!

Off he goes!

Eng Hou covering him from the side

Battle scar! ~XD

So basically that was what we did for 2 hours. Believe me, the 2 hours felt like forever. We played about 4 games on average and we do get rests in between the games. And we realized that one of the bases actually have an advantage over the other base. Every time we exchange bases, the team at that particular base wins. Hah! So it's not that any of us are lousy, but the base is biased.

Some fun facts about paintballing:

1. The gun is not called a gun but it's called a marker.
2. The bullets are not called bullets but it's called pellets.
3. The pellets are made out of vegetable oil and food dye (so you can actually eat them if you want to, but it's bitter).
4. The pellets exit from the marker at 1600 psi (That's some really high pressure. Your car tyres only require at most 300 psi).
5. There are 2 safety mechanisms used on the marker. A barrel sock (or better known as barrel condom) and a safety lock.
6. There are 2 ways to jam your marker. Sticking the barrel into the soil or using the pellets that are found on the ground.
   Interesting ain't it?

Major Screw Up!!

My major screw up at work yesterday caused Jason to get screwed by the client. Yikes! I was doing the BQ for the tender and while keying in the figures, I forgot to key in the discount given by the contractor! And the client asked Jason how can the error be RM 200,000? And he asked him to write a letter to explain this mistake! He came back to the office and called me just to tell me that I caused him a mistake. Boy, do I feel bad. But seeing that it's my first mistake in one and a half months working there, I think it's quite an achievement already. Haha. And I thank God that He grants me favor with the people that I work with. Or else, it might just have been worse.

On a happier note, on the way back from work Alwin told me that his father kind of like accepted Christ before he passed away. What happened was they were surrounding him at the hospital and was praying for him, asking God for his salvation. He was proclaimed brain dead already at that time. Then as they prayed, his father actually reacted to the prayer. He actually jerked forward a few times and breathed heavily. They weren't sure whether that was a sign of him accepting Jesus as his Saviour, but they continued asking for confirmation. And many confirmations came. Praise God! Alwin told me that he once said to God, to bring my father to Christ, he would need a miracle.

And I believe that this testimony that Alwin told me came just at the right time for me. I was quite affected by the mistake that I did in work and Alwin's testimony just made everything alright.

Romans 8:28

"And we know that in all things God works for the greater good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

A testimony...

The great wonders of the Holy Spirit in relationships

Matthew 11: 28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

AMEN! *Cough* This is Victor Ho speaking, a child of God, via a facebook note (for some reason, I cant get along with blogs, especially starting one, so bear with me) AND to be honest - WHAT AM I DOING HERE?

"I have got heaaaps of assignments to worry about, looooots of project work to stress about and soooooo much other entertaining things to do on my HP Pavilion Entertainment PC. Why am i wasting time writing stuff like this?" <--- Now, that's what the OLD victor ho will normally say, I can assure you THAT!

Just been thinking for the past few days - what kinda person would I be today if I have decided NOT to attend a spiritual encounter camp 2 weeks ago? MY GOODNESS! The thought is unbearable. In a nutshell, I would have failed to see and experience the amazing wonders of the holy spirit working deep inside me and be a wretched sinner in my Heavenly Father's eyes! There's just so much I wanna share with everybody I know regarding what God has done in my life especially after the encounter, so much that this one note cannot hold, so I will post more from time to time!

Most of you might know this but for the convenience for those who doesn't, I was in a relationship with a faithful servant of God named Christy for about a year now. Yes, a faithful servant of God! When I first met her, she's a catholic with this desire to know more about God, unsatisfied with who she was. God saw this. And hence the relationship. Read on:

The relationship went well for the next few months with minimal conflict, although we both were still in state of shock - how did it begin?? Not even a single date! In one fateful night, God just moved my hands towards her (I have ZERO control) and on the other side, God was telling Christy, "Do not reject his hands. Hold his hands". And PRESTO, we got together - with no knowledge of each other's full names and birthdays or favourite colour. Certainly not an entry into a "How To Get a Partner" book if there's ever such a thing.

At the start of this year, the relationship takes a deep dive - we almost could not agree on anything ending up in disputes and anger and resentment, you get the idea. There's just so much unforgiveness in this relationship and went on for the next few months. Then spiritual encounter camp started. During one of the sermons, God actually spoke to me, "Victor, I have seen what you are undergoing, just let go, you have done enough, the purpose is served.. LET GO" and images of the things we did wrong in God's eyes flooded my head and the real purpose in our relationship. I was revealed that.. the sole reason I actually had my target set on Christy out of the blue, last year .... was to bring Christy to Christ through... me. God knows and planned - I was used to bring Christy to Him!! During the 1 year of the relationship, she began to know her heavenly father more intimately compared to when she was catholic since I brought her to NLCC. I was overwhelmed by what the Holy Spirit has done in her llife - she's always on fire and power and zeal worshipping God!

We broke up. I told her on saturday during the camp, although initially reluctant, but I have to obey. She understood the reason as we clearly knew that our relationship is unpleasant to God's eyes - He doesnt want it to continue and we continue sinning AND the purpose is already served. I merely obeyed what God tells me to do. I believe God wants us to be serving our purpose on earth, doing his works, saving the lost, and I wanna be on that right track heading towards our ultimate goal. I know God has great plans ahead of me, Christy and all his children on Earth.

the old Victor before camp is gone, and this new one is gonna do works in His name, according to what He has planned for me. We might never know, Christy and Victor might start all over again in the future if its according to God's will and when we are equally yoked - or else, I am very sure God has someone else more suited for the both of us, because God has nothing but great plans for the both of us - GOD IS GOOD!

I pray for everyone out there today- For singles: I pray that you will have faith that this God who's our redeemer, our saviour, our deliverer and our lord - provides for his children, with his abundant love, mercy and grace and believe that God has great plans for each and every one of you, as He sees your hearts desires and provide you with a life partner who will walk with you in God's love.

For couples: I pray that your relationship will be forever blessed and pleasant in God's eyes, where the both of you aim for not the temporary reward, but eternal treasures in heaven, and demonstrate God's love to everyone around you, putting God above everything else.

Proverbs 3: 3-4 "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will find favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

Note: This is something that my friend Victor asked me to read. I hope that this will encourage you like how it encouraged me.

Snake-ing around...

Wow...what an eventful day I had. As stated obviously in the title of this post, I've been snake-ing around during office hours. But to justify myself, I didn't do it on purpose. Rather, Alwin and I were sent out to the income tax office to hand in the company's checks. And as we were trying to get to Desa Sri Hartamas on the way back for lunch, we missed a turning and ended up on the Plus highway instead. Seeing that we're nearer to Ikano than to Hartamas, we decided to eat there instead. So eat we did. We actually went to Manhattan Fish Market for lunch. But it was at a reasonable price coz they had a set lunch.

Then, suddenly I received this message from my colleague which says, "Good afternoon Ms. Adelynn, would you be so kind to purchase some Cornetto ice cream for a few hungry people here? Maybe 3 or 4 cones will do...Thanks!" Hahaha, that was real funny. Apparently everyone knew that we bought ice creams for some of our colleagues yesterday and asked for some today. Fine. So we bought 4 cones. The people in this company just have this habit of eating Cornetto ice cream. And they're that choosy until they don't want to eat anything cheaper than that. Wow.

Then, after coming back from lunch, my brother messaged me on MSN saying that my car has arrived! Finally! And just in time for me to use it too. It is Yim Ling's birthday today and we promised her that we will go to the Eye of Malaysia to celebrate it. And we did. And I bravely drove down to KL with just some sort of map. And I didn't lose my way. Hooray! And did I mention that I was the one who got Alwin to the income tax office without getting lost? Haha.

But when we were coming out of KL we did get lost for a good half an hour. We got lost in Kg. Baru, passed by Jalan Tun Sambanthan and ended up on Federal Highway. And we managed to go through a Malay kampung and then an Indian area. How muhibah! We actually wanted to go to Petaling Street to eat, but we lost our way and ended up circling round KL. But when we were looking for an exit from KL, we found Petaling Street. But seeing that it is too much of a hassle to find parking space there, we decided to just go to plain old William's.

As usual it's full house leaving only a table near a cockroach's nest. Within 5 minutes of us sitting down, they all came crawling and flying out of the hole. Scarry!!! So we decided to move all the way to the very last table and fed the mosquitoes instead. Haha. And we ordered RM 75 worth of food and drinks. But it was well worth it coz it was good. And now I'm blogging coz I don't wanna sleep on a full stomach...ZZzzZZzzZZzz...

To Klang and bak...

Hahaa...Ok, that was a pun. The title I mean. But yeah, it was Labour's Day, and we had nothing better to do, so 4 of us just decided to go down to Klang to look for Gan and have bak kut teh for breakfast.

Here's a picture of our deliciously FATTY bak kut teh...

No bak kut teh's complete without the tea...

Tai Leong with a stupid face!!!

Wen Zhen reaching for something...

Tai Soon whacking the "yau char kuai"...