Christmas Eve Countdown 2010

Christmas is less than three weeks away. If you have not invited anyone, here is the invitation that you can use to invite your friends. This year we are going to see all our young people getting involved in the organising and showcasing of their talents! We have also got a 'foreign' group of young teenagers as our guest performers. Come, eat, play, see and hear the Good News. It's going to be a fun time as we work towards the Christmas countdown! May this year's celebration be a memorable one!

Fear Factor

It is very challenging to do cross cultural missionary work. There are lots of new things to learn and get used to. Only recently someone just shared how his daughter had to learn three languages to serve on the mission field so that she can deal with the authorities and the target group she works with. As Malaysians we enjoy our food a lot and would go to great distances to taste something good! But I wonder if we are as adventurous when it comes to some of the strange things that missionaries have to eat.

Here is a list of some of these strange things that one missionary gathered from his friends:
1) Grilled dog (Honduras)
2) Raw monkey brains (Indonesia)
3) Goat head (Haiti)
4) Cockroaches (Thailand)
5) Termite larvae in goat's milk (Central America)
6) Field rat (Philippines)
7) Stewed wildcat (Honduras)
8) Grasshoppers (Mexico)
9) Boiled ant larvae (Thailand)
10) Mice-on-a-stick (Malawi)
11) Giant black snail (Nigeria) - tasted like an old tyre!

The list can be longer! Like the apostle Peter, the Lord may have to show us that there are some things that we may call unclean that He has made clean before us! Of course it was in the context of taking the gospel to the home of the Gentile Cornelius. For the gospel, Peter entered the house of a Gentile for the first time. Something a good Jew would never do so as not to become impure. Peter preached the gospel and the whole household was saved! What would you eat for Jesus? Are you be prepared to go anywhere and do anything for the gospel? Start by giving your life fully to Him where you are. Allow Him to show you the way and overcome some of your fears and even dislikes for the gospel!

Ps Ben

Disqualifying Yourself

A golfer in USA disqualified himself after winning a junior PGA tournament! He did so after discovering that he had violated a rule of having an extra club, which incurred a penalty and hence incorrectly signing his scorecard. He could have kept quiet and got away with it as no one knew about it. But he did not. Upon discovering his 'mistake' he called the tournament director, explained what had happened, and returned the medal the following day.

You may be thinking that this is another story about honesty. What struck me about this story as I read it was that this golfer, Zach Nash, is a 14-year old. Even his parents did not expect him to have done that as they thought him to be just a regular teenager! A pleasant surprise. But they must have certainly done something right that their son did not hesitate to do what was right. Being honest can be costly in the short term but for Zach, it had made him more aware of all the rules of golfing! In his next tournament, he counted his clubs three times!

BK Postal Bible Quiz 2011

The BK Quiz for next year will be held earlier than usual in January 2011. The actual dates for taking the paper will be confirmed later. For all of you who are taking this quiz, you can get a head start by reading the Bible text from Genesis 15-19 and Acts 1-9.

Farewell

Last Sunday we had another farewell! This time it was for Adrianna, who will be leaving by the end of August for Canada to further her studies. We will miss her. But we will remember her for the time she was with us and before the Lord who will watch over her. Here is a group pix (courtesy of Jason) of the group after our lunch at Empire Gallery.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Adrianna, Benjamin, Jason & Chiing for taking this important step to get baptised today. Don't stop here but go on to greater heights that the Lord has planned for you all!

Here are some pictures of them sharing their testimony. Maybe some of you would like to share your experience during the baptism?

The B-Day

This Sunday (July 11) afternoon @ 1.30 pm we will have four of our youths getting baptised. We thank God for their faith and commitment to want to obey the command of Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:19). We have used different places all these years but this will be the first time we are using a place within the USJ1 area. Thanks to the dear brethren from the Household of Faith, who allowed us to use their premise. It will be a slightly different experience to do the baptism indoors. Let's give our support and encouragement to Adrianna, Benjamin, Jason & Chiing by praying for them and coming to witness their B-Day! ('B' can mean Baptism or Big!) We hope to have some pictures of the celebration and also some personal accounts from them in future blogs! Yes, I am looking forward to that day! Are you?

Ps Ben

We Are Back!

Why are these young people so happy? Well they just came back from our church camp! Just looking at their faces can tell you a lot more than a thousand words. But it would still be nice for some of these campers to share their experience from the camp. How did the Word of God impact your life? What do you hope to change when you return home to your regular life?

Church Camp - Last Call!

The day for our Church Camp at STM Seremban is fast drawing near (June 11-13). Everything is almost ready as we work with the SU team who will help us with this Intergenerational Camp. Registration starts on Friday from 12.00 noon followed by Family Games @ 2.30 pm. We leave on Sunday after lunch. So if you have not signed up or have confirmed with your friends, please do so this week. The final confirmation date is this Sunday (May 30). It's only RM110 per person. A real bargain for 3D/2N outing! So come and join us.

BK Quiz Results

The recent BK Quiz results are out. I am quite pleased with the overall results. Some of you did really well! The subjective section was the weak link amongst many of you. So if you want to improve yourself for the next quiz, take time to prepare and don't depend on last minute revision! If you were disappointed with your results, work harder for 2011. There is still hope to redeem yourself! For those who passed the certificates should be received by end June or thereabouts.

Ps. Ben

The Master Pieces!

After waiting for almost three weeks to get our pottery fired up, we can now see the fruits of our labour. The finishing turned out to be better than I had expected! Now I really know my artistic level and I think I should be able to do better if there is a next time! These 'master pieces' can be collected this weekend at the church.For those who like our work and would like to hire us for future projects, please contact us! ;-)

Apprentices at Work!

We had an interesting time at the Pottery workshop last Sunday. Our hands got dirty trying to get our work of art into shape! Of course for some of us more work will be needed to dig up the artistic juice! Personally I was thinking that I could get my hand at the pottery wheel but it was not to be. Thank God! Otherwise the result would have been very messy and more out of shape products. Here are some pictures of the team at work! Later we will show you our work of art before and after it had all been fired up in the kiln.


The trainee Potters with our sifu.

The trainee Potters in training.

The trainee Potters at work.

Visit to Clay Expressions

It's less than two weeks away before our visit (Mar 21 @ 1.00 pm) to the Pottery workshop called Clay Expressions in USJ1. It's still not too late to invite your friends to join in this visit. We need to confirm the numbers especially of those who want to try their hands in making pottery. A fee of RM60 will be charged. Please see Grace to register.

Creative Evangelism Training

Tongued tied about the Gospel? Well, you can learn to use creative means to share the gospel! Learn at least 5 creative evangelism methods from Rob George the director of South Australia OACM. Terrence and I have gone through his training before and it is certainly interesting! We have also shared a few of these methods before. So if you want to learn more for yourself, go for the training on 27 Mar 2010 (Sat) from 9 am to 12 noon at the MYFC office in Kepong. Fee is RM10 (inclusive of materials and tea) If anyone is interested please let me know and we can organise a small group to go there.

Ps. Ben

Visit to the Pottery Workshop

We have confirmed the date for our visit to a Pottery workshop in USJ1 on 21 Mar 2010 (Sunday) @ 1.00 pm. If you want to get your hands dirty and learn how to make a pottery for yourself, there will be a fee of RM60. Otherwise just come for the experience and say that you have been there and seen it! Please allocate at least 2 hours of your time if you want to be part of the creative team of young potters! Friends of GEFC Youth are most welcome to join. If you are interested just contact Grace to get your name registered and make payment (if relevant) or you can also leave your name here with this post. It's going to be fun!

Here is a picture of some samples of what others have done!

The Wise & Foolish Builder

Here is another version of the parable of the Wise and Foolish Builder in animation for you to enjoy! Compare this with the original version I had shown on one of the Sunday's and give your feedback which one you enjoy most! But don't forget the lesson of the parable!

Bible Teaching Seminar - Judges Next 2

Malaysia Youth for Christ is organising a teaching seminar from the Book of Judges for youths. The speaker, Mr. Albert Lee, the Director of International Ministries of RBC is an excellent Bible teacher. He had worked with Singapore YFC for 28 years. The dates are 18-20 March, 2010 at Damansara Utama Lutheran Church. If you want to spend time during your holidays in a meaningful manner, consider signing up for this seminar. For more details please visit the MYFC website.

11th National Postal BK Quiz 2010

This year's BK Quiz has been confirmed. It will be held on April 11 (Sun) for us. To prepare for this quiz, please read up Genesis ch.12-15 and Luke ch.15-24. So don't tell me that I did not warn you earlier! Some of you may want to encourage your friends to join in as well, if they are not doing it at their schools or churches.

Happy reading!
Ps. Ben

What is Next?

We are planning for our next event in March, which is a visit to an unusual place in USJ1. Please wait for more details. But here is a clue for you:

New Link!

There's a new link to the new Grace EFC blog! Just click it and try it. Tell us also what you like and dislike. We will continue to maintain this blog for the Youths for now!

Our Kid!

One of the things that we have committed to do for at least a year is the sponsorship of a Dalit child. The Dalits are the "untouchables" in South Asia especially in India. They are regarded as the lowest caste in society who are not only poor but rejected by society as they do the dirtiest of the jobs. As a result many are trapped in this social cycle with very little means to improve themselves. Education is one great means to help them. The child we are sponsoring is Harish Edam, age 6 from a village called Pellakur in Andhra Pradesh, India. Here is something that young Harish has sent to us to keep us posted on his progress. Pray for him that he will grow up and find purpose and meaning in life.

Step Up 2010

I was at Harvest Haven last week to look at the Step Up program where Grace is attending with the other youths from PJEFC and Malacca EFC. It's a lovely place to have a retreat though a bit isolated! Here are some pictures from the trip. I will let Grace tell you more of her experience when she returns. God willing some of you may be able to join the programme in 2011.

The main building from the outside.



Swimming pool to cool you down after a long day!

A huge field to play outdoor games.


Steven Low the teacher.

Having fun rehearsing the actions for the NT Walk Thru

First Youth Meeting for 2010

Hello!

This Saturday (Jan 9) would be our first meeting for 2010. We will start off this week with a short series on "How to Study the Bible" methods. This Saturday we will learn how to do a Bible Character study. Join us @ 4.30 pm at the Church premise.

God bless and see you all there!
Ps. Ben