Meeting people from different walks of life and getting to know them have always been a powerful channel that God uses to speak to me about His love, because when i volunteer i'm constantly reminded about how He loves. that he loves not just us typical singaporean uni kids and loves us through ways in which we would typically feel His love (like a good job, perfect GPA..etc), but He too loves the little children and the elderly and the physically and mentally disabled and the down trodden and the ones who've turned away from Him and He loves them in their own ways as well.
through these gathered experiences and more, it has really contributed to a powerful conviction that i hold of a powerful and amazing God out there who knows every single one of His little children SO SO well enough that when He pours in blessings into their lives He does so with their character and being in mind. every experience of volunteering has always been very different for me as i meet these amazing children of God and i experience their faith, their humbleness, their simple happiness and their tenacity to break out of their limitations.
in our new year goals, a couple of us in the LG expressed a keen desire to encourage the spirit of volunteerism for the larger community within the ministry and that was what sprouted the concept of the LG CIP, which we decided on as a LG to set aside 1 LG week/month to serve a chosen beneficiary. we set aside some common goals that we wanted to fulfill as an LG and settled on a program from there (thank YMCA for its well executed and amazing CIPs). i've never volunteered with the intentional effort to put God at the center, and yesterday He shook me with 2 realizations during this experience and the aftermath when we took turns sharing about our experiences during dinner.
1) God will shake us by challenging our beliefs and transform us powerfully though such experiences.
more often than not, we go through a process of type-casting people and choices unconsciously. when our LG discussed about what we wanted to do as an LG even though the central theme of this project was really to serve the larger community together as an LG and thus have a shared experience, we also considered what activity we best preferred and which beneficiary we preferred to work with. we even ruled out elderly cos we decided that a lot of us didn't know dialects, and decided on interaction, preferably with kids. but ultimately, the decision was such that we would be flexible based on what CIPs were available and where YMCA most needed volunteers.
after the whole liaising took place and based on the openings that YMCA needed, our LG split into 2 groups who took on different beneficiaries to different places. it was the Handicapped Welfare Association (physically handicapped adults and elderly) and APSN (Association of Persons with Special Needs- teenagers and working adults with mental disabilities)
over dinner, one of my LG mates shared with me about how God spoke to him through this experience. he has always done CIPs which revolved around underprivileged children cos he felt for them and liked interacting with them. when he realized that we were gonna interact with adult and elderly beneficiaries it was something that threw him out of his comfort zone of volunteering. he didn't know what to expect. however, his experience yesterday made him realise that we're actually not that different from these people at different life stages. more often than not, there is soooooo much that we can learn from them through their rich experiences. and through that God spoke to him in a totally new way.
what i just wanna say is that we often have a fixed idea of how things should turn out and how people are. we have a fixed idea about how we want to serve and a fixed mindset about how we want to experience God, about how we want Him to answer our prayers, and how God will move in us and very often with this fixed mindset we overlook God trying to show us His love as a result. we overlook how the experience of God is limitless and boundless and unthinkable and unfathomable to the human mind sometimes.
but God can only try, and try again to change our plans to shake such a belief system. if we want to experience God in new ways and new dimensions and want to change but don't know where to start, maybe we could do so by stop trying to be in full control and governing each and every choice and activity in our life, and just obey God when He calls. because when we obey God that is when we're released from the clutches of these routines from which the individual so anally controls and maps out, hoping that we will experience God through doing the same old things over and over again. God cannot show us different dimensions of His love if we reign control. He wants, and needs to be in control of our lives for that to happen.
2) God's power moves mightily in NUMBERS.
God will show us His power when we, as a CHURCH, go out there to show His love by serving the community. zel, juli, flor and i were in the same group for our Y Outing with APSN. other than the joy of interacting with our buddies and sharing that common experience of seeing God's love through interacting with them, we also got a chance to talk to other volunteers. one of them, from NTU, happened to be partnered with flor to take care of the same buddy. over casual conversation, flor and her suddenly talked about church, and she mentioned that she used to go to church long time ago in sec school, and that this afternoon was gonna be her 1st time in church in a long time. after further questioning, we found out that her friend invited her for a 2pm service at a church in lavender called Hope Church! heh. i have reason to believe that it wasn't a coincidence, because she couldn't make it for the 2pm svc as our outing overran and so we asked her to join us and hang out as we were celebrating wuboy's birthday and to join us for the 5pm svc.
just like how we would treat any one of our friends, we talked to her and got to know her more. she's someone who's really curious and would ask about anything and everything when she's one on one with you. but she's also someone whose super shy in big groups. over lunch we started to affirm wuboy. she was seated beside me and started asking loads of questions like what our LG usually does, how often we meet up, how is a church service typically like, do we memorize doctrine, how do we hear from God, etc. she asked me also whether she had to affirm wuboy, to which i said she was not obliged to as this was the first time she has met him anyway. at the same time i could sense her curiosity as she observed the interactions within the LG and i could tell that God was really using us as a display of His love to her.
as we wrapped up our affirmations, she suddenly told me that she wanted to say something. so heh, we silenced the LG, and she told us (in a tiny voice) that she was really encouraged and amazed by the concern and care that we had for each other and started AFFIRMING us! OH MAN. i could really really tell that she had this genuine amazement of the love she had just witnessed. at that time, i was just floored. God used us as an instrument to show His love to her, and God ALSO used her to show us how, when we merely act upon showing love to others around us because He first loved as a church, that He will shake us by showing us the importance of growing a healthy church and the power of numbers.
and yesterday, as i stepped out of control and let God rule my experience, God spoke to me about the church, or more specifically, His church. in the past, i've been disillusioned by the stark sins of man through the institutionalization of religions and many a time question whether the church is really the best way to carry out the great commission as the Bible so states. but i prayed to God and asked Him to show me the power of His church, because i know and learnt it in doctrine, but had yet to experience and be convicted about it.
yesterday, He answered my prayers. He showed me the power of numbers when we acted upon His heart's desires. that means that the church can ONLY be the light of the world WHEN it is a healthy church, and that can only be the case when we put Him at the center of all decisions, when we pray about anything and everything. Ps Jeff's sermon confirmed God's answer for me.
not only that, we as a church, should no doubt continue growing and blessing each other and remain strong in our personal walk with Him, but there comes a time, where we must be ready when God calls, to go out and show the world, as a church, God's LOVE. because it is only when we truly step out of our comfort zones to serve the larger community together will we be convicted of the church as God's solution. growing is an iterative process after all, growing as a church needs to be physically WITHIN the church, and OUT of the church.
heh. i am really really amazed, because the more i think about it the more i think it's really cool how God can take any kind of experience, with no direct relation to my prayer, and at an unexpected time, choose to answer them. to me it really speaks of the depth of His wisdom. This God of ours commands my deepest awe and respect. i am thankful for this AMAZING LG OF MINE, for it is only God whom can bring such different people together to share life on such a deep level. i am thankful for our church for it is the HEART OF GOD, and i feel His presence within the people. but most of all i am thankful for GOD, the creator of ALL things on this earth, the sovereign GOD who has given us free will to make choices, the God who has never forsaken us and will never forsake, and the God who LOVES and wants to be loved.
through these gathered experiences and more, it has really contributed to a powerful conviction that i hold of a powerful and amazing God out there who knows every single one of His little children SO SO well enough that when He pours in blessings into their lives He does so with their character and being in mind. every experience of volunteering has always been very different for me as i meet these amazing children of God and i experience their faith, their humbleness, their simple happiness and their tenacity to break out of their limitations.
in our new year goals, a couple of us in the LG expressed a keen desire to encourage the spirit of volunteerism for the larger community within the ministry and that was what sprouted the concept of the LG CIP, which we decided on as a LG to set aside 1 LG week/month to serve a chosen beneficiary. we set aside some common goals that we wanted to fulfill as an LG and settled on a program from there (thank YMCA for its well executed and amazing CIPs). i've never volunteered with the intentional effort to put God at the center, and yesterday He shook me with 2 realizations during this experience and the aftermath when we took turns sharing about our experiences during dinner.
1) God will shake us by challenging our beliefs and transform us powerfully though such experiences.
more often than not, we go through a process of type-casting people and choices unconsciously. when our LG discussed about what we wanted to do as an LG even though the central theme of this project was really to serve the larger community together as an LG and thus have a shared experience, we also considered what activity we best preferred and which beneficiary we preferred to work with. we even ruled out elderly cos we decided that a lot of us didn't know dialects, and decided on interaction, preferably with kids. but ultimately, the decision was such that we would be flexible based on what CIPs were available and where YMCA most needed volunteers.
after the whole liaising took place and based on the openings that YMCA needed, our LG split into 2 groups who took on different beneficiaries to different places. it was the Handicapped Welfare Association (physically handicapped adults and elderly) and APSN (Association of Persons with Special Needs- teenagers and working adults with mental disabilities)
over dinner, one of my LG mates shared with me about how God spoke to him through this experience. he has always done CIPs which revolved around underprivileged children cos he felt for them and liked interacting with them. when he realized that we were gonna interact with adult and elderly beneficiaries it was something that threw him out of his comfort zone of volunteering. he didn't know what to expect. however, his experience yesterday made him realise that we're actually not that different from these people at different life stages. more often than not, there is soooooo much that we can learn from them through their rich experiences. and through that God spoke to him in a totally new way.
what i just wanna say is that we often have a fixed idea of how things should turn out and how people are. we have a fixed idea about how we want to serve and a fixed mindset about how we want to experience God, about how we want Him to answer our prayers, and how God will move in us and very often with this fixed mindset we overlook God trying to show us His love as a result. we overlook how the experience of God is limitless and boundless and unthinkable and unfathomable to the human mind sometimes.
but God can only try, and try again to change our plans to shake such a belief system. if we want to experience God in new ways and new dimensions and want to change but don't know where to start, maybe we could do so by stop trying to be in full control and governing each and every choice and activity in our life, and just obey God when He calls. because when we obey God that is when we're released from the clutches of these routines from which the individual so anally controls and maps out, hoping that we will experience God through doing the same old things over and over again. God cannot show us different dimensions of His love if we reign control. He wants, and needs to be in control of our lives for that to happen.
2) God's power moves mightily in NUMBERS.
God will show us His power when we, as a CHURCH, go out there to show His love by serving the community. zel, juli, flor and i were in the same group for our Y Outing with APSN. other than the joy of interacting with our buddies and sharing that common experience of seeing God's love through interacting with them, we also got a chance to talk to other volunteers. one of them, from NTU, happened to be partnered with flor to take care of the same buddy. over casual conversation, flor and her suddenly talked about church, and she mentioned that she used to go to church long time ago in sec school, and that this afternoon was gonna be her 1st time in church in a long time. after further questioning, we found out that her friend invited her for a 2pm service at a church in lavender called Hope Church! heh. i have reason to believe that it wasn't a coincidence, because she couldn't make it for the 2pm svc as our outing overran and so we asked her to join us and hang out as we were celebrating wuboy's birthday and to join us for the 5pm svc.
just like how we would treat any one of our friends, we talked to her and got to know her more. she's someone who's really curious and would ask about anything and everything when she's one on one with you. but she's also someone whose super shy in big groups. over lunch we started to affirm wuboy. she was seated beside me and started asking loads of questions like what our LG usually does, how often we meet up, how is a church service typically like, do we memorize doctrine, how do we hear from God, etc. she asked me also whether she had to affirm wuboy, to which i said she was not obliged to as this was the first time she has met him anyway. at the same time i could sense her curiosity as she observed the interactions within the LG and i could tell that God was really using us as a display of His love to her.
as we wrapped up our affirmations, she suddenly told me that she wanted to say something. so heh, we silenced the LG, and she told us (in a tiny voice) that she was really encouraged and amazed by the concern and care that we had for each other and started AFFIRMING us! OH MAN. i could really really tell that she had this genuine amazement of the love she had just witnessed. at that time, i was just floored. God used us as an instrument to show His love to her, and God ALSO used her to show us how, when we merely act upon showing love to others around us because He first loved as a church, that He will shake us by showing us the importance of growing a healthy church and the power of numbers.
and yesterday, as i stepped out of control and let God rule my experience, God spoke to me about the church, or more specifically, His church. in the past, i've been disillusioned by the stark sins of man through the institutionalization of religions and many a time question whether the church is really the best way to carry out the great commission as the Bible so states. but i prayed to God and asked Him to show me the power of His church, because i know and learnt it in doctrine, but had yet to experience and be convicted about it.
yesterday, He answered my prayers. He showed me the power of numbers when we acted upon His heart's desires. that means that the church can ONLY be the light of the world WHEN it is a healthy church, and that can only be the case when we put Him at the center of all decisions, when we pray about anything and everything. Ps Jeff's sermon confirmed God's answer for me.
not only that, we as a church, should no doubt continue growing and blessing each other and remain strong in our personal walk with Him, but there comes a time, where we must be ready when God calls, to go out and show the world, as a church, God's LOVE. because it is only when we truly step out of our comfort zones to serve the larger community together will we be convicted of the church as God's solution. growing is an iterative process after all, growing as a church needs to be physically WITHIN the church, and OUT of the church.
heh. i am really really amazed, because the more i think about it the more i think it's really cool how God can take any kind of experience, with no direct relation to my prayer, and at an unexpected time, choose to answer them. to me it really speaks of the depth of His wisdom. This God of ours commands my deepest awe and respect. i am thankful for this AMAZING LG OF MINE, for it is only God whom can bring such different people together to share life on such a deep level. i am thankful for our church for it is the HEART OF GOD, and i feel His presence within the people. but most of all i am thankful for GOD, the creator of ALL things on this earth, the sovereign GOD who has given us free will to make choices, the God who has never forsaken us and will never forsake, and the God who LOVES and wants to be loved.
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