I have been away on vacation for some time. I have to use up all my annual leave for the year before I embark on my sabbatical from 1 October to 31 December 2019.
We celebrated my wife’s brother’s 70th birthday. We chilled out at an AirBnB apartment (Skyloft Premier Suites), a seven minutes walk from Aeon Bukit Indah, Johor for two nights. It was a relaxing and rewarding time.
At the Jurong East Bus Interchange – a reasonable queue, a short wait.
The journey from Jurong East Bus Interchange on Friday morning took an hour and a half including going through Singapore and Malaysia customs. On the way back on Sunday afternoon it took longer, about 2 hours because many buses loaded with tourists were also returning via the Second Link.
What did we do? Shopping was inexpensive because of Singapore’s strong currency. We shopped. I bought 4 polo Padini T-shirts at S$10 a piece. I could never get them at this price in Singapore nor in Thailand. And then there was the catching up on movies. The apartment was equipped with TVn Movies which streamed one Korean movie after another. I must have caught about three or four movies the best of which was a movie titled, I Can Speak, which was specially moving.
Tim sum and local delightsRed tablecloth birthday treat for birthday boy Simeon Poh on the left in orange polo.
What else did we do? Eat. Eat. Eat. There were cooking facilities available but why cook when good inexpensive Malaysian and international food was available with a short walk. Tim sum, Malaysian ze char dishes, Korean food, Japanese food, local Malay and Indian food – we enjoyed the food, the conversations and just being together.
I felt rested and blessed and satisfied. Must try to do it again.
There is something about putting in time, talent and treasure that moves your affection towards something. Here we were, six men who wanted to help renovate a home for the elderly poor in Uthai Thani, four hours drive north of Bangkok, in a rural area so rustic there is no shopping mall or cinema. We landed at Bangkok’s international airport at about 9am and were straightaway driven to a rural province that is full of farms. Along the way, we stopped for lunch at Texas Chicken, and after that the towns got smaller and more rural and quiet.
The WRPF construction team to Uthai Thani
Before we knew it we were moving our luggage from the van into individual colourful chalets in a neat row. SGD$10 per night per person. At this hotel rate, there was nothing to complain about. Outside all around are corn or “jagong” farms. Very serene, very quiet. The only staff a lady, whose husband and young child, stays in a makeshift hut without walls near the entrance. She is the receptionist, the housekeeper, the chambermaid, the concierge, the security guard.
Kenny and Kenneth with the colourful chalet in the background
After thirty minutes to settle we boarded the Volkswagen and headed to the home for the elderly poor which was about fifteen minutes drive away. Steve the highly skilled and committed YWAM worker from the US, who was in charge of the construction and renovation projects of Ruth Center, showed us the scope of the renovation project and introduced us to the elderly poor who were already settled into the home.
The temple had been renovated for use by six elderly residents. More rooms were needed.
One building, a former temple had already been renovated and fitted for use for the current elderly folk. Another huge building, formerly a barn or storage building, was partially renovated into a kitchen, dining and activity or recreation space with a TV set. Our job was to paint, and set up the metal framework upon which to affix the wall partitions made of prefabricated mental panels and door frames. At the end, we possibly could make 4-6 bedrooms each accommodating about 2 men in each room. But this goal proved to be too ambitious.
Simon and Steve painting the walls in the former barnKenny and Steven painting the outside walls of the barnTom and Steve painting the high walls with scaffoldingSimon cutting the metal column and beams to sizeKenneth drilling holes in the metal columns and beamsXavier sealing the windows with siliconeXavier bashing down a disused telephone poleTom and Xavier drilling holes in the concrete floor to affix the metal columnsTom Cannon leading the construction team by exampleTom affixing the vertical columns to the wallKenneth painting the metal beamsSteve welding the metal columns and beamsDelicious meals cooked by Not, the leader of Ruth Center
On the next day, a Saturday we started the renovation and we left our chalet at 7am in the morning and returned back each night at about 8pm. We had all our meals at the home. And we went straight to the airport on Tuesday after breakfast, saying goodbye and thank you and photo-taking. It was straight to the airport, no shopping, no reception, almost like a special forces mission haha!!
Every one was tired but feeling grateful and satisfied and joyful after the mission ended. We felt our heart was with Ruth Center and its vision We could not see the project to completion and we felt like coming back to finish it, but it was not possible. Someone else or Steve with some assistants would have to complete the rest of the work. I find myself feeling fulfilled, since the Lord had been putting in my heart to be more incarnational in my service, to be practical and concrete in showing love, to not remain in the safety and comfort zone of pastoral work. I felt good that I had taken some baby steps in this direction and this is one of the platforms where I have been learning to obey the Lord.
I further believe such works of service are a great platform for believers who have gifts and skills of practical service to serve God in missions.
Here is a video of what we did (video will be uploaded when completed):
It was National Day. It was a hazy and lazy day for me. One I regretted. I went for a long ride to the Jurong Lake Gardens with my Brompton bike. The cloud cover and slight haze made for a cooler ride. The park was more crowded than usual but still pleasant to cycle on the park connector. It makes no difference marking out paths for cyclists, pedestrians and joggers. Most do not observe them anyway. Still it was a pleasant 10km ride back and forth from my home to the endpoint near the AYE expressway.
View from atop Passion Wave a new building for water sports at Jurong Lake Gardens
TV and internet
When I returned my brother in law and wife were visiting. They had been there an hour but I was riding. Talked a little before they too went off and my wife and I went out to the Yuhua hawker center and market for a yong tau fu lunch. We bought some kueh kueh for tea so when I got home I plonked myself in the sofa and surfed the web happily: Arsenal had bought some good players at the last day of the transfer window and I was reading all that different newspapers in England said about that. I also manage to catch a Korean variety show, a K-movie titled Microhabitat, and in the evening an African movie titled, The Queen of Katwa, based on a true story of a chess prodigy. The whole afternoon and evening was taken up with internet news and television.
Reviewing the day
On Saturday morning as I reviewed how I idled on National Day I regretted that I was throughout the day mostly oblivious to the presence of God with me. If the Holy Spirit had been a physical friend who was with me the whole day he would have felt offended, upset or saddened that I had hardly paid any attention to his presence with me throughout the day. So absorbed was I in relaxation activities I had forgotten His lovely presence. As I sat there I enjoyed His companionship. It was so peaceful, refreshing and enlightening. I felt sorry and told Him so. And I found my thoughts absorbed in the Korean movie I had watched. In God’s mercy and ability to recycle waste, I saw how the Microhabitat movie threw light on a verse that had puzzled me before. I even remember praying, Lord help me understand this verse. And now the Lord was shedding light on it using the Korean movie to give me some insights into the life of the Spirit.
I felt blessed and enjoyed God’s company throughout the Saturday as He helped me finalise the sermon I would preach on Sunday about the Holy Spirit. Life with the Spirit is always interesting.
