Personal and family – Page 21

Category: Personal and family

Lindy Chee: a near kinsman

21 January 2012 blogpastor Leave a comment

Near kinsman

We were relatives but we hardly knew each other. She knew I was a pastor and I knew she was a missionary with Youth With A Mission (YWAM). We would greet each other when the Chee clan gathered for its annual Chinese New Year meeting. But we never talked at length before. That is until we bumped into each other at the Love Singapore Pastors’ Prayer Summit (2012) at Equatorial Hotel, Malacca. Let’s meet up for breakfast tomorrow! and the appointment was made.

Was YWAM missionary

Lindy Chee Wei Ling is twenty five years younger than me and as we soon found out, she is my cousin’s daughter. There is probably a Mandarin term to designate this relationship but the English term would be the ambiguous “cousin once removed”. She graduated in law and worked for some time in the civil service before she attended YWAM’s Discipleship Training School(DTS). After that she served on staff with several DTS batches before she went with James Chan to Kuala Lumpur to pioneer a YWAM base or school there for about 2 years. For several years she also went back to legal practice but always remained an active friend and supporter of YWAM Singapore. Today she does freelance legal, training and consultant work, and is active with YWAM. I sat there amazed that quite a number of relatives of the Chee clan were serving the church and missions.

Family destinies?

Somehow we talked about David Demian and what he shared about national, individual and family destinies. We looked at our ancestral clan and concluded that the destiny seemed one of calling to fulfill noble or good causes. Many served in public service or served the good of people in education, medicine, or church – alleviating suffering, helping the poor, fighting for what is just. Out of Judah were to come rulers. Out of Levi, the priesthood. Could it be clans too can awaken to a fuller fulfillment of their God-embedded destiny through faith in Christ? Interesting thought. Today I again read my old blogpost on my grandfather and it got me thinking again. Yeah, there may be something about this clan spiritual destiny thing.

Rooming in Equatorial Hotel

The Equatorial Hotel looked newly renovated and well maintained and the food was unusually good for the numbers of diners they were handling. I roomed with Pastor Richard Wong of Canaan Christian Church and he was very accommodating and we had some time getting further acquainted. We had time to talk shop and just share our lives and what was happening in the conference and the Church. It would be nice to climb Mt Kinabalu with him when he goes for one of his T-Net consultation trips in Kota Kinabalu. Use the Mersilau trail, which I never used before. Sleep overnight at Laban Rata, and for once forget about waking up at 2am to conquer the peak. Just enjoy a restful and slow morning breakfast over a lovely sunrise. Hmmm…just the thought of it is sweet.

Personal reflections of 2011

4 January 2012 blogpastor 3 Comments

It did take me some time to read and reflect on my journal entries of 2011. I could have approached them from different angles. It could have been: what have I done in 2011- a question of doing. Or it could be what have I become – a question of being, of character, or self-understanding, of relationships. Or I could explore what God has done and said to me in 2011? I have opted on a little bit of all and what God has “been” to me.

2011 would be a year of restoration for me and the Lord has been my Shepherd and to use an updated metaphor, my Programmer. In January, I was still praying about whether to go into retreat in Chiangmai. In March I wrote, “He is active. He can update our software. Permission to adjust the program files in our system is needed. Lord, update my program”. Cannot believe I actually prayed this prayer and then forgot about it till now. In May I was still reluctant to go back into pastoring although I knew I had to.

June which was the period of retreat was so full of rich, insightful entries every day. This was where I saw Jesus being my Shepherd in a most sensitive, tender and powerful way. Only he can help us see light in His light, and change the desires of our heart so radically. I left the retreat center restored and enthusiastic about going back to pastoral work. He has actually updated my pastor software program files! Remarkable.

From July to September I was co-leading the CRMS Focused Leaders course for some pastors and doing my MTh modules. I have made some progress with my modules managing to complete 3 this year. Helpful stuff for pastors and Christian educators and lecturers. At the same time, in November, I was disappointed with one of those “I regret to inform you…..” letters from the Brash Trust to which I applied for a scholarship for my MTh.

October I returned to work in church. They were considerate and let me in gently: less preaching, welcome cake, kind encouraging words. Then it was a period of adjustment and updating on all that has happened while I was away. The months before I started work had provided a buffer for me to develop a rhythm of prayer and reflection and this was tested out from October to December. It was good for several weeks before I noticed a decreased desire and an increased assault of distractions. I picked up a new habit of “early to bed” and felt the higher energy level for some time, but this habit began to erode with time. Reflection helps me to be aware and to pray for God’s help.

2012 will be an interesting year. I continue with enthusiasm to see how God’s work in his church will unfold, like reading a mystery book. I look forward to deepening and enriching my newly established rhythm of prayer, work and reflection. It is always re-assuring to know that I am deeply loved and highly favored and greatly blessed in 2011 and will experience more of that this year!

A tom yum Bangkok holiday

3 October 2011 blogpastor 4 Comments

Free and easy

Free and easy is not always free and easy. Especially when you do not have a plan and want to play by ear, but the host has a firm plan for every day. So it was that what we thought would be a no-fuss restful holiday(both for us and for the host, my wife’s sister, Baby Lee), became a tom yum Bangkok ten days jaunt. It was either a shopping mall or a hotel or a local market a day. We did not complain either. We were too out-of-breath thankful to be shown around the outskirts of Bangkok, the more local places of interest.

Interesting local markets

Chartuchak is the largest weekend market in the world, but thankfully, seeing a part is as good as seeing the whole. We were able to purchase some candles and scent essence and stuff and just enjoy the slow walk on less crowded Friday. Besides this, we went to two other local markets that were interesting but less frequented by tourists, one of which was more of a food paradise. A fourth local market visit was on the cards but we were weary and just rested instead.

Local and spicy and inexpensive

The local food in restaurants and markets were sedap and we tried a few new dishes we have never seen nor tasted before. Japanese food was relatively inexpensive so we had several rounds of that . There was also the buffets in the hotels that were a bargain when you consider what you pay for them in Singapore. However, our age showed in the mini portions we fed upon. Baby and Jack, Wen Por and Wen Mun were pleasant company and were warm, kind and generous in their hospitality with us.

Cultural shows and Rose Garden, Riverside

Baby brought us one evening to a show that blew our minds and won our ooohs and aahhs. The Siam Niramit is one show that impressed me with the kind of innovation that can lift the traditional show format to a superlative level. The stage and set and story left me stunned that the land of smiles is also capable of great artistic innovation and entertainment. If you are in downtown Bangkok, open your wallet, bite your tongue and go for this daily evening 8pm show.

We were blest by our host with a night at The Rose Garden, Riverside and after what I had seen earlier, the cultural show there was an anti-climax. It was good food and good rest and a good swim in the beautiful grounds next to the river that is the mother of the nation.

He satisfies us with good

The balance of rest, short local excursions, shopping, long breakfasts and chats with Baby, and even visit to her church and a good friend’s daughter who was hospitalized at a private hospital made this a most meaningful, pleasant and restful last fling of a holiday as I concluded my sabbatical and went back to work on 1st October. Like tom yum soup it hit my senses and perked me up. What can I say? He satisfies me with good, and renews my youth like an eagle’s(Psalm 103). Blessed be the name of the Lord.