Full Gospel Tabernacle: The Church You Can Call Home (Pt 2)

It's like somethin so clear and vivid... yet at the same time... it seems so far away based on the measurable equivalent distance of any two places that are about 400km apart. The church, situated in USJ, or more specifically housed in Wisma Eagles, is a church that I will forever hold close to my heart.

It's been only approximately 2-and-a-half weeks that I've been in JB, and already I miss the people there, which is what constitutes the church... not the building, but the people! Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't enjoy coming back to my home church in S'pore; but rather this post is a token of appreciation to signify how much I've matured spiritually each week that can only be attributed to FGT's role in my life this year. Over the 9 months or so in FGT, I've been involved in the transport ministry and evangelism ministry (through Evangelism Explosion), built new friendships, been exposed to many spiritual encounters that I never thought I would experience, attended the 365 Youth Camp, and the list just goes on and on. Through his servants, The 365 Youth pastors, Pastor Richard & his wife, Ps. Louisa Evans, this youth group has seen and experienced so much. God is really working in their lives to touch the hearts of this youth group here.

And yes, I have never seen so many Africans in a church before. I guess that the church is able to provide some sense of 'security' to these brothers- and sisters- in- Christ and create racial unity among its members. Another key factor that probably attracts people of all races is the church's love for music, and when I say music, I mean really good, all-out worship and singing! :)

You can look over the previous posts about the church events we've had over the past few months as well as some of the photos put up by the youths on Facebook.

But let's come to the main highlight of this post: the close friends in FGT I've built bonds with over the months... some of whom will be sorely missed next year due to studies and work! :(

First up, I shall thank the person who introduced me to FGT in the first place, my uni colleague and fellow Year 1 (now Year 2!) meddie, Ms. Evonne Teoh! We kinda came up with nicks for each other, where she calls me "Stubbornhead" and I call her "StubbornGIRL"! :p Anyway, I'm glad I got to know you better throughout this year, and I really appreciate you opening up to me on more than several occasions. :D Hope you enjoyed your holiday in Aussie, babe! (... although it meant that you missed my farewell lunch) :( Anyhow, I'll cya in time too next year.. it's juz 2 months plus more! :D

The 2 photos above are candid shots of Ms. Lim Tak Yee, who usually poses or smiles with her grin in front of the camera, AWARE! TY, thx for the advice and guidance you've given me throughout this year. I really appreciated it when you were sincere in getting to know me and where I wanted my life to go during the long chat we had in the LS... I guess that was the start of our long and beautiful friendship. Anywayz, I'm hoping to meet up with you and the others in Jan 09 when you guys get to JB! :) Haha, don't kill me for putting up these candids! :p

The dude above, ahem *clears throat*, is a semi-candid shot of none other than Dr. D.R.! Did you get that? I guess not! It's Mr. Ooi Dar Ray (soon to be Doctor Dar Ray), my closest bro in FGT and also my senior by a year. Really appreciate the close friendship we shared over the year, for lookin out for me, and for hearing me out at one point. It's good to know we've got each other's backs! :)

Haha, Mr. Steven Tan, my bro and cell leader in FGT... love the expressioN! Thx for all the contributions you've made throughout this year not only in our cell, but the Monash cell as well as the 365 youth group as a whole, both as a worship-leader and a musician. Super talented guy... can play almost any mainstream instrument known to man! Rawk on! :D

Last but not least, I'd like to include Ms. "Kaede" Chia Suyin here for two reasons:

1. She attended my farewell lunch organised by Steven exclusively for the ppl in FGT :p

2. We seemed to click almost instantaneously when we met the first time over lunch at Medan, and from there we could talk about almost anything! :)

Yeah, and she has a strong passion in joining EE next year as a trainee too.. praise God! :)

So, as some of you might have inferred, they had this farewell lunch for me at an Indonesian restaurant somewhere in Mentari, and all of us ordered ayam penyek, their specialty dish... which was super-spicy! After that, the conversation just flowed. It was good company, great friends... and as usual, we 'camwhored'!

And we didn't juz camwhore outside the restaurant, but we also took a mirror shot INSIDE the restaurant! Yeah ppl were looking at us, but hey, who cares? We only live on Earth once, right, so live it to the fullest! :p

So that concluded the year in FGT for me... and I'm lookin forward to more exciting and happening events in the next one! Toodles!

Those days in KL were... wait for it... AWESOME!! (Pt 1)

For those who watch and follow the HIMYM TV series, you'll understand what my blog post title is referring to... (winks especially at Rachel, Adnan & Nick). For those still clueless or reading it again and again with puzzled faces, HIMYM stands for 'How I Met Your Mother', a really cool comedy series revolving around its star, Ted Mosby, narrating to his 2 adolescent kids about... simply how he met their mother! The show has been running for 4 seasons now, and like Rachel said, when you reminisce, it is somewhat like Friends. The tagline reads 'A Love Story, in Reverse'. How true! Some folks might detest the show saying that it is too liberal in its values and the culture depicted is too "Americanised", unlike our traditional Asian culture. However, I believe that as long as you know where the boundaries and limits are, it's still A-O.K. to watch it!

Newae, this post series will play its purpose in updating u guyz about wat's been happening to and around me during these past few weeks/months. Life's been good, pretty much repetitive in some aspects, but nevertheless bearable and if I choose to see it in a positive light, fun! For those that are unaware, I am FINALLY back in my hometown after what I would call a brief 'post-exam holiday' in KL, before packin my bags and driving down 360 km a.k.a. 4-hour drive @ 110-120 km/h.

Let's see... While I was still in KL, there was this outing where Jun Yet, Rachel & I decided to visit The Mines. Both of 'em wanted to check out a Mandarin book fair and asked me to tag along.. even though I don't read Mandarin! But being the good friend I am, I decided to accompany them. Picked up Rachel in the morning, went to uni for a briefing, then both of us left for the Mines. A while later, JY showed up. We headed for the book fair and then spent a couple of hours there, which thankfully had an English section by MPH, kudos to them...

The pic below is one which I took showing the beautiful layout and design of the mall. Newae, it's been ages since I actually came here. Probably a decade, but to me, that's half my lifetime!

We went for lunch after walkin around the mall and feelin hungry. It was at this unique shop that specialised in teas. The food there was juz o.k., according to my high standards I have for food. I think the tea was better, not juz taste-wise, but also aroma-wise which was both scintillating and pleasant at the same time.

After lunch, we hunted around for dessert, or anything to arouse our already-aroused tastebuds even further. We probably encircled the moat you saw in the first picture once or twice, when JY (I think) pointed out to a stall called 'Snowy' which sells a variety of delicacies such as ice cream, ABC, fruits, etc. After much contemplating on what to order, we finally decided to have 2 bowls of iced fruits.

Thus, this concludes the first part of this post series. Who knows what I'm gonna write about in the next part. Newaez, gonna go for dinner at TGIF with family & friends now. I can actually hear my stomach grumbling amidst the loud Hillsong United music being blasted by my subwoofers back here at home. Haha, juz kidding, that was a little too exaggerated. Anyhow, until the next post from me, stay cool and God bless you all!

~Tim~