A Christmas Party

Once upon a time, Snow White gathered all the seven dwarfs and her Prince Charming (this was after the tale concerning the wicked witch) to her golden palace in Fairytaleland.

There she threw an extravagant party with one of the greatest feasts the fairies of old had ever seen, and the golden ballroom was adorned with the silkiest ribbons ever and in the middle of it was the piece de resistance: an amazing Christmas tree with the shiniest ornaments sparkling like nobody's business, showing off hues of red, gold, silver, blue, green and violet.

And Snow White and Prince Charming danced together to the awe of many, and the happy couple found themselves standing under red and green mistletoe, and they placed their hands together, closed their eyes and slowly-

Personally I really don't think they lived happily ever after after that, because after that a magnificent scarlet dragon came storming in and killed everybody.

Tragic.

But, fortunately, that isn't the point of this post.


Report by: TAN WEI-LYNN
Photography: same person. LOL

where do i start?
erm... DEBORAH thong had a christmas party and invited everyone there. =)
so AS USUAL, most people were LATE.
surprisingly, most of the fireBRANDS turned up.
100 people? perhaps.
everyone brought food.. honestly, i have no idea what people brought.
but the table was quite full...
all i saw was pizza, cakes, sandwiches, nuggets, sausages, chicken wings, fishballs?, bbq stuff, Jin Ji's RICE, bi hun, satay..etc..etc...

after eating, we played this really really REALLY lame (YET INTERSTING) game..
the STRING GAME.. =.=
basically, people who knew how to play asked us whether a string was connected between item A and item B. SUCH A SIMPLE GAME, yet got everyone thinking.

moving on...
CAROLING.
4 people in red, 2 played ukeleles(they were either REALLY tiny guitars or ukeleles)
and all of them sang along lah..
i forgot what songs they sang, though i ONLY remembered silent night & merry christmas.


PHOTO SESSION! yay.(not exactly a session but yeah..everyone started vaining)
-here are where the pictures start to flow.. [don't complain if you see too many of my pictures, they're from MY camera.]

most girls of fireBRANDS

everyone wants to be with indy!

there is a story to that shirt.. LOL. it took nehemiah about 10 minutes to open it. see that box there? apparently SOMEONE wrapped that shirt in LAYERS and LAYERS and LAYERS and LAYERS of newspaper. which made nehemiah go crazy, and everybody was laughing.

honestly, i have nothing to comment about these photos..

and in the midst of all those laughing and photo taking, people were being really awesome Santa Clauses. giving out presents and stuff...

ANYWAY, things were quite unorganised... presents were stolen/lost, hidden away in a locked room. etc..

in all, people who missed it. MISSED BIG TIME!
so yeah, it was fun.
hopefully everyone was happy.

fireBRAND of the Fortnight 003

Yes, I know I missed a fortnight.

Nevermind...

Blame it on Youth Camp.

No, you don't get a bonus to make up for the missed fortnight.

Anyways.


Disclaimer: The fireBRAND of the Fortnight, and every fireBRAND of the fortnight hereafter, is chosen randomly by www.firebrands-irri.blogspot.com. Any loss of life, injury, damage, or any form of loss incurred is at the risk of the readers and the fireBRAND of the Fortnight. www.firebrands-irri.blogspot.com hereby declares that it is not responsible for any and for all of the casualties above. The contents of every fireBRAND of the fortnight post, hereinafter referred to as fBotF, are deemed true and accurate at the time of posting. Any false information found to be in fBotF will be dealt with appropriately.

This fortnight's fBotF is the most annoying yet adorable and very, very short...

...Nicole Tan Gek-Len!
Yes, the photo's off her own blog, and she wouldn't mind anyways.

And for this fortnight we have:

Ode To Nicole

Nicole, Nicole, she's simply stunted,
can't grow an inch, can't grow a bit.
Joy to Jack that his beanstalk wasn't
as short as this little twit.

Do don shades whilst looking at her
for her smile simply blinds.
Nicole is just one of those
blur, dumb, dopey minds.

Nicole, oh Nicole,
she's getting old
and'll soon turn into mold.

Her adorable, short, stumpy self
belies her big, big heart (and mouth).
If you ever wanna reach a shelf,
never ask her for help (she'd just be uncouth).

Talkative, cheery, blur and friendly,
Nicole'd befriend a duck happily.

If she were a bird, she'd chirp all day
and annoy every sleepy soul her way.

But not long off from now, this miss
'll be whisked away to a faraway land
where she claims to have no hope of bliss
amid hundreds of other (taller) trainees.
And surely we'll miss this adorable twit
who surely can't, can't grow a bit.

She's so darn awesome!

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Theologically incorrect, nonetheless it's true in this case.

AYC '08 has just ended, leaving everyone yearning for AYC '09.

"Let's have youth camp next week. I don't mind playing the same games and going through the same stuff again."

- Chen Shiau Xian

As Julian Loh managed to squeeze out of a few people, AYC '08 was good, very good, awesome, etc. Best summary he ever got was,"It was horrible."

Is it just me or was it the fastest youth camp ever?

And all you Wesleys, Spurgeons, Careys, Livingstones and Crosbys can now go on to being awesome fireBRANDS.

Nevertheless do keep in mind that the going will get tough after AYC '08 as spiritual warfare rages on, so be vigilant, keep close to God and never, ever give up.

Anyways.

Keep visiting for more awesome posts!

Every Sen Counts.

Because those sens you spend on two sticks of cold, salty nuggets and sausages might just end up taking us all to Hosba Valley (by bus).

Fundraising at North.

[Photos unavailable]

The blog looked dead, so why not liven it up a bit?

I'm currently trying to remind myself to get that video (of Leroy and Daniel Teoh singing 'Desert Song') to post on the blog.

Anyhow.

What we had:

1. Herbal eggs

[photo of 50 eggs in black herbal soup in a pot goes here]

2. Nuggets and sausages

[someone MUST have taken a photo of the nuggets and sausages on satay sticks in plastic bags in baskets, so please send it to firebrands.irri@gmail.com]

3. Spaghetti

[insert photo of spaghetti with chickeny, tomatoey sauce in polystyrene packs]

4. Chicken curry

[it was in plastic tupperwares, as this photo would've been able to show you, if only it was here]

5. Cheese tarts

[unfortunately the photo someone took could not be retrieved as that person's camera was burnt in a fire. kidding.]

6. Chocolate muffins

[available with/without choc mint sauce inside - I would've taken a photo of them if not for the fact that I did not have a camera and they were snapped up too quickly]

So, with the food above all put nicely on long tables, the fireBRANDS started acting like pseudo-salepeople and sold and sold and sold and sold.

"Herbal EGGS! Helps improve your complexion!"

"Eat the nuggets and you will live longer!"

"Spaghetti! Very nice!"

"Sorry uncle we've got no change..." [hoping that he'll say: keep the change]

[Darn this write-up is starting to sound so.. normal. Boringly normal. Ugh.]

Less people meant less money garnered in total, but after loads of cajoling, promoting and talking, the fireBRANDS ended up with six-hundred-and-thirty-something ringgit and a basket of nuggets and sausages, which was later given to a smiley bunch of Philippinos, basket included.

Sorry, owner of basket. Hopefully you'll get it back, somehow.

Every Sen Counts.

In this world of lost souls, perpetual poverty and rampaging diseases, every sen counts.
So, do donate to World Vision! (:
And no, that isn't the point of this post, although it is a good point to be noted.

Now then, to the real point.

Every prayer from a truthful heart really, really counts for this year's Annual Youth Camp '08.
You've seen people donate over RM 1.5K to make this year's youth camp a success (by the way, there's another fundraising at North Zone on the 7th of December, 2008), but what good is the cash if its cause isn't fulfilled?

So.

(I don't want to sound like a wretched beggar, so must think first before writing..)

YOU (whoever you are, fireBRAND or not, young or old) are highly encouraged to take a few minutes to pray for this year's Annual Youth Camp. It doesn't have to be a 10-minute prayer, but what matters is that you mean what you pray.

Some points (besides the usual stuff like health, food, Jabatan Kesihatan* people):
1. God will cleanse us.
2. God will bring into being things that were not.
3. God will restore and strengthen us.
4. [something about a motor.. long story and the facts are kinda blurry so i'll edit this later, when the picture becomes clearer, if it ever does]
5. Pray for the seniors (who still have impurities) and the juniors (who aren't responding when given the oppurtunity) in fireBRANDS.
6. That the fireBRANDS will recognise God's lordship in their lives.
7. That the fireBRANDS will be bold enough to step out of the darkness (sin).
8. God will show us the work of His hands (Jesus dying on the Cross) because the fireBRANDS need to realise what He's done for them.

The points may seem odd to you. Explanation? They were compiled after the participants of the recent AYC '08 Fast and Prayer spent almost an hour listening to God.

Back to the point.

If you can fast a meal for one day or something along that line, then you're more than welcome to. If you can fast in other ways (abstain from watching television and stuff like that), then yeah, why not?
But do remember that fasting does come with praying.
Without praying, it'd be more like... starving yourself.

So, do say a prayer, because every prayer counts.

Thanks (:

* Some Jabatan Kesihatan people will be staying in Hosba Valley (now Seri Kedah Gardenia) at the same time we're staying there. Apparently they've been giving the resort some problems, as well as being rude to them.

Oh, and remember World Vision too...

just as promised :)

Report by: Eulene Ooi
Photography: Sarah Khoo and Nehemiah Jebaraj

HELLO TO FIREBRANDS/DAVID SANTOS WHO CALLS US MALASIANS.


first of all,
this report is brought to you by SOMEONE VERY HARDWORKING, STAYING UP ALL NIGHT LONG JUST WAITING FOR THE PICTURES TO UPLOAD, AWESOME...
you should already know who it is,anyways :)
NOW,
theme night was definitely awesome and a BIG BOO-HOO for those who didn't make it,
seriously,
you missed all the fun,
SO HERE ARE THE PICTURES THAT TOOK ME SO LONG WAITING JUST FOR YOU TO ENJOY :)


oh wait!
i forgot,
there are 5 different stations in this games,
yeah,
you'll see them soon anyways,
tee hee

i'm telling you ruth doesn't smile like that all the time!

joyce wanted to be in EVERY picture.

mission: find the clothes according to the paper given and wear them

IT WAS HORRIBLE I TELL YOU!

i don't think it was a problem for him XP

HAHA,look at the girl behind wei-lynn!

like father like son :)

NAWHH..

face-painting

???????
call me observant,

but JUST LOOK at how kutu smiles in EVERY PICTURE!

RIGHT RIGHT?

well.

that's basically the end of this never-ending post,

THE WINNER: Le Roy's group. hip hip hooray..

MY JOB IS DONE HERE!

P.S//IF YOU"RE READING THIS,I EXPECT TO SEE YOU AT THE ANNUAL YOUTH CAMP THIS YEAR! seriously!

theme night

this report is...

COMING SOON

tee hee

Menaikkan Wang di Zon Tengah.

dum dee dum. HERE I AM! hahahaha. guess who.

*cough cough*.

okay. um, moving on...

you see right, there was this sunday. 23rd of November. then there was this bunch of kids who were too free and had nothing better to do (except for the poor SPM-ers). they decided one day that, "Hey! Let's do some fund-raising for camp!"

...HAHA. not really. i'm not sure whose idea it was. BUT we did have the fund-raising.

to raise funds one needs stuff to sell right?? well, we had PLENTY. and the stuff was awesome too, might i add. we had lotsa foooooooooddddd...

- nasi lemak (by sarahW and eulene, my fav food, i tell ya)

- jelly (by debra and ming yen, which was uber tasty!)

- homemade cookies! (by le anne and ruth, see pic below)

- nuggets and sausages (by tania and weilynn, for the wee ones)

- leong fan and soya (not sure by who, but managed by elisha and jinji and parents, also awesommeeeeee!)

the rest of us helped to promote (or make a lot of noise) while leroy and danteoh (and sharon and mingyen) sat down and sang. they opened up a guitar case too! so people can put their money in of course. my dad said that they made at least RM500 just by singing. WOWWWWWEEEE. heheh.

this was us setting up the stalls and stuff. sorry there's not much pictures...eulene was too busy checking out guys. (HAHAHAhahaaa...)

i'm sorry if the report is too short too (sorry Ed!), cause i currently have a little writer's block. haha. and also a little rushy to do something. SORRRY!! anyway, most of you were there. i don't need to elaborate all that much. =)

(those who weren't, eat your heart out! heh. :D)

anyway...the conclusion is, we had lotsa fun. we always do, right fireBRANDS?? yeah.

btw...the total amount collected: RM1554. (say wow!)

fireBRAND of the Fortnight 002

Nope, I haven't forgotten.

But first, most importantly, the fine print:

Disclaimer: The fireBRAND of the Fortnight, and every fireBRAND of the fortnight hereafter, is chosen randomly by www.firebrands-irri.blogspot.com. Any loss of life, injury, damage, or any form of loss incurred is at the risk of the readers and the fireBRAND of the Fortnight. www.firebrands-irri.blogspot.com hereby declares that it is not responsible for any and for all of the casualties above. The contents of every fireBRAND of the fortnight post, hereinafter referred to as fBotF, are deemed true and accurate at the time of posting. Any false information found to be in fBotF will be dealt with appropriately.

The laureate for this fortnight is...
...ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you..

...Mr Elisha Low Kai Yong!

So, in the spirit of fBotF, I, being the hardworking one, asked others this one question (to obtain constructive answers, of course):

What do you think of Elisha?

Sarah Wong
Elisha... He's a great guy. And I salute anyone who ends up being his wife. He LOVES his family, respects them, even his little brother, and he's willing to spend his holidays working in a dodgy little aircond-less, by-the-roadside photo shop so that he can earn money to help his mom and friends out with youth camp fees.......... wow......... All I can say is, "Awwww........ Elisha, you're AMAZING!"

Benjamin Tham
Lol I dunno... [the Ed: How's he like as an LCD mentor to you?] haha I dunno [...] I say a good man?

James Tan
I think he's a guy who's humble and meek. When it comes to doing things I think he'll do it all out. He's the kind of person you can trust when you hand him a job.

Pastor Cowan Yuen
He's like a panda! Near extinction. [the Ed: So he should reproduce and get offspring?] Spiritual offspring! [rephrasing] He's like a panda coz he has more white than black. But through Christ, he'll be a polar bear! White as snow and very macho from the inside out.

Tan Wei-Lynn
Good LCD guy? Lol.. Ermm.. Nice? Hardworking i guess... Considering he's taking a holiday job just to pay for AYC. [more thinking] First impression is kind.

Joyce Lim
I think he's awesomely organised. Hardworking. Funny at times haha. Dedicated. And he should continue smiling like crazy person.

Sharon Leow
I think Elisha's a very sensitive young man! And it's a good thing!

Beverly Wong
I think he's really helpful around. He can tell really, really long stories. He's really funny. [thinking] He's pretty tall and eats quite a lot. [thinking somemore] I find... uh... he's really, really good doing the LCD. He can... He's a pretty good leader, in a way lah...

Daniel Teoh
He's okay... [thinks hard] He is a... very... able person. Umm... ummm.. multitasker. He is a very people's person.

Eulene Ooi
He's a very great leader, very responsible.. I dunno.. What did I say? [reminds herself] Um.. He's very.. um.. hardworking. I dunno. Full of ideas... That's all I can say.

Julia Tan
[just woke up] Uhh.. crap. Don't write that. Wait.. wait.. wait. He's kind. Uhh.. I don't know. I really don't know. I dunno how to describe.

Justin Loh
Uhh.. He's a very, very awesome person. He helps a lot. Can be very quiet but actually he talks a lot... Can be pretty lame...

Tham Khai Hern
[in the zoo] Okay lah... Like that lahh.. [the Ed: call me back later?]
[later] Like that lo.. Helpful lo.. Umm.. then.. helpful lo... Nice person, helpful person.

Leroy Tan
Great leader, I guess. Weird. Um.. Someone who's willing to do something even before there's a need, already willing to volunteer himself. Does things without complaining.

Tan Le Anne
Dedicated to his work. [watching tv show] He's quiet.. He has potential to be a leader.. His heart's in the right place.
[Added on later] Elisha is passionate, hardworking, dedicated. Those [are the] skills of a leader. And he's humble. That I know [the Ed]'ll agree with me. He's TOO kind and helpful. He he.

Chan Ming Yen
Errrrrrrrrrrrrr... What a random question. Wow.. he's a guy. [laughs] He likes to help. Very helpful. Umm... [thinking] Can you give me another person? [the Ed: Uh.. No..] When you give him something to do he'll do it really well... do it attentively.

Pastor Victor
I think he's hardworking, focused... At the same time, often overwhelmed by work.

Andrew Chan
Errrrr... Fun and always high-spirited.

Lim Jin Ji
Well, he's very patient and a good teacher. He's also very responsible.

And finally, most importantly:

Tricia Yeoh
...O.o He's a nice guy with a real passion for Christ.

Oops. I meant...
.. And finally, most importantly:

Elisha Low
[at work at the photo shop] I think that I am... dunno wor.. I'm just natural.. uhh I'm responsible, I'm mature, I'm hardworking, diligent, loyal, I think that's all.

So, that's it.
Took up the latter part of my afternoon.
Anyways.
You endure another fortnight.
I'll enjoy that fortnight, before getting down and dirty writing on another fireBRAND.

Decidedly Pictureless

Dedicated to all you linguists who appreciate the art of English, and therefore have no need for photos, colours, and all things wacky.

Just plain awesome words.

After all, it would be so utterly redundant to post up photos, considering the fact that you've been there and seen all that there is to be seen.
Unless, of course, you weren't there.
So, lesson one: Go for youth service.

Pre-service prayer was as normal (not that normal is bad, normal can be good): groups of 3-5.
Ended with 10 minutes to spare. Wow.

Icebreaker. Involved pairing up and trying to step on the other person's toe. After the first round, almost everyone decided to masquerade as the few people who put up their hands when asked "Who didn't step on each other's toes?" for the sake of going back and sitting down, ignoring the fact that they did have fun.
Which left the host in an awkward position, thinking, 'I don't understand your ignorance.'
Thankfully, there were a few good sports who voluntarily came up again and entertained the bunch of [adjective goes here] people.

Next up, worship.
Worship was awesome.
Really awesome.
God rocks.

Announcements.
Ong Eu-jeen is officially in the fireBRANDS worship team.
For all you kid-lovers who are excellent at working with kids and communicating with kids, do sign up to help Yan and Ming-Y at the House of Hope Christmas Programme (by Aunty Cheng See).

Sharon then got up and introduced all the JYR-related people (organizers, helpers, participants), applauding them.
Unfortunately for some weird reason, the certificates were... not there.
Next week?

Marilyn Kee, young preacher for the night, shared on the positive and negative aspects of fireBRANDS, from her point of view (behind those spectacles of hers).
Positive: We get along and 'gel' easily; we are warm to newcomers; we come to youth service with the right focus (God)
Negative: We look for events and happening stuff, we don't pay attention to what we label as 'boring'; we have cliques; we don't take the initiative to talk to other people beyond our clique; something about identity crisis?

And when it was just the right time to go back home and rest...


... up came Eulene Ooi and Sarah Wong with some odd (not that odd is bad, oddity can be good, in some cases) game.
Five groups. Five pieces of paper. Five odd words. Make a sentence/paragraph. Pass on last sentence to the next group. Another five odd words. Continue the odd story.
Finally, five odd masterpieces are produced.
Real odd.

However time was not very merciful, and she decided to bug a few parents, who in turn decided to bug James who bugged Pastor who got bugged and asked (I wanted to put 'begged', but it sounded inappropriate) for more time.

Though finally it did end, and the fireBRANDS (to say in Elisha-style) dispersed.

fireBRANDS would like to officially welcome JYR recruits Cherie, Carmen, Karin, Carin and a 15-year-old, Sally.

pictures tell 122897473240274073240 words :)

this awesome report is brought to you by EULENE OOI, clearly always the best.

anyways, JYR was AWESOME.

and i know i'm not the only one that agrees with that, you can actually ask those who went and see what their response will be.

it was GREAT indeed!

games was fun,

food was yummy,

messages were beneficial,

so OBVIOUSLY it was AWESOME right right?

eunice and elisha with her message "PEER PRESSURE"

ALEX teaching us about ways to seperate from our earthly parents to our heavenly Father

THE SO-CALLED TYRA BANKS

sharon: "i miss you,,i miss your smile..and i still shed a tear"

eu-jeen: gosh.i'm bored!

PEMECAH AIS

it's not what you THINK it is,

we had to eat it :)

WEI-LYNN: oh crap.where is it?i thought i found it!

EULENE: ahhhh..i said first! i need that 500 points!!!

SARAH W: what is wrong with eulene?

THE POSER, TAN WEI-LYNN

FOREST'S NEXT TOP MODEL

THE JUDGES.

JIN JI

YOU-KNOW-WHO :)

RUTH

KENNETH

we did hire a maid though.

i clearly have no comments bout this picture. "1,2,3 GO!"

"push harder, c'mon! we can do it"

look at all the GOOD students listening to the AWESOME teacher :)

only when it comes to BIBLE QUIZ la.

SHARON LEOW

famous as always PASTOR VICTOR LIM!

adolescents was the message :D

SO HERE ARE THE RESULTS:

1st; WHITE ASH

2nd;HEMLOCK

3rd; ZUMI CRAB

4th; LOST MONARCH

and HEMLOCK was only 100 points away from WHITE ASH.

OH OH!

and let's not forget the winners for THE BEST GROUP LEADER, THE BEST GROUP ASSISTANT, THE BEST FEMALE CAMPER, THE BEST MALE CAMPLER.

TAN WEI-LYNN-THE BEST GROUP LEADER,

JIN JI-THE BEST GROUP ASSISTANT,

EULENE OOI TSU PHIN-THE BEST FEMALE CAMPER,

DAVID TAN/CHIPMUNK-THE BEST MALE CAMPER

so there's my report for the as awesome as ever JYR :)

we wanna thank the committee, helpers, leaders and most importantly GOD who made JYR happen :)