27 June 2009

So you see, I reckoned y'all needed a CHANGE.

Of writers.

So instead of my perfect English (aisehh), or Joyce's animated tone, or Eulene's colour fiesta, or Sharon's sophisticated air, or Beverly's hees...

...we've got Leanne's straight-to-the-point, very understandable version of a good, solid report.


Before youth started, prayer was on just like any other day. We divided into groups of four and prayed for a few points given. The points were:

1. Recess Revo
2. H1N1
3. The worship led by Sharon for that night
4. Alex sharing
5. James, who had shared in his mission trip

After prayer, worship started.

After worship, Alex shared about 'Fig Trees'.

Alex was basically telling us that you can't give, until you have received from God. We will never be complete without God's love. He basically told us that some people find ''fig trees' such as money, position, look, popularity, etc. to cover up those insecurities.

After Alex's sharing, it was ministry time. A few of us went up and were prayed for.

After youth, a few announcements were made. Then we dismissed.

"The Best Young Preachers' Night Ever."

- Eulene.

And here's why!


the Writer = the Photographer :)

..


So before we get into youth service itself, a little something at 6p.m.... plug-in bible study! (which had a marked improvement in attendance!)


And yup, we really DO study the Bible! Check out these faces and note the intense concentration:

camera zoom totally rocks.

Bible study was based on the book of Psalms (it's gonna be about Psalms for some time I think).

Let's not go into who facilitated Bible study. (I'm being modest here. hahah)

And trust me, it's a whole lot better and funner than it sounds!

..

Do forgive the really blur cameraperson for forgetting to take photos of the pre-service prayer, icebreaker and worship. Oops.

..

7 p.m., pre-service prayer.

And even through pre-service prayer you could really see a small revival happening in fireBRANDS. Remember those days when only less than 10 people stood around the piano?

That's so over.

Now, there're like over 20 people coming and praying earnestly and seeking God.

All glory to God! (a phrase you'll find a lot on the Recess Revo testimonies from http://www.urtherevolution.com; check it out!)

..

Right, now, youth service!

ICEBREAKER, courtesy of Eulene Ooi Tsu Phin.

And it was real good! Selaras dgn prinsip 'Getting To Know You Better.'

Write a UNIQUE experience you've had in your life on a piece of paper, jumble the papers up, people take turns picking out a paper and guessing whose experience it is.


Next up, worship was as great as ever.

Thing is, I ain't good at writing down details on worship. Cuz it's just so.. uncomprehensible?

But yeah, people really did press into the presence of God. And no, I'm not writing down some textbook answer. It's what I really felt.


Okay, finally, to the highlight of the night!

First up, Sharon Leow :)

NOW we have photos!


And one thing about this woman, she can seriously PREACH!

Bapa borek anaknya rintik.

Definitely anointed by God, Miss Leow just talked up there like it was no biggie, but at the same time getting the message across in a terrific way. She brought the youth from seriousness to laughter and back again without fail.

And yeah, mostly exegetically correct lol :)

the people listen.

She preached on PRAYER (you'd prolly've noticed that on the first photo?).

Basics first: What is prayer? It's the art of communication with God.

Then more: Prayer is divided into four parts, and we must have each part, equally balanced:
Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication
And can be easily remembered by the acronym ACTS.

And yes, prayer is POWER.

Remember, "Ask and you shall receive"?

And remember Elijah's prayer that it'd not rain? And it didn't! From that we know that prayer must be consistent.

It's like this: We cry out. God hears us. And when He answers, miracles happen.

yeah mien. check out the semangat!

Sharon ended with a testimony from the account of her dad, concerning her granddad. In a nutshell, her dad prayed for her granddad (who was declared clinically dead at that time). And when her granddad's body was being sent back to the house via ambulance (for funeral prep), her granddad just suddenly... woke up. And he actually lived for many, many more years.

She ended there.

Cue a thunderous applause :)


But the night was still young, so up came Nehemiah!

Very unfortunately, he had to rush through parts of his sermon cuz time was short.


His sermon was entitled: Run; Return.

The tone changed to a more serious one as he challenged us to THINK.

Are we distancing ourselves from the Father?

Is the fire in our hearts still there?

Like the prodigal son, some of us are still at the pigsty, having not come to our senses.

So why haven't we come to our senses yet?


The Parable of the 10 Virgins.

5 had oil, 5 didn't.

And we all know what happened to those who didn't: they were all too late.

So how do we keep the fire in us burning, and that we will not run out of oil when it is most needed?

Nehemiah called on us to return to the Father, as said by the theme set for our church this year.



Pastor Victor then took the baton and challenged those who know they've been astray to make a stand (literally) to come back to the Father, and He will run to us.

After a time of prayer, service ended.


Oh, and a worthwhile footnote:

Taking notes. The new habit in fireBRANDS. So next time, bring along a book and a pen!

fireBRAND of the Time-When-Blog-Needs-Update 011

Yes, I, the omniscient, ever-alert one have heard your restless cries. *points to tagboard*

It's time for another supercalifragilisticexpialidocious AWARD!

You see it's a win-win situation. For me, for you, for the blessed winner :)

It's interesting how all you visitors just can't help but keep on reading all the crap i'm writing.

Uh, thanks? haha.

Okay for this winner right, there's a reason why he/she won. It's cuz I wanted to put him/her out of the agony of wondering when it'll be his/her time, cuz knowing him/her, he/she already expects to get the award. haha xP (it's okay if you didn't get that.)

Now, to the point, the award-winning fireBRAND:

oh lookie here! she looks up while doing ball control :)

EULENE OOI TSU PHIN!

And, her prize is an essay written by the best darned writer in South-East Asia (lol jkjk).

It's called "30 Things You Probably Already Knew About Eulene".

BUT, like most SPM essays, it'll be written in point-form =)

enjoy =D

1. Eulene was born on the 11th of September (the day that changed the world!) in 1995.
2. She went to some primary school i forgot the name of and is now in SMK Bukit Jambul.
3. She has this birthmark on her left elbow, which kinda looks like a giant mole.
4. She's absolutely nuts about God.
5. She's real pretty.
6. She can sing. (properly i mean)
7. She's also nuts over cameras.
8. She likes dark cinemas cuz ppl can't see what she's doing.
9. She got 85% in her last math exam.
10. She's brave... well more like fearless, actually.
    
11. She's seriously an awesome gal.
12. She's blur.
13. Her blog: http://www.euleneo.blogspot.com/
14. She has amazing potential to be a great leader and a woman of God.
15. She can't spell 'ordinary' properly.
16. She pronounces 'ice-cream' as 'aishcream'.
17. She isn't afraid to say what's on her mind or talk to anyone.
18. Her smiles are unstoppable.
19. I bet she's smiling while she's reading this.
20. She's a floorballer.
21. She's a pianist.
22. She's never cheated in an exam.
23. She tricks her friends for her own entertainment.
24. She has approximately 200 distinct bones.
25. She has this habit of writing profound things as titles to her blog posts, which don't correspond to the post itself.
26. Got guys like her d wan.
27. She's great fun to talk to.
28. She's really vain. Just that it's a subtle kind of vanity, y'know.. not the loud, vain type. And she's perasan.
29. She's a fireBRAND through and through.
30. Lastly, I know she doesn't want this to end. hahaha.

eulene oh eulene.

FINALLY it's OVER! hahah.


That should keep y'all a li'l satiated for a short while.

Wait up yeah, for the next update =)

Pictures!

pics r in random order

when i felt like posting it, i did.

HAHA. =)

enjoy!

HAHA. XD

posing at the shop in the tapah rest-stop

posing at the curve

pastor kenneth!

concentrating during service. haha!

the morning service's worship team. thats ps. alex in purple, playing the guitar. his voice is super good. 

posing in front of james and jinji's room mirror

on the way there

a few of us waiting for our lovely nasi lemak and satay.

having breakfast at the chic mamak on sun morning

posing near klcc's carpark.

the evening service's worship team

posing with their cute banner. lol

klcc =)

the guys + james

us girls

pastor and a. rama

the ampang satay - kambing

ACTSposure Trip To ACTS Church, Subang Jaya, KL

report by: .szeyuen

HEY PEOPLE! missed me?

(i went to kl.)

lol...so yeah, a team of us: ps. victor, a. rama, leroy, kutu, andrew, james, jin ji, khaihern, maril, sharon, mingyen and i went on an ACTSposure trip to ACTS church, Subang Jaya.

i was all ACTScited the whole week before and couldnt shut up abt it. my poor classmates. and happily, i wasnt proven wrong! the minute we arrived, we were greeted by Miss Sarah Foong and Mr. Schaeffer Tan who gave us goodie bags! i felt so loved. hehe. there was lotsa junks in there and even the itinery! (the program, juz so u know XD)

so we left central zone around 9 in the morning and arrived in Subang Valley Hotel around 2.30 pm. stopped at tapah for pastor's dunkin donuts and apparently kfc (which actually was on the other side, meaning we only get to eat it on the way back). 

now let me tell u smtg...sitting in a van with CERTAIN ppl for 5 + hours is torture. especially when they keep on quoting timon and pumbaa. it stopped being funny after 10 repeats. LOL.

the only relief was when they slept (though it was only half an hour, sob sob!). 

JOKING LA. don emo on me k, person-who-sang-in-the-van. XD

so yeah. the hotel was really really small and cheap and we expected it to really be a motel but guess wat! it was super, awesomely GRAND! small, but like a mini Ritz or Hilton. 

(the Hilton KL looks so ugly. seriously. XD)

after we reached, we hung out in our rooms watching creepy french movies on our flat screen TV and vaining with the mirrors until abt 5.30pm. of course we showered. LOL. then ps. andy and a few team members took us out for satay.

at first thought, we ACTSpected kajang satay which is the famous one. BUT BUT after eating the ampang satay, i didnt wanna come back to pg. lol. the kambing was really melt-in-your-mouth fantastic! and the nasi lemak...wow. small and WHOO! XD 

we then stopped outside klcc to take pics (WHICH ARE COMING LATER WHEN I GET ALL OF THEM) and then headed to Stephen's to have cheese naan. who says kl doesnt have nice food. u juz gotta search the hidden roadside stalls.

our theory is that the dirtier the place, the better the food! haha.

later, full and satistfied, we headed back to the hotel for prayer and some games! haha. taboo rocks. especially with us nonsense firebrands, everything can be ANYTHING! besides, malaysians play taboo very well. our version of english is easier to describe LOL.

sleep was good. sleep is ALWAYS good.

in the morning we woke before 8 to wash up, then quiet time with God first thing in the morning. at 9, we headed for breakfast at the nearby mamak. good food too...though highly pocket-emptying. lol.

service started at 11. the minute we walked in the place, we were greeted like famous celebrities! after being given more goodie bags, we went to sit down. service was phenomenal. i love ps. kenneth's preaching.  and the ppl there r so supportive and ACTScited abt God. during worship, they really don care if they're embarassing themselves. "God is God; who cares abt u??" lol.

after service we went to the World Map in the back to join the teens in their weekly/monthly (?) HOMES (cellgroup) reports. MORE GOODIE BAGS and interesting reports later, we were hungry enough to eat a horse. we then headed to Carl's Jr. 

all the sensory goodness in a burger. seriously. all the money gone to burger too. lol. but good stuff. that was in sunway piramid, where we also shopped for lil' gifts for our gracious hosts. the ones we met personally of course. =)

then on to the evening service, which was abt the same. XD dinner was free - mutton, mutton, mutton! then back to the hotel room for debriefing before supper at old taste cafe. ACTSactly like old town ACTScept for the cutlery and name. 

then, it was games time. but we were all so sleepy so the guys described the word and we guessed. apparently we sucked at making up stories? whatever. lol

next morning, quiet time again before we headed to the curve for more shopping. spent abt an hour searching for a place to eat before we decided to eat korean noodles. 

jin ji ordered some spaghetti which came with powdered cheese in a bottle, and im sure the restaurant ppl regretted it. lol. when it came it was newly opened. when we left not a single speck was left. we literally ate it with everything! soup and curry and ramen and wtv. lol.

then it was rush-through-ikea time before we vroom-ed back to pg. stopped in tapah for kfc and pastor's addiction (dunkin donuts) and then it was all the way to our beloved island! stopped to drop kutu in autocity, james in his house, leroy, mingyen, and khaihern in tesco and maril in her house before sharon and i were left at church. 

the ACTSceptional ACTSperience taught us MUCH!

AND THAT'S THE WAY THE COOKIE CRUMBLES.

"Why??"

"When he was a young warthog!"

"When I was a young warthog!"

yeah. we rock. XD