the long life post.

I know how much you all want a post! Hahah! So here it is.

Hey everyone.

Alright.

Imma keep this post as short & simple as I possibly can.

Firstly, we started off with pre-service prayer led by Sharon Leow.

prayer points were :-

• youth service itself.
• pastor Tom- that God'll anoint him
• one another.
• Recess Revo.
• Worship- worship leader, Joyce and her team.

P.S// God has been amazing with the amount of people He has blessed us from the first few pre-prayer services we have had to where we are now! Amen to that!

then Joyce and her worship team took over the service.

And then, Ming Yen with her awesome announcements :)

check out the enthusiasm!

Last but certainly not the least, Pastor Tom preached about Long Life.

Yes, i know. my Photography skills stinks. Anyways.

well. the four main words in his sermon was : the Lord is my shepherd.

"some people don't see God because they don't put Lord as their shepherds, instead it's something else."

"our abilities to our problems are limited"

Truly awakening. thanks Ps. Tom!

Alright, so that's the end of my report. Till next time :)

Report by : Eulene

Stinky photography: Eulene

FireReach I

Okay, to make this intro really simple (like how-to-boil-water simple), FireReach is a new ministry within fireBRANDS focused on community outreach.

So its first project was bringing Ephraim to an orphanage at Batu Maung.

(First Ephraim, then Manasseh, then Mod-Em. The 3 cell groups take turns every week to help out at the orphanage.)

Get it?

=)

And here's how it went!

Photography: Sarah Khoo (and a few photos from this writer herself)

a note: the names of the books aren't supposed to be arranged in the right order.


Genesis
"In the beginning..." - Gen 1:1

So, in the beginning, we met up at Leroy's place for briefing and prayer.

our brief-er.

Numbers
"The number from the tribe of Ephraim was 40,500." - Num 1:33

Okay so not THAT many la.

Everyone in would total to about.. at least 16 people, as far as I can remember (but then again it was nearly a week ago so maybe my memory's not very reliable).

More than expected, and at first it was thought to be too many people.


Though it turned out to be an okay number, cuz well there were many children too.

haha.

Exodus
"The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children." - Ex. 12:37


Thankfully, in this modern era, we have vans and cars.

About one vanload and one carload of people went.

The ride was nice, I guess. I mean you can't really complain if someone chauffers you in an air-conditioned vehicle.


And once we arrived, and got out..

..the children just immediately came up to us and started shaking hands, smiling, introductions were made, more smiles exchanged..


Hebrews
"And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." - Hebrews 13:16

What we did.

Basically both us and the children were divided into three groups. These three groups would then take turns to play and to learn how to use a computer (as there were a limited number of computers).

I don't plan on explaining every single activity we did, so, photos!

Playing with the children outside while waiting for their turn to use the computers. We literally had to brainstorm what games to play, and revisited childhoods with games like AEIOU, polis-pencuri, Simon Says, Pepsi-Cola, O-Zom...

Though in the end this group didn't get to use the computers due to limited time. Oh well. Next time :)

Ivy in a heated battle.

Playing musical chairs (looks like it).

Getting to know the kids and more importantly, having fun with them while showing God's love.

Socializing!

Teaching them how to use the computer.

Shiau Xian and her little sister.

Debra-the-really-good-with-kids.

Wei-Lynn caring for two kids.

Awww.. hahaha :)

After almost 2 hours there it was time to leave.

Well, it was time for the children's bedtime, and we were tired.

But it was good.

James
"Religion that God our Father accepts as poor and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." - J. 1:27

Debrief, briefly.

1. Keep praying for the orphanage, the children and everyone there. It's a place influenced very strongly by Hinduism and they actually have a sort of a mini-temple in the orphanage itself, where even at night people were praying.

2. Helping the children there will be done every week by the three cell groups, but from now on there'll be less children and it'll focus more on computer lessons.

3. And yeah, helping the children there was a really meaningful experience. You get to talk to them, learn names, and they'd come and talk and play with you unabashedly. They really just want attention and love. Although they may look all smiley, deep down inside they're really hurting.

And yes, that's the end of the beginning of the first FireReach project :)

So everyone went back, eventually.

...

18072009

For after so long.
SHE....
IS.
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BACKK!

HAHAHA! *syiok sendiri*

Alright, SO here I am giving you our previous youth meeting report. Again, I would be lying if I said that it wasn't fun.

SO uh, yeah.WE had our pre- prayer service. And of course, we prayer for :-

• Recess revos' in schools.
• Youth service.
• and just thanking God for everything He has blessed us

THEN... EULENE did Charades for ice breaker. It was fun. Was it?
Hahah.

Shiau Xian worship lead with her team (:

SO you see, Le Roy basically had his moment with Alex during Wave Challege

*see our previous post behind*

But i guess Alex wasn't enough for him..

SO now he has... *points to the above*

OH.. NO.

Ming Yen with her announcements.

*drum rolls.*

To the moment... WE ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!.

*crowd cheers*

TANIA LOKE!

as our preacher for the night!
Taking Up The Cross.

Truly awesome (:

.Pastor Victor also shared for a while.

and uh yeah.

That's the end of my YOUNG PREACHER'S NIGHT report!

WAITT!!!!

I have a priceless picture for all of you.

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you ready?

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YOU SURE?!

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ALRIGHT FINEE!

Report : Eulene :)

Pictures taken by : Joyce.

Wheed and Weat.

Introducing our resident seminarian, older-than-he-looks, not-very-tall, court-jester-in-another-life, drummer, [American] footballer, floorballer, graphicker, artist, contemplater, (list goes on and on), PREACHER.

[insert his photo here]

Here ya go, ladies and gentlemen, Mr Tan Chu Kwang (is that right?) =D

[pause for applause] (hey that rhymes. haha.)

So, for this week's message:

WHEAT..

..and..

WEED.

Tricky pronunciation there.

And here're some bits and pieces of the sermon:

Parable of the Weeds! (Matt 13:24-30)

God's kingdom.. It's like a field (the world) planted with good seed (us - to bear fruit).

But you see right, this slinky shadow (Satan) came and sowed weed (sons of the Evil One) among the wheat.

Tapi, masalahnya, if you pull out the weeds, you'll prolly uproot the wheat at the same time.

So God's allowing both wheat AND weed to grow together.

And we should be careful & be aware, cuz the only way to differentiate wheat and weed is to be grounded in God's word.

There're weeds in the midst of us.

But when the time comes, we'll be rewarded for bearing good fruit.

Then there's the flip side.

Many will come to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' - Matt 7:22-23

So imagine that, the Father who brought you up, saying "I don't know you" just cuz of something we did. It's devastating.

If you don't abide in Jesus (bear fruit), you'll be taken out & burned.

We're saved so that we can produce good fruit.

However. There is hope for the weeds.

God gave us a choice!

And so He did, and many fireBRANDS went up to be prayed for.

Another few songs from Nehemiah and the worship team, with God as the only audience.

God sure used James in an outstanding way that night. Undoubtedly. Really well done =)


Wheat and weed.

Where do you stand?

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 =)