Ah Vic is Back!

Hey all,

Vic is back! He had just touched down from London at 11.27am into Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1.

For those who miss him, his phone is on and it's time to bombard him! Wahahaha....

O-kairi Oni-Chan! (Welcome back brother!)

-Shuqin

Vic is coming back!

Hey all,

I was on the line with Vic a few hours ago and he has left Copenhagen around 2 hours ago, to Germany. He's going to be there for a few days for a short trip before heading back to Singapore. You can drop him an SMS if you need to look for him urgently, or you can talk to him personally when he's back next week.

Yes, he'll be back on the 09 December from London to SIngapore via Bangkok on TG403. There may be changes to it thought due to the airport closure in Bangkok. Otherwise, this should be it.

Oh yeah! See you soon brother!


-Shuqin

I have a God-Sister NOW!

Week #9:

Sorry for no updates in the past weeks.
It was an emotional roller coaster ride for me during this time.

BUT the experience I had during this period was the most important part of my life.

During this time,
1. I was finally relieved of a very heavy emotional burden which I carried for many many years. And I really pray that this is the start of a recouncilled relationship. Amen to that!

2. I acknowledged a God-sister (younger) from Taiwan. I vow to care, protect, and love her as my sister and her family till I enter the heavens. Its amazing how this happens...

3. I see God work through me in 5 occasions in a particular day. Amazing. (too sensitive to reveal, sorry)

I am looking forward to going back to singapore. Tons of challenges ahead.
Career, family, relationship.....

Victor
God is not done with me yet....

A little update

hi hi everybody...

This is shuqin again. A little update about our friend. He called me up 2 days ago and as his previous posting, he is still experiencing some internet connection problem, so you might not be able to catch him on MSN these few days as well. Nonetheless, he is in good condition and is still at Koge Port. The only thing is he misses all of you...hehe

For all those who misses him as much as i do, here's a pic of him and his friends there.

- Shuqin

Week#3&4: Koge Port

Hi friends,

Sorry for the late update.

Internet was down for a while.

These 2 weeks have been very tiring and yet rewarding.

Tiring

Tiring due to alot of work, some are very muscle demanding.

And I am often called to help with muscle demanding works because of my incredible strength.

Rewarding

1. Attended a local lutheran church "uninvited".

The church was beautiful with a rich history.

However, only the elderly locals attended this church.

Where are the young people??

2. Started a prayer meeting for the STEPpers group.

In one of the training seminars on a saturday, on the "Father, Heart of God", series, I was overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit.

I broke and cried like a baby. I confessed all my sins and surrendered my life to God. And I had some very good revelations. I know strongly God wants me to do somethings:

i. To start the prayer meeting for the STEPpers group
This involves alot of things.

ii. To share a story with a friend on board.

iii. To share about letting go in a training session.

The prayer meeting is set up, involving each of them praying for one another, holding one another up in spirits and in prayers everyday. We even prayed and lay hands on a fellow STEPper for healing. That was amazing.

I conducted a session on "letting go", in a training session and the feedback was great.

Yet to have a chance to share a story with a friend. I kept asking God if this is really what I should do, and HE kept giving me a "GO!". I must find this person and share with her some things in my life.

3. Went out to Copenhagen at night to do street evangelism with sketchboards.

Was freezing but the response was Great! I had many good conversions with locals and that was just amazing.

4. Was asked to lead a biblestudy group.

The ship is starting on the "Purpose Driven Life".

And the leaders invited me to lead a group.

Pray that the ship family focus on the ONE thing, HIM.

Amen.

Week#2: Koge Port

Hi friends,

Week 2 has been very physically draining.

I cleared the garbage room almost everyday, took about 3 hours to clear (that's a lot of garbage).

Moved a lot of stuff and did de-rusting works - sanding, grinding, needlegunning... Super tired.

Somehow, every morning, I awake at 6am and start my morning devotions and quiet time with God before I go for breakfast at 730am. And HE is faithful, although tired, I was about to perform all the duties assigned to me with a smile. I know HE provided the strength.

I was able to talk to so many locals this week, went to a youth hangout place as well, during evening after dinner. Also went to a local church, connected with the local Christians, sat through a whole sermon in Danish, and had a sumptuous meal with the local Christians in church. That was just amazing!

This week, 2 of the STEP-pers (those on 3 months), left the ship. I was a bit sadden.
I know that life on board the ship was not what they had expected, in fact to some, the life on the ship is hash and others do not find cleaning the toilets, clearing the garbage, etc, pleasing.

The ship underwent audit check on thursday.

Alot of works still need to be done and the ship may be docked at Koge for a long time, perhaps till december 08 till the outstanding works are completed and certified.

Please pray that the crew on board will not be disappointed and lose faith.
Since we are going to be in Koge for long, many of us intend to make connections with locals, building long term friendship.


I beginning to miss Singapore Food....

God Bless.
Vic

Week#1: Koge Port

Hi friends,
First and foremost, Qin aka Nipple-nator is my buddy. Really touched to have her. No matter where I am, she will always be my buddy, having that special place in my heart. (NOT in my nipple)

Some quick updates:
1. Due to complications, I am in Koge Port, 40km away from Copenhagen. Alot of work to be done on the ship before she can sail to serve in other areas. So, will be stuck here for at least a month. However, it is by no coincidence that we are in Koge port. We realise that this small town has less than 5% Christians. Also, many Christians here don't attend church, don't believe in God. In fact, pastor is like a job, with a salary, and pastor DON'T have to believe in God!!!! Also, the locals in this town seek "alternative" healing, alike to our local "tang kee".
Imagine 300 Christians on a Ship near them. Imagine what God can do to this town.

2. For this week, week 1, I was working in the Deck. Doing painting, helping out in hoisting works, etc. Engine department may need me to go program their alarm system. They spoke to me about it.

3. Also walked around the town alone. Ventured into the parks, houses.....
I think I must be very handsome. Alot of locals look at me as I walked around. So I smile, wave and befriend the locals. Thats how I got to know about their "alternative" healing.

Life on boat:
4. I am in a cabin, with 3 other cabin-mates, from Germany, Canada and USA. We have people from 40 nations on board.

Life here is amazing. I wake up very early to spend time with God. Also, people on board all have a deep heart for God. Simply Amazing.

We have to work hard to get the ship to be ready for sail. Sometimes, people work and get intensed. However, after the work, we will humbly seek forgiveness from the other party. Often we hug and cry. That's the Holy spirit at work, cleansing us with forgiveness. No hatred is kept over the night. What a culture! We must bring this culture to our workplace!!!

.........

Updates from Denmark

hi all,

Some of you might have known me as Qin, or Vic's buddy or 'Nipple', or 'Nipplizer', depending on how and when he intro me to you. I will be helping him to update his blog to let you guys know his whereabouts, in case he was not able to do this himself due to limited resources. So now, a lttle update for you.

I was just on msn with him a while ago and he is well and safe in a place 40km away from Copenhagen(where he was scheduled to be initially), in a small town called Koge Port. He will be there for a while as the ship makes her final preparations for the journey.

He does not have auto-roaming services on his mobile phone, so i'm afraid he might not be able to reply your SMSes immediately. However, if you would like to contact him, you could either email him or leave him a msg in this blog and i'm sure he will get back to you once he gets the chance.

Also, he would probably be updating some pics here soon, to let you guys and gals know all these fantastic places that he has been to and the ppl that he has met.

So, watch on folks!

Regards,
Qin aka ...you know the rest

"So easy until U cannot understand"

I went wakeboarding the other day and the instructor told one of my friend who has great difficulty in standing on the board, that "its so easy until u cannot understand". All on the board laughed and this somehow was etched into my brain.

"So easy until U cannot understand"

-- this is so true even in our daily life. Somehow, the more educated we are, the more we tend to complicate matters. Christianity is just believing that Jesus died for us, so that we may be reconcilled to God. It is not about us doing all our "good" works so that we can reach God, it is about God reaching out to us. Its that easy, until U cannot understand.

In fact, in many things we do, we tend to seek to understand the subject first than begin to trust in it. Thats how we are educated and trained, isit it? Take work for example, I will read up on the project, research and experiment on related subjects, then i develop a confidence and trust in the project and in myself. However, in our Christian faith, we trust in God first, then we begin to understand.

Love comes first and understanding second.

CG Southern Ridge Excursion -- 020808

Great Leader - Stan, figuring out the routes....

Tyre Punctured.......... (PS: the heels, amazing)

Walking towards civilisation.....

Trekking the brigdes....

Why the sudden "desire" to serve HIM?

"You have a good career, a job you enjoy doing.... You just completed your Master Degree.... Why are you quiting your career..." These were the responses I get when people learnt about my decision to "temporary" end my engineering endeavours and move to serving God.

What triggered me?

Since polytechnic days, my plan was to strive out a career, establish my own business, then retire at age 40 to serve God fulltime. That was the motivation behind the overwhelming energy and zest devoted into my work. Crazy working hours and extreme lack of sleep were common and were of no issue to me.

The pivot point took place in January 2008. Plagued by a series of health issues and relationship confusions, worsened when my two buddies were unavailabe during this period, plunged me into a state of complete helplessness. To the point that I broke down and cried like an uncontrolled running tap while driving on the highway. Who can I turn to?

Well, where else can a "deflated" Victor with no options go to, other than back to church. Perhaps, that was the only way God could reach me at that time. I had focussed not on the God of heaven and earth, but on the God of earthly riches. Everyday, work and money was on my mind.

It was only at this juncture in my life that I started to question what is life all about. Is life working 18 hours a day, earning $5K a month, $10K a month, $100K a month??? Is life really just that? I prayed for an answer, a sign, someone whom I can ask. God provides the answers to all my doubts, and in ways I could not imagine. As I pieced the encounters, I couldn't help but be amazed by it all.

Some Interesting Encounters (names not mentioned):
(ALL these took place in a span of a few months..)

1. 
   
   I asked HIM what can HE do in my life?
   HE provided me with some dreams that shocked me.
   3 dreams i had, on different nights of 3 friends (E, E, A) -- U know who you are, friends.
   I called them and found out indeed they were having issues in life.
   We met up of course.
   If 1 dream is coincidental, could 3 be coincidental?
   And this did not stop, more "dreams" came.
   I am still trying to decipher some of the dreams till this day.
   


2. 
   
   At that time, the church was doing a book titled: "Book of Living Prayer". In the morning, i read on the topic of God calling us to pray through people, situations, interruptions. In the afternoon of the same day, my Godma called to say that her colleague, C, entered coma suddenly. Coincidental?
   I chose to obey what I read in the morning and went down to the ICU immediately after work and found that I wasn't allowed to enter. So I called my Godma and found out that only C's husband was around. I took the bold step and asked for his handphone number. I went in, prayed for C and husband, and I never stopped going to the hospital to talk to the family, and pray for C after that. I am now part of their family.
   Later, I found out that C's husband and my Godma was touched because I went the extra mile to pray for a person I had not know. C's husband has since believed and trusted in God. Through prayers, we see C's condition improved rather miraculously. Virus can be diagnosed negative a few days after tested positive, etc. C is now in normal ward, still in coma, but i know by faith, she will awake very soon.
   


3. 
   
   During this period of visiting C, I also had the priviledge to pray for a young china girl, JN, in coma. She has since passed away. But we know she is in God's hand. Through the suffering of the only child, JN's parents came to know God, and became Christians. I am greatly encouraged when the father praised God during the funeral. I hugged him and cried with him. While crying, he said in mandarin: "Thank you, God. Thank you, God. I know JN is in heaven. Thank you, God". I was taken aback. Most Christians only give thanks when something "good" happens to them (if they can bother to), giving thanks in adversities, giving thanks at all times (commanded in Scriptures), was a tough act to many. Yet, JN's father, a new Christian, can give thanks at the lost of his only child. I am greatly encouraged. JN's parents have gone back to China since, but we are still in touch via letters and phonecalls. I know this is God's grace to use me to share the grieve and suffering of a fellow Christian, to be the Body of Christ. To be encouraged through this incident.
   


4. 
   
   At this time, the natural disasters in Mymmar and China struck. I questioned God. If U are so great, so real, why are such things happening? These are innocent people. Why are they killed? Why?
   That day was a Thursday, where the church has the regular prayer watch. The first song we sang, shocked me. The words of the song goes somthing like this: "sometimes we do not know why things are happening this way; Often we do not even know what holds tomorrow; But we know who holds tomorrow; And we know who holds our hands" Could He be responding to my question?
   The next morning, i read the daily bread and the topic was on the shepherd leading the sheep. In the day, the shepherd holds the staff high so that the sheep can see and follow. At night, the shepherd tapped the staff on the rocks / stones and the sheep follow the sound in the darkness.
   That sunday, I went to the church library and wanted to get a worship CD. I fingered through the bookshelves and a book dropped into my hand, titled "Where is God when it hurts" by Phillip Yancey.
   Well, I think i get the hint from HIM.

Marching forward:

There are many other amazing incidents which convicted me (many others that may just shock you) and I know I have to go serve HIM for this period of my life. Giving up what I have was tough, yet HE never fails tp provide for me when I was down, be it in spirit, or in finances.
Perhaps I will return and continue with my engineer career or, perhaps I will go lecture in a Polytechnic, or perhaps.......
I am sure God has HIS plans for me. I shall pray and leave the difficult task of providing and leading to HIM. Afterall, HE is the creator of all things.