Christianity in a Multireligious World

I am writing this post in response to the recent Hooha where our fellow Christian group Campus Crusade for Christ posted Gen12 poster about Thailand.

Before I continue my post, i need to first state that I am not trying to be judgmental or so. Instead I will take an emphatic approach, though I do admit that my lens are biased since it's mostly based on Christianity's approach. But I will try to be as fair as possible to the other faiths.

I think I will speak up for Campus Crusade for Christ as I think the organisation has always been very evangelistic and enthusiastic in the sharing of the gospel to people in campus. From my observation, they usually take the 'Street Evangelism' style to share the gospel. In my opinion, it is indeed good to share the gospel because the gospel is literally 'Good News' in Greek. And as Christian, we personally discover that our Lord Jesus Christ has given us the gift of life and hence we desire that the whole world knows Him as the Messiah. I think that the reason why CCC is so compelled to send people on Mission Trips was because they felt a burden to tell the Good News to the people of other faiths. And usually the sole reason for sharing the Gospel was because of the fear that the people who do not know Christ will go to Hell.

So in summary, the GEN12 poster was put up with the intention of inviting people to go on a Mission Trip to share the Gospel to people.

However I think what really offended people was the insensitive comments of stating that ''Thailand is a place of little joy'. Thankfully, they have issued an apology and I personally think that all of us, Christian or Non-Christian should be forgiving people because everyone makes mistakes and we all deserve a chance to repent. However, I fear that this would leave a snare on Christianity. It's like the real Crusades who went around killing people in the Name of Jesus and living behind debris. Even though almost a millennium have passed, the scars and the consequences still remains. That's why i believe that as Christians, it is very important to study Church History and note that such events have already build up so much hostility. So when we desire to share the gospel, we must certainly do so with wisdom and sensitivity.

Actually in my opinion, it is not easy to just simply go on a Mission Trip just to share the gospel. When i went to Country A, I went to a place where there were many Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists and I once heard that religion is their culture and it is very intertwined with their lives. Displacing the religion is akin to asking them to commit suicide. One thing that made me really ashamed was how the Muslims there were so devoted people, having to bow their heads in submissions on Friday. They really worship in awe. On the other hand, I sometimes take my Lord God for granted. I also went to the Tibetan Buddhist temple and I was further ashamed about how the old frail lady prostates herself and slides her hands til she lies flat on the ground in front of the Buddha Statue and then repeats it again and again, despite the bad weather and her risk of falling ill. It really pained me that day. I really want to share the Good News of God but on the other hand, I don't want to be insensitive.

The best biblical character to look to best represent evangelism and Mission is none other than Jesus. Jesus gave up His equality with God to be a suffering servant on earth. As He was doing His 3 years ministry as a Human on earth, he did many great things like healing the sick. However one thing that he did not do was to force people into believing in Him i.e He did not send lightning or fire to scare people. What really impressed me was how Jesus invested His precious time being with people. He was compassionate to the oppressed and outcast of society. He touched a leper despite being at risk of being sick, he associated with the Samaritan woman who had many failed relationships, He wept when His friend died of an illness and revived him, he associated with widows and prostitutes and treated them with love and respect. He did many more things. From all this, we notice that Jesus build meaningful relationship with people, not simple as a rightful Master, but also as a Friend and a Brother. People believed in Him because they personally witness His acts and the way He treats people. Thus, in summary, evangelism is more than just giving out tracks or verbally sharing the gospel and Missions is more than just going for an overseas trip. They need great amount of investment on building authentic relationships with people and how to fulfill the Great Commission by making disciples of Jesus Christ.

In summary, it's not easy for a Christian to be in a multi religious world because of the complexity of this world. Thus one must make efforts to build understanding between different faiths. I suggest that since Christians loved to invite people to go to their church, why not request to be invited into a temple or a mosque and have them to share their faith to you? If it's inconvenient, I think there should be a Religious Awareness Week to be held for each faith where people will be informed through brochures or posters about what each faith is about. Even having a peaceful interfaith dialogue would be be a good form of interaction. Anyway it is my desire to also learn to be a more understanding person who try to learn about other faiths and not be insensitive or forceful. All in all, we know that Jesus is a Prince of Peace and He has come to reconcile with the World. Let us not create hostility with people but learnt to be sensitive and wise in our thought, words and action. Let us also learnt to strive to be authentic in our lives and admit that we are imperfect people who are capable of doing wrong. And ultimately let the people we build relationship with, be it family or friends, personally discover the Goodness of Lord Jesus Christ by God's Grace in His timing and that we Christians will continue to be salt and light in the World.

What is Valentine's Day to you

I have never really written a post on 14th February so I shall write one. It's Valentines Day! Ok I know every year this day marks the significance of lovers sending gifts to one another while single people laments. But I believe that's not all for this special day. Valentine's Day though catered for lovers should not be solely for couples.

I always wonder why I am so unfortunate in my love life. I remembered when I was really very young, I have been searching for love, i think. The earliest time that I attempted to 'woo' a girl was when I was in primary 3 when I met this girl I like. Maybe when we were kids we didn't really actually know what to consider in a girl. But I liked her. My first gift for her was an eraser and i don't recall expicitly what I gave her, but flowers were common too. Time passed and nothing progressed. My first attempt of love failed. It died prematurely.

So for another 3 years, I didn't really liked anyone because perhaps firstly, I was too stressed by my primary 4 chinese teacher always making me copy chinese (rmb how i broke down so badly and my parents couldn't understand how i felt), Secondly, i was also stressed about being the class monitor in primary 5. Then, my friends were not supportive of me and nobody taught me how to be a leader. ( I had never learnt leadership while I was younger. My father was the typical authoratarian head of the house so I only knew how to be a follower.) Finally, in primary 6, my mother made me go for so much tuition sessions because of PSLE. In the end ALSO get 195/300. It became my a lifelong snare and scar for me. Even today, even though i made it to NUS by God's Grace and my responsibility to study hard, i am still forever remembered for my past failures because everyone condemned me that very day. Life goes on anyway...

So I went to a school which is not my choice. And I met a girl i like, perhaps because she exhibited characters that are like that of my mother i.e. kindness and gentleness. So on Valentines Day I gave her a music card and the whole class knew about it. But it didn't progress. And as I probed the outcome, one of our friends told me straight at my face, "she doesn't like you, you should forget about it!" That was my first Rejection. So I was like, since I can't fall in love. I must concentrate on schooling and CCA. I had on-off crushes but ever since that day, I was so embarassed such that I dared not open my mouth even if I am in love. In secondary 2, I met a girl who played with me almost everyday after school. As our school was filled with animals, we spent time with animals. Even in the HOD room, there were hamsters which I helped to care for. (That was where I got my first hamsters from.) Although I spent a lot of time with her, I didn't had much feelings for her because at that point, i was confused about what it is truly to be in love. So as it progresses to secondary 4, she always bring me her dishes and she always told me that she didnt like her grnadma's cooking, so i believed her and ate them. But in the end, due to busyness to prepare for O'level, nothing happened between us. Until today, I wonder if it was her excuse to get close to me. But the past is past. Life goes on..

I actually counted that i have "fallen in love" 30 times with friends and/or relieve teachers throughout my 16 years of life, most of which happened while I was in secondary school. But i suppose those are merely crushes.

In Junior College, I only had crushes twice because firstly, I was too busy with school and secondly, my classmates always form cliques and hence if I want to make a move, it was pretty obvious. Thirdly, I was also discrimated for exhibiting weird behaviours and my intentions were constantly misunderstood. Lastly, when I was preparing for my A'levels, I had this outbreak of pimples and acnes which plunged my self-esteem to rockbottom. Even till today, the acne scars remain.

So there was 2 years of National Service and nothing significant about my love life happen. It was only after 2009 when I was pretty sure that I am in love. But I still got rejected in the end. But most of the time in University was spent studying and serving God. I went out with a girl who treated me well, though I didn't suspect that she had that kind of feelings for me. Having been so badly hurt for the past many years in my life. All I wanted was a platonic friendship. So I felt bad when I friendzoned her. I don't know if she was still feeling hurt until today but anyway I akin it to bad timing. And before exchange, I also had another slight crush, but it was only today when I realise it was just limerence. And after all, I was busily preparing for Gcube and Exchange which took my mind away from romantic love.

Actually Exchange was the period that I fell in love the most. I had many instance of dreaming of getting married. When I was in Netherland, I thought I went to heaven because the Dutch people are really beautiful people. I think ideally, I would like to marry a Dutch/ French/ Swiss/ Luxembourgish/ Australian, though i realise that most of them are good from far and far from good. As I made my travels around the 12 countries, I always lament on every failed opportunity for me to confess my feelings. It was always the so close yet so far sitaution. There was a time when I was very sure we both liked each other but a gap just had to separate us. I very much want to elope ito fairyland but I also know that firstly, I owed my parents a lot of money so I enslave myself to pay them back first. Secondly, I am not sure if a long distance relationship with 7 hours time difference will work. Thirdly, I wonder if our parents will approve; I am asian and racism still exist btw. Fourthy, I liked to travel the world and I don't want my spouse to be a burden. Lastly, I prefer having animals as pets all the days of my life and my chances of wanting to have children is very low.

When I was in Amsterdam, my friend, in his drunken state told me that as he observe me in my interaction with people throughout my exchange period, he stated that I am very picky and that I am someone who has very high criteria, especially for looks. Though I do confess that looks matter a lot to me because I always subconciously see myself as FAT (from childhood), UGLY (form my hideous acne) and STUPID (from my PSLE days) so if I were to have children, I would want them to be slim, smart and beautiful. In short, almost perfect. And of course I have to be picky, I don't want to regret marrying the wrong person. Divorce in Singapore is so expensive. My father always tell me to make pre-nuptial agreement before marriage so as to prevent unnecessary disadvantage taken. After all, I feel that man are usually at a disadvantage under Singapore's law. There was never such a thing as equality in this world.

So anyway, Valentine's Day is a day to remember that love prevails for couples. But I think people who are single should not be discouraged. If they want to find love, they should continue searching and even if they don't want, they should be glad that they are single. But anyway I have bought my mother a Daisy flower. You can express platonic love to people around you too! So don't just concentrate on the romantic part.

PS: I didnt mention any God-relateds stuff because I want to be as human as possible as I write this. Can always bring in the Bible stories but it can get stale and irritating at times, and after all these stories are on case by case basis.

Elphaba, the Misunderstood "Wicked" Witch

When I was in London, I watched a lovely musical called "Wicked". I really loved the show a lot. In fact, it took me quite some time to grasp the show because I was fascinated with the dancing and all. However after reading wikipedia, everything makes sense.

To side track abit, wikipedia is a source that our professors hate because they think the journals they published are so authentic and valuable. How arrogant!!! I am so sorry to say that I believe that knowledge is reserved for the mass, not just for the elite. So if wikipedia is shut down, I know that it is going to the end of the cyberworld.

Ok! Back to the show. I think I could identify myself with Elphaba in terms of her character and the things she went through. Basically in the Musical, she was termed the "Wicked Witch of the West" because she incurred the wrath of the Wizard of Oz, who is like a "God" to the World of Oz but in actual fact, is the True Deceiver of Oz. Hence, Elphaba ran into hiding for 10 years and time and again, she would meet up with her true friends like Fieyro and Glinda, but she would also run away from the people who are hunting her down. The story of "Wicked" happens with the "Wizard of Oz" story in between. So to cut the story short, ultimately Elphaba 'dies' as seen from the Wizard of Oz and the whole of Oz rejoices, having been brainwashed by the Wizard. However, Glinda the Good Witch of the North banished the Wizard of Oz and helped to redress Elphaba's injustice, even though Elphaba had already "die" a wrongful death.

This musical taught me about LENSES. It recaps what I learnt from IBS 1.01 in VCF where each of us lives in our own world and hence we perceives things differently. When I was younger, I read the "Wizard of Oz" book and I always taught the Wizard was a good guy and Elphaba was wicked. That was how the story made her out to be!!! However the story of "Wicked" brought about the other side. From Elphaba's birth, she was termed different. She was the result of her mother's adultery and she was scorned ever since she was born. Even through adulthood, she was loathed because of the color of her skin. But she didn't give up on life, she remained strong through it all. After watching this musical, it taught me about the FAILURE of human's judgement and how a POWERFUL and CHARISMATIC person can be the Devil's tool to deceive the world!!!!!!!

I can somewhat identify with Elphaba because I also grew up in an environment where I was the least in my family and how my father is and still is not proud that I am his son. My mother naturally loved us because she had motherly love graced by God but at times, she also struggled with the fact that I am her son. So when I was younger, I always wonder why I was different. I was a silent rebel who refused to obey my parents and I gave them a really hard time. As I reached puberty, I realised that the way I think does not really coincides with the social norms. So I was always the weird person and thus I grew up being discriminated.

I knew how she felt because I went through such pain before. It was really surprising that I could remained this strong because there were times when I was younger, I contemplated suicide because I was different and that I know that Society would not accept me for who i am. For strange reason, God lead me back to church and by His Grace, despite my weirdness, I build a new identity, that was in Christ. But that was not the end even though I publicaly declared that I am a Follower of Jesus Christ. I had to deal with the weirdness that had been imprinted since my birth.

Today, I also realise that despite being in Christ, I am in a danger of being like the Pharisees because I was so involved in many things "Christian-like" i.e I have been so religious. Anyway after going for my Mission Trip and being very much exposed, I realised that I have honestly have no passion to be too actively involved in church. Because I realised that outside church, there are many societal problems that have yet to be addressed. What should I do to still serve God and yet not be too Churchy? The church is always repeating about evangelism, blessings and warning. That is good but my gut feeling is that it's the same people who go there to be spiritually fed and this have resulted in people being inward-looking. Thus I am moving out of my comfort zone to serve.

I have since decided to acknowledge that my destiny would be like Elphaba, to remain misunderstood for a very long time. Though I constantly try to clarify them, people keep talking down on me, saying that I am trying to justify myslef i.e in my eyes what I do is right and in their eyes, what I do is wrong. I am also tired of my friends speaking up for me. Maybe I foresee in the future that even my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ will turn against me because of who I am. I being a fellow Christian myself might also be persecuted by Christians. I supposed this is the irony of life.

Many of my fellow christian friends taught that we should be communal people but the danger is that if the leader of the community is actually a SEED planted by Satan, then the whole community will perish together. Hence, I being in the community of believers seek to be unique. BECAUSE THIS IS WHO I AM. I am Lin Hansheng Gideon. I am mutant and proud!!! :D And yes, I also sense the danger of being caught in social norms though i tried to learn some of the things that are of this world hmm... After all, though I grew up as an odd being, I am capable of learning new things. Therefore, I foresee that I will die as a misunderstood, odd and broken follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ultimately I will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, my True Judge and with His omniscience, he will see through the deep intentions and the struggles in my heart. He knows that I am a broken person through and through. I admit that there are times, I really feel like rebelling against God. Despite this imperfections, will the LORD accept me into His Kingdom? Or will I spend eternity being violently burned by the fires of Hell...I await His judgement.

Goodness knows the "Wicked's" lives are lonely. Goodness knows the "WICKED" CRIES/ DIES ALONE!!!! It just shows when you're "wicked", you're left only, on your own....No one mourns the Wicked!!!!!!

Reflecting 2011

It's been so long since I written a truly long blog post. I have been really busy with many things in the year 2011. There are so much to share but thanks to my Church's watchnight service, i manage to sort out my thanksgiving and here's a summary :D

1. At the start of this year, I had Tonsillitis which is then accompanied by Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. It was a sucky feeling because I couldn't eat or drink properly and I couldn't sleep well for a week because swallowing saliva was also really painful. Anyway after being healed, i was told that actually eating ice cream makes things better but oh well, i do hope i don't get such an illness anymore. So thank God for healing me :)

2. I thank God for friends who helped me out throughout my studies in NUS and I did reasonably well. Actually my CAP fell drastically to 2.92 in Semester 1 because I had a D for my Level 2 Organic Chemistry but it rose to 3.06, not so high thanks to a D+ in Analytical Chemistry, still lower than my first sem CAP but I believe that whether it rises or drops, I must be contented that God gave me the privilege to study in NUS despite the tough competition. Reuben mentioned about being a Bell curve Martyr so haha!! i think God puts me in that position for a reason. Though I honestly think I work very hard for my modules hmmm.. I may not know the exact reason but i know it's a learning journey with the LORD so as to grow to be more like salt and light for this world. I also remembered the times I complained about how I didn't make it to FMSS and then ACJC. But looking back, I appreciate all that have happened to me. I was really surprised I made it to NUS. Indeed many are the plans of Man, but the will of God prevails. Anyway it's not a shame to be the least among my peers in terms of academic status. It teaches me humility :)

3. I was serving as a VCF CGL throughout my Sophomore year. To be honest, I wasn't even chosen by the previous subcomm but I remembered how i was so mysteriously driven to ask Lionel and Max to give me this wonderful opportunity to show my gratitude to how VCF have fed me spiritually. I got the role and i faced so many trials where I was constantly misunderstood and deemed incompetent for the role. It hurt me so deeply but somehow encouragement from other friends really enabled me to persevere. And being a CGL, I need to be relational which I think I was abit bad at cos a friend commented how i had bad EQ. I was honestly uncomfortable about it but God suggested that it's good to train up my shortcomings. Ok I am of 'CSD' personality so I had to trained up my 'I' personality, so i forced myself to be bubbly. Some people think that i was kinda fake or inappropriate but after all, I wasn't there to please man but to please God. Indeed I felt like an outcast in the subcomm for a period of time but God understood my pain because Jesus felt the same way before He went to the Cross. Anyway I thank God for the experience and the things I learnt.

4. I always thank God for my understanding church friends who allowed me to focus on preparing for my VCF GCube Mission Trip. Btw Gcube means God's Global Glory. I still tried to serve in church as a Youth DGL (Disciple Group Leader) but I really thank Christopher, my co-DGL who helped me shoulder this burden. And I am really thankful to Jasper who relieved off my duty as a Young Adults Ministry Worship Leader & Support Singer. I do apologised to Pr George for pulling out of the Mailbox Club Ministry. And I remembered that Ps Kien Seng patiently mentored me for 2 years and prayed for my service in VCF before he had to prepare to go for his Sabbatical in 2012. It is always joy that God uses us for various ministry but he understands that I am limited and human so I have to give up certain area to focus on other areas. I hope to return to church as a more spiritually matured person after having been trained in VCF :)

5. I really thank God for the privilege of going to Xining, China for my Gcube Phase 2 Mission Trip. It was really not easy having to work with my team members due to different personalities. And there were times how they left me out when they spoke about their medical terms. But anyway we learnt to work the misunderstandings out. I was so thankful that many people came in to support us financially and spiritually. During the prep-camp for the trip, we faced many trials when our expectations for the trip was so different. It kinda made us pissed off with each other and I struggled to work under my supervisors just as Jacob wrestles with God. To be frank, I was so frustrated and unjust such that i cried bitterly. But ultimately God is sovereign in the situations and in the trip. We manage to put aside our indifference and do His kingdom work. There were still a bit of indifference, especially when i had to be in charge of the tours, and how i was pissed off with the fact of whether my team mates was trying to please the Missionary instead of God. But through it all, we managed to be like John the Baptist who tilled the hearts and prepared the way for the people we meet so that in future the gospel could be planted in them. I thank God for the privilege to go on this Mission Trip to China, where it's dangerous to preach the gospel there.

6. It was indeed a headache having to prepare for my Exchange Trip. There were so many screw-ups on the administrative side in NUS; my mother could testify. She was the one having a bad time because I had to do 2 weeks of Reservist at that time. I was super pissed off by their delay of 2 weeks which spoiled my travel plans. And at Eindhoven University of Technology (Tu/E), they were pressuring us to send in the necessary documents or else they won't accept me as a student there. Thank God that it was settled when Kelsey Works stepped in. After that, I faced VISA issues, they were so petty issues like my head was not straight, etc and to make matters worse, she didn't inform me that the VISA fee would increase to €600 so my mother wasted so much money to deal with this unnecessary screw-ups. Anyway in the end, I thank God that I managed to get everything done on time and meet Haoguang and Moses in Florence, Italy instead of our initially planned Munich, Germany.

7. Thank God for the privilege of travelling around Western and a little bit of Central Europe. I had to be independent in settling my trip itinerary, booking my hostels, budgeting, navigating with a guide book and/or a map, etc.. I remember how I encountered scams in many countries and how racism was evident on certain places I went to. I also remembered walking in the streets late at night because the hostel price was unreasonable. I also attempted to sleep in a deserted playground/ a park or even an alley because I couldn't afford the hostel stay. But i was really thankful that God kept me safe. All in all, I went to 12 countries: Italy, France, Spain, Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, England, Poland and Luxembourg. :)))

8. Beind an exchange student was tough and lonely. I had to settle my housing, apply for resident permit and open a bank account. I also had to budget for my weekly expenditures and do grocery shopping. Cooking became a past time since outside food was expensive. I had to get a bicycle to travel around as bus rides were around €2 per trip. In school, I constantly ran to my supervisor for advice in my courses due to my screw-up timetables or failure in 2 of my master courses. I took mostly master level courses because the bachelor courses were in dutch and I had 1 bachelor courses which couldn't be mapped over as a complete module at NUS. But I continued with the course because it's not nice to pull out and let the rest of my group mates bear the burden. I have planned to stay back a semester in NUS due to such inconvenience but I believed God puts me in Tu/E for a purpose. I met so many people from different countries and also 2 Singaporean friends who are there on Scholarship. They really helped me in many ways. And I also thank God that I could still be salt and light there for many of my friends who are stoic or atheist in their beliefs.

9. I manage to find a church in Eindhoven, i.e the International Baptist Church of Eindhoven where I met people from all over the world. It was a glimpse of heaven. I also manage to meet a Singaporean couple, Isaac and Serene who helped me in many things. I also enjoyed the fellowship with the Young Adults there. I really enjoyed the events they celebrate like the Harvest Festival, the monthly fellowship lunch and Holy Communion. To top it all, I also attended the Men's Bible Study Session which taught me how to be a biblical man of God. Indeed God was gracious to send many people to support me spiritually. I thank Him for that. :)

10. While I was on Exchange, my house got emblock and hence I entered a new house when I returned. It was bigger and more beautiful than my previous house. I thank God for His Providence. And I also give thanks for my family members who cared for me when I was away and how I skyped them to update my life with them. My room is still messy and my stuffs are everywhere so I need to take time to pack and settle down before returning to school.

11. Before I returned to Singapore, I attended an IFES Nederland Christmas Retreat which was really encouraging because I met people from different countries too. How wonderful it was to see a Japanese and a Chinese fellowshipping together especially when these 2 countries suffered years of Hatred since World War 2. I also learnt about a new country which I never knew, it was Latvia. We all had a great time worshipping God, fellowshipping and doing various activities like writing a Christmas Card in various languages. During the Retreat, I also saw snow for the very first time :) God is Good all the time :))

12. Thank God for the safe trip back to Singapore and I manage to make it on time for my VCF Annual Teach-in Camp aka ANNTIC. It was my 3rd time and I have 1 last year before my ANNTIC journey is done. Time really passed quickly as I worship God, fellowship with my VCFers and study the book of Hosea and the Epistles. It is indeed great to have your mind and soul challenged in this camp so that one could really grow and mature in our walk with God. I am so thankful for that :)

12 Summaries of Thanksgiving for the year 2011. I wonder what is installed for me in 2012? I am so excited about my journey with the LORD God Almighty! :D

Holy Holy are you Lord God Almighty! Worthy is the Lamb! Worthy is the Lamb! You are Holy!

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel :D

I just loved the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. One can never imagine that God- The Son, the One who sits on the Heavenly Throne in all His glory would sacrifice Himself by first entering His created world, and be planted by the Holy Spirit into a virgin's womb and born as sinless and vulnerable baby. An angel appeared to shepherds to show them this miraculous birth. And a few years ago, God sent the star of Bethehem to guide wise men from the East (tradition guessed that they are from Babylon, Persia, India and even China) to present gifts to the infant. Thus, the Nativity of Jesus is the Word became flesh, to bare the Sins of the world and indeed we ought to REJOICE! REJOICE! for God is with us! :D

Exchange Trip Afterglow

I am back!!!! It's been 5 months since I left for Europe and I simply can't believed time passed so quickly. I really have 1001 stories to share because so many things happened while I am on exchange.

I loved most of the places I went to. Due to my VISA issues, my travel plan was delayed by 2 weeks and hence I had to fly straight to Florence, Italy to meet Haoguang and Moses. It was God's grace because we planned to meet at The Academia but I got a bit lost but in the end I manage to meet him. We had lots of happy times venturing the city by foot. I really loved Florence because of her artwork. I shall write reviews of each place I go. :) In short, Haoguang, Moses and I visited Italy: Florence and Milan, France: Nice and Spain: Barcelona and Madrid before all 3 of us separate. Moses flew to Utrecht, Haoguang flew to London while I took a train to Eindhoven via Paris.

I almost couldn't make it on time to get my keys from Vestide, the landlord of my apartment. This is because I took the wrong train. But God was gracious as some kind dutch taught me how to change the train and board the right one to Eindhoven. So i dragged my 23kg luggage to get my keys and then to my house. That was when I first met my housemate Oscar. He is Swedish and he brought me to meet other people at the bar. Thankfully I controlled myself and made it for the Introduction Day the next day. And we drank again. But I headed to Amsterdam that night. I will write more in another post

Most of my trips are done independently where I meet new friends on the way. In short, I tried to visit most of the cities in western Europe and some central Europe countries like Poland and Czech Republic. I also met up Haoguang, Lionel, Jason, Gerald and Joyce in London, England. My last trip was done with Moses where we went to Luxembourg. Throughout my travels, I learnt to budget my meals, accommodations and entrance fee. I also learnt to navigate throughout with the map provided by the hostels or the guide book which was given to me for free by my tour, BUSABOUT.

I had many good times but I had my fair share of unpleasant incidents while travelling and I will elaborate more on separate posts. They are mostly scams and thankfully I wasn't robbed nor assaulted in various way.

In school, I mostly turned to my Study Advisor for help. She patiently tried to settled my modules which were greatly messed up. Honestly I did well for modules that were project based because that forced me to be consistent. However I failed 2 modules because I had lack of background knowledge. They are of master levels and since I had no bachelor level, I failed them. I actually tried to retake one but in the end, my lecturer was so harsh on me such that I broke down. I used up many rolls of toilet paper as I cried bitterly near my bed. But I am thankful for the experience because it was the very first time I was last in class.

I also met 2 Singaporean friends there, Eddie and Jingxiu who really helped me a lot. They invited me to their house for dinner, celebrated my birthday and farewell. I am also thankful to Eddie who offered to buy my bicycle. It was so fun having them around as I shared my Exchange stories with them. I also tried my best to give them some advice so that they would not meet up with unpleasant situations. Thank God that I could be a blessing to them through the bad things that happen to me.

Not to mention, I actually wanted to cry when I first came because I had culture shock. It was a coffee and beer culture and the food were mostly cheese, ham, milk, bread and soup. Moreover I have yet to find a church for spiritual support. In the end, Janelle helped me out a bit through Watsapp and I attended the International Baptist Church of Eindhoven. I met a Singaporean couple there, Isaac and Serene and we fellowshipped together with their daughter Kaira. I had many wonderful times with them, even visiting the Flower Parade Festival at Valkenswaard. She introduced me to other Singaporean friends and I even attended a couple, Jasmine and Loy's baby shower. After they left on 6th November, God led me to Marcus, the leader of the IBC Young Adult Group. We fellowshipped mostly in church, but I did went to Cliff's house for dinner and Marcus and I had lunch at a Hong Kong and North Indian Restaurant. I really enjoyed the time spent with them. I am also thankful to celebrate the Harvest Festival, the monthly fellowship lunch and Holy Communion. Oh! and thank God for the Men's Bible Study session which was led by Tim, an elder of IBC. That was where I studied the book of Elijah and learnt about being a biblical man of God. I think God really place people into our lives for specific reasons.

I was really exposed throughout this exchange where I had to tolerate my other Greek housemate on how he caused some inconvenience to the house. I learnt to be independent by budgeting for my groceries and cooking my own meals, maintaining my bicycle and also planning my travel plans so that they would not caused inconvenience with school. Basically, I learnt to be more independent and yet totally dependent on God. I went to the Red Light District with my friends and it broadened up my view on such issues. I was exposed to my friends passively smoking soft drugs like Weed and I saw Magic Mushrooms in Amsterdam too. I attended a House Party which my Swedish friends brought me too and also had a farewell dinner with them: Swedish meatballs!!! My cousin envied me! ;P Surely the Lord placed me in Eindhoven to broaden my worldview as Singapore have indeed been too safe and comfortable.

Through it all, I had a wonderful time there. I made so many friends from different nations. I stepped into 12 different countries, had my fair share of scams, tried to resist overdose of alcohol, struggled with master level schoolworks and also learnt to grow spiritually; be salt and light to the country there. I believed that I have also drawn closer to God and I really thank Him for all He has done for me. Thank You Lord for such a maginificent experience! :D

Gcube Phase 2: Xining, China

Today I am going to reflect about my trip to Xining, China :)

Actually going to China was rather unfavorable for me because of my inadequacy in my Chinese. As I was preparing for the trip, I tried praying in chinese and it was really a disaster. Instead of addressing God as our Heavenly Father, 天父 , i called Him 岳父, which literally means Father-in-law. It was pure disaster, hahaa!!! When I wrote my testimony in chinese, it was broken to the max because I relied on google translate and i guessed my supervisor, Adrian had a tough time vetting it. However despite all these, God challenged me to step out of my comfort zone and that He would used my weakness for His glory. I do not really know if my inadequacy in chinese was glorifying to God but when i conversed with the people there, they were laughing so hard at the things I said. E.g I mistook the chinese word for digest as purge ( i.e.消化 and 消毒). As I learnt that reciting chinese poems was entertaining, I did so almost every meal. E.g 鹅，鹅，鹅 , 脖子向天歌! 掉进黄河变黄色!! 黑毛浮绿水, 红爪摇一摇. This is not the actual poem btw, I also made silly errors reciting other poems like rocking the boat to grandma's bridge and grandma give me a hamburger, when the actual poem says grandma call me 好宝宝. I guessed God really used my weakness to make my friends there laugh heartily. Nonetheless, they appreciated my effort in trying to converse with them in Chinese.

In China, I was constantly learning and growing in the faith, because during my teenage stage, I developed a quiet and reserved nature. But entering University challenged me to grow in my EQ. As we learnt that China was rather strict in terms of religion, street evangelism was almost impossible. Hence in order for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be spread, it had to be done in a relational manner. Hence I was made to initiate conversation and build good and lasting friendship with the people there. I think we were there to be like John the Baptist and Apollos. We could not really plant the seed of the gospel but like John the Baptist, we prepared the hearts of the friends we made there so that in future, they could receive the gospel of Christ from the future team or the long term missionaries there. We were also like Apollos who watered the seeds of the gospel already planted in some of the people's heart so that they would grow to know Jesus more and more each day. Hence God really had a purpose for us there.

I was also amazed by the rich culture of china and the 56 ethnic groups. I initially thought that there were only 5 ethnic groups in China: 汉，满，藏，回，蒙 due to my exposure to chinese and hong kong dramas on how these ethnic groups were mentioned in various dynasties. But we took up advance chinese, chinese cultural and minorities cultural studies there, so my eyes were opened up and I am really convinced about the presence of the gathering of people from every tribe and tongue to worship God in heaven. Hence I believed that we should obey the great commission to be sent by God to reach out to the unreached. To my surprise, all these years, my chruch has been sending missionaries to minister to the qiang ethnic group on Sichuan, China. I thought qiang was like a place in China but it's actually 1 of the 56 ethnic groups. Hence I guessed when God chose to sent me to China, I supposed He is preparing me to join my church's mission team in ministering to these people.

I have many more things to share like learning patience to work with my team and the patience to tolerate my computer who all of a sudden slowed down in China. My friend joked that my computer is suffering from altitude sickness. I really thank God for the patience because there will be times when conflicts due to different interests and misunderstandings and miscommunication might arise among us, but nonetheless God helped to hold us together for this mission trip. Therefore I am thankful for that. I am also thankful that my team mates were understanding about my difficulty in hearing and my inability to multitask. For instance, we were searching for a friend to meet up. So I was staring and scanning the area to find her. When my friend found her, she told my another friend about it. But I didn't hear and then I exclaimed, :Oh there she is!" though she saw her like 1 minute ago. We all burst into laughter.

I learnt to be myself, displaying all my flaws there. I used to defend myself with masks. But I learnt that we do this because of pride and that we fear that people sees our weakness and mocks us. But God taught me to not be a hypocrite and I struggled to display my vulnerability so that the people I meet would know me as who I am, and not just the surface of me. I learnt to have faith that God is sovereign over all the events and that His grace is sufficient, for He is indeed a God who provides. I was initially flustered over the fact that I had to run around to pass the teeshirts to my friends, even during examination period and I had to sacrifice my grade for this. In the end, I didn't do well for a particular module which I had worked so hard for the past semester. However I guessed I learnt that grades aren't the most important and the sacrifice was worth it. I will do my best to continue to juggle between working hard for my grades and serving God. Anyway, God provided the resources for this trip so we were glad, but yet we learnt to be prudent in our expenditure.

To end this I liked to share this phrase from Narnia: "oh Aslan! oh Aslan ! You are real!" Yes. God is indeed real all the days of our lives. Whatever He had began, he will finish His mission in a good perfect and pleasing way in accordance to His will. As of today, I still think that it was never about me, myself and I, that going for this trip made me stand out among the rest. However I believed that it is indeed a privilege that God had taught me many things out there in that mission field, lessons that can never be taught in theory or even through sharing and preaching. I give thanks that I have this opportunity to share and encourage people to be missionaries in their own way. I personally believe that missions is not solely about going overseas to reach unreached people. Even people at your workplace, the place you study and even at your doorstep, like the construction workers, the prostitutes, the prisoners, the mentally and/or physically disabled, the old, the diseased/illness stricken people. All of this can be your mission field where you can be salt to the decaying world and light so that Christ can be seen through you.