Camp Reflections

My family had the privilege of heading back to Vietnam, for the Bible Club camp "High Seas Adventure" held in DongNai, Vietnam.

It was a year of Firsts, in many ways: first time for my youngest son to join the sleepover camp (finally old enough!); first time for my son to be involved as a Junior Counselor (big praise point, more later); first year I got involved in the camp music, first year I got "dragged" into doing a solo *cringe*; first time I got to be camp photographer!; first time I used a video cam; first time I "got out" of being a counselor (or so I thought.... more on this later); and first time giving a bible talk.

Wife and CH flew to Singapore on Wed, 16 Nov, to do a Visa run; then met us in HCMC on Thur 17 Nov. Our flight (direct from JKT to HCMC), was delayed for about 4 hours, so ended up arriving only midnight. Curt's driver, fortunately was still there waiting, and drove us to DongNai, reaching the campsite @ Green Club resort at 1am or so.

Friday morning, we're up! Having a look at the resort, it's a fairly typical Vietnamese resort, 2 star? - but quite a nice place, with lots of matured trees, large grounds. Only about half of the kids are there (they came up on Thur), the other half will be arrive after their school ends, Friday afternoon.

It's quite nice to see many old familiar faces, and get to meet a few new ones too! I was surprised that Curt stepped up, and became Captain Curt throughout the whole camp. He was THE MAN, taking charge of the kids - and he did a great job! It was also so nice to see the Vaughns both attend, stepping up to be counselors. *big thumbs up*

We all settle in, and I get started happily snapping away. I do note that one of the boys' group had Janell as a counselor. We normally have only male counselors for boys' groups; and female counselors for girls' groups. I decided to give being a counselor a break this year, indulge in my new hobby (photography), volunteered to do a bible talk, got roped in by my wife to play keyboard and even do a solo.... which I was not at all comfortable with. Anyway, I felt a little bad, that Janell had to stand in, since there weren't enough guys - but I couldn't be there on Thursday anyway, and what's done is done :)

Unfortunately, in the afternoon, we hear that one of the camp counselor's wife was ill, and had to be rushed to the doctor. I was asked whether I could stand in as counselor - and I just couldn't say no. There was no one else - So I did. God sure has a sense of humor - he let me think I could get away from being a counselor :)

Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps

Well, I had 3 kids (JuHa, Matthieu, SungJun), and a very matured Junior Counselor Jonathan. They were a great bunch, and the "easiest" kids to manage compared to the past 3 years. Thankfully, I also had Jonathan to help me, coz I was running around quite a lot, doing music practice, practice my solo item, take photographs, take videos - we were a great team - and I was very blessed.

I focused a lot on the "Counsel" times, and was thankful to know that my kids were all saved, and sure of their own salvation!

It was my son's first time as a Junior Counselor too, and I am thankful for his willingness to step up, and serve God. It was important part of his spiritual growing up too - no longer one of the campers, but have to be a responsible Junior Counselor. I think having one of his closest church friend in the group (Garett) was an adjustment 1st day, but he handled it well.

I love this  picture (right). My dearest DY, stood up at the top of the slide for ages! Finally, she managed to go down once with Katherine, and after that - there was no stopping her!


An interesting change for camp was, everyone had to do their own dishes! And I was most impressed that my dear DY, decided to help people out with the dishes, on a few occasions, on her own accord.

I love how God is sovereign. I chose a passage, that was about God being life changing. But somehow, a week before camp, there was a miscom, and I was to do another passage instead - and I really felt like backing out. I like teaching adults, but wasn't so sure about "entertaining" kids. After spending time on the new passage, I realized that it was much more "suited" for me - Acts 28:1-10 on how Paul survived a snake bite. I did the boring powerpoint presentation, but picked more interesting pictures to tell my story. I also ended off challenging the kids about trusting in God's promises (John 3:36) - both in terms of our own salvation (John 3:36), as well as to challenge them to live out what Jesus says (Matt 5:44 on loving our enemies).

We got 2 musicians from the Filipino church, plus 2 more from the Vietnamese church we partner with, and the music was actually very good! Thankfully, so I only played when "necessary" or was free. Wouldn't have made a difference, really.... But I manage to get one of the Vietnamese (actually playing the drums), to play the guitar for me, for my solo. MUCH better, I hate playing and singing. He was very good, picked up fast - I couldn't have done it by myself.





See the girl in the middle? She's Natalia - and completely visually handicapped. But she loves to sing, and music, and apparently plays the piano. She did this solo item, and I played the piano, and whilst trying to learn the song, she remarked loudly: "You gotta keep up Dude!!!!" What a spunky little girl, with a big personality. Hearing her sing, was definitely one of the highlights. Wow.

We ended, like past years, with altar call. Seeing these kids accept Jesus in their lives, such a momentous life changing event, was indeed a privilege. This is what it is all about, starting our lives in Christ, growing in Christ, and finishing with Christ - it makes it all worth while, for my whole family to fly in, just for that, and to catch up with our spiritual family.

 John 3:36  Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

 The highlights of the camp?  In no particular order:
1.Being the camp photographer!
2.Serving God, even though at times I didn't want to. It always pays off!
3.The solo acts were great: my wife has the loveliest voice; Katherine and Natalia's items, melted everyone's hearts.
4.Seeing my oldest Son serve God
5.Catching up with friends
6.Teaching my group about Jesus, we had some really meaningful conversations.
7.Food! Food was great. Never ate so much breakfast.
8.I didn't get trampled by any animals.... 

Church Hunting

I've never really had to "church" hunt.

I started off in Zion BP @ Serangoon Gardens, because that was the kindergarten I attended.
When I was in Australia, after falling away for many years, I decided to start afresh - and get started in a church. My flatmate, was a follower of The Way, and I just followed him, which ended up being Unichurch - which was where I finally "got it", and followed Jesus for real.

Unichurch had strong links with ARPC in Singapore, so it seemed a natural choice to settle there - where I've adopted as my home church since.
Going to Makassar, attending ICF was a no brainer, it being the only English speaking service around.
In Vietnam, there was a fellowship meeting in the same district which I stayed, and also recommended by a friend.

Coming here to Jakarta, it's different.
I asked a pastor friend from Australia, and he recommended 3! which is like 2 more than what I'm used to...

Church #1 was part of a large Indonesian church. Congregation of about 50. The only issue was that they didn't have any children's church in English.

Church #2 was a large International fellowship right smack in town. Distance wise, was probably the closest to my home. They were a polished bunch of folks, music was great, established children's chuch - mix of expats and Indonesians were about half. The 2 messages I heard, was good - sound, scriptural.

Church #3 was a church plant of #2. We loved the smallness of the group, very casual/cosy - everyone sits around tables, with coffee in the middle! We went about 3 times, and found that the teaching wasn't quite all that strong. And whilst it is "only" 20 km from my house - getting there on a Saturday was between 45min to 100min - each way. Also, despite the smallness of the group, I found it hard to connect with others there. I think my family liked this the best, but I struggled.

Church #4 was also a fairly large mixed congregation. A little more traditional. They spent the first 10-15min of the service, explaining from scripture, on why they were making a major shift in their "policy". I was very impressed! The message was also very sound, exegetical - I think the strongest in the lot. The only issue was, their Sunday school was held in the morning before service. During service, only our youngest had a separate class - so my older 2 had to sit through the whole service. This isn't altogether bad, it's been a model I flirted with, when we were in Vietnam. But it would also mean a very long Sunday morning for the family.

Church #5 was very close to church #3. But going on a Sunday, took less than half hour each way. We got to know a couple, through mutual friends. So we met them there. First week, wasn't very representative, it was a school holiday, so congregation was smaller, main pastor away, and had sort of a family service - which was like a big Sunday school class. Second week, was back to normal. It's a smallish congregation, and service is more "high", besides the catholic services I attended in school as a kid, this has been the most liturgical service I've been in 20 years. I know the background of the main pastor, since he's from the same theological school linked with the church I attended when I became a Christian. So preaching was sound. The main difference was, the people were just really friendly! Both weeks, we had people coming up to us, to have a chat. We've had people inviting us to their homes. People hung around after service, chit chat over coffee and cakes, then went out for lunch.


It's been a 2 month journey of search. I've pretty much visited the churches I wanted to visit, and needed to make a decision pretty soon, so that we can settle in quickly. And after much thought and prayer, this is what I think is most important for me, in looking for a church to be part of.

1. Teaching. Above all else, the approach to scripture has to be sound, evangelical.

2. Sunday school. The family is a big part of the decision making process. We talk with our kids, what they thought. My kids seem to like the smaller groups, which was more personal. It'll be really nice for the church to have an English children's church, and a place where my kids feel more comfortable.

3. Fellowship. This, is I guess what seals it. I got to know a few people from church #2, and would not have been disappointed to have settled in there. But what struck me about church #5 was how outward looking and warm they were, especially to newcomers.

I guess it is something everyone knows in theory, but harder to put in practice. In the church I was part of in Singapore, it grew from 1 service of 100 to 3 services of 1000+ - and it's hard to even keep up with even regular attenders, especially in our very busy lives. We get comfortable, talk with the people we know, want to catch up with, people with the same demographic. It really is quite hard for a new person to get "plugged" in, often taking years. For me, it is a good reminder, now that I've been on the other side (a newcomer).

It's an encourage to keep being outward looking, go beyond saying hello, how are you, and see you next week. Being in a church, is a sense of belonging, and all the more so for a newcomer. It's the sharing of lives, and unfortunately, it involves time and effort. It's being in a family - the family of God, that has been purchased by the blood of Jesus. THESE are the relationships that will count in eternity.

Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.


 

The Journey (Part 2)

Ok, Mum died.

It took about a week, for our insurers NTUC, to arrange for a Rome Undertaker, to liaise with Florence Undertaker - and prepare the body for repatriation.

Trying to get flights out, was another challenge.
Undertaker could not get space on SQ (well, had to wait 2-3 weeks). Next Thai Airways flight (original ticket), was also going to be in 2-3 weeks. After a call to SQ, not only did they get us space on the best available flight, they helped my dad and me find space on the same flight, my brother and his family to fly back from Venice/London respectively - to Singapore, all at a very special compassionate price. 


On the day we were to leave, we had to get a car (arranged by NTUC - plug: never travel w/o travel insurance. Never.) to Rome, to fly out. Enroute there, we got stuck on the highway - at some points, we were just stationary for... 45 min, and no idea of how long we were going to take. Our 2 hour buffer time, just whittled away. Oh, interesting thing I observed. Whilst stuck, a truck came along the road shoulder, stopping and distributing water.  Angels from Road Assistance. And free too!

After what seemed ages, we finally got past the trouble spot (truck accident), and raced to the airport, reaching at 11am, for 12 flight. That was the cut-off SQ gave us, and we (even our luggage) made it.

Throughout this whole episode in Italy, I am so thankful that
1. The medical care my mum got, was 2nd to none. (ok, apparently, Italy is rated #2 in the world, after France, according to my uncle). The doctors and nurses showed empathy, constant care and attention. And it was also free.... which probably explains the national debt.


2. For the time I got to spend with my dad. Priceless.


3. The hotel we stayed in, the staff were super helpful. They did their best to find rooms for the 3 of us, when it was super peak season, and went out to assist us, whether it was to print things, fax things, at all hours.

4. That my mum got to spend her last 2 weeks, with the family. This truly what made her the happiest.
We lived in Vietnam, my brother in London - and I know she misses spending time with us, esp the grand kids. This was really the best way for her to go.

5. I felt that my dad was really thoughtful towards my mum, leading up to her illness. And my mum responded very positively. She told me "without my dad, she'll already been dead", a few days before her hospitalization. I was positively stunned.

6. Throughout the time in ICU, I thought that short of a full healing by God, the current outcome would have been the best. My mum isn't one to handle illness all that well, and with so many of her organs shutting down, one at a time, there has to be some permanent damage, even if she recovers. Plus a lung tumor to deal with. And with the tissue deterioration, she would freak out completely, seeing the state of her physical body. So self-fishly, her being sedated, possibly slipping into a coma, then passing away, those days in the ICU, I'd never seen my mum so... calm, so at peace - ironically.

7. Singapore Airlines was great, in helping to get the coffin and us back.

8. That in God's timing, we arrived at the airport, just in the nick of time.

What can I say, except that everything went according to God's perfect plan. Praise God above the heavens. Praise God.

The Journey (Part 1)

I'm finally here.

It has been an interesting journey, to say the least.
From trying to find a job, to finally getting one - itself was a journey of faith. God is faithful, I'm the one being trained in faithfulness. From his timing, his choice of location, to the company I'd work with, the terms of employment, it is in God's perfect will & timing. I sure wished it to be quicker, more exotic, and plush, but I've decided to let God be God, and stop trying to advise Him on how to run my life.

I started being open to another job, some 1.5 years back.
A work arrangement, which meant to be temporary, turned out to be temp for more than 9 months, I was just traveling between 50% to 75%, which was quite unsustainable. What I thought to be initially manageable, started to take a toil on the family. I didn't have a choice.

The straw that broke the camel's back, was the company's decision to relocate me from Vietnam, back to Singapore. With the same job, and in fact plans to expand to another country, the traveling would only increase - and I knew for certain, I had to find another job.

In God's timing, I started going for interviews. Initially, my search was focused on overseas jobs. I gave myself till end 2010, then focused on Singapore jobs.
A couple of jobs, went to 3 and some nearly 4 interviews. I was certain one of those jobs, would close - the fit was just.... perfect. Strangely, God closed those doors. 

Trusting in God's sovereignty, started to get "frustrating".
Trying to understand what plans he has for me, beyond comprehension.
I kept telling myself, God's plans and timing are always perfect - and trying my hardest to believe it.
And I stopped telling our prayer partners, about the job status - after so many near-misses. 

Month after month, there were just more frustrations.
Time was ticking. The movers were going to come in on 24 June. I couldn't confirm the destination, and kept delaying my reply from May, 1st week of June, 2nd week of June, to finally - they told me the last cut-off to tell them of any change, is 22 June.
Finally, my official letter of employment came... on 21 June evening. Too close for comfort!

But through God's sovereign hands, the move was all sorted, and everything went smoothly - and we were ready to leave Vietnam on 1 July for good, with a peace of mind.

HOLIDAY TIME!
I had long planned to go on an extended family holiday (with my folks, and brother's fam in London). I always wanted to go Italy, and my wonderful wife, planned it out perfectly.

1st stop - Rome.
It was hot. 40 degrees most days.

Colosseum by night.

But a photographer's haven. I had purchased a new tripod too, just before the trip. So I got to experiment using it at night. My fav pix from Rome right. Loved Vatican too. Once is probably enough.


1st few days, my mum was super gungho - walking everywhere, refusing taxi when we knew she was tired, even telling the guide how at 73, she was used to walking alot (refusing the lift up 2nd floor). By day 4 or so, she started to tire easily. Add to her not really sleeping well at nights (jet lag?), the tiredness was catch up on her, we guessed. 

Walking through the streets of Assisi

2nd stop - Assisi. 
Just a stop over for a night. Quint little town, very medieval. We loved walking through the town, and thankfully, there weren't many people.

That day, Mum finally crashed out that day, she slept for nearly 24 hours, waking for meals, but strangely just really groggy.




3rd stop - Florence.

Duomo at dusk

Home of leather industry, and Ferrigamo, it is a whole town of tourist traps, with throngs of tourist. Everywhere. We did escape out to Siena, San Mignano, and Pisa - which, unsurprisingly, was also full of tourists.

But the cooking class we did was fun; 1st time using the Segway (except one breaking down, and we were stuck for 1 hour plus). Pix of Duomo on the right, the whole city (it isn't very big), kinda revolves around that.

Mum's left leg started to swell. A doctor said it was thrombosis - nothing very serious.
She went with us, to all those cities - although she was tired quite a lot. My dad spent 1 whole day, looking for a foldable cane, for my mum - and she was elated at his efforts - when she got it.
Mum was ok during the cooking class - but suddenly, in the afternoon - got the chills. I was down with the flu, so happily took my mum back in a taxi to rest.

The next morning, my dad knocks on our door - saying that my mum is going to the hospital.
Shocked out of our slumber, I went to their room - only to see 4-5 big ambulance personnel in the small little room of theirs. My mum had difficulty breathing in the morning - so my dad decided to call ambulance.

Late morning, I went to the hospital. Saw my mum struggling with the tubes.
They gave her an oxygen mouth thingee, and she hated it! And also insisted on eating, although the nurses said that she couldn't coz they needed to run tests on her - to find out what is wrong. They had no choice, but to sedate her. Little did I know, that that was the last time I would see my mum conscious.

Entrance to the ICU area

Later that day, they came back with the prognosis - Septic Shock.
Erm, ok. Nothing registers. My brother calls at night, asking me to read up on Septic Shock.
Oh.... not good. >50% mortality rate. Mum is transferred to sub-ICU unit, then to the ICU.
When we met the ICU doctor, this nice lady, just kept saying sorry, and even gave each one of us a hug!
I was stunned.  It seems that it started from the right leg (which was strangely the good leg) infection, that went into the blood stream, and "exploded" through the system.

Kidneys were the first to shut down, and so they had to put her on a dialysis machine.
They pumped through the strongest anti-biotics available.


Day 2 and 3, no real progress. Body is not quite responding to the anti-biotics. Infection seems to have spread to the tissues, and can see blood blotches on the right leg. This spreads daily, first day, lower leg. 2nd day, upper leg. 3rd day, body. They tried blood culture, but found nothing as the bacteria was wiped out by the anti-biotics. They tried tissue culture, to see if they can find which strain of bacteria. Also put in a special dialysis machine, to filter out the Sepsis in the blood as well. Things are uncertain. Doctors asked us whether we wanted to call priest in.... which we agreed. So some priest came, did his thing in italian or latin, shook our hand, and left. He didn't speak any English, and we didn't speak any Italian, so had no idea what he did (last rites? said some prayer?). This could last a day, or even months. No one knows.

Day 4 seems to be the turning point.

We spent lots of time in the waiting area.

Everything medically possible, has been tried. They have consulted other infectious diseases centers, called in all their specialists - they have run out of ideas. Infection is spreading. Liver, Cardio, Lungs, starting to be affected. Thrombosis has spread to hands too, but they say it's the least of our problems. Only thing is to wait and see if the body responds.

Oh, there is also possibly a lung tumor too. Also the high temp of 40 degrees (despite being covered in ice). Not good, but in light of what else is happening, don't worry about at this stage.... interesting how one's perspective changes.

I counted, at least 9 syringes of things going in my mum, plus dialysis machine, plus other machines and tubes. If my mum wakes up, she'll freak out completely.

Plans to go Venice, are scrapped.
Not knowing how long mum's condition will be, my family leaves on originally planned return date of 21 Jul, Wed; brother's family on 22 Jul, Thur. I stay on to accompany my dad - which was really great, because we got to talk lots - more than I ever had, in my entire life, accumulated.
I learned about his grandparents, his parents, my uncles and aunties. How life was growing up, how poor they were. My dad excelled in school (genes... didn't get inherited) and he got his ticket out of poverty by getting a Colombo plan scholarship to Queensland - where he lived a rather.... colorful life.

On Friday afternoon, things were bad. My mum heart rate, started to fluctuate - it went from 110, to 30 in seconds. Doctors, tell us to expect the worst - they don't expect anything more than a day or 2.
We call my brother, now in London, to try and get back here.
He tells me to convey a message for my mom's younger sis, that they'll be ok, that my mum can go peacefully.

It was the hardest thing for me to do. I didn't want to do it.
But I did walk to my mum's side, held my mum's hand, and said it for my aunt.
I fought hard, to hold back my emotion. Barely.

My brother manages to get a flight, supposed to arrive midnight. But flight is delayed, and only arrives at 3am.


My mobile rings in the middle of night, jolting me from my sleep. In my stupor, I stumble for the phone, before accidentally pressing the "button" instead of "answer". Italian number.
A minute later, the room phone rings, I answer it, and the hotel says that we should hurry to the hospital. I convey the message to my dad, and he simply replies "ok". I call my brother, who is in the taxi on the way to the hotel, and he diverts to meet us at the hospital.

The walk to the hospital, a familiar walk we've done day after day, is a quiet one - there aren't many people around, we walk a brisk, quiet, sombre walk.
At the hospital reception, they stop us, asking why we are there. I tell them that the ICU called. They refuse to let us through. After an agonizing, and thoroughly annoying 5 minutes, they finally let us through.

Buzzing the ICU door, my brother opens the door. We are 5 minutes too late, he says. I fume.
We walk towards the bed, and see my mum's lifeless body. It doesn't hit me. It just feels... surreal.
I find out, that she actually passed away at 3.15am, and then they called us - we would have been too late, anyway.

She's been called home.

After a life of physical ailments, she has been wonderfully healed - permanently.
No more discontent, no more complains. No more maid problems. She is in the bosom of Jesus - where she will find perfection, true peace, true contentment.  

The last 6-8 months, have been perhaps the most... challenging time for me.
But God has been teaching me to trust in him, His will and timing is always perfect.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

10 Vietnam Take Aways

Surprisingly, this is not food related. I have my favorite place to bang ve/ ta pao/ take-away my lunch here, but that's another story.

We had a fabulous dinner last night with close friends, and got me thinking after.
As we near the end of our Vietnam posting, we've had the opportunity to look back and "review" the past 3 years.


1.R/ship with kids
We struggled with various issues (*cough* kids *cough*) whilst in Singapore just before, and really, I can say that with more time available, more family holidays, less school pressures, closer friends' support, we're really bonded better, and have a much better r/ship with them. Better... not necessarily good.

2.Kids salvation
My youngest Son accepted Christ in my kitchen, during Bible Club with Bonnie facilitating.
Shortly after, my daughter accepted Christ whilst doing QT with me one night.
What more can I say, except Thank You God!

3.Wife's faith
Vietnam has been really good to her. She found a group of committed lady Christians, all living nearby, and had the wonderful opportunity to pray, learn the bible, plan for kids camps, work parties, share, cry (my assumption....) and grow in the Lord. It's the bestest it's ever been.

4.My faith
I shared this morning with Men's Fellowship - I think in terms of digging into and learning God's Word, I've probably grown the least, since I became a Christian back in 1992.
Unfortunately, in the last 10 odd years, my learning has had an external impetus, whether it is leading bible studies, or giving talks - I was forced to really study the word of God. I do think I've missed that in the last 3 years (my excessive traveling has not really helped much).

I guess in hind sight, I should have done more, and something for me to work on, in my next phase in life.

But knowledge is not faith.

God has forced me to grow in other areas of my life.

5.Kid's ministry
After teaching Sunday School @ ARPC for couple years in mid 90s, then 1st couple of years in Indonesia, I told God, and myself - that that's not a gift I have, and that was not an area of ministry. I gave it a go for about 4 years, but it just wasn't working out. I much prefer working with adults.

Of course, when we arrived, and Viet fellowship was planning for kid's camp - there was announcement week, after week, asking for men volunteers to help out. 80% of the kids attending were boys, and only 20% of the adults helping out were men.

I conveniently looked the other way.

Week after week, the announcement came, and I started to get a little more uncomfortable, can I just sit there, with nothing really in ministry, fresh in the Motherland of Vietnam, available but unwilling? Finally, pure guilt hurled me unwillingly to raise my hand.... what's the worse that can happen?

Ah.... foolish question. A dear friend S, then came that after much prayer, God had impressed on her, just the right kid to be put in my group. Ok.... now, who am I to argue with God right? Let's just say, it made all subsequent camps... a real breeze after.

But God tore down the mental walls I had conveniently built up. Despite the challenges, I had a blast. The super ladies, really organized - the amount of effort that went in, was unbelievable. It was such a privilege for me, to be part of that ministry - and I just came back for more!


6. Music ministry
I've dabbled a little in the past, but nothing really formal or serious.

But I was drawn into the music ministry here, ended up playing regularly, song leading and even doing both concurrently (after vowing never to do that again, after a failed 1st attempt 13 years ago). Wow. I am thankful to T, who forced to learn to play in D, E, A (I was only comfortable playing in C or G previously). I learned to play using guitar chords (I used to only play by ear).

I learned to organize a team including other singers, drummer, working through song arrangements, twiddle with sound equipment (which I have NEVER touched before).

And we did a Men's Singing item this Easter, which was again a first for me, but a fabulous opportunity which went a lot better then any of the practices we had!

7. Serving on Leadership team
My wife and I, always had different ministries... always.
When we were both invited as part of the leadership team, I was honored to, and absolutely delighted that my wife agreed too! What a blessing it is, to be able to serve together with spouse. Thank you God.

8. Working with different kinds of people.
I had expected, from my previous posting, to get involved more with tent-making work, but from language barriers (I am linguistically challenged), to how God opens and closes doors, our ministry ended up mostly with and amongst fellow expat Christians, and *gasp* even Americans!

I've never really had American friends (for those of you who say, I've nothing to lose, shoosh!), and obvious God thought it to be completely unacceptable, and threw in our way loads of them! Our closest family/church friends and neighbors, turned out to be Americans (one of them, confessed that she didn't understand a word of what I said, for the first 6 months.... ). And it is such a special friendship we had, our kids were at each other houses all the time (don't they go to school?), fairly similar ages, and we even gone on a few holidays with them!

Whilst still evangelical, the Christian background was still diverse, much more diverse from those we've known previously. Admittedly, I struggled, leadership decision were being made at a glacial pace; not a lot of commonalities to talk about; differences in church music backgrounds, etc.

But looking back, oh how God has indeed brought together people from all walks in life, from all peoples and nations - and we can truly be 1 body, true brothers and sisters in Christ.
As different as our friends have been, they've been a true family from the day we arrived - so again Thank You God.

9.God's timing
God's timing is perfect. Quite easy to say it, think it, but hard to believe it, and for the heart to accept it.

God has allowed me to run on my own wisdom, till I ran out of ideas, then forced me to go back to Him, and then....  kept me praying. I must say that I've learned to depend on Him a lot more, my heart is a little bit better "educated" in trusting in His timing and plans for my family. 

Whatever happens to us, in the next 6 months, is all in His Hands - and He chooses to reveal those plans, when the timing is right. But it'll be nice if he hurried up a little.....

And add to that, I'd like more patience NOW.

10.New Hobbies
It's always fun to do different things. In Indonesia, we did scuba diving.
2009: I learned to ride a motorbike.
2010: We started running - and did 2 big runs (10km @ Beijing Great Wall and 21km @ Angkor Wat).
2011 (actually Dec 2010): I got into photography, and suffice to say, I've enjoyed it tremendously - and take a lot of pictures!

ok, 10 is a nice round number. Enough rumblings from me, for now.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to proper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

10 Photography Learnings from a Newbie

I finally did it!

After researching, and mulling over it (more than half a year), I got myself a DSLR on 18 Dec 2010! Here's my 2 cents on what I've learnt.

1.Lens last a lifetime, Bodies don't
You will/can upgrade bodies every few years - but good lenses lasts a lifetime.
So better spend $$ on good lens; whereas get the body that will suit you, for 1-3 years or so.

2.Body:Nikon D90
I went with Nikon, just by the sheer fact that most pro/serious photographers use them. If it's good enough for Scott Kelby, it's good enough for me :)
The D90 was well reviewed, and a number of comparisons, edged out Canon.
The last test, was just handling the camera - I just preferred where the knobs/buttons were.

I decided NOT to go for the newly launched D7000, coz the body was nearly double the costs, and for a beginner DSLRer like me, I doubt I can tell the diff.
Besides, D90's price was close to US pricing, whereas D7000 was US$200 more.

See point 1 above also.

3.Lens 1: 18-200mm
My photo guru friend, Bryan, recommended a 17-55 f2.8 lens over a 18-200 zoom.
But the 17-55 was twice the price, had lesser zoom (for a beginner, zoom seems very important), and aperture size was just theoretical.

So I went with the jack-of-all trades 18-200 zoom.
Ken Rockwell loves this lens. And until such time, I really know what I really want, then I'd get better/more specialized lens.

Besides, just carrying 1 lens, seem very appealing....

3.Lens 2: 35mm f1.8mm
After shooting with the 18-200 zoom for a couple of days, I was not happy with how it was taking shots at night. It obviously can't be the skill of the photographer, so it has to be the equipment?


So I got myself a 35mm prime lens - and I absolutely loved it!
The lens performs beautifully at night.

Prime Lens is the way to go.... but you gotta zoom with your feet.
So, I'm going to be using Zoom for daytime/outdoor use (it's still pretty ok, and zoom is useful, at times) and the prime for night/indoor use.

4.Get UV filter for every lens you buy.
If you drop it, or get a scratch on, replacing a $10 filter is less painful than a $1k lens. In fact, get it on when you buy it - no reason to take it out after, so the lens never gets dirty.

5.Read the manual
I spent time reading the manual, just to learn what buttons do what, and see what the camera can do.
No point getting a DSLR, if you're just going to "Auto" everything....

6.Equipment is just the beginning
Good photographs, is much much more about the eye of the photographer, then the equipment. But researching and spending $$ on equipment is quite good fun too!
But it does nothing towards taking good photographs

7.Focus on the eyes
find the cutest subject matter in the shot, and aim at the eyes.
If that is not in focus, the rest don't matter.

8.Small Aperture


Still experimenting, but I use the smallest aperture available (theoretically, the sharpest aperture is 2 stops smaller than the largest... but I can't tell the diff, so still experimenting). This gives a nice clarity the subject matter, and throws everything else out of focus.

9.Perspective
For kids, take pictures at their level, looks better than looking down at them.
If you are have a shallow Depth of Field from large aperture, make sure you get the eyes (for portraits) focused/clear.

Also, the "cutest" subject matter in the pix, should be the focus. People like young babies, or elderly folks. Middlea-agers (like me), clone them out.....

10.Take lots of photos
The chance of 1 shot, and getting it perfect, is pretty slim - sometimes focus is out, smile is out, or just bad lighting.
I use "multi" shots, and for each shot, I take multiple shots - which gives me a better chance of getting a nice shot.

The other thing I do is, delete the bad shots immediately. Just a feel good factor, that by the time you sync up with the computer, you at least have average to good pix :)

As the saying goes, Practice Makes Perfect :)

Happy Shooting!