I've been a bit quiet but it's because so many things have happened over the past weeks and months ... Let me update you bit by bit, post by post.
Over the past seven weeks I've been on an adventure every Wednesday night. Daryll is a super anointed teacher, and I'm learning with a class of wonderful, insightful, discerning Believers. I'm so grateful that God opened this door for me to learn from him. What I've been learning applies to all my life experiences till now, it will be helpful for the rest of my life! It's also helpful for developing characters in my performances ... More on that later. For now, I've been pondering over some deep learnings ... Care to read the following tid-bit?
I’ve learnt that specific wounds from the specific incidents need to be acknowledged individually and receive His healing. I’ve also learnt that the feeling from the wounding is what we’re left with when someone behaves in a way that brings up the feeling. But the key is to find the root cause for those feelings which may have occurred in an incident earlier on in life (or over several incidents in your life). He alone knows our hearts and why we feel the way we feel. Sometimes we’re so convinced that we know the truth about a situation. Most of the time, it’s our hearts / feelings that perceive the situation, and not God’s perspective.
Selah. Pause and think of that!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Mon 9 Nov - 2 castles & Shakespeare's birth place
Friday, December 4, 2009
(Part 2) Mon 23 Nov 09 = Perfect timing, TYPICAL!!!
It was´t long before I invited Renee and Leon to join the rest of the group on the balcony. And that´s when Renée shared his story about Leon, his faithful pup ...
Rene was born blind but never warmed to the idea of owning a guide dog. To him, dogs were slobbering beasts with gnawing teeth and ate little children. He was perfectly content getting around on a white cane. But his friends kept encouraging him to adopt a guide dog. After careful consideration he decided to 'give it a go'. He thought that if it doesn't work out, at least he could tell people he's given it a go. A friend had a black Labrador in mind for Rene, and he named it Leon, a reflection of 'the Lion of the tribe of Judah'. And so their romance began ...
Rene was born blind but never warmed to the idea of owning a guide dog. To him, dogs were slobbering beasts with gnawing teeth and ate little children. He was perfectly content getting around on a white cane. But his friends kept encouraging him to adopt a guide dog. After careful consideration he decided to 'give it a go'. He thought that if it doesn't work out, at least he could tell people he's given it a go. A friend had a black Labrador in mind for Rene, and he named it Leon, a reflection of 'the Lion of the tribe of Judah'. And so their romance began ...
Rene & Leon had a shaky start. For starters, Rene found it extremely challenging to trust a slobbering beast for directions ... And Leon felt it. The distrust of his master made Leon anxious. He threw up his food, malted, did his 'doggy business' in surprising places around the house, and slobbered even more profusely. Rene considered giving up Leon. After consulting his friend, Rene was convicted that needed to change his attitude. 'One cannot be led by one whom he does not trust.' Rene decided to learn to trust.
One of Rene's favourite hang-out places was Starbucks. Rene had a friend often hung out there with him and helped teach Leon commands. I was delight to learn how Rene taught Leon pseudo-Italian commands - ones that only Leon would respond to, and the only ones that Leon would respond to. Somewhere along the way, sitting in Starbucks cafe, Leon began to learn Starbucks as a command. Today, wherever Rene is, be it in his hometown Bern or a different city, if there was a Starbucks nearby Rene could simply give a 'Starbucks' command, and Leon would take him to Starbucks! As you can imagine, their relationship had taken quite a turn ...
It is hard to imagine the obedient, confident & loyal Leon who now adorns a thick shiny coat of fur ever being a slobbering, nervous wreck ... Rene is undoubtedly learning to trust in and be guided by his furry friend each day. When asked who decides where they should go, Rene lets out a broad grin and replied 'a bit of both'.
Rene shared with the team that he has a friend from Newcastle, Australia. It turns out that his friend lives just 5 minutes away from one of our team members. Our leader also felt to ask him whether his thoughts of being a baristar at the YWAM base in Newcastle, Australia was a dream or an idea. Rene asked for a definition so he could answer truthfully. Our leader gave it. Immediately Rene confessed that it's it´s been a dream that has now become an idea ...
Our team surrounded Rene and prayed for him before we parted. It was evident that the Lord's stirring up Rene's dreams, and that he was very dear to His creator. As we parted, Rene looked moved & pensive. But he wasn't the only one. We were all rejoicing in the Lord for a rockin' testimony.
On a side note, I ordered a cold chai tea, but ended up receiving a hot chai tea. When I mentioned it to our host, he explained that he was thinking in multiple languages when he was ordering our drinks (because Bern is the Swiss-German part of Switzerland). In German the word cold is sounds like 'hot' in English. And hence my hot chai tea! I realised the Lord was being sweet to me though. We were sitting outside on the porch in the cold, and I would've needed a hot drink after all!
Ah, the joys of being used by the Lord~~~
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
(Part 1) Monday 23 Nov 09 = Perfect timing, TYPICAL!!!
Just several hours ago I was hammered on the head (don´t worry, toy hammer) and covered in paper confetti. Above all my heart was filled with joy by the story of a blind man & his guide dog Leon that has learnt the command 'Starbucks'. Yes, Leon would take his master to Starbucks at a command - wherever they are in the world ...
And that´s where we met this afternoon - at Starbucks in Bern, the capital of Switzerland. The group of us arrived after a long drive from the Swiss Alps, where we had a picnic lunch of with Swiss mayo, mustard, guerrière cheese, Brie cheese, & prosciutto on baguette ... surrounded by glorious grandeur of snow capped mountains and clanging cow bells in the valleys beneath. After lunch we tried to hop on the chair lifts, but the lady who was manning the info desk said they weren't taking anyone up the mountain unless they were staying on the mountain. That wasn't part of our plan.
So our host went to the map and spontaneously decided to show us Bern. It was going to be a long drive to Bern so he was hoping he wouldn´t waste our time. Little did he/we know, the Lord had pleasant surprises lined up for us. Our objective was to grab a cuppa.
The first thing I noticed as we walked onto the main streets of Bern were the beige coloured buildings ... they were the same but didn´t look boring (like some parts of London looked). The design had an old world charm and carried an understated grandeur. There groups of teenagers walking about ... and a LOT of confetti scattered around the streets ... The number of people grew exponentially as we walked further into the streets. They were carrying bags of confetti ... and an increasing number of people THROWING the confetti at other people, including cute cuddly children. ´What planet have we just landed on??` Lo and behold, I would soon learn that we walked in on an Onion Festival!!!
'Por quoi? Vat iz diz?', you might ask. It is a festival that first started in the 1800s ... The village of Bern caught on fire, and they couldn't stop it. A neighbouring village (that starts with the letter F ... Okay, I don't recall this German village name, but I know it's about 20 minutes out of Bern by train today) came to the rescue. They carried men power and enough water to save the day. In return, Bern started an annual festival selling onions, a product of that neighbouring village. This tradition lasts till this day ... Hearing it blesses my heart.
Now I´m going to share the next bit in a bit of detail ... because detail´s important. Initially we walked into a cafe but realised it was going to take too long. So we walked out and continued on to its left. I saw a bunch of stalls / markets and thought, are they holding Christmas Markets like one of my colleagues from work said they might in Switzerland? Then we decided to find a Starbucks, and turned back from the way we came, and then turned off another direction. In the process, I got hammered by a kiddy on the head with a blow up hammer, and had some confetti thrown at me. I would liken myself to a giggling teenage girl. It was loads of fun.
Then we found Starbucks. I was the last team member to enter into the store. I noticed a blind man entering right behind me with a white stick and a black lab. My spirit was drawn to the man. I wanted to reach out to him and minister to him ... But I kept that to myself and our drinks came ...
I waited for our drinks to come while everyone else but our host took a bathroom break. Those that came out first headed upstairs to find seats ... I kept my eyes on the blind man and saw him pick up his drink after us. I hoped in my heart that he wouldn't disapper into the festivities outside, and began to walk upstairs. To my delight, he also started upstairs with his puppy and drink. Our gang sat on the balcony seats outside. He remained indoors. I told our leader that I wanted to minister to the blind man, but was afraid and didn't know how. He replied, ´Just go talk to him´. That simple.
I stalled for time. First, my bathroom break. I headed downstairs to the basement and had a lovely conversation with a local who explained the Onion Festival to me. I liked her and went and grabbed a ´LOVE from Australia´ bookmark for her. Then I returned upstairs ...
He was sitting in the middle of the room on an ottoman with his puppy lying on the floor. There were a group of three others young adults sitting on the other side of the coffee table. I thought they might be his friends, but I noticed that he was enjoying his drink whilst listening to his mp3 player. He wasn´t part of their world. His puppy was lying on the floor beside him. I stood at the doorway to the balcony looking in at the man. After a few moments of hesitation, I found myself walking across the room. I noticed a chair next to him and his pup and decided to sit down and go with the flow. As soon as I sat down his pup noticed & greeted me, and I naturally started patting him. He began to tell his pup to stop, when I told him that I was patting him and that it was okay.
I noticed that he had a gentle spirit about him and a contented, friendly, and pleasant manner. I asked him where he's from. He had really good English so we just chatted away. His name was Renée and his pup was Leon. Shortly into the conversation Renée asked me was where I was from and what I was doing in Bern. I explained that I was a missionary who had just witnessed with a team of six in France to street beggars and Muslims, and that the team leader had a friend who lived in Switzerland who was showing us around. (I also knew that the Lord told our leader that He had something for us to do here.) Renee immediately said, `You´re a YWAMer´ ... That opened our conversation right up.
Renee shared with me that he did his DTS in Mexico several years ago, and that he heard that the YWAM base in Newcastle, Australia ran a coffee shop from a friend in Newcastle and have been wanting to serve there as a baristar ...
But it´s almost 1am and I must go to sleep for now. Part 2 will come. Bon nuit :)
And that´s where we met this afternoon - at Starbucks in Bern, the capital of Switzerland. The group of us arrived after a long drive from the Swiss Alps, where we had a picnic lunch of with Swiss mayo, mustard, guerrière cheese, Brie cheese, & prosciutto on baguette ... surrounded by glorious grandeur of snow capped mountains and clanging cow bells in the valleys beneath. After lunch we tried to hop on the chair lifts, but the lady who was manning the info desk said they weren't taking anyone up the mountain unless they were staying on the mountain. That wasn't part of our plan.
So our host went to the map and spontaneously decided to show us Bern. It was going to be a long drive to Bern so he was hoping he wouldn´t waste our time. Little did he/we know, the Lord had pleasant surprises lined up for us. Our objective was to grab a cuppa.
The first thing I noticed as we walked onto the main streets of Bern were the beige coloured buildings ... they were the same but didn´t look boring (like some parts of London looked). The design had an old world charm and carried an understated grandeur. There groups of teenagers walking about ... and a LOT of confetti scattered around the streets ... The number of people grew exponentially as we walked further into the streets. They were carrying bags of confetti ... and an increasing number of people THROWING the confetti at other people, including cute cuddly children. ´What planet have we just landed on??` Lo and behold, I would soon learn that we walked in on an Onion Festival!!!
'Por quoi? Vat iz diz?', you might ask. It is a festival that first started in the 1800s ... The village of Bern caught on fire, and they couldn't stop it. A neighbouring village (that starts with the letter F ... Okay, I don't recall this German village name, but I know it's about 20 minutes out of Bern by train today) came to the rescue. They carried men power and enough water to save the day. In return, Bern started an annual festival selling onions, a product of that neighbouring village. This tradition lasts till this day ... Hearing it blesses my heart.
Now I´m going to share the next bit in a bit of detail ... because detail´s important. Initially we walked into a cafe but realised it was going to take too long. So we walked out and continued on to its left. I saw a bunch of stalls / markets and thought, are they holding Christmas Markets like one of my colleagues from work said they might in Switzerland? Then we decided to find a Starbucks, and turned back from the way we came, and then turned off another direction. In the process, I got hammered by a kiddy on the head with a blow up hammer, and had some confetti thrown at me. I would liken myself to a giggling teenage girl. It was loads of fun.
Then we found Starbucks. I was the last team member to enter into the store. I noticed a blind man entering right behind me with a white stick and a black lab. My spirit was drawn to the man. I wanted to reach out to him and minister to him ... But I kept that to myself and our drinks came ...
I waited for our drinks to come while everyone else but our host took a bathroom break. Those that came out first headed upstairs to find seats ... I kept my eyes on the blind man and saw him pick up his drink after us. I hoped in my heart that he wouldn't disapper into the festivities outside, and began to walk upstairs. To my delight, he also started upstairs with his puppy and drink. Our gang sat on the balcony seats outside. He remained indoors. I told our leader that I wanted to minister to the blind man, but was afraid and didn't know how. He replied, ´Just go talk to him´. That simple.
I stalled for time. First, my bathroom break. I headed downstairs to the basement and had a lovely conversation with a local who explained the Onion Festival to me. I liked her and went and grabbed a ´LOVE from Australia´ bookmark for her. Then I returned upstairs ...
He was sitting in the middle of the room on an ottoman with his puppy lying on the floor. There were a group of three others young adults sitting on the other side of the coffee table. I thought they might be his friends, but I noticed that he was enjoying his drink whilst listening to his mp3 player. He wasn´t part of their world. His puppy was lying on the floor beside him. I stood at the doorway to the balcony looking in at the man. After a few moments of hesitation, I found myself walking across the room. I noticed a chair next to him and his pup and decided to sit down and go with the flow. As soon as I sat down his pup noticed & greeted me, and I naturally started patting him. He began to tell his pup to stop, when I told him that I was patting him and that it was okay.
I noticed that he had a gentle spirit about him and a contented, friendly, and pleasant manner. I asked him where he's from. He had really good English so we just chatted away. His name was Renée and his pup was Leon. Shortly into the conversation Renée asked me was where I was from and what I was doing in Bern. I explained that I was a missionary who had just witnessed with a team of six in France to street beggars and Muslims, and that the team leader had a friend who lived in Switzerland who was showing us around. (I also knew that the Lord told our leader that He had something for us to do here.) Renee immediately said, `You´re a YWAMer´ ... That opened our conversation right up.
Renee shared with me that he did his DTS in Mexico several years ago, and that he heard that the YWAM base in Newcastle, Australia ran a coffee shop from a friend in Newcastle and have been wanting to serve there as a baristar ...
But it´s almost 1am and I must go to sleep for now. Part 2 will come. Bon nuit :)
Friday, November 20, 2009
Step back to Monday night 16 Nov & Tuesday morning
I detest skipping my blogs. There're stories to tell everyday. But after a long day, the last thing I have energy for is to link up random pieces of information in eligible sentences!
So here you have it, a big catch up!
It all started on Monday night, when we were still waiting to hear from the Lord for directions for the followingday. I had a chat with USA missionaries (through common friends) and were inclined to join them for an outreach on Wednesday. We asked the Lord for confirmation. I got out a map and handed it to our leader. He asked the Lord for directions. The Lord said 'the yellow line'. I told him the metro stop where the missionaries would be doing outreach - it was also on the yellow line! We circled that stop. And to our delight, we found The Mosque of Paris and the Latin Quarter in the same area!!! The Lord showed our leader that the reason He's taking us there is because a lot of things take place in that area. Strategic!! Wohooo!!! I find it encouraging that that's the same area that the USA missionaries are focusing on.
Exiting the Metro, we arrived at the Museum of Natural History, parading Darwinism and theories on evolution ... On the lighter / brighter side of things, here was a massive garden parallel to a tree-lined path, a zoo featuring orangutan, a greenhouse, and people walking & jogging around leisurely.
Then we arrived at the Mosque of Paris. I had lies in my head telling me that we were being watched by evil spirits. I confessed it and gave it to the Lord. But I was more curious about what goes on inside than the outside. There's a restaurant within the complex, and we decided to go in for morning tea. Wohoo!!! We ordered coffee, chai (Arabic), and turkish delights. We got friendly with the staff working there. We gave several of the staff members a book mark each, watched their faces beam with nods & smiles of appreciation. In exchange (unexpected, of course) one of them gave us some take-home desserts! What a hoot! If you haven't ever experienced Arabic hospitality, now is the time!
So here you have it, a big catch up!
It all started on Monday night, when we were still waiting to hear from the Lord for directions for the followingday. I had a chat with USA missionaries (through common friends) and were inclined to join them for an outreach on Wednesday. We asked the Lord for confirmation. I got out a map and handed it to our leader. He asked the Lord for directions. The Lord said 'the yellow line'. I told him the metro stop where the missionaries would be doing outreach - it was also on the yellow line! We circled that stop. And to our delight, we found The Mosque of Paris and the Latin Quarter in the same area!!! The Lord showed our leader that the reason He's taking us there is because a lot of things take place in that area. Strategic!! Wohooo!!! I find it encouraging that that's the same area that the USA missionaries are focusing on.
Exiting the Metro, we arrived at the Museum of Natural History, parading Darwinism and theories on evolution ... On the lighter / brighter side of things, here was a massive garden parallel to a tree-lined path, a zoo featuring orangutan, a greenhouse, and people walking & jogging around leisurely.
Then we arrived at the Mosque of Paris. I had lies in my head telling me that we were being watched by evil spirits. I confessed it and gave it to the Lord. But I was more curious about what goes on inside than the outside. There's a restaurant within the complex, and we decided to go in for morning tea. Wohoo!!! We ordered coffee, chai (Arabic), and turkish delights. We got friendly with the staff working there. We gave several of the staff members a book mark each, watched their faces beam with nods & smiles of appreciation. In exchange (unexpected, of course) one of them gave us some take-home desserts! What a hoot! If you haven't ever experienced Arabic hospitality, now is the time!
Monday, November 16, 2009
On Sunday night 8 Nov ...
It's been more than a week since I've been able to blog! Some interesting retrospections ... that night in Cardiff, Darryl let me rests in the car while he went for a walk about scout, I opened my eyes to a suspicious looking man hovering around the car. (It was dark & Darryl's GPS was still stuck to the windscreen.) I sat up a little and made my presence a little more pronounced. What was he thinking? I've got a car alarm! He wouldn't want to draw attention to himself, especially with someone in the car ... would he?
The man walked off as if nothing'd happened. At the same time, Darryl found the b&b he was scouting for derelict. He was planning to continue scouting when the Lord told him that this wasn't what He has in mind for us, and told him to turn back.
I closed my eyes again, confident that the Lord is watching over us. When I opened my eyes again, I saw Darryl returning to the car, AND again the suspicious looking man, who returned from the opposite direction and was hovering around the car again! But with Daryll's return, he walked off for good.
The Lord is GOOD and faithful. His faithfulness is beyond measure ... Those who listen to Him are blessed ...
Darryl & I found a hotel instead and went to McDonalds for dinner. So eventful, isn't it!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Sun 8 Nov - Hullo Wales!
I wrote this on Sunday arvie, but couldn't post it - and didn't want you to miss a thang!
It was a typical Sunday morning in cloudy London. Daryll & I arrived at Heathrow at 3.30pm UK time. My body was feeling the 2.30am exhaustion of AU time. Reminiscing our stop over in Seoul at Hyatt Regency the night before. I haven't felt this spoilt in a while ... Imagine me beaming over a Hyatt buffet dinner & breakfast!! We stopped over at a B&B on our first night in London. My room was just next to the reception ... they do maximise their space.
We picked up our Great Britain Heritage Pass just after 10am. It was just around the corner from where The Phantom & Breakfast at Tiffany's are being shown. *THEATRE!!!!!!* And oh, the gorgeous architecture of London! Daryll drove us to see the spectacular Stonehenge, then I drove us to Bath. I fell in love with the undulating plains (Daryll's words - I likIE) on the way! We're making our way to Cardiff now to find our accomodation for the night. I'm reflecting on the Pagan worship that's continued throughout the ages ... May the world come to know the ONE TRUE GOD, the one that saves.
This is Irene Kao, reporting on the passenger seat of our silver VW Setta, cruising on the M4.
It was a typical Sunday morning in cloudy London. Daryll & I arrived at Heathrow at 3.30pm UK time. My body was feeling the 2.30am exhaustion of AU time. Reminiscing our stop over in Seoul at Hyatt Regency the night before. I haven't felt this spoilt in a while ... Imagine me beaming over a Hyatt buffet dinner & breakfast!! We stopped over at a B&B on our first night in London. My room was just next to the reception ... they do maximise their space.
We picked up our Great Britain Heritage Pass just after 10am. It was just around the corner from where The Phantom & Breakfast at Tiffany's are being shown. *THEATRE!!!!!!* And oh, the gorgeous architecture of London! Daryll drove us to see the spectacular Stonehenge, then I drove us to Bath. I fell in love with the undulating plains (Daryll's words - I likIE) on the way! We're making our way to Cardiff now to find our accomodation for the night. I'm reflecting on the Pagan worship that's continued throughout the ages ... May the world come to know the ONE TRUE GOD, the one that saves.
This is Irene Kao, reporting on the passenger seat of our silver VW Setta, cruising on the M4.
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