From one motherland to another...

I have a sneaking suspicion that some people are expecting an update. Well if it pleases you, then blog I shall ;)

One of my main objective before the three-month sojourn was to get my MasterWorks Festival 2010 audition videos done. I auditioned for the role of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker which will be performed during the last weekend of the festival. Megan helped me with a run through mid week last week, but I was wasn't sure who'd be able to find helpers to play the other three roles. That mission was fulfilled on the eleventh hour, thanks to Asher, Skye & Megan. I had no idea how He was going to provide, so it means a lot that it got done. Here are the fruits of our labour: Irene as Annie Sullivan & Irene as Helen Keller. Enjoy the drama! :D

I arrived Melbourne on Sunday, and re-shot my Saint Joan Monologue (another audition monologue for the festival) for my bewildered house mates. I managed to get Rich Swingle (co-director) had a look at the audition videos, and found that my facial expression were hidden in the dark in the Newcastle shoots. Fret not, I sent out an SOS! email to former theatre ministry friends in Melbourne. And the very next day two of them came & blessed me with an hour of their time. Isn't God good?! Thank you, Chris and Jess!!! Here are the re-shoots: Irene as Annie Sullivan - New & Irene as Helen Keller - New. Sadly, the one for Annie turned out blurry because the camera went out of focus. But He's provided for my every need! I'm praying that the videos give both of my directors John Kirby and Rich Swingle sufficient information to cast me in the role He's prepared for me this Summer!  

The day before I left for Taiwan was a mini madness. I stayed up till 2am getting most of my luggage sorted on Friday morning. Managed to get up for brekky with an old friend, had lunch with Jayden (my almost 10 month old nephew) & his Mum (my sister Jen), visited a friend who's expecting in September, and celebrate my brother Ben's birthday (a couple of days in advance) over dinner. This is your typical 'Irene tried to pack too many things in & shouldn't ever do that again' kinda day. But hey, it worked out okay. I even managed to pick up Ben's cake and prepare a salad for dinner. He's quarter of a century old now :) Congrats, Ben! 

I flew into Tao-Yuan airport on Sunday at 5.35am (local time is a couple of hours behind Sydney) with the heaven a-drizzling, my body aching, and the city awakening. I haven't seen Taipei this quiet before. Dad's in Shanghai on business, so I caught a 6.10am bus into Taipei, and hopped onto a taxi to get to the doorsteps of the family studio apartment in a back street lane way in a busy business/shopping district. On the way I saw several large sized temples, including a very famous temple called 'Xin2 Tian Gong'. My translation is 'Path to the Heavenly Pavilion"... Oh, and something else also caught my eye... A red business banner that offered face reading (clairvoyance) for pets!!!! It was a jaw drop moment in the spirit for me. I took pictures. I had to remind myself: "Okay Irene. Nothing's weird. You've seen it all before, haven't you? You lived here for 10 years!") Only I realised I'm not seeing things the same way I used to... 

My gran greeted me around 7.20am. Normally, she'd be doing some dancy exercise at the Sun-Yat-sen Memorial Hall down the road. It is sweet to meet her on the other side of the hemisphere. After some R&R time Aunty Carol (my step mum) shouted my gran, my Aunty May (who lives in Seattle) and I to a Japanese feast at Mitsui Cuisine. She said that the meal was to help me 'Jie Fung'. The literal translation to help receive / catch the person's wind. Haha, wait! Let me explain! When a person is going on a long journey, people would politely say 'Ju4 Ni3 Yi Lu4 Shuen4 Fung', which means 'Have a smooth sailing (winded) journey'. Make sense to you now? I imagine the root of this saying must've come when ships provided the main mode of long distance travel. 

I'd show you pictures of the foooooooooooooood but how about tomorrow?

My cousin Karen whom I grew up with in Melbourne and her hubby Marco came and picked me up for a Cantonese style dinner (menu's like Yum Cha). I've missed them. We used to hang out every other weekend in our Melbourne days. I wasn't hungry. But I still ate. This is probably going to be the norm until I head for the USA mid June as there are many, many, MANY lovely relis to catch up with. Good times!!!

The Paris Mosque - Wednesday 18 Nov 2009

So the Lord led us to minister around The Paris Mosque area on Wednesday 18 Nov.

And it started rather dramatically ...

The team of six + guest visitor from Honduras (that our leader met in Honduras) got stuck in a lift at the metro station for about 10 minutes. The lift was for eight people, weight limit of 640kg. There were seven of us, and there's no way that we'd have had an average weight of 80kg ... or did we ... The French station masters excused their lift, saying, 'You Australians are strong'. =D

We walked past a train station for a bathroom break. AND ... the bathroom was blocked off due to a bomb threat. Someone had dropped off a suspicious bag in front of the bathroom door ...

We paired up, went for a walk about (as the Spirit leads) and agreed to meet back together after an hour and half to dine at The Paris Mosque Restaurant for lunch. Never done the 'walk wherever the holy spirit tells you to walk and talk to whoever he tells you to talk to' in a public / foreign place before. Daryll and I = team. We explored the block next to The Mosque and saw lots of students that attended the National University. The Spirit didn't prompt us to start a conversation with them, so we prayed for them quietly from afar.

As we walked around, we saw a couple of acupuncture / reflexology massage parlours. Do you know what that means? It means Irene gets discipleship time from good old Daryll! So I learnt that these therapies tap into a 'chi' (a concept of 'Zen') which is a spirit, for healing. It is important to ask WHAT spirit it is tapping into. Anything that isn't led by the Holy Spirit reaps bad fruits in a believer's life. 'Chi' / 'Zen' is a spirit of anti-Christ, and hinders believers' growth into maturity, such as taking authority in Christ.

It's not the first time I've heard this, as I've had to get rid of a lot of ungodly practices from my culture over the past year (there are ungodly practices in EVERY culture). I felt a little indignant because acupuncture and reflexology is so much a part of the Taiwanese / Chinese culture that I grew up in. But c'est la vie! All it takes is to identify & acknowledge the sin, ask the Lord for forgiveness for committing the sin and walking in its fruits, forgive ourselves for it (and on behalf of our forefathers), turn away from those behaviours, and be SET FREE by the blood of Jesus!!! (If you have any questions about what this deal is all about, talk to me or email me.)

Apart from the discipleship session I had with Daryll, we also spent some time resting on some seats on a pedestrian walk way. Funnily, a nervous looking lady hurriedly walked to us and sat down next to us from across the road. She went through her back pack as if looking for a needle in a hay stack. We asked her whether she understood English, she replied 'a little', and paused as if expecting to be asked a question. We didn't have a question, but gave her our 'Love from Australia' book mark. She looked amused, said a brief thank you, then scurried away back in the direction she came from - across the road. She could've sat on other seats in this area (and there would've been a lot more space), but the Lord brought her TO us. It was a crack up.

We also ventured in a French patisseurie, which attracted three other team members. I bought a crepe, a meat pastry; cheese pastry and a berry tart, and had a chat to the ladies serving us and gave them a book mark each. They were so warmed to us that after I left, they gave the other team members some marzipan sweets.

We then met up to have lunch at the Mosque. It was jam packed, but the staff fussed over us and made sure we had lots of room for our seats. The meal was gorgeous and we were able to reconnect with some of the folks we met a couple of days before. It was a humbling & delightful experience. The Lord sure knows how to plan our trip.

Combinations: The suitcase story

I remember flying back to Melbourne for a week after I finished working at Compassion ... It's been a while since I've been able to stay for a whole week (outside Christmas time). Coming back to Newcastle in mid March I came to the sinking realisation that I didn't know the combination of my suit case. I had a swine flu (H1N1) vaccine before flying to Melbourne and have been feeling a bit short circuited in the brain. As I tried to open the suitcase, I hit the brick wall. Clues? Nup. Zilch. Nadda. None whatsoever. The idea of going through all of the combinations was like an impossible mountain. 'I don't have the patience for this!' I thought. My house mate suggested some mnemonics she uses. I gave those a go ... nope.

I humbled myself and started going through all 1000 combinations that afternoon. In the evening I had cell so I asked my cell to ask the Lord for my combination (with me). Everyone wrote down on a piece of paper what they heard the Holy Spirit say about the combination. I went home, semi-excited. But when it didn't work, I started going into a place of unbelief, thinking that my suitcase locks' been broken. In that suitcase was my 30th birthday dress, and some oranges my grandma picked from the garden. Not a great combination to be be a suitcase for an extended periods of time. It felt like I'd been given gifts that I couldn't unwrap.

The situation humbled me. I know that God is a giver of good gifts. Matthew 7:11 and Luke 11:13. But what's the use of having gifts if I couldn't even use them?

Has He given me gifts that I have kept somewhere 'safe'? I sure hope not.

Insights from Healing the Wounded - Pastoral Prayer Counselling course

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!

Mon 9 Nov - 2 castles & Shakespeare's birth place

If you ever get to check on the map ... we've got a pretty ambitious itinerary. We started the morning at Cardiff Castle, and ended our day at Warrick Castle. Am I castled-out yet? Not yet. Not until I've seen the Edinburgh castle. Heard it's rather exquisite :) I will say, however, that the Warrick Castle is rather extravagant. They even had ice-coolers that would keep ice up to 2 years, and their own electricity generator (water mill / hydro-power).

Shakespeare's birth place was a quaint, quaint town ... I'd go back and spend more time there though, as we only budgeted under an hour there. I bought a couple of shirts from the souvenir shop. The print on one of the shirts says, 'Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?' ('Tis a gift) (Romeo & Juliet, Act 2 Scene ii.) and the other '....will you woo this Wild-cat?" (The Taming of the Shrew, Act I Scene ii.) The latter would be worn with good humour ... ;)

(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 & 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~~~

(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 :)