So I prayed for God to encourage me and He didn't just answer my prayer, He gave me a near overdose of encouragement.

1) I think that little farewell thing the Worship Team peeps did was a really really really (multiply that by another 10 times or so) nice, unexpected surprise. I guess I never really realised how much of an impact I've made, but what made it even more cool was the fact that they actually bothered to do something together for me. Ok lar. I admit. The speech by "Shikayah" almost brought tears to my eyes. Maybe if they milked the whole feel good thing a little more they'd have managed to get me bawling. That song was pretty witty, though I was a little too embarrassed by then to pay much attention. Seriously, I'm shy (yes I can hear you laughing away), and I'm horribly bad at handling such attention. But I'm learning.

I can't really remember what I said after that. When a million pairs of eyes look at me I kinda blank out, lose my train of thought, and it really all becomes a blur to me. Hope I remembered to express my gratitude, but in case I didn't, thanks so much everyone!

I don't wanna be a wet blanket or something but don't wait till somebody leaves before giving your encouragements - your fellow laborers in the ministry could also use a nice word now and then. Heh.

2) The stuff Pastor Rupert, Steven, Miac and Ros shared were a great encouragement that we were running in the right direction, that I wasn't doing something based on my own gut feelings.

I too, have a dream of Youth Fusion being a ministry of youths full of fire and passion for God. Caught it back at my first YMLC in 04, and it's been stubbornly clinging on to me ever since. I can't really say if it's a God given vision yet, but it's my personal dream. And also one of the reasons why I was reluctant to step down from the leadership of the WMM.

But God opened the door for me to take on a new form of service, and He didn't just open the door - He practically cleared the doorway, taking the door and doorposts along with Him. I'll probably share more about this one day since I don't really like to talk about such stuff till they're confirmed. But hearing all the affirmations and encouragement from the church leaders played a big part in all this.

But I digress. I'm very encouraged by the sharings made by the leaders today. When they talked about God not giving up on TPMC, I was like, "I think so too!" Everytime I look at the youths at the Youth Service, I think to myself, surely there must be more than this. This can't be what God has called us to be. Surely there's more to come. When Pastor Rupert gave that prophetic word, it occured to me how possible that really seems now. We have a fresh, inspired leadership, both in the pastoral office and the LCEC. In the youths, a new generation of leaders have come forward, and even in my personal ministry, I realise that I'm in a better position now to work towards the big dreams I have for YF than I had before. And I don't really know but I get the impression that within the youths, more and more of them are starting to hunger for more of God and His Word. Has the time really come? I guess I'm also cautious about putting God's plans into a timeline. I mean a thousand days to us can be just a day to Him. Abraham had to wait for (I think) 25 years after God's promise before he had a son. How long will God require TPMC to wait faithfully?

And another question popped up: Are we ready to catch the wind of revival when He sends it? Or will we miss it entirely, with the wind passsing by without us even noticing? Ok I think I'm starting to think too much.

Anyway. Today also helped change my mind about the LCEC retreat. I think I'll go for the retreat instead of sitting in to conduct the interviews for the new WMM stewards. As much as I'd love to interview the new youth worship stewards coming into the ministry, the greater good would actually come from catching the vision of the leaders as I prepare to run the race in my new ministry.

Oooo. Really long post eh? Can't help it lar. I'm excited at what God's gonna do. And that promise He made to me 3 years back is still running in my head. Will it come to pass in the next few years?

posted by NEB at 11:14 PM

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