passion @ uwa

Jesus – the Good Shepherd

The Holy Spirit – the Empowerer

In John 10:10 (NIV) it says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

As I was pondering on what to share for my experience in Easter camp, trying to put together my thoughts, I found myself praying this prayer in my heart, “God, I know you’ve given me so much, you are everything I need Lord, so I ask Lord that you help me to share this truth with others so that your will be done, in Jesus’ name.” And it hit me like a snowball in winter or hailstone in UWA :P

This is my second year going to Easter camp and compared to last year, I wasn’t nearly as reluctant to go, worrying over deadlines, assignments and reports. One thing one of my previous cell leaders has taught me is to have an expectant heart to receive from God. So, this year when Easter camp was first announced in church I was so excited and I believed that God had something he wanted to tell me, teach me or show me. And God being God, didn’t just give me what I expected, but gave me so much more than I expected.

One of the things that I asked God for was, “How can I be a good witness for you?” It is an area that I struggle in and what Karen wrote in the devotional, “There are decisions we must make that bear not only upon our own lives but also upon the lives of everyone with whom we are associated. My life touches my family, my neighbours and my business associates” has challenged me to be a better witness for the sake of my family members and friends who have yet to be saved.

And I thank God that He answered my question on the first night of Easter Camp through Mark Pomery who shared about Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (John 4:1-35). He said this, “The greatest gift that God gave us was His Son, and the greatest gift we can give to others is the message that He has risen”. He went on teaching us a three point action plan - PRAY, ENGAGE & INVEST. Pray, as it is the starting point and foundation of what we do. Engage, to meet people where they are, to be concerned with they are concerned about. Invest, to be interested in people and to consistently give your best to someone. Jesus’ words that invested in the Samaritan woman compelled her to bring the villagers to meet with Him.

If you’re like me, then you’ve probably shied yourself from people at the fear of not knowing what to talk about or how to act around them. Then, there are the times when you muster your courage and finally talk to someone you’ve never talked to before and you get the feeling, they are just uninterested in what you have to say.

This leads me to my last point: Submit and Obey and He will give you the victory. Like David who was up against Goliath, Moses against Pharoah, Jesus facing the pain and suffering of betrayal and crucifixion, and yet submitted to God and followed through to His will, triumphed over their overwhelming circumstances. So, what is the thing you want to overcome in this year? For me, it’s inexperience and the fear of reaching out to people. I don’t know, but can I encourage you that God’s spirit in us will empower us to overcome those difficult situations when we earnestly seek Him.

Alright, enough of my ramblings. Haha. God’s peace!!!

~ Henry ~

So after ALLLLL that anticipation and excitement, Image Matters finally arrived! What a spectacular turn out, albeit transport woes amongst others. Once again, Elizabeth Jolley LT was filled to its brim with such an enthusiastic crowd of Aunty Irene Low herself, Zion Praise Harvest members and guests! How privileged one is, to be part of such an event :)

Reflecting back on this special night, the first person that comes straight to my mind is none other than Mr. Timmy Yip, Zion’s very own star of the show. Thumbs up for his incredulous spontaneity, having stood confidently under the scrutiny of 500 odd, in a daring contrast of red shirt versus yellow tie, and of course, a belly that just had to accentuate the contrast. I vaguely remember the conclusions made about Tim’s image but one tip I recall picking up was that ties are to end at the level of belts, not above, not below. So working guys and future wives, keep that in mind!

Then came a session of questions and answers, which I trust was pretty enriching for many. From a crazy crowd of 500 over people, you would never have been able to imagine the variety of questions asked, some of which I have to say were pretty interesting. Examples:

What do you do if you fart during a meeting? Do you admit to being the culprit, or act as if it were someone else?

What do you think of the combination – socks and sandals?


You get my drift, LOL!

Nonetheless, this was the highlight of the night for me, and I sure speak for many. Doubts were finally clarified, including things like the correct way of sitting, exchange of business cards, and so forth. It amazes me how these things seem to be part and parcel of our daily lives, and thus we should technically know them pretty well, yet there seems to be a never-ending barrage of learning to do!

On a more serious note, here and beyond shall detail a dilemma that I have endeavored to solve for quite some time already:

If man looks at the outward appearance while God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7), are we being of the world by placing this much emphasis on our image?

This dilemma stemmed from the mindset that when you surrender yourself to God, it involves following Him in his thoughts and ways. As such, placing a high value on the exterior and claiming image does matter, seems to contradict God’s affinity for the heart. However, from the short sharing Aunty Irene gave on Sunday at the UWA Live service, I finally managed to find a reasonable compromise between these two extremes. In short, BOTH IMAGE AND HEART MATTER.

It seems to be the general consensus that Christians are not the coolest bunch of people out there, and that saddens me. It is my wish that one day people will start to realize that being Christians does not mean you are in any way socially inferior, and that begins with us putting our efforts to represent God to our best of capabilities. After all, being Christian does NOT mean having to devoid ourselves of looking good, as long as it is not for self-benefits but for our beloved God.

Once again, what really matters is the motivation behind your actions, and needless to say, our God takes centre stage in this. If you had a heart after God but with a less ideal image in worldly terms, you still earn points in heaven, and you will always be beautiful in the eyes of God. SO if you really had to choose one to go with, I say go with the heart, DUH!

Alrighty, hope you enjoyed this little piece from me, presented to you directly from my heart. Take care, God bless and REJOICE for the weekend approaches.

xoxo, Vera

we have moved to

http://uwalive.blogspot.com

do go visit us there as we include more exciting links like leadership profiles, write up about us etc.

see you there!

People MY age & Aussie Day Celebration!

The 26^th of January is a notable day for Australia. It is when Australians congregate regardless of race, religion or colour to celebrate the beauty of our cosmopolitan nation. This was my expectation for the day; however, things did not go according to plan.

Every great story has characters, a setting, a beginning, middle and end. My Australia day experience was no different. The morning began with a lovely sms from AMA, you know it’s going to be a great day when the AMA texts you.

On a slightly more serious note, we met up around eleven in the morning. The setting was picturesque, a shimmering clear blue sky, a cooling breeze and lush green surroundings. Matilda Bay! Today was the best day to be outdoors and praise God we were! Being Asian we had our fellowship over food, lots of it. There were refreshing jellies, scrumptious sandwiches which had an amazing variety of fillings (THANKS FELICIA & CO.), nuggets, corn and pizza! All these would fill our tummies.

But best was yet to be… The most awesome thing was all the MALAYSIANS! (I seriously think people from Kuching are taking over the world…). The number of people who came greatly exceeded our expectations. Our estimate was blown out of the water. We were anxiously concerned whether there was sufficient food! Regardless, God is always good. Everyone ate to their hearts’ content and there were still food left over!

Following our feast, we spent the afternoon playing and enjoying a variety of intense team games (to work off our makan makan)! Dodge Frisbee was the first game we tried. During the game there was an interesting twist as Max had to go for a quick dip in the river to save the Frisbee. Next was an intense and dramatic game of captain ball! This game had it all as people put in their blood, sweat and tears. A game which was played at an incredibly fast pace with a little bit of cheating but most importantly a lot of fun! It was a wonderful way to cap of the afternoon as the game came to a close.

Next, time to chill, relax and get to know others. We adjourned from the bay to the Caporn house.I personally had the most fun. There were individuals - folks from different parts of Malaysia with diverse upbringings getting along harmoniously. Everyone talked and played games as if they had known each other for ages! This to me was astonishing as people were ever willing to take the initiative to chat and be friendly.

The final part of the night was the barbecue and fireworks. There was an awesome array of food. Thanks so much to those who prepared and cooked the food!) The ambience of the evening was unbelievable; the weather was relatively cool and not a cloud in the sky. The fellowship between Passion and Young Adults was wonderful.

Lastly, the glittering fireworks that lit up the night sky. For half an hour we watched gob smacked, razzle-dazzled by the aerial displays, the colours, shapes and motions… For the first time, everyone was actually quiet! (This is actually quite amazing as we are a CHATTY bunch) .

The last job was cleaning up. As some us gathered up the rubbish, I was pleasantly surprised. All the freshies joined in. I thought it would have taken ages but with their helped it was completed in no time! Thank you freshies. Truly, these individuals have a bright future ahead. But my prayer is that God would be the centre of that future. This is our calling, our ministry and our responsibility.

Our vision for Passion this semester is

P=Prayer

T=The Word

L=Loving People

I believe when as we rally together to support this vision, put aside our differences and pride, we can truly be God’s hands and feet this semester! Orientation is coming and the MASQUERADE CRUISE. This is your opportunity to make a difference. Be the difference. You can make the stand. You can make the change. You can be an influence. All you have to do is be willing and God will take you on a ride unlike no other J So let us go and do what we are called to do. Being awesome because we have Christ. (TRUST me people will follow).

People MY age & Aussie Day Celebration!

The 26^th of January is a notable day for Australia. It is when Australians congregate regardless of race, religion or colour to celebrate the beauty of our cosmopolitan nation. This was my expectation for the day; however, things did not go according to plan.

Every great story has characters, a setting, a beginning, middle and end. My Australia day experience was no different. The morning began with a lovely sms from AMA, you know it’s going to be a great day when the AMA texts you.

On a slightly more serious note, we met up around eleven in the morning. The setting was picturesque, a shimmering clear blue sky, a cooling breeze and lush green surroundings. Matilda Bay! Today was the best day to be outdoors and praise God we were! Being Asian we had our fellowship over food, lots of it. There were refreshing jellies, scrumptious sandwiches which had an amazing variety of fillings (THANKS FELICIA & CO.), nuggets, corn and pizza! All these would fill our tummies.

But best was yet to be… The most awesome thing was all the MALAYSIANS! (I seriously think people from Kuching are taking over the world…). The number of people who came greatly exceeded our expectations. Our estimate was blown out of the water. We were anxiously concerned whether there was sufficient food! Regardless, God is always good. Everyone ate to their hearts’ content and there were still food left over!

Following our feast, we spent the afternoon playing and enjoying a variety of intense team games (to work off our makan makan)! Dodge Frisbee was the first game we tried. During the game there was an interesting twist as Max had to go for a quick dip in the river to save the Frisbee. Next was an intense and dramatic game of captain ball! This game had it all as people put in their blood, sweat and tears. A game which was played at an incredibly fast pace with a little bit of cheating but most importantly a lot of fun! It was a wonderful way to cap of the afternoon as the game came to a close.

Next, time to chill, relax and get to know others. We adjourned from the bay to the Caporn house.I personally had the most fun. There were individuals - folks from different parts of Malaysia with diverse upbringings getting along harmoniously. Everyone talked and played games as if they had known each other for ages! This to me was astonishing as people were ever willing to take the initiative to chat and be friendly.

The final part of the night was the barbecue and fireworks. There was an awesome array of food. Thanks so much to those who prepared and cooked the food!) The ambience of the evening was unbelievable; the weather was relatively cool and not a cloud in the sky. The fellowship between Passion and Young Adults was wonderful.

Lastly, the glittering fireworks that lit up the night sky. For half an hour we watched gob smacked, razzle-dazzled by the aerial displays, the colours, shapes and motions… For the first time, everyone was actually quiet! (This is actually quite amazing as we are a CHATTY bunch) .

The last job was cleaning up. As some us gathered up the rubbish, I was pleasantly surprised. All the freshies joined in. I thought it would have taken ages but with their helped it was completed in no time! Thank you freshies. Truly, these individuals have a bright future ahead. But my prayer is that God would be the centre of that future. This is our calling, our ministry and our responsibility.

Our vision for Passion this semester is

P=Prayer
T=The Word
L=Loving People

I believe when as we rally together to support this vision, put aside our differences and pride, we can truly be God’s hands and feet this semester! Orientation is coming and the MASQUERADE CRUISE. This is your opportunity to make a difference. Be the difference. You can make the stand. You can make the change. You can be an influence. All you have to do is be willing and God will take you on a ride unlike no other J So let us go and do what we are called to do. Being awesome because we have Christ. (TRUST me people will follow).