Fan Into Flame Conference 2006

27 June 2006
5:30am - Alarm rings.
6:30am - Wake up. Mutter mutter.
6:35am - Plonk self on toilet bowl. No luck - too early for such activities. Mutter mutter.
7:00am - Leave to pick Adrian Ng from SS12 house. Flight was at 9:50am, but Adrian wanted to be early. Mutter mutter.
7:15am - Head for Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) for the first time. Ever.
7:50am - Arrive at LCCT. Early we were. Wait for check-in counter to open at 8:30am. Mutter mutter.
8.35am - Check-in. Head for breakfast at cafe.
8.40am - Get fleeced by said cafe. Mutter mutter.
9.15am - Head for departure hall.
9.25am - Announcement. Start lining up.

Golly, where IS everyone?

Oh.

9:45am - Board AirAsia Flight AK307. Find seats.
9:50am - Spot perfect Engrish!

Understooded!

11:30am - Arrive at Kuching International Airport (KIA).
11:50am - Received by tag team duo of Julius and his mum. Head for a short tour of Kuching town before heading back to Julius' place for lunch.

Kuching International Airport.

St. Joseph's Cathedral.

Seminary chapel.

1:30pm - Arrive at Julius' place. Meet Marikar, Tina, Alice and Nica of the Elim community who are bunking in his house. Very sweet bunch of girls/ladies. Manage to find out their real ages - Am Very Surprised. Tuck into lunch.

L-R: Julius, Tina, Adrian, Alice, Aaron, Marikar.

L-R: Julius, Eyette, Nica, Aaron.

2:30pm - Head for Bread Of Life (BOL) Covenant Community centre to unpack, rest, and wash up.

Bread Of Life Covenant Community centre.
"Near RH Plaza, Taman BDC, above Green Gallery, next to Expert Food Court..."

2:50pm - Enter centre to find that we guys would be sleeping in the chapel, on mattresses on the floor. Bum around.
3:30pm - Sleep.
5:30pm - Wake. Lumber over to bathroom to shower. Adrian proclaims arrival of KA Youth at the centre whilst in the shower. Mutter mutter. Meet Gifford (reunited after decades of not seeing each other), Christobel, and Shireen. After I've come out from the shower, that is. Fully-clothed.
6:00pm - Head for Fan Into Flame Welcoming Dinner.

Catholic Church near BOL centre.

Blur sunset in Kuching.

6:30pm - Arrive at hotel for dinner.

Adrian and I clearly under-dressed for the occasion.
In between us, Uncle Peter Lau, Julius' dad.
On the right, line of welcoming dancers.

7:10pm - Praise and worship. First time experiencing charismatic praise and worship at a buffet-dinner in a hotel. Interesting experience.
7:25pm - Wait for queue at buffet-line to dwindle.
7:40pm - Queue at buffet-line dwindles.
7:45pm - Head to collect dinner. Eat.
8:15pm - Speeches and performances.
9:50pm - Meet a few others from the Elim community.

L-R: Christobel, Kiddo, Shireen.

L-R: Aaron, Anton, Jef.

10:15pm - Head back to BOL centre. Bum around.
11:00pm - Head downstairs to Expert Food Court. Tried Kolo Mee and the Five-Layered Tea. Kolo Mee was about average, probably wasn't the best place to try it. Five-Layered Tea tasted like cendol. Me like Five-Layered Tea.
11:30pm - Head back to BOL centre. Bum around.
1:00-sumthing am - Sleep.

Evening came, and morning came. The first day.

Message From Lorenzo "Kiddo" Cosio

of the Elim Community in Manila, Philippines.

**********

GenRev in Malaysia

The lights went out and the people went wild. It was time for GenRev Live in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. Over a thousand people had come to spend the night in crazy worship. The comedic intro video played on the two large screens on either side of the stage, much to the delight of the now restless crowd of young people. The action was about to begin and they could feel it. We, the team waited in the wings for the time to get out on stage. We could feel it. It was in the air. God was moving.

Behind the Scenes
The past week found a team from Elim in Kuching, Sarawak (the biggest state in Malaysia, if I'm not mistaken) for the Fan Into Flame Conference and Concerts. The conference went great, with many leaders and members of communities from all across Malaysia in attendance. Throughout the sessions, God was manifesting Himself in a special way, revealing Himself powerfully.

There were two concerts scheduled during our trip, one of which was GenRev Live. And so we found ourselves backstage, feeling the electricity in the atmosphere, ready to get out onto the stage and give our all to God. We had prepared, practiced and prayed up for the past few months. We had come a long way and were at the moment of reckoning.

So we got out on stage...

The music played...

And the place blew up in praise.

It was insane.

People were singing their heads off and dancing like crazy in worship. Leading the people in worship, I didn't know if I should laugh out loud or cry because it was that awesome. So I did a lot of both - laughed and cried - as everyone rocked out. God is awesome, and He was there in power.

The Youth of the Nation
The Malaysian youth are amazing people. Even while preparing for the conference and concerts, I could sense how much God wanted to do through the youth of that country. A deep love for them had already been welling up in my heart as we prepared for the trip, and it just came forth during those days of the conference. I could just look at their faces and feel the potential, have a little taste of the vastness of what God could do through them. It was is if God was saying, "Hey, Kiddo, get a good long look at these people. I'm gonna use them to change the face of the earth."

And that's biblical. Jesus said that He would send His spirit and we would be His witnesses to the World, we would stand for Him, we would do the great things He did - and far greater, as well. And Psalm 104:3 says, "When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth." God is going to use people - us, young people included - to change the face of the earth, by the way we live, because we are filled with His Spirit.

I guess that's what I saw happening in Malaysia the past week. I saw it as such a privilege and honor to share the company of the youth in that part of the world. Young people, taking a stand for God, choosing to live for Him above all, giving their lives to Him in worship, and being filled with the Spirit. Spirit-filledness is world changing.

Thank You
To the Malaysian youth (and yeah, even the older people), thank you for being a light to me. I know that our team went to your country with the hopes of sharing something with you; but I feel like we received so much more than we could have ever imagined. This little essay doesn't do justice to the impact you have had on my life (and I'm sure I speak for many in the GenRev Team as well).

Thank you for the love and warmth, for the hospitality and for being so generous. Thank you for being yourselves, because it was such a blessing to be with you. I believe that there are so many great things God has in store for you, and your country, and us and our country as well. So, together let's stand for Jesus and change the world!

Community: Part 2.

Up to this point in time, I have had nothing but great comments about community; about being in one, about how important it is to belong to one, about how grateful I am to be in the one that I am in now.

Then I get this:












- which is perfectly fine by itself -

On my face.












By the very same community that I hold in such high regard.

Click here to view the full sequence of event(s).

p.s. - I am NOT smiling; it is only an illusion.

Only an illusion.

O n l y a n i l l u s i o n.

My Child...

You may not know me,
but I know everything about you. Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways. Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image. Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being. Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring. Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived. Acts 17:28
I chose you when I planned creation. Jeremiah 1:4-5
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. Ephesians 1:11-12
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother's womb. Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born.
Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me. John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. 1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. 1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your Father.
1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father. Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. Psalms 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you. Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession. Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things. Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires. Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you.
Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Revelation 21:3-4
And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus. John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being. Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. 1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. 1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father. Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is...will you be my child? John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you. Luke 15:11-32

Love,
Dad

Community.

Since everyone seems to be posting up pictures and videos of the 2005 Lifeline Camp, I thought I'd hop on the bandwagon as well and post a video.

(By "everyone", I mean Irene and Richard; and by "pictures and videos", I mean "a picture" and "a compilation of pictures on video".)

While I was absent from the camp itself, Elaine Tan was kind enough to capture for me on video a snippet of what I had missed.

**Thanks, Elaine!**

However much as I would have loved to have gone for the camp (and not sit for the dratted A2 exams!), I think missing it showed me how much community meant to me. Seeing cell group members convey personal messages (or even lack thereof) really touched me and made me all the more grateful to God for directing me to the community I'm currently in now.

Wait for the video to load only if you have lots of time to spare!



p.s. - Clare saying hello in this video clip never fails to put a wide smile on my face, no matter how many times I watch it. As well as the apparent blur-ness of a couple of cell group members... =)

Did You Feel The Darkness Tremble?

Do you feel the darkness tremble...

...when all the saints join in one song;

And all the streams flow as one river...

...to wash away our brokenness.

James 1:19

"Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath..."

Yes, but how many of us are quick to hear one another?

How many of us want to hear?

How many of us hear?

How many of us listen?

Oft, I feel the only thing willing to listen intently is the wall.

But Jesus, I know You're with me; listening to the depths of my heart, soothing the very depths of my soul...