December has been a busy month for me, and now that we're almost coming to the end of the month, I'm glad to conclude that the exhausting and highly occupied schedule was refreshing and rewarding . I've had the chance to serve in new ministries, such as the youth fellowship and my own, while continuing my service in the music ministry. Just some stock-taking so that my one month of learning won't go to waste.
1. Youth Camp
I helped out as a mentor for the primary school kids along with my own primary school Sunday School teacher and two other young adults. It definitely isn't easy to manage mischievous kids who are often liberal with their mouths and fists, but I appreciate the labour of love. It must be a very tiring job to quell the active kids, but it is noble at the same time, that one can take on the challenge so as to help the next generation grow in the Lord. Looking at the youths reminded me of the passion and go-getter-ness then: fancy waking up at 6.30am for quiet time, sharing, sermon and sharing (all done by noon). It was a little tiring for me, and I was on the verge of falling sick. Thank God for a very supportive, joyous team of mentors, most of them having been my own youth mentors. We came up with a skit on the last night based on the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man and it was great fun, not forgetting the Jesus' moral of application too.
2. Happy Camp
That's my fellowship camp. We had it at Netheravon this year, which is literally near the east coast of Singapore. Travelling took up at least 2-ish hours daily, but thank God it wasn't that boring, though exhausting and often expensive. I enjoyed the small and long chats I made with people from my fellowship, especially when i seldom talk to a lot of people other from closer friends.
I'm glad to have come back from the camp with 3 treasures: the sweet feeling of close fellowship with closer friends, precious encouragement and advice from a heart-to-heart talk with my beloved mentor, Shu Juan Lao Shi, and the important truth of spiritual zeal and fervour (Rom 12:11). The speaker, Brother David Weng from Maranatha BP, illumined me with the metaphor of coals. Coals burn hotly when heaped together, but cools and dies quickly when a piece is being isolated from the heap. Which Christian doesn't want to be zealous for the Lord? I want to! And so I was reminded of a few people who have backslid, and grown lukewarm or cold to our dear Jesus.
I remember in Pilgrim's Progress, Goodwill pulls Christian in from the gate with urgency, because Beelzebub and his men shoot arrows from a nearby castle to kill people who try to enter the gate, where they'd be safe. Sometimes when we go into spiritual doldrums, we may be weak in flesh, and that one pull from a sibling-in-Christ brings us back to the Lord. For many months, I've been able to talk about church mates who have backslid. But where is the Mary who will offer herself for God's use, to take the initiative to bring words into action? I want to help, so I pray God gives me more directions and wisdom on this.
3. Carolling with the ACJC Choir
Wonderful, wonderful music-making - thank God. I'm glad to have been able to help make the college choristers' memories of carolling beautiful. Spending time with fellow alumni has made me less of a hermit, unexposed to happenings and concerns of friends heh. It's wonderful too, that people whom I know who share the same faith are not just limited to my church. What carries great significance for me this season is singing Rutter's Magnificat for the Singapore Lyric Opera's Christmas concert, Simple Gifts. It was highly amusing to see how girls swooned over the conductor, Joshua Tan Kang Ming. I really feel very, very blessed that I have an opportunity to sing with an orchestra. Being a chorister, accompaniment is at most, done only by the piano. But to sing with an orchestra is mp3 music come to life! Amazing, amazing. You see the percussion, the woodwind, strings and the brass all come to live and piece their own tunes into a greater framework, with nuances and intensity shaped by the conductor. Add on the chorus and voila: Rutter's choral masterpiece comes to life.
Some people see singing as a powerful instrument to convey expressions and emotions, because of its ability to express language. I think music that is otherwise is sometimes more powerful, because it requires the player to interpret the message embedded within, and leaves the listener haunted with the wordless music that brings deep emotions that may be diverse. One example for me would be Tomaso Albinoni's Adagio (for strings).
4. Christmas Carolling and Cantata-Service
My carolling group was very cooperative and in one mind, something I truly thank God for. I had an assistant leader who really helped make up for my easily-flusteredness and forgetfulness. We went to houses of church members who wanted to host the group, unbelievers were few or none, so the outreach turned out to be a reminder for fellow churchmates about Christmas. What was encouraging though, was that there were noticeably more people who wanted to believe in Christ during the Christmas Praise Service. Thank God for rewarding our efforts in singing and preparation by using us to touch stone hearts. I'm glad God used me to save someone.
Only a week left to the end of December and the start of the new year. What spiritual bread the two camps have given to me is to love fellowship and have wisdom for application. I thank God for the wonderful music-filled Christmas season, I can't wait to sing some more :) I do seriously think my body's going to crash within the next few days, I feel incredibly tired at 10ish pm, and my body ache and fatigue seem to persist for weeks. Which means I'm going to hit the sack.
Goodnight! I hope you had a meaningful and blessed Christmas too.
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