I love Decembers

The highlight was celebrating New Year in Sabah. This was a short and meaningful trip. Our son was unwell just before we travelled. Thankfully he got well on the first day here. We got to catch up with family, friends and enjoy fresh and plentiful seafood here. On New Year Eve, we prayed over my parents then over my siblings - family by family. Then we took photos together and stayed up till the New Year in 2014.

The second highlight was the ministry trip to Chicago. The day we flew off is when my year-end leave started. And we arrived to a -8 C temp. We spent time with David, Malay and prayed with the team. The Christmas service and the entire afternoon programme was both amazing and encouraging. In fact we only got back at 11pm on Sunday. And on the way back to Singapore, we only got assigned seats at the gate just before takeoff.

The final highlight was the year-end time out. I slowed down. Our family hung out. We had Christmas eve dinner with Dinah's family. We celebrated Charmaine’s birthday. We caught up with Li Chuang, Sharon, Kallai and Esther. I caught up with Henry and Melvyn.

Ministry wise, our family volunteered at the FOCUS initiative. We ministered at KCC, Hope Church Chicago and Hope Church Kota Kinabalu. Year-end home life included spring cleaning, trip preparations, packing and unpacking, and jet-lag from the Lucerne trip.

Weather wise, early December saw a few warm and humid mornings. Mostly it was cloudy, cool and wet. I love Decembers.

November already

  November was incredible. The highlight was getting to know Mark Holmen and hearing the Faith at Home message. Dinah and I first met him at the airport. The next day we had dinner together. And the conference with Mark was very impactful. The day after we visited RiverLife church together where we met Pastor Lionel Goh, Elder Andrew Goh, key church and staff leaders.

  A second high point was accompanying Dinah to the Channel News Asia studio for her interview on a current affairs programme. Another first was joining the appreciation dinner for FOCUS volunteers. Other ministry highlights included mentoring, being part of a missions gathering and having consultations with a newer church.

   I was very thankful for the heart-to-heart conversations with several close friends. And for our family prayer times together. Plus there were also personal times of fasting and prayer too.

  The final week in Nov focused on travel. The overnight flight arrived early morn in Zurich. This was followed by the 1-hour train journey to Lucerne. Thankful for the early hotel check-in to shower. Next was 8-hours of meetings with afternoon jet-lag. Thankful for the early night. The next morn was cold at -5C with chilly winds. It was another day of meetings but team dinner was awesome. Friday was our final day followed by the evening train ride to Zurich. Then I hopped straight on to the late night flight home.

  Weather wise, the month started out warm. Then several cooler evenings arrived. The tail-end of Nov featured much cooler days with some rain even.

Celebrate

Oct is when 3/4 of our household celebrate birthdays. We took Dinah out to choose the model of the gift we planned. Dinah and I took the twins out to select their gift items. We enjoyed special family dinners. I took Dinah out to the restaurant of her choice. On the eve of the twin's birthday, Dinah and I prayed over them. Then Jan took us out to dinner. On the day itself, Dinah and I went to campus to have lunch with them. That night Charmaine took us all out to dinner.

Celebrations continued... Our family spent a wonderful evening with Leslie celebrating his birthday. It was an extended evening together and a memorable one. 

Ministry-wise, Dinah and I ministered at the leadership training at St Johns-St Margaret's church. We coached leaders from a newer church. And for the first time, we visited a house church here in Singapore. Then I spent time mentoring individuals.

Weather-wise, it was glaring and hot. Then days became cloudy but humid. Late Oct featured warm mornings, 10-minutes of afternoon rain and humid evenings. I rejoiced over the few cool days hoping for more. 

  

The Sep Story

September was very fresh. For starters, Dinah and I did a talk on Christian radio. It was our first time ministering on air. Dinah and Dan took part in the Yellow Ribbon run. Then Dinah and I got acquainted with Jason and Karen Tay. I also got to know Kenny Chee.

Our family enjoyed a nice short break overseas. We joined and were blessed at the conference with Allen Hood and Jaye Thomas. There was one night I felt sleep deprived but the worship, message and prayer just lifted our being. We were also blessed by the worldview seminar with Jeff Myer.

Dinah and I caught up with Chi Keong and Joyce, as well as Florence who had us over for dinner. We also spent time with Charmaine and I caught up with Jan too.

We both spent time in mentoring and marriage mentoring. There were ministry meetings. I helped out a new church and continued a study on the book of Revelations.
  
Weather wise, there were as many cool days as hot days in the month with several warm days too.

August adventures

  After a hectic July, I was looking forward to the 4-day weekend in August. It turned out to be a restful, family-oriented and surprising time. It started with bumping into Benaiah and Calyn on the eve of the holidays. Then we bumped into Karen and family, Siang Keng and Grace, and Desmond with family all on the first day. The next day was a get-together with Dinah's family. The third day was a reunion with primary school mates after 34 years. Here's a pic. Then we took Dinah's sister out for dinner on the final day.

  This change of pace was welcomed. Family wise, Dinah and Deb enjoyed the ST run at Punggol. On the same day, we had an amazing time of family prayer. August was also semester common test for the twins and when Dinah had a staff retreat.

  Ministry moments included mentoring, a family ministry talk, ministering at Zion Full Gospel church, and being part of a gender and sexuality ministry gathering. Then the Love Gone Wrong Made Right conference thanksgiving was quite special and so was our circle of friends gathering.

  Work wise, there were hectic days at the office. Weather wise, there were some cool days even one day with 10 minutes of rain but also hot and humid days. 

BREAKTHROUGH...

July was intense. It started with BREAKTHROUGH in Seattle. The conference theme on spiritual warfare was special and timely. Dinah and I could gather with our NA leaders prior to conference and with individuals and couples after conference. Here's a pic.

My other big highlight was the Love Gone Wrong Made Right conference in Singapore. It was incredible to have such an array of gender, marriage and family life topics addressed in one single event. I was so blessed, along with others. 

Dinah and I conducted Mentoring Marriage Training for new marriage mentors. Also I joined the 33rd anniversary celebration of the Singapore Centre for Global Missions.   

It was very good to catch up with Ongs here from Australia. It was great to catchup with Richard, an old friend from the US, Nicola from Kuching and Thuan Seng from SG.

There was work to reply to queries on the visa application. And jet lag after the US trip. Most days were hot and humid but thankfully there were several cool ones too.

From Lucerne to Heat, Humidity & Haze

The 3 days in Lucerne was amazing. I was there with a US colleague for business meetings. The city and surroundings was so beautiful and pristine. Our colleague drove us to the base of the Pilatus mountain. The company president took us around town. We got Swiss chocolates as gifts. Next up was one day of meetings in London. Then I stayed an extra day with Harry and Wendy. Harry took us to have Sri Lankan food. Next day he cooked breakfast before I flew off. This trip was certainly worth the jetlag.

On Fathers' Day, Dinah and the twins took me out to a nice lunch. Janet prepared a special dinner too. This month saw many get-togethers. Swee Tin hosted our bunch of friends for Teochew porridge. Melvyn hosted this round of pastors’ breakfast. Nam Seng and Sok Mian hosted us to dinner. Also caught up with Wilson too.

Dinah and I were glad to speak at the inaugural Dads for Life workshops http://dadsforlife.sg/events-buzz/dads-for-life-conference-2013-workshops. It was refreshing to spend a Sunday afternoon with Kong Hee. Then I prepared to help Jason's church in their change efforts. But most weeknights and weekends were spent preparing for BREAKTHROUGH coming up in Seattle and helping out the Love Gone Wrong Made Right conference scheduled for end-July.

Haze struck SG on the 13th June. This makes the heat and humidity more miserable. It was so bad on 20-21 June. Thankfully it improved from the 22nd onwards. We even had showers for 5 days from 26-30 June. Felt lethargic without swimming or jogging and was relieved to resume outdoor activities after 2 weeks. But Seattle will have nice air... 

May days

The first day of May was a full-day family event at the Love SG Momentum conference at the Expo. Li-Ann and Leslie's talks were just awesome.

There was an unexpected invitation to go lead a church-planting workshop at the Asia Empowered21 Congress 2013 in Jakarta. Other ministry moments included preaching at Wesley Methodist church and volunteering at the amazing FOCUS Partnership dinner. Dinah and I enjoyed the long weekend at the prophetic activation with Serena Shim from Sabah.

Dinah preached at Hope Johor Bahru church on Mothers' Day and I accompanied her. It was good to catch up with our JB friends. Then we came back in time for the Mothers’ Day dinner with Dinah's family (pic).
We rejoiced with our new friends Rachel and Eugene as they exchanged wedding vows :)
And I did have one overseas business trip. But many days were spent in the library thanks to the super hot and humid days in May.

New Starts

  Our twins started school at Polytechnic. One day I joined them for lunch on campus. In the midst of this change, our family were blessed by Ron Sawka's seminar. We also had ministry time with Janet Buchanan.
  We rejoiced with our niece who graduated from med school and our nephew who celebrated his 21st. Dinah and I experienced our first Filipino wedding with Jon Marc and Sonjel. So fun. I had a belated birthday lunch with Jeff, Jo, Daniel and Hong Teck.

  Ministry moments included speaking at the combined regional VFC service. It was great getting to know their leaders. Dinah and I also coached a group of new marriage mentors (see pic). We joined the Canada missions meeting at our church. Then I shared a devotion with the Focus on the Family staff.

  After not having met for over 20 years, I was so happy to catch up with Rita and meet her husband Gideon. It was also a blessing as a new friend introduced us to Curtis Hemphill from Atlanta.

   Days are getting hotter. Importantly, my visa application has been submitted in April.

Birthday Time

     This year's birthday was very special. Li Chuang from Nairobi and Lawrence and Pat from Perth were all in town. I was so thrilled to spend those few days together with some of my favourite people. Our church in Seattle celebrated again when we visited. Glen and our buddies celebrated with us at Andrew's. Our office also celebrated. Then Dinah and I celebrated Vincent and Jenny's birthdays.
   Another celebration was our nephew Victor who married Monica. Talking about family, our twins had an eye-opening taste of working life. And I did have a work trip. The office organised bowling for which my body ached for 3 days.

    Another highlight was being part of a Homecoming gathering with Pastor Eddie Ma. Church wise, we got to visit the church my brother-in-law pastors. Most significant was the ministry trip to the US. Dinah and I spent two full days with our church in Seattle. Then we spent 3 packed days with our North American leaders in Redding. Then we came back.
  March has been just amazing and I am still smiling.

V Day

Valentine’s dinner was special this year. Dinah and I celebrated together with our circle of friends. Henry planned a very nice dinner, with roses. It was a memorable evening indeed.

Another highlight was our university reunion hosted by Wendy. Then we also got to visit Joon and Flo and hear their amazing testimony.

Ministry moments included ministering at Hope JB church and marriage mentoring.

And I enjoyed the Lunar New Year holidays. We celebrated reunion dinner and Chap Goh Mei. We even managed a movie outing.

After the holidays, I received a new work assignment. There will be much to learn, once again.

I was thankful for the kind February weather. Some days were not cool but not hot too. Heat is no fun.  

Taipei Time

Taipei was the first trip of the year. This Global Conference was worth going. The theme was awesome. It was great to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. Eric was my room mate. We got to see Taipei 101 and ride the subway. Food here is brilliant. Here is a picture of the forum on the last day of the conference.

January ministry moments included joining the Canada missions group at Alvin and Sophie’s place and conducting Marriage Mentor Training at Bedok Methodist Church.
Dinah and I enjoyed catching up with my old school-mate Anthony and his wife Hui Ling. We also enjoyed visiting Leslie Lung at his place.

It was good to spend a week talking with our son and with our daughter about their future courses of study. There was a day Daniel and I worked out at the gym with Alfonso. Should go more.