Exodus - Next On Agenda?

For some funny unknown reason, I've always been able to relate what's happening around me as to what's happening around the world at the same time. The current situation that we faced is like the world economy. The timing is so similar.

The situation will only get worse as time goes on. The rescue packages by various Governments couldn't restore the confidence of the investors likewise, the new LCEC will not be able to restore the confidence of the members. Investors are looking for alternatives to shares or properties. Some of the members are looking at other places to go.

This Friday, there'll be an "emergency" meeting between for the small groups to decide on new leadership. It seems some members are not satisfied with the results of election held last Saturday. The outcome may or may not reduce the confidence level even more. This has never happened before: great objections to the election results.

As for me, I think we should respect the decision made during the election. The person should be given the benefit of a doubt to perform his duty. We must not have prejudice or pre-judgement towards him. Having said that, he needs to learn to work together with others and be a team player. To try to steal the spotlight alone will be a big mistake. The role is not as easy as it seems. In fact, I would rate it the hardest of em' all. Teamwork & communication will be essential for 2009. Teamwork means working together for a common objective and not blind obedience.

The last key event for this year would be around the 27th to 30th November. It would be seen as the biggest "market mover". Would an exodus be the consequences? Whether it would be or not, it's definitely something to think about immediately. We can't afford to waste another few months until March 09. Prevention is better than cure though some may argue the damage has been done. The newly elected LCEC must show its' members that they are capable of dealing with those issues, not just trying to cover up everything or ignoring it. I think they have to act fast, as a matter of urgency.

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Translation from google:

对于一些有趣的不明原因，我一直能够与发生的事情我周围，以发生的事情在世界各地同一时间举行。目前的形势，我们面临着就像是世界经济。时间是如此相似。

情况只会变得更糟随着时间的推移。一揽子救援计划由各国政府不能恢复信心的投资者同样，新的LCEC将无法恢复的信心成员。投资者正在寻找替代股票或财产。一些成员正在寻找其他地方去。

这个星期五，将是一个“紧急”会议之间的小团体来决定新的领导班子。这似乎有些委员不满意的选举结果上周六举行。其结果可能会或不会减少的信心水平甚至更多。这之前，从来没有发生过：伟大的反对选举的结果。

就 我个人而言，我认为，我们应该尊重作出的决定在选举。人应该考虑的利益，毫无疑问，履行自己的职责。我们绝不能有偏见或判决前向他。话虽如此，他需要学习 共同努力，与他人合作，并成为球队的球员。试图窃取单独的焦点将是一个很大的错误。的作用并不容易，因为它似乎。事实上，我的速度，最难的旅馆'所有。团 队合作与沟通将是至关重要的2009年。团队精神是指一道为共同的目标，而不是盲从。

最后关键事件，今年将在11月27日至 30日。这将被视为最大的“市场先行者” 。将大批的后果？是否应该或不，这是肯定的东西想立即。我们不能再浪费另一个几个月到3月09 。预防胜于治疗虽然有些可能会争辩的损害已经完成。新当选的LCEC必须显示其'的成员，他们有能力处理这些问题，而不只是试图掩盖一切或无视它。我认 为，他们必须迅速采取行动，作为紧急事项。

The Moments

For the past week, I've been waiting for Friday to come as I anxiously awaits the Friday prayer gathering. Maybe it's the only time I can gather with a few friends to come together before God and pray. The last Friday (10/10/08), the gathering was a bit "weird", it seems most people are not focus or very motivated. Perhaps the latest series of church news have discouraged them or causing them to lose faith. Some didn't even turn up that Friday.

So I was determined to try something new to try to keep the fire alive. From Saturday (11/10) right up to the last minute before it starts, I was praying & planning on how to make it better. So, I used something I learnt from the Korean people. I selected 2 hymns for the night (I never lead a prayer meeting with songs before because I didn't know how to sing properly). The hymns are 奮起歌 & 求主引我. We also tried shouting "主啊！主啊！主啊！after the song then pray out loud. It sounded funny at first but who wouldn't! To have a look at how Koreans pray, check this post.

The feeling that night for me is pretty good. I can feel everyone tried to pray out loud and most importantly, everyone prayed earnestly. Let's hope we can go further and experience the Holy Spirit among us more often! By the way, someone told me the number of attendance for Friday actually outnumber the Wednesday one, Wow! Keep it up, people!

Then we had our Local Conference on Saturday morning, not too impressed I would say. Everything was worse than we expected. We had 91 (or 93?) members on the book however, only a maximum of 31 turned up. During the whole meeting, people come in & out, the attendance was hovering around 25-29 for most of the day. It was not a good sign for the church! Less than 1/3 of the members are present! Should our church leaders be concerned about this issue? It doesn't seems like it. Perhaps as usual, they would shift the blame to timing, exam & assignments period. Back in July, I wrote a letter to our Pastor-Parish relations Committee (PPRC) regarding this matter, and I did get a lot of unwanted trouble because of that. Nonetheless, they should now be able to see much clearer the reason for my letter. The election process was quite terrible I would say, nothing spectacular or worth mentioning.

Anyway, I was supposed to lead the small group 3rd W on that night itself. I wasn't totally prepared though my leader, Bick Seng did try his best to translate the materials for me (I don't know how to read Chinese) and sent it to me on Tuesday. When I saw the materials, I didn't know how to lead it in an exciting way. So I just prayed, Oh God, help me again!! I didn't get any answer or tips though. -_-

When the time came for me to lead, I just led naturally hoping my experience would be enough to carry me through it.The first few parts were quite dry & boring, to be honest! However, luckily all members participate more as time went by. So, I was able to lead better and eventually managed to get more sharing out for that night. The topic is about God's lamb (not too exciting I know! :P). However, I've added sub topics like repentance, forgiveness and salvation to it. Hopefully all the members will hear it and act on it. I guess that's the way God answered my prayer. Instead of telling me what to do in advance, He wanted me to trust in Him all the way, He'll open the way when times come. Hallelujah!

During the 3rd W time, I suddenly had a feeling that I don't want the moments to end. I was looking at my members sitting in circle around me, I just didn't want the moment to end, I want the sharing to go on & on, everyone to be with one another, etc. It has been a while since I've that feelings in small group. Hope it will last and I'll be able to share it with them next time. We need members to have such feelings for the small group to grow healthier. Add oil people!!

My small group members (this is not picture from last night :P)

Yen Shing & Bick Seng

By the way, yesterday we celebrated Yen Shing's birthday 1 day in advance. We managed to get her to join us to have covenant before God as well. Only told her to have 1 covenant instead of 4-6. She has agreed to read a bible passage daily. Woo Hoo!! Thank God! Hopefully everyone will try to keep to their covenant & grow deeper in Christ!

Looking forward to coming Friday & Saturday!

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As requested, translation via google. It won't be super accurate so if you feel blur, read the English part!

在过去的一周，我一直在等待周五来，我焦急地等待星期五祈祷聚会。也许这是唯一一次我可以收集与几个朋友走到一起在上帝面前祷告。在上周五（ 10/10/08 ） ，收集是一个有点“怪” ，似乎大多数人都没有重点，或者非常动机。也许最近的一系列教堂的消息劝阻他们或使他们失去信心。有些甚至没有出现在星期五。

所以， 我决定尝试新事物，以尽量保持消防活着。从星期六（ 11月十日）的权利直到最后一刻才开始，我祈祷与规划如何使之变得更好。所以，我用我学到的东西从韩国人。我选择第2赞美诗夜（我从来没有带领祈祷会前的 歌曲，因为我不知道如何正确地唱歌） 。是的赞美诗奋起歌＆求主引我。我们还尝试高喊“主啊！主啊！主啊！的歌曲后，然后大声祈祷。这听起来可笑，但在第一次谁不！要看看韩国如何祈祷，检查这 一职务。

这种感觉，那天晚上对我来说是相当不错。我能感觉到每个人都试图大声祈祷和最重要的是，每个人都认真祈祷。让我们希望我们能走得更远和经验圣灵在我们中间更经常！顺便说一句，有人告诉我，一些出席星期五的实际人数超过一个星期三，哇！请继续保持，人民！

然 后，我们有我们的本地会议上周六早晨，没有太多的印象我想说的。一切不如我们的预期。我们有91 （或93 ？ ）成员的新书然而，只有最多31人。在整个会议上，人们在与的，是出席25日至29日徘徊在多数时间。这不是一个好兆头的教堂！不到1 / 3的成员是本！如果我们的教会领导人关心这个问题？它似乎并不喜欢它。也许像往常一样，他们将转向归咎于时间，考试期间及转让。早在7月，我写了一封信给 我们的牧师，帕里什关系委员会（政党登记委员会）关于这件事，我也得到了很多不必要的麻烦，因为这一点。然而，他们现在应该可以看到更清楚的原因我的信。 选举过程是相当可怕的我要说，没有什么引人注目的还是值得一提。

反正我是要带领小团体第三W对，那天晚上本身。我没有完全准备虽然我 的领袖， Bick恒生没有尽最大努力争取在翻译的材料对我来说（我不知道如何阅读中国）和发送给我星期二。当我看到的材料，我不知道如何导致在一个令人兴奋的方 式。所以，我只是祈求，上帝啊，帮助我再次！我没有得到任何答案或提示的。 - _ -

当时候，我带头，我只是导致自然希望我的经验 将足以携带箱通过it.The头几年有相当部分干与无聊，说实话！然而，幸运的所有成员更多地参与随着时间的流逝了。所以，我能够更好地领导并最终成功地 获得更多的分享了晚上。这个专题是关于上帝的羔羊（不是太令人兴奋的我知道！ ：对） 。然而，我已将分议题忏悔，宽恕和拯救它。希望所有成员将听取并采取行动。我想这是上帝的方式回答我的祈祷。不是告诉我怎么做，事先他要我信任他所有的方 式，他会打开时候到来。哈利路亚！

在第3 W时，我突然有一种感觉，我不想的时刻结束。我一直在寻找我的成员坐在我周围的圈子，我只是不想结束的时刻，我想分享去＆ ，每个人都必须相互合作，等等这是一个，而自从我'维生素E的感情小团体。希望它将过去，我将能够分享这与他们明年的时间。我们需要的成员有这样的感情小 团体健康成长。购买石油的人！
我的小团体的成员（这不是图片从昨晚：对）


顺便说一下，昨天我们庆祝日元城门的生日1天提前。我们设法让她加入我们的上帝面前公约以及。只有告诉她有1个契约而不是4-6 。她已经同意宣读了圣经每日通行。胡加！感谢上帝！希望每个人都将尽量保持其与增长公约在基督更深！

展望未来周五和周六！

Police scared of bad guys?!

I was just browsing through The Star website and I was shocked to see an article!! Let me show it to you guys....

KUALA LUMPUR: A police beat base in the Chow Kit area of downtown Kuala Lumpur was closed down because it was in a location that was considered unsafe, said Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.

In a written reply to Dr Lo’ Lo’ Mohamad Ghazali (PAS-Titiwangsa), Syed Hamid said the beat base was located in a dirty area where there was a possibility of being exposed to contagious diseases.

The presence of criminals also posed a threat to the safety of police officers, he said.

Lo’ Lo’ had asked why the beat base on Jalan Haji Taib was closed considering the high number of vice-related activities in the area, as well as what kind action had been taken by the police to curb such activities.

Syed Hamid said that the police were looking for a new location to build a police beat base that would be able to give “guaranteed and continued service to the public.”

Seems like a big joke!! The police have to move out of there because it's deemed unsafe for them. What about the members of the public? Are they safer there than the police?

Sometimes you just have to wonder how the ministers in M'sia thinks! Instead of putting more manpower there to curb the criminal activities, they decided to move out of there, to somewhere safer, where police presence could be less necessary. I mean, even a primary school kid would tell you to increase your resources there! Sigh!

Let's see what's the big deal with Chow Kit area.

Today the area features a large Indonesian community, and more recently, a small African community. It has a daily wet market known as Bazaar Baru Chow Kit which is arguably the largest wet market in Kuala Lumpur.[1] It also features a night market also known as Bundle Chow Kit along Lorong Haji Taib which is known for the sale of used clothings and accessories.^[1] Chow Kit is also known for its red-light district as well as for its nightly gathering of transwomen. It also used to be a popular haunt for drug addicts.^[2] The Chow Kit Monorail station is situated in this area and the PWTC LRT station is located nearby.

Maybe there're not as much Malays there, other races are "pendatang" so their rights or safety can be compromised? Why can this be? Well, Malaysia has another nickname "Boleh-land", anything is possible!!

Open Proposal to CLMC - Part 2

Part 2....

1. Sunday Service - Minor touch up could be done to the services. Some of the things we repeat weekly could be reduced to say once a month or once a fortnight. For example, reciting of the Apostle Creed, singing of the "Lord's Prayer", etc. If it's done weekly, it easily become a routine or habit that we don't know what we are reciting or singing about.
   Song worship leaders should get more exposure on how to better lead the singspiration. Funds could be allocated for them to attend proper training to increase the standard. Most importantly, the choosing of the song worship leaders must be made carefully. The person will be leading the whole congregation in worshiping God. If the only main advantage the person has is a nice voice, then I think it would be inappropriate to choose that person solely on that.
   The singing of Hymns can be more "lively" instead of so "dull". It actually depends on the attitude of the person leading it.
   Pulpit ministry can be better planned or structured to a series of talks for the benefits of the congregations. Random topics are not an ideal way for the long term. Minister in charge should preach more to educate the congregation of the church's vision and directions.
   Ushers need to understand their roles as well. They are not the "least" important servicemen on Sunday. Better courtesy and smile could be the key.
   More respect needed within the chapel. People are talking loudly, sometimes even cursing with bad words in the chapel, etc. This is not acceptable. Small group leaders should be an example for their members to follow.
   More services could be added to our schedules. Wednesday night, Thursday night, Sunday afternoon, etc. We need to provide more options for people to attend it. It doesn't have to be services of hundreds in size, but even 10-20 will do. More importantly we need to remember, it'll grow if we are doing the right thing.
   
   
2. Small Groups - It's our intention that all who attends the Sunday service should also attend a small group at least. It should be made to a sense that, if you don't have a small group, you are left behind.
   Small group structure needs to be reorganized. How can you have 2 types of small groups within a small church, run by a small group coordinator (zone leader), meet together on Wednesday night to discuss about 2 different small group ministry. It doesn't work. Zone leader needs to decide whether they should go with the new way or revert all back to the old way. Alternatively, there're should be 2 small group coordinator looking after the "old" small group style and the "2C" small groups. Nonetheless, the difference between the old & 2C small groups must be obvious to avoid conflict of interests.
   Zone leader is an important role as well. The person needs to understand the small group concept inside out. Otherwise, small groups will not grow but collapse!
   Materials ideally should be prepared and set by the Minister in charge. The materials should allow our small groups to go in line with the church directions. Note that small group is NOT a bible study group (a lot of pastors couldn't even catch this concept in CMCA).
   Offerings collected in small groups should be combined together with the church. There should not be a church under a church scenario.
   Small groups need to mobilize their members to increase awareness into mission and gradually participate in mission works. Encouragement is a must.
   
   
3. Prayer meeting - If we are singing more than praying, preaching more than praying, then there's a serious imbalance happening. In a prayer meeting, I would say about 3-5 songs in total is the max. There're not to be sung in one go.
   Short message as a motivation for the people are encouraged as well but please keep the sermon preaching on Sunday.
   Prayer shouldn't be limited to just our church only. We should involve ourselves more into the District Conference, Annual Conference, worldwide churches, and international issues. Let's not live under the coconut shell.
   Start more prayer meetings at various time and location to enable more people with different timetable to join. Daily prayer meetings are encouraged as well.
   
   
4. Church "name" awareness - We need to be exposed to the "market" outside. We can't just rely on students of Methodist background to come from Sabah & Sarawak. Sure it has been providing us with numbers for all these years. Now the time has come to expand our "territory". We have influx of migrants from China, international students from China, workers from China, etc. Our doors should be open to welcome them. It's not just by mouth we claimed the door is open, but we need to be ready to tackle it. We need to understand their culture and behaviour to effectively minister to them. Maybe sending people to China for few months to learn their culture (like what the Mormons did)? :D
   To be known, we need to be worth knowing. To be accepted, we need to give it out. It's something advertising can't get. We need to give back to the community with no strings attached.
   

That's should be all for this part. More to come in part 3 (maybe).

Let's hope our new elect elite group will have eyes & ears. Let's not be mentally controlled by the narrow minded people! Look at where the Holy Spirit is guiding you!

Tradition & constitution (rules) are not always what God intended for us, it may be during its' days but not necessary in our days. We must be wise enough to identify & discern it. We must be brave enough to make changes to suit our current needs. Otherwise, we'll forever be slaves to it.

Melbourne Snapshot

Usually I browse through City Council's website like Melbourne City Council, Whitehorse City Council, etc to find out what's happening around town. Haven't been doing so since the Korea trip, have been so busy. Now that I've slowly gone back to my routines, I visited MCC website today and saw that they've done a survey on homeless people in the Melbourne CBD.

Key findings includes:

• A total of 112 people were counted, 70 per cent were male and 14 per cent female (some people were unable to be identified because of their sleeping arrangements).
• 68 per cent were alone and 15 per cent were couples, 55 percent were aged 26-40 and 24 percent aged 41-60.
• 42 per cent slept on the street and 38 per cent in parks, and 49 percent were located in the CBD.
• 47 per cent of those surveyed had been staying in their current location for less than two weeks, of these 31 per cent stayed in their current location for under a week.
• 63 per cent of those surveyed had been moving around for more than 12 months and 36 per cent reported moving around for over five years.

The MCC is looking for new partnership in tackling this issue. Are we ready yet?

What about our English service congregation? This could be a good opportunity to breakthrough the 40 psychological barrier for the congregation. Will our current Chairperson & Lay Leader (both from English side) decides to take the challenge?

In other article,

The City of Melbourne is a city of young people. According to 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census Data, young people aged 12 to 24 years make up 37.8 per cent (26,947) of the resident population in the City of Melbourne.

Young people are not a homogenous group. Young people who live, work, visit and/or study in the City of Melbourne include:

• Indigenous young people;
• domestic and international students;
• young workers;
• marginalised young people such as homeless young people;
• young people in the juvenile justice system;
• refugees and newly arrived young people;
• young people with a disability;
• gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and intersexed young people; and
• young people who visit the city.

Melbourne attracts a variety of overseas students to study at the many leading tertiary institutions available in the city. Almost 55 per cent of those students living and studying in the city are international students.

While students come from around the globe to study in Melbourne, most international students come from South-East Asia and North-East Asia.

A young big population means a big "fishing" area for us. Our target groups fall into 3 categories (bold coloured). So, let's not miss this opportunity to enlarge God's kingdom! Our church needs to give more back to the community. It's time to step up! It's time to open the door! We'll have to wait until the election on 18/10/08 to see who will take the baton for the next run. The question is, will it be another wasted run or can it turn out to be a race worth remembering?

Some of my ideas of things that we could do can be found here