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Archive for March 15th, 2007

the glory of God in kinabalu

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech or language, where their voice is not heard”. Psalms 19:1-3

4 comments March 15th, 2007

how great is our God

“How great is our God, sing along with me, how great….” sang the youths, as we headed down back to the city hotel after both teams had climbed and returned on Tuesday night. Tears welled up in my eyes; I was so moved, for I had seen from the front, the greatness of our God displayed in slow motion. When all seemed lost, and when we were near giving up hope, stressed up and anxious, He came and intervened but never to give the total solution till the very, very last moment at Laban Rata when Agnes finally told my wife and I that we could stay the night and even climb the peak. What He gave was even more important: GRACE AND FAITH, to be strong, to be humble, to admit error, to seek forgiveness, to keep trusting, to hold on to Him till the very end, before He placed the icing on the cake thatHe lovingly prepared for us. From no beds and pure panic to “now everybody can climb.” It had been a thrilling spiritual white water rafting for me. Though the team paddled furiously and it helped, ultimately it was the expert River Rafting Guide controlling from behind, who was ensuring we negotiated the dangerous rapids and rocks without capsizing! I am so proud of all the youths and the co-operation and patience and forbearance of all the participants. ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!

1 comment March 15th, 2007

fantastic team

This was the team that helped me and they were just fantastic! All of them had been in kinabalu 1 except Barny. Agnes Chua was one remarkable woman. I got to know her better in this trip and saw her God-given gifts in demonstration: adminstration, leadership and the gift of faith. It was with admiration as I saw how the events unfolded from zero beds and definite disaster to a gradual, step by step divine provision and intervention of miraculous proportion….all in slow motion. And she was in the front seat of the suspenseful, up and down drama of God in action. Peter and I were in the row behind. She believed, never gave up hope, kept paddling furiously through rapids after rapids, and sacrificed a lot, but her reward is a knowledge of God, and the front seat view of God’s mighty hand. She would be a welcome addition to the board of elders!

Peter Lim(second from left) was a God-send. Initially there to accompany and encourage his two daughters, I sense that with his appointment as Climb Leader, and the ups and downs of practices and problems, I could see a sense of mission develop in him, perhaps even of destiny, as he led (unaided by me ) the youth with Julian his assistant , especially during the kinabalu climb itself. Many youths were encouraged and inspired by him to reach the Peak. Somehow in this trip, being with the adults, not even sure of a bed right to day I was climbing, I felt the “mantle” that was on me has fallen on him! I couldn’t have led the yout as well, even if I had a bed from the beginning.

Julian Tan (second from right)is quite a charismatic leader among the youths and with deeper workings of the Holy Spirit in his heart, the church will be blessed with an additional young leader of good quality. I appreciate his contribution and heart.

Barny(extreme left) is the guy who is the treasurer, and being an accountant, this task is cut out for him. I am impressed that he took risks and stepped out into the unknown, faced the formidable physical challenges with courage, and crossed his own personal limitations. The Lord was close to him as he lost his tag, which after prayer, he found, and he prayed breath prayers all the way to the summit.

This trip was turned around because these guys were all believing with me, and working hard and long, to see this miracle displayed. Would I do it again? Why not? …if Peter takes the lead.

Add comment March 15th, 2007

not on the A-list

During the training there were those who were not in our A-list, those who had only a 50-50 chance in our opinion, who we weren’t sure would make it all the way to Low’s Peak the highest mountain in South East Asia. But God loves to use the weak to display His strength!! So I’ll let the secret out on who were not on our A-list but surprised us and made it to the top: Mark Wee, Jared, Sita, Anthony jr., Zephaniah, Ethel, Mabel, Jeannie, Rachel, Raina and James Soo. (Sorry no photos of them yet).

Lesson learnt: never never ever underestimate the strength, determination, resilience, adaptability and ability of youth to achieve whatever they undertake or desire as a team to achieve!

Add comment March 15th, 2007

sacrificers and second timers and others

This adventure threw up quite a number of heroes, some of whom I would call sacrificers and others second-timers. As late in the trip we learned there were no beds at Laban Rata and therefore could not make the climb to the Peak, the trip seemed doomed. But through prayer, persistent faith and sheer doggedness, more and more beds were made available, and we drew lots to determine who could go. This was where I saw people who were willing to sacrifice their places: Joseph(left in pic), Jeannie,The Corrie-Kellig family, Julian Tan, Tan Jee Lian, Sam, Matthew(center in pic) my son, who gave his place to Nathan, Salome who gave her place to Ethel, Barny who gave his place to Max his roomate, James Soo who gave his place to Mark Ooi. Of course there was also the leaders: Agnes, myself and my wife, but this is what leaders do all the time. Peter Lim was willing too, but we insisted he must lead the youth up! In the end, everyone who laid their Isaacs on the altar could go, as God gave them back their Isaacs: Everyone had beds!

Another group of heroes are the second timers: these are those who didn’t reach the peak the first time round and are making a second attempt: Newman Tay, Rachel Lim and Agnes Chua (left in pic). I think they were the happiest, and reaching the Low’s Peak was doubly satisfying for them, as it was for me two years ago, for I was a second timer too. It takes courage to try a second time because you can be plagued by doubt, What if I don’t make it again? All that money, time, and effort…..it takes guts!

I am happy for my son, Matthew, who made it to the peak, even though by his own admission he is a hardcore gamer with little exercise. He prayed hard for a delay of the sunrise so he could catch it, and he did.

Salome Wong (right in pic) breezed to the top because she had lived for four years in a mountainous area, so her body is used to the cold, her blood to thin air, and her legs to climbing.

All of us were conquering different inner mountains: anger, anxieties, frustration, selfishness, fears, doubts, desires.

Add comment March 15th, 2007

remarkable families

Sam and Timothy, especially ten year old Timothy, is remarkable in being able to trek up to Laban Rata and back despite having a fever and feeling ill along the way. Tim, like most Singaporeans are used to an easy and comfortable life and this makes this feat an achievement he can be proud of. Sam the father said he came on the trip to spend more time with his son, and he really did, in all the practice climbs and in the kinabalu climb, it was a pleasure to see the bond deepen between them. For sure the son will always treasure these moments even into his adult life. When they both entered the canteen at Laban Rata, everyone applauded, including strangers who passed by them along the way.

The other remarkable family unearthed during the climb was the Corrie-Kellig family, comprising Australian Anthony, Singaporean Erika, and their children Sita and Michaela. Anthony had some training in mountaineering with the Australian engineers corp, and carried a heavy burden to the resthouse up the mountains in Laban Rata, and despite being thoroughly tired he made it the Low’s Peak, a remarkable achievement given the circumstances. His wife, Erika, is equally remarkable: she reached Low’s Peak by sheer determination as she was feeling ill all the way up and down to Timpohon Gate the starting point. It was only in city hospital after everything that what we had thought was altitude sickness and tiredness, was actually food poisoning. Sheer determination - my wife called her “iron woman”. Sita, the girl with Bollywood looks, is also a tough nut, and is now our youngest church member to have reached Low’s Peak. Amazing. And Michaela, the adorable darling of the adventure trip, caught lots of glances and inpired many others, when she acually climbed about 3km up and 2.5 km down before being carried by father and a porter the rest of the way. When the whole family entered the canteen everyone applauded because very few of that age have gone that high and far.