The Art of Tent-Making

One of my church friends invited me to the Tanglin Fellowship yesterday. I was quite curious about it and so I attended it. The meeting started at 8pm with half an hour of praise and worship, followed by prayers. Then there was a guest speaker who spoke about what it means to be a tent-maker. He was a former economist with the World Bank. His teaching hit home with me because it was about how one could still be actively serving God even when one is employed in secular work.

At the end of the teaching, he asked for people to come forward for prayer. I was a tad shy and hesitant so I didn't. Then much later on, he said that God has said there are still people who need to come up for prayer but haven't yet done so. At that point, I most reluctantly made my way up front. He prayed over me and said to me that God understands my innermost desires and He knows my heart's desires and that He would give me a special anointing. I fell when he prayed for me, and remained on the floor. I could feel that my face was very very warm. After a while, I got up and went back to my seat. I could still feel the warmth on my face.

Now I will have to pray about what God's special anointing for me was and how to use it well in my everyday life so that I can reach out to people and meet their needs in the name of Christ.

Dance With Joy

I volunteered for a kids' day camp on Oct 1. This camp was run alongside an adults' seminar on coping with bereavement, especially the death of a spouse. The kids at the camp, aged between 3 and 12 years old, had lost either a father or a mother.

The camp was to get the kids to learn about feelings, and how there can be comfortable and uncomfortable feelings. I was just a helper and I was extremely impressed by the Wesley team that put everything together.

The camp was also a relief for the parents, who could put their kids with us while they attended the seminar which would be very helpful for them. I could feel and know that they were very grateful to us whenever one of them came up to me.

I was in charge of the first ice-breaker game, which was a "find the badges" game. After finding the badges, the kids had to form three words from the letters on the badges. The words were Dance With Joy.

Other activities included using clay or playdoh for the kids to form their own interpretations of comfortable and uncomfortable feelings.

This was what I did with my clay -
- The bible and reading (comfortable)
- The heart and loving (comfortable)
- The cross and Jesus (comfortable)
- The mask and unhappiness (uncomfortable)

One of the kids wanted my cross so I let her take it home with her. :-) She said it was very nice. Ha ha!

At the end of the day, the kids got to make their own sock buddies which they could take home with them.

It's hard bringing up a kid, so I can imagine it's doubly hard bringing up a kid or kids on your own. I think the parents really appreciated that while they were attending a seminar that could help them a lot, their kids were being taken care of.

Following on from this camp is actually a more comprehensive programme for such kids so I'm thankful that there is some follow-through programme that the parents can turn to in helping their kids cope with bereavement. :-)

Actually one of the camp coordinators asked us during the debriefing session whether we were interested in volunteering for this upcoming programme, which would comprise more in-depth sessions over six Saturdays to help kids cope with their grief. At that time, I was most reluctant to volunteer because I was not confident of my ability to help the kids in a more in-depth manner.

However, this morning, when I was doing my quiet time in the cab, God brought to my mind the fact that we should be concerned about the widowed.

This was the verse that came to mind:
James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Therefore I think I will volunteer at the upcoming six-session programme, since God has brought it into my mind.

There were so many learning points I took away from the camp:

1. Kids are amazingly creative. I ended up asking a very talented girl to help me finish one of my own clay art.

2. Kids can be remarkably resilient and mature but we also need to remember that they are still kids and they also need help to work through their own grief.

3. One of the most moving episodes for me during the camp? When the children were broken up into two groups, one aged 3-8 and the other for 9-12 year olds, this girl went up to her younger sister and gave her a very long hug and kissed her and spoke to her, probably to reassure her sister before they split up into their own groups. I was quite moved by this because it showed how mature and responsible the older child was, and even more surprising considering that I found it quite a challenge reaching out to and relating to the older child, who was one of my two buddies during the camp. When I saw her hug her sister and speak to her to reassure her, my eyes watered. Some of these kids have had to grow up so fast and handle very adult responsibilities.

4. The parents were extremely loving towards their children, and some of the children were very attached to their parents. I remember one girl asking me at least four times whether she will be able to see her mum during breaks.

5. Some of the kids were well-adjusted but some were more withdrawn. They are also one of the more neglected groups in society and we should endeavour to help them in any way we can. This includes their parents, too.

6. This camp also brings to my mind that God has said in His Word that to those who have been given more, more will be expected of them. This has always humbled me tremendously because I think God has blessed me in many ways and I need to constantly remember that He blesses me so that I can bless others through my giftings and abilities given to me from God.

One more wonderful outcome of the camp: I bumped into one of my secondary school mates whom I have not seen for years and years. We exchanged numbers and I'll be planning to meet up with her and her two kids in November. :-)

What really does God require of me?

Micah 6:8

8 He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

My type

Did a Myers-Briggs type of personality test on Facebook, and discovered that I was an INFP (incidentally the same result as the actual Myers-Briggs test I did quite a long while back). The description below kind of explains why I'm into social causes and introspection.

The Idealist
Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving

Quiet, reflective, and idealistic. Interested in serving humanity. Well-developed value system, which they strive to live in accordance with. Extremely loyal. Adaptable and laid-back unless a strongly-held value is threatened. Usually talented writers. Mentally quick, and able to see possibilities. Interested in understanding and helping people.

As an INFP, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit into your personal value system. Your secondary mode is external, where you take things in primarily via your intuition.

INFPs, more than other iNtuitive Feeling types, are focused on making the world a better place for people. Their primary goal is to find out their meaning in life. What is their purpose? How can they best serve humanity in their lives? They are idealists and perfectionists, who drive themselves hard in their quest for achieving the goals they have identified for themselves

INFPs are highly intuitive about people. They rely heavily on their intuitions to guide them, and use their discoveries to constantly search for value in life. They are on a continuous mission to find the truth and meaning underlying things. Every encounter and every piece of knowledge gained gets sifted through the INFP's value system, and is evaluated to see if it has any potential to help the INFP define or refine their own path in life. The goal at the end of the path is always the same - the INFP is driven to help people and make the world a better place.

Generally thoughtful and considerate, INFPs are good listeners and put people at ease. Although they may be reserved in expressing emotion, they have a very deep well of caring and are genuinely interested in understanding people. This sincerity is sensed by others, making the INFP a valued friend and confidante. An INFP can be quite warm with people he or she knows well.

INFPs do not like conflict, and go to great lengths to avoid it. If they must face it, they will always approach it from the perspective of their feelings. In conflict situations, INFPs place little importance on who is right and who is wrong. They focus on the way that the conflict makes them feel, and indeed don't really care whether or not they're right. They don't want to feel badly. This trait sometimes makes them appear irrational and illogical in conflict situations. On the other hand, INFPs make very good mediators, and are typically good at solving other people's conflicts, because they intuitively understand people's perspectives and feelings, and genuinely want to help them.

INFPs are flexible and laid-back, until one of their values is violated. In the face of their value system being threatened, INFPs can become aggressive defenders, fighting passionately for their cause. When an INFP has adopted a project or job which they're interested in, it usually becomes a "cause" for them. Although they are not detail-oriented individuals, they will cover every possible detail with determination and vigor when working for their "cause".

When it comes to the mundane details of life maintenance, INFPs are typically completely unaware of such things. They might go for long periods without noticing a stain on the carpet, but carefully and meticulously brush a speck of dust off of their project booklet.

INFPs do not like to deal with hard facts and logic. Their focus on their feelings and the Human Condition makes it difficult for them to deal with impersonal judgment. They don't understand or believe in the validity of impersonal judgment, which makes them naturally rather ineffective at using it. Most INFPs will avoid impersonal analysis, although some have developed this ability and are able to be quite logical. Under stress, it's not uncommon for INFPs to mis-use hard logic in the heat of anger, throwing out fact after (often inaccurate) fact in an emotional outburst.

INFPs have very high standards and are perfectionists. Consequently, they are usually hard on themselves, and don't give themselves enough credit. INFPs may have problems working on a project in a group, because their standards are likely to be higher than other members' of the group. In group situations, they may have a "control" problem. The INFP needs to work on balancing their high ideals with the requirements of every day living. Without resolving this conflict, they will never be happy with themselves, and they may become confused and paralyzed about what to do with their lives.

INFPs are usually talented writers. They may be awkard and uncomfortable with expressing themselves verbally, but have a wonderful ability to define and express what they're feeling on paper. INFPs also appear frequently in social service professions, such as counselling or teaching. They are at their best in situations where they're working towards the public good, and in which they don't need to use hard logic.

INFPs who function in their well-developed sides can accomplish great and wonderful things, which they will rarely give themselves credit for. Some of the great, humanistic catalysts in the world have been INFPs.

Too frosty a reception?

I was at Kinokuniya today after having lunch and coffee with an elderly former colleague. When I was browsing the poetry section, an elderly Japanese writer/author came up to talk to me.

He asked me if I was interested in poetry. I said I was keen on poetry because I loved the sound and the use of words. He explained to me why he loved poetry and suggested that I should read Rumi, Frost as well as Homer's Iliad and The Odyssey. Following that, he also recommended Hemingway and Dostoevsky. In contrast, he panned works by Neruda and Plath, saying that they were too commercial.

I listened attentively. Then he took out some of his own works (short stories and poems) and showed them to me, probably seeing if I wanted to buy a copy. I didn't, though, but I wondered if I should have.

We parted ways, but later I put back Colossus by Plath and bought a collection of poems by Robert Frost instead.

PS: I really enjoyed my lunch with my former colleague. We ended up talking about how Christians view life after death, as well as discussing Hindusim, Buddhism and Islam. It was educational for me, listening to the views of a near-60-year-old man. :-)

Dr Ogata Ryosai: Memorandum

I was pleasantly surprised that Ryunosuke Akutagawa's collection of short stories contained a few stories on Japanese Christians. One of his short stories (the title being this posting's heading) concerned the account of a healing miracle. The notes in the translation by Jay Rubin also stated that Akutagawa read the bible closely but was unable to believe in divine miracles. During his short life, he travelled to Nagasaki and took a deep interest in 17th century Japanese Christian martyrdom. He committed suicide at the age of 35: he took a fatal dose of Veronal and fell asleep reading the Bible.

Grace covers a multitude of sins

Was doing my quiet time and the Lord impressed upon me these words from Zechariah 7:9-10:

9 "Thus has the LORD of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother;

10 and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.'