Everest Kitchen

Thank God for fantastic new friends/colleagues :) This is my first time in a Nepalese restaurant in Singapore.. To be honest even after having been to Nepal, I never knew what the food was like (apart from the momos) until now.. haha. Mushroom tempura like thing was great, but the roasted san-chen-rou was the clincher.. oh-so-mindnumbingly-even-now-saliva-inducingly-good!! So good that it was half gone before I could whip out the camera-phone.
Thanks Jackie!! Here's to many more lunches/dinners/suppers to come!

HIV Talk - CME

Went through a talk about HIV today.. A doctor talked to us about the technicalities of the disease and a lady who runs the HIV patient care centre at TTSH spoke to us about the psychological impact the disease has on a person. And there were all sorts of interesting facts like - you need to drink 3 - 5l of a HIV infected person's saliva before there's a chance that you're infected, so getting HIV from an infected person is not as easy as some might believe. And there's a rapid HIV testing kit, where testing for HIV is as easy as using a home testing-kit for pregnancy.

About the effectiveness about the home-testing kit, which is 99.9% accurate, I found it interesting that.. the professionals are not so concerned about the people taking the test and finding out they are not HIV positive when they actually are (because numbers are so small comparatively).. they are more concerned about people taking the test and thinking that they are positive when they are not.. because the disease has such a stigma and many take it as a pronouncement of a death sentence, they'll rather kill themselves than fight through and live. I can't imagine the kind of trauma that a person goes through.. there's still so little information/advocacy about this, though this can have the potential to become an epidemic in the world today. Research funds are still being poured into medication/cures for cancer or heart problems (basically the rich people's diseases) cos that's where the money is.

Why should we be interested in such a small minority of people suffering from this? Don't they deserve the disease because of their lifestyles or sins?

That's what the people in Jesus' time thought about the lepers.. they were sinful therefore God struck them with the disease.. but what did Jesus do?

"While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him." Luke 5:12-13

Amazed

The people in Geylang amaze me everyday... I was at a coffee shop today having my lunch of some handmade noodles with beef (not bad by the way, thanks for the intro ed!). When I saw this rough-looking; cratered face coffee shop stall holder guy come out with a container of cat food and fed the cat. Leftovers and rubbish for the cat I understand.. but proper cat food? Perhaps someone else bought the cat food.. perhaps it's expired.. but nonetheless the man cared enough to feed it.

Cat eating cat food..

For me, in such a place where people fend for themselves and often cannot be concerned about things other than themselves.. I am bowled over that there is more than kindness. Perhaps I am stereotyping and being narrow minded.. but people surprise me sometimes.

SLearning Conference 17 - 18 Mar 09

A big part of my work is linked to schools and educational institutions. The cliche, youths are the leaders of the future.. over-used but true. If nobody told me about HS, I would not know, so if I do not tell them, how would they know? True, we do not have the structures to absorb the many students who have to fulfill their CIP hours.. but then again, we don't want them to come and go through the motions. We want to invest in the lives of those that come, to share God's heart for the people.. share what he sees. So we had a booth at this conference to tell the teachers and principals who came about what we did. It was the first time many of them heard about us, think that in itself is a success :)


There were many speakers who came and spoke about giving back to the community. The one I went for was very good, by this guy Antonio 'tony' Meloto who heads the Gawad Kalinga movement. They get land from huge land owners in Philippines, build houses, get running water, give each family that moves there farmland and develop a communal farm so the proceeds can go back into that community... these people are relocated mostly from the slums. So through this, the people get a new lease of life & chance to escape the poverty trap. By developing just 2 acres of land, they can house up to 100 families. He didn't say if it was difficult in the beginning, but I believe it couldn't have been easy. Especially to convince the landlords to give the land.. but now it's been proven that these communities increase the value of the land for, the land is developed and crime reduces in the other parts.. he testifies that now, they are up to their ears in land.

Many times we look at others and see them as second class citizens - Filipinos, Bangladeshis, Indians, Chinese... that they begin to believe that they are second class citizens.. But the fact is we are all made the same, in the image of God. When we strip them of dignity and place a yoke on them and use them for our own means... aren't we like the head servant who beat the other servants and took advantage of his position? What really hit me from what he shared was the dignity and hope that was returned to these people. The yoke of poverty and chains of injustice that were lifted.

I believe there are many in our region that are in similar situations... we can choose to look the other way or we can choose to pray and see what 'doors of opportunities to help' the Lord can open to us.

Job Interview

Today I went to Capella (hotel in Sentosa, opening Apr 09) for a job interview. :) No not for me.. but we (Marilyn, Brandon & I) accompanied Mr. Yin (a Chinese migrant) for his interview. I decided to go as 1) I felt it would be good to lend moral support 2) go to Sentosa as I've not been there for some time 3) it's a good excuse to come in to work late.. haha..

While we were there funny incident :: We were getting directions to the HR office from one of the security guards and she said, "Just go straight and turn left, you can wait at the foyer for your father" she thought we were a family.. hahaa.. Hilarious!! Guess in a way we were family... bros & sis in Christ what!

Anyway, it didn't turn out well.. the interview I mean. A little more about Mr. Yin.

Mr. Yin is a migrant from China, he came as a construction worker. But while working in an enclosed space with a pneumatic drill, he lost his hearing completely in one ear and only has 30% hearing ability in the other. After he lost his hearing, his employer decided to terminate his contract without any form of worker's compensation. For days he wandered the streets of Geylang at a loss, without money for food or shelter. Till through a friend, got introduced to us. We tried to help him as best we can. Clothes, food, shelter was easy... but I believe it was the Lord that helped him pull through such an ordeal.

Mr. Yin

He's such a delightful person, always helpful, always smiley. He got to know the Lord while one of the volunteers shared the good news with him... though he can't hear, I believe it's the Holy Spirit that has been teaching him for he sometimes comes to us to tell us about what he learnt from reading the Word and we are amazed. Through his testimony, many were moved to help and alleviate the plight of these workers that have been dealt with injustly. A man even pledged an amount every month to help support him in this time of joblessness.

The reason he's still here is that he's still trying to fight this case with the employer to get compensation. The doctor from MOM had just examined him and the work site and concluded that the work situation was not enough to make him go deaf. But we believe that the study was not the exact conditions he was under, a lawyer heard about this and decided that he can fight this case for him.. pro bono (hallelujah!). But this is also the reason why he didn't get the job.. they needed someone immediately.


Throughout this time, true, Mr. Yin got a little depressed after the whole series of things that happened, I still admire his faith. He has all the reason to be angry, to feel that the world owes him, feel bitter, blame God.. but he doesn't. He brushed himself off and said, "will I take the good things but not the bad God has allowed? Don't worry, God will see me through".


I believe his faith is not unfounded... Our God is the defender of the weak, and will lose the chains of injustice. Isa 58:5-14.

Love mercy?

Act justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly. Micah 6:8

Mercy

Was just wondering... why did the Lord not say BE merciful, but LOVE mercy?

I guess it was because we can choose to show mercy without actually being merciful. But the bar is set high. We've a saviour who loves to be merciful, loves mercy itself.

Grace = getting something you do not deserve
Mercy = not getting something you deserve

Mercy requires an acknowledgement of our wrong, because it is something we deserve.

Humility

Have I grown too spiritually 'mature' for those I serve? Exasperation at some of the things that younger brothers and sisters do?

One minute Jesus was discussing theology with the teachers of the law, the next he was calling the little children to him.