HAS THE TIME ARRIVED YET?

Christmas 2014

As we enter into Advent, the next thing in mind is Christmas. Everywhere Christmas decorations are glittering at us both in churches and in public places. However the recent Bible episode has also dominated the media front pages of the nation. Over the last couple of Christmas, the same issue of the use of the word ‘Allah’ and the Malay version of the Bibles have saturated the speeches of politicians and the pages of facebook users. What is it all about? It is a sophisticated and complicated matter which involved every arena of society; looks like it is not going to be resolved in the near future. Only Christmas can bring about a solution to such a complex situation and issue.

Christmas is a season of giving. The gift of Christ to this world is given sacrificially, un-conditionally and eternally; there is no boundary, no expiry, no class privilege, and no exception. Christ Jesus came into the world to bring us the KEY to eternity, perfect peace, unending joy, full salvation, wholesome life, etc. In these challenging times, let us begin to learn to give ……

In April this year, I learn to give my time and attention to the Bible Society of Malaysia. It is definitely not my wish or my desire to take up the president post, especially having known that I will be going from a frying pan into a direct fire.

In November, we give our son, Joshua, into the gift of marriage with Tien Li in order that they can learn to give to each other in their new adventure and journey of married life.

Siew Lan is giving herself to assist in MICPE (Malaysian Indigenous Clinical Pastoral Education) and also equipping herself with TEE classes in the pursuit of B.Th. Charlotte is giving herself in serving Campus students through Alpha Malaysia. Sarah and Ching Seng are giving to each other in the setting up a family. As usual, I am giving my time (i.e. over time) and attention to seeing many parishioners eventually becoming true disciples of Christ and living lives worthy of the Lord. This intention has also been extended to all those who are interested, including churches and individuals.

Joshua and Tien Li's wedding

May the God of Christmas continue to teach and equip us to give our every best to each other and beyond in His name. Wishing you all a Blessed Christmas and a Meaningful New Year!Let us give in prayers for each other.

Shalom,+Moon Hing & Siew LanJoshua & Tien Li, Sarah & Ching Seng, Charlotte

THE TRUE MEANING OF RESURRECTION

CHRIST HAS DIED    CHRIST IS RISEN     

CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN

This is a very challenging Easter. There are many unresolved mysteries. The missing plane MH370 is still not found. It is still difficult to know why the Korean ferry has capsized. Someone like the late Karpal Singh, the Tiger of Jelutong, a fighter for the truth and justice of this nation has to go at this crucial hour. The issues of ‘Allah’ and the confiscated Bibles are not resolved and no one knows when it will. The economy of the nation has been stretched and GST is coming next. Haze has come and gone and now the water rationing issue for Klang Valley has begun, first with one month and now it seems to extend to 6 months. It seems that Brain drain has been on the upward trend. The increasing mishandling of funds was revealed by the Auditor-General annually and little has been done to rectify them. Religious and racist extremism are on the rise without any authority curbing and taking action. 

Looking at all the gloomy scenes, hope seems to have little chance to glitter. It is like one looking for stars in a dark and cloudy sky. The longer and harder the search, the more disappointments dawn upon those who seek! However, if we have faith in the Lord, we know that after the clouds have gone, the stars will appear again. We need to wait patiently with firm assurance that the stars will appear after the clouds. Similarly, Easter reminds us the same just as the Lord will always be there. We will certainly see Him after the cloud of doubts or problems. He has not left us. He is there before, during and after the cloud of doubts; the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. In spite and despite of many ‘setbacks’, Easter reminds us of God’s faithfulness and love. We are just like a little pawn in the chess board of God. The bigger picture is in the fulfillment of God’s master plan for each of us. Resurrection is the final chapter of death. Therefore death is not the end but the beginning of a new hope and aspiration.

I believe that these next few years will be most crucial. There will come many changes – many groups will come to the end of their usefulness and many will begin anew. Struggles and resistance will be thrust to the foreground but metamorphosis of nations, governments, communities, religious organizations, families, business conglomerates, schools, colleges, tastes, habits, etc. will take place at a much rapid pace. The world will be more flat but more hostile. Precisely, the greater the challenge is, the greater the opportunity for the ministry of God’s peace and salvation. But where are the ministers and workers of God?

People these days are more interested with the paper qualification than the actual training for ministry. More people are going after the title than doing the real work. Beware! Lest our Christianity become a toothless tiger – only the form is available but not the substance. There is a real sense of lacking in real and intentional disciples making.

What is the real purpose of Christ’s resurrection? He came and died and rose again for the individuals and not the church. He is interested in the individuals and not the church. He came and called individuals to be disciple of Christ and not the church. His real call to individuals is to follow Him and be his disciples and not to be deacons, elders, priests and bishops.

Have we missed the point?

Eastertide 2014

Ministering in Prayer

Baptism Ministry

       

Visit Macao

Carrying the Cross along
Via Dolorossa  

EASTER 2014

How much has Christ risen in you?

Christ is Risen! The response during Eastertide is “He is Risen indeed!” Often the thought of the presence of the Risen Christ bothers me. Where is the Risen Christ now? This seems to be a silly question – of course, Christ has been ascended and is seated at the right hand of God the Father, as described in Rom 8:34. What I really am interested is ‘Does the Risen Christ have a place in our lives?’

Some of the shocking news in recent headlines is the financial scandals and immorality with church leaders and in churches. Unfortunately, such scandals also exist everywhere both in our own churches as well as in other places. God is very sad and probably regrets in making us. On another note, we are frequently reminded that we are a fallen race and we really and desperately need Christ to save us from the fire and damnation. So then how much are we saved – quarter, half or fully saved. In other words, one can refer this as ‘How much has Christ risen in each of us?’

The Scripture calls this Sanctification. ‘We were saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved’ – a famous quote used by many great leaders. Sanctification is a journey or a process; and it starts at the point of salvation (for many do not exactly know where the starting point is) and ends at the time when we meet with Christ face to face. In the process of sanctification, each one of us will still have much vulnerability and can also succumb to temptations (the reason for asking to be led away from temptations in the Lord’s Prayer). All leaders are usually subjected to greater temptations and are main targets of the evil one. Much prayer is needed for them. They are usually in the front-line and are facing the fiery darts directly. Leaders are also frequently subjected to greater and stricter judgment. (James 3:1)

However, Easter should always remind us that we need the Risen Christ to rise from within our lives. He should rise from our inner most thoughts, world view, behavior, habits, manners, secrets, social life, spiritual life, relational life, prayer life, recreational life, time management, mind management, leisure management, health management, etc. From what we can observed, it is not sufficient to score an ‘A’ in our preaching or time management or pastoral skill or theological knowledge and fail in our money management or health management or leisure management or moral management.

Our life is liken to a wooden barrel which made up of many staves. It is not good to be a water holding barrel if one stave is very short while the rest are in full length. It seems rather better to have all the staves at half length equally – in this manner, the barrel can at least hold half barrel full of water. Our aim is to lengthen and strengthen the staves until they reach their maximum length i.e. to have Christ risen in our whole lives.

May this Easter be a reminder for us to strive towards the raising the shorter staves of our lives! 

Christmas 2013

The Angelic Messenger

The whole world mourns the passing of the greatest man in this century – Nelson Mandela (1918 - 2013). He is like an angelic messenger from heaven to break and lead the stubbornness of humankind to freedom. How many more Mandelas are there? The road to freedom has not been completed yet. Are we not chosen and called into this journey since we believe that we have been saved by Christ? Let us do not just stop at admiring this great step Mandela has taken instead to make ourselves available to become a small messenger for freedom and reconciliation. 

With this appeal and thought, I wish you and your family God’s richest and meaningful gift of all time – His Son Jesus Christ. He is the most authentic and precious angelic messenger God has ever sent to us. His road to freedom is also a terrible, painful, sacrificial and arduous one. The Scripture has asked us to imitate Him.

This past one year we, in the family, continue to try to imitate Him. We fumble and fall along the way often. His love is so immense that we can just lie in the fallen state and thrown in the towel but have to get up and journey on. We keep telling each other the brighter side is still ahead.

The life of a bishop is actually a wonderful one if minuses all the church’s squabbles and conflicts. Mandela inspires me daily to bring healing and reconciliation to the churches in the diocese and in the nation. This road is like a road of a thousand miles but I have not even walked one mile. Apart from this is the challenge to post the right person to the right church. The great number of retiring clergy and the poor addition of new clergy have pushed me to a tight corner to create new ingenious way of workers i.e. to raise the laity. The diocese has stepped into a Decade of Discipleship. 2014 will see the first School of Disciple-Makers in the diocese. Health wise and sanity – I think I am still okay and within range.

Siew Lan is ever busy with her MICPE supervisor-in-training scope as well as her theological studies. The ever non-stop assignment is bugging her daily. She has been accompanying me to most of the churches but gradually she will come along less due to her own commitment. In the midst of busyness, she enjoys her involvement and challenges.

Joshua is reading his Masters in Information System. Hopefully he will complete mid next year. He is now studying in NTU Singapore. Tien Li is his girl friend. She is also in Singapore. Sarah and Ching Seng are working in Singapore, too. All of them have to earn to pay back their university loans. Charlotte has returned from Texas in June and now working in Alpha Malaysia in the Campus Ministry in KL.

All of us are performing well in the Lord. With the impending changes to the weather, political, religious and economic scene of this nation, we need to pray for wisdom and long-suffering. On one hand, we are to be wise as serpent and on the other, as innocent as dove. We pray the Lord will lead us to be His angelic messenger even if we are the small ones.

May the good Lord bring you and family

a meaningful Christmas and a visionary New Year!

Shalom,

Bishop Moon Hing, Bisfe Siew Lan
& Joshua, Tien Li, Sarah, Ching Seng and Charlotte                                                                                    Christmas 2013

Moon Hing & Siew Lan at San Paolo Macao

Family Photo at Sarah and Ching Seng’s wedding

        

ARE THERE ANY NON_ESSENTIAL MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH?

ESSENTIAL MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

A common remark is often heard when Christians meeting Christians in church meetings or fellowship groups or at coffee shops:  “Sorry for being late. I was coming from another meeting – no time to eat. I need to leave early because I have an assignment to finish by tomorrow and tonight song practice. So many deadlines to meet! Have been running around so much and workload is piling up. Spiritual and family life is also affected.”  Are there ministries of the church that are not essential that we can miss out? It seems that some church members (at least those active ones) are caught very busy, perhaps they think that these are essential ministries of the church. The active ones are truly bogged down and branded as ‘busy’ with many committee meetings and church functions. Are there other alternatives we can explore so that we can truly serve God without getting bogged down with the ‘busy’ tag?

Too many Christians, both full-time and volunteers, unknowingly or unconsciously are caught up with the ‘rat-race’ of church’s expectations. When we look at the level of busyness of the leaders, one will assume that things in the church will be in good and proper order but it is usually not so. It seems that many things in the church and church related activities are not up to the expected mark. This is also true with the spiritual lives of church members. I can think of three categories of busy people in the church today.

Window Shopping Christians

In fact, if we take a general survey of the present church, I sincerely believe that it does reveal a situation with large number of church goers who can be categorized as busy window shoppers. Many church goers are busy looking for exciting programmes or activites, to chase after preachers especially those who are famous and humorous, visit conferences, attending attractive and free events; some are regular church hoppers. This group of window shopping Christians only knows Christ as a distance as a prophet, healer, miracle performer, demon buster, great teacher, loving God, a coming Messiah, etc. The intimate relationship and one-ness with Christ is absent in them. They recognize Christ and can even articulate the biodata and lifestyle of Him in one breath without any hesitation. They can write books after books about Christ and even obtain a Doctorate on it. However, their lives lack the personal commitment and relationship with Christ.  

Retail Consumer Christians

The second category of church goers is like those who are serious in searching thoroughly the catalogues or through computer concerning a particular commodity or goods which they desire to purchase. They are not the window shoppers who do not wish to commit. These retail consumer Christians are those having studied and finally ended up purchasing the particular item for self consumption. This brings satisfaction to them. They will likely come back again and again to patronize the shop. However, they are not at all concerned of sharing with others their new found products. Every day and opportunity they will seek and ask for prayers, benefits and blessings either from God or the church with little action of themselves committing to become a blessing to others.

Shop Keeper Christians

There are very few of such category of people found in the church today. I will refer them as the shop keeper Christians. They are not consumers but owners of the shop. They make sure their goods can sell and hopefully sell at a good rate. They take ownership of the products and making sure that they are personally present to sell their products. Good advertisement and quality control are also on the top of their priority list so that they can expect continuous good sale for a long time. They are serious to make things work. They are the ones committing to Christ and willing to walk the second mile.

Which type of Christian are you?

We who are window shopping Christians will need to progress to the next level as retail consumer Christians. If we are still at the retail consumer Christians level, then we should be moving on to become shop keeper Christians. At this level we should take ownership of our lives and actions and to keep them in line with God’s word, the truth, so that all of us can be bless – Jesus is blessed, others are blessed, and we are blessed. 

In order for the above categories to move from one level to the next, there must be a deliberate intention to be equipped with the essential ministries of the church – with the acronym L.E.T. – Leading with Vision; Equipping with Precision and Strength; Training with Confidence.

Leading with Vision

Without vision, people will be confused and scattered. (Prov 29:18) Every church will need to have a clear vision from the Lord for the people. So many churches become inward looking and irrelevant because there is no prophetic vision, thus church decline will inevitably set in. Every church must be able to see (at least has planned towards) where she is heading and where she will be in 10 or 20 years’ time. Without clear vision, the people are not going to know what to do next and which training programme or activity is necessary and suitable. When people are not led with vision, people will get frustrated and leave for another pasture. Does our church have a vision? Window shopping is not any vision at all. We must first get the vision from the Lord and then own it. This can come from seeking the Lord and having a close and intimate fellowship with Him. Spending time with Him possibly in contemplation, solitude or silence is helpful and essential.

Equipping with Precision and Strength

There are many types of equipping tools. Only those that can equip with wholesome modules or programmes will be able to bring suitable and good result that leads to strength and courage. Haphazard equipping or equipment will often result in poorly coordinated practices with weak basis. We should not go for goods that are only with beautiful packaging on the outside and poor and inferior ingredients on the inside. Similarly in church ministry, we need to seek good equipping personnel and modules. We should go for the best and do our best. In the handling of God’s word with the equipping of the saints, it is proper to do it through a good and thorough system where we can grow and benefit from it, and at the same time able to share and bless others. Spending time to read and study the Bible and handling it properly is most crucial. Self growing is not sufficient. It is essential to grow together with others in the fold.   

Training in Confidence

Large portion of church goers are not confident in articulating their faith or the gospel alone. Some are not comfortable to pray aloud or in public. Proper and good training must be introduced to churches to raise the standard of confidence. A well and steady articulation of one’s faith and gospel can only result with a confident learner and trainee. Similarly, training with confidence is prerequisite to good foundation and future development. Proper and precision training is necessary in order to raise the confidence level of the trainee. A cook will surely have greater confidence if he can master his tools and cooking skills. The level of mastery is comparable that of the surgery knives in the hands of the surgeon in a successful operation. This is ownership which can be employed for greater benefit. Self awareness, God awareness, Spirit sensitive, and obedience are inseparable ingredients for training in confidence and balance.

All glory to God in the Highest!

A SUSTAINABLE MINISTRY OF THE WORD

A SUSTAINABLE MINISTRY OF THE WORD

Lately there are lots of reports of increasing crimes in the nation while at the same time we were told by some government authorities that the crime rate in the country has dipped greatly. What was said and what is actually on the ground are two entirely different impressions. Both Jesus and the Pharisees of his time read the same Bible but both had different actions and reactions. How is this possible? Is it the problem of interpretations? Is it the problem of the readers? Is it only a mistaken interpretation of the outward expressions which in fact are similar inwardly? The existence of so many churches and sects and religious groups seem to auger many differences – are they really different? Everyone claims that he is having the right interpretation so who is actually correct and true?   

When I was in the primary school days, I was taught the basics mathematics such as ‘one plus one is two’ and ‘one times one is one’. We all took it by faith without query or argument. When I entered university, I was taught that what we learnt from primary school days such as ‘no numeral can be divided by zero’ is not true anymore. In university, we learnt that it is now possible to divide anything by zero. Just when we were young, we are taught that we can and should eat all the meat of the fish which is edible and to leave behind the bones which cannot be eaten. After the invention of pressure cookers, now even the bones of any fish can also be eaten and somewhat crispy too.

In order for any ministry to be sustainable, proper, correct and relevant procedures and tools must be utilized and employed. For example, it is not suitable to use new wine for old wine-skin. It will be the same for the Ministry of the Word of God. The Word of God did not change but the methodology employed may be questionable. I will try to relate three essential manners where the sustainability of the Ministry of the Word can be and must be maintained, namely the person using it, the methodology in use, and the environment where it was used.

• A big emphasis is on the user – the person using the Word and his lifestyle – where his credibility and character is heavily scrutinized these days. It is almost (though there may be a few exceptions of repented ones) like asking a thief to teach others how to keep money safe – how prudence it is? In today’s situation, it is not the fault of church members or members of the society to distrust and develop a bias attitude towards someone whose background and character is seriously in question. Taking after the Penang Government slogan – Competency, Accountability and Transparency (C.A.T.) – I believe it does spell out a lot of what everyone is looking for in the person of the User of the Word of God. It is not only C.A.T. for others to see rather for oneself to emulate and acquire. We need to be competent in the study of the Word of God and the operation of it. Paul told Timothy to be competent in 2 Timothy 2:15 – “correctly handles the Word of Truth”; and in Colossians 3:23 Paul stressed on accountability – “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”; and in 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul urged all to be transparent by imitating him as he imitates Christ.
• Another essential emphasis is on the methodology employed. In any game, players without question normally adhere to the guidelines and policy of the game. The integrity of the game can be preserved when every player submits and abides by the rules and policy. Havoc and chaos will arise when one party or anyone of the player breaks the rule and runs foul of the policy. Similarly, for the sustainability of the Ministry of the Word, everyone must adhere and subscribe to the right rule of the game of interpretation and exegetical procedures. How can we accept a portion of the Bible as true and another portion as false? One either accepts it in total or not at all. I have received comments from people who only believe the Gospels are true but not the other epistles. On the contrary, I have also received comments from people who only accept the teachings of Paul and rather like to leave out the Gospels. Greater respect is for the person who either accepts the Bible as the true Word of God or as a religious story book or any ordinary book. It is just against the rule of the game of believing the Bible is partly true and partly false. For example, you cannot call a strange creature human when 80% of it is human (with human body, legs and hands) and 20% of it is of an eagle (its head is of an eagle). Proper exegesis and exposition is required for a good and proper interpretation of the Word of God relevant for today.      
• The emphasis on the environment where the Word is being used is equally important and crucial. The environment setting is where the action takes place – the rubber hits the road. This is usually associated with cultures and traditions. What is done in one place does not necessarily need to be repeated exactly in another situation. For example, we today do not need to insist in burying our dead in caves as in the days of Jesus; or riding on donkeys as the mode of transport for today. The Word of God must transcend culture, tradition, environment and situation while at the same time can still be relevant and impactful to the people both in the past and the present. Its principle must be adopted and taken out into a ‘timeless zone’ and re-adopt itself in modern and today’s clothing and practices. For example, the scribes of the olden days copied the scripture by hand and with ink, and today we can copy it with photocopier or download with cut & paste features through computers. It will be ineffective if we still insist on writing and copying by hand. 

There is no easy pathway to the sustainability of the Ministry of the Word. This tedious journey is necessary through proper channel of training, adopting right methodology of interpretation and translating appropriately to the situation of the time and place.

Most appropriate to read the whole Bible at least once from cover to cover, if not, many times over.
Most appropriate to learn and use inductive Bible study method, so that, each person can feed himself with the Word of God.
Most appropriate to learn theology systematically in order to interpret and translate it contextually and indigenously.  

Any short-cut will inevitably lead to some sort of dysfunctional behavior or lack of authenticity and power. Let’s look at Jesus and the Pharisees and we can surely detect the great different between their behaviour and actions. 

Lerdie's Commencement and US Visit

It all began on the 5th May 2013. Joshua, Sarah, Bisfe and I went to Ipoh to cast our votes at the GE13 at SMK Seri Putra, Fair Park, Ipoh. Soon after that we left Ipoh for KL and got ready to fly to Houston. Our flight (only for Bisfe and I) was at 2.00am on the 6th May 2013. However, we have to be at the airport before 12 midnight. We checked in two luggage bags with 15kg each. The allowable luggage in Emirates flight to US is two 23kg bags for each person. The flight took 6 1/2 hours to get to Dubai. At Dubai we wait four hours before we took off again straight to Houston for 15 1/2 hours. This is the longest direct flight we have ever taken. I couldn't sleep on the KL-Dubai flight. Each time when I am about to doze off, it seemed that it was time to have meals. On the Dubai-Houston flight, I tried to get some sleep but it was day-time for us in Malaysia. My body clock did not want to sleep. So I have watched so many movies - more than all the ten years put together. I don't go to movies in Malaysia unless on very special occasions. After a long flight, we finally reached Houston. Everything was smooth including immigration and custom clearance. The Houston (George Bush Intercontinental) Airport was not crowded on the 6th May at about 4.30pm (US time which is 13 hours behind Malaysia). We waited for the Wangs to come and collect us. They finally came from Sugar Land (about 40 minutes journey) after about 45 minutes waiting. The weather was just nice and cool.

At the Wangs in Sugar Land, we slept for a few hours and have to get up so to avoid awakening at night. Dinner was at a restaurant in Sugar Land. The following day Grace Wang took us to visit her church Fort Bend Chinese Community Church and the Asian market (known as 99 Ranch) and have beef noodle lunch. We stayed at home after that until SP Wang returned from work. In the evening we went to the Sugar Land Mall. It was big but quite deserted, possibly not weekend. 

On the third day (8th May) the Wangs drove us to College Station and dropped us at Lerdie's place in University Place. We stayed in Lerdie's room in her little apartment with three other friends of Lerdie's. Lerdie stayed with Isbeth and her other flatmates. We cooked a meal for all that evening. 

On the 9th May, we went out to shopping in College Station Mall where Lerdie bought two dresses for her graduation and evening Malaysian party. We visited the home of Lerdie's Mentor, Ken and Judy, from the ICF. In the evening we went to the Malaysian party for the Malaysian graduates. There were about 20+ Malaysian studying in A&M Texas. Eight of them were graduating this year. Lerdie was one of them. We have sumptuous Malaysian food. It was raining heavily which was unusual for College Station. The good thing was the party was held indoor. A couple of Malaysian families too came to attend their children's graduation were there too. Joshua came after the party because his plane was delayed. He came from Singapore and took a Ground Shuttle to College Station from Houston Airport. Simon, a Malaysian student reading his doctorate in A&M, took us in his car to the party and back.

On the 10th May, it was Lerdie's Commencement at 2.00pm. We took college coach to University and walked to the Reed Arena (it is an indoor sport stadium) where the Commencement was held. It was the third of the seven commencements for that Spring. Lerdie's Commencement was attended by thousands of people with about 1000 people graduating. Many photos were taken. Everyone was happy. 

On the 11th May, Joshua's friend from Dallas drove to College Station and stayed with us. He took us around the University. We visited all the places where Lerdie been before and studied. Surely we could not miss the Physics Building. It was a tiring and hot day for us. We walked a lot in the campus which is big and huge. In the evening Lerdie has a farewell party for her friends and CF members in her apartment ground near the swimming pool. It was a great success where everything turned out great and food was all consumed leaving little behind. It was a good and satisfied and tiring night. 

On the 12th May, which was Sunday, Lerdie's Korean church member, Vivian, took us to Grace Bible Church. We attended the morning English service. It was a huge church and lively. At 11.00am, I was invited to preach in the Chinese service, mainly of people from mainland China. It was not a large church but cosy enough and with lots of activities. Pastor Fu himself is from China and he came three years ago to pastor the Chinese church. We have lunch after the service in the church through pot-luck style. In the afternoon, the Wangs came from Sugar Land and took all of us and our luggage to Houston via Austin. It took 2+ hours from College Station to Austin and another 3+ hours from Austin to Sugar Land. In Austin we went to the Capitol, the centre of Austin and the University of Texas. We met with Tina, the daughter of the Wangs, over a dinner at a Mexican Food outlet, known as Golden Chorral. We reached Houston at about midnight.

On the 13th May, we went to the Holocaust Museum in Houston and later to NASA Johnson Space Centre and spend the whole day there. It was a good visit with lots of information and knowledge acquired. On our way back we were supposed to visit Galleria shopping centre but the car broke down half way. It was a miracle with our car broke down just in front of an Auto Centre shop. There was also a mechanic (who is a hispanic) who helped us to fix up the car. The radiator fan was having problem and caused the water to heat up stalling the car. We managed to get home after dinner minus the Galleria shopping.

The following morning on the 14th May, Joshua and Lerdie flew off to Boston and later to New York by themselves. They booked a taxi to fetch them to the airport. We went for a morning walk in Sugar Creek residential area in the morning after Joshua and Lerdie left. It was a refreshing time. In the afternoon we went to the Prosperity Bank, Walmart and Asian Market. 

On the 15th May we went to China town for lunch and a visit Christian book shop. In the evening we went to Lakewood Church for their Wednesday service. There were many people about half the stadium - maybe 5000+ people. Joel Osteen was not the speaker but he was there to introduce a speaker, Marcus, from Dallas. It was a live on TV series. 

On the 16th May we went to Chinatown for lobster lunch. It was very delicious. Later in the afternoon we got all our luggage (in total 4 big ones and one small one and a guitar) into Wangs car and head on to Houston airport. We managed to get everything through smoothly and flew at 4.30pm. This time we have a good sleep from Houston to Dubai stretch. Finally we reached KL at about 8.30am on the 18th May. 

My Reflection: 

  

We have a wonderful time in Houston and College Station. The Wangs were excellent and wonderful. They went all the way to entertain us. They even went to College Station and from there took us to Austin (2+hours drive) and from Austin back ti Houston (3+hours drive). The next day they took us to Nasa Space Centre and on the way back, their car gave up and the radiator fan was jammed. Fortunately we stopped right infront of the Auto Centre shop where they sell all vehicle parts. Outside the shop there was also a mobile mechanic (I think God has sent him - he was a hispanic). He helped us to fix up the car and finally after more than an hour, the car was fixed and on the road again. The next day after Jia Lerd and Tarng Jiun have left for airport to Boston, we went for a walk around the Sugar Land housing area. Later Aunty Grace took us to the bank to cash the cheque which was given by Pastor Fu of Grace Bible Church. From there we went to Walmart and Asia Market to do some shopping. The following day we flew off back to Malaysia. The luggage were many - 4 big bags and one smaller hand carry luggage and one guitar. We manage to take home all of Jia Lerd's barang barang which she has packed earlier for us to take. The Wangs gave us three luggage bags and many smaller items including 3 pairs of new shoes for me, a tubberware container and many hiasan for makmai. In fact she wanted to give us more things but we couldn't carry them any more. Before we reached KL, I have messaged Margaret to arrange for Andrew Lai's van to carry all our luggage. The Mercedes or Honda surely cannot contain all these luggage. 

My memories of this trip are many. 

1.   Meeting the Wangs who are so wonderful as host and friends. This is our first time of meeting.

2.   Been to A&M (Howdy) Aggie University - though their buildings are not exciting at all. 

3.   Attended the Commencement of Lerd. It was held in a stadium which they called Reed Arena.

4.   Went to Austin - even though it is for a short while.

5.   Met Tina (Wang's daughter)

6.   Spoke at Grace Bible Church Chinese section and attended Grace Bible church English section.

7.   Visited Nasa Johnson Space Centre.

8.   Visited Walmart.

9.   Visited Houston and tasted the best lobsters in Houston.

10. Visited Lakewood church (America's largest church) and saw Joel and Victoria Osteen. 

Though I didn't buy anything for myself but I have three pairs of new and good leather shoes.

Bisfe's reflection:

It was indeed a refreshing & blessed trip! We truly experiencing God's greatness throughout our journey in Texas!

When we were in Austin, we went to the Capitol & walk around the park; visited University of Texas, Austin where Tina studied her Computer Sc degree and currently she is still studying part time there for her MBA. She is an ambitious young & sweet lady, out spoken and approachable!

When we were in Houston, before visiting the NASA space center  we visited the Jews Holocaust Museum. Saw the ugly and cruel part of some human being and the awful past of those who suffered.

We thank God for this special privilege of visiting Texas! Praise God for guiding Jia Lerd all these years, providing her all her needs which includes all the friends and church members around her. Many have good comments about her. Glad to know she has lived her life to the fullest while she was in US almost 3 years (Left in Aug 2010). 

Lerdie, wondering whether you still remember when you received JPA offer in 2008 May, it was exactly on Mother's Day and this year, I just wish to say, " You have given makmai the BEST mother's Day gift by graduating with a satisfying result!" and a wonderful trip to Texas! 

All Glory to Him!