Well… we had a combined cells outing to Sentosa (where the sun always burns) and that was kinda fun although the hot sun was not fun at all. and then in late april / early may, Pastor Mark Finley from GC came over to hold a series of Evangelistic meetings here in Singapore. Ultimately, it culminated in a baptismal service that saw a total of 52 people getting baptised. WOAH! That’s a whole lot of dunking! I had never before seen so many people get dunked in one sitting. haha. So here’s some pics from Sentosa that I dug up. AND YOU!! If YOU’RE reading this and you attend Jurong youth activities, we want YOU to help blog! like seriously. haha! contact me or pk then we can get you started =) i’m sure i’m one of the world’s best bloggers but its nice to share the limelight, eh? haha… you know i’m just kidding!

here’s a shot of the group games, where we had to shut our eyes (on fear of getting slimed by half-rotten bananas and who-knows-what) and let the leader direct us past booby traps of other unmentionables. ewww..

i actually think this photo has a very idyllic quality. just imagine: tropical music playing in the background. and a voice-over going: “the beach is just nice, your friends are here basking in the glorious sun,” then i go, “so where the bl**dy h*ll are you??”  hahahaha yeah i’m perfect for the role! tourism sentosa goooo!

and to round off the post, here’s a nice group photo with the people who went, posing with the screaming head popping out of the sand. awesome shot!! take care guys~ praying for you all this week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtweZxNGk1Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3LFBqvvW-M

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Having made the gifts prior to the actual day, we could focus our energy with the preparation and cooking of yummy and simple dishes for the boys. The plan was to make aglio oilo and a plate of sweet dessert (waffles + ice cream + sticky balls + grapes) but there wasn’t enough olive oil to make aglio oilo, our grapes went missing and somebody moves the ice cream from the freezer to the fridge which melts our nice ice cream. What a disaster! The girls tried our best to modify the dishes and add in extra love while we prepare the food to make up for it. J

The boys went first to present their appreciation for us. (The girl’s rational is that we are too lazy to set up the table and decoration so we let the boys go first which allow us to reuse whatever they have done. =p) The band was all ready to play and sing for us as we enter the room. They ROCK!

The boys served us tomato soup + garlic bread along with pizza + rice balls. I like the tomato soup a lot! Can anyone send me the recipe please! Though the food is good, most of the girls in my table can’t finish our food considering that we just have lunch 2 hours ago.

In between meals and songs, Brian Ramdas entertain us with silly jokes. (Better jokes next time k?)

Finally, it’s the girls turn to show our appreciation for the boys! The boys complain that our pasta is too spicy and ask for drinks. So bad meh? Instead of live music, we have games for the boys to participate in then it was time for the cute gifts presentation!

I still don’t understand the reason but the boys got the girls to sat down again after they received their gift and serve us our yummy dessert proudly make by Jimmy and Davin.

Lastly, the girls received our gifts- windmill! I was entertained by the windmill for hours after that. Christon even made me another windmill a few days later so now I have 2 to play with! I think it’s really awesome that the youth and young adults came together to plan and execute Brother- Sister Day. I think we should have more collaboration!

The event ended with everyone being entertained by Aunty Pik Yee as she spin round and round with her windmill and smiling like a 5 years old. J

For more picture, please visit our gallery: http://gallery.jurongadventist.org/2009/brother-sister_day

First met up early early in the morning in church to run around being happy and to wait for the bus to arrive, to take us to the ferry terminal. For some reason everyone but me managed to bring really tiny bags (ie: no larger than a backpack)!!

And so we were split into 2 busloads and partnered in 2’s and 3’s, so if we lose someone the lost someone would have another lost someone to talk to while being looked for. After getting there and being assigned our rooms, we put down our stuff and were split into 2 groups (red and yellow), then started cooking maggi mee in the bbq pit with mass tins!! Okay, from my team mostly Wayne and Shannon gave instructions while we all followed and fanned the pit with all our might, because nobody else has experience with it

It was the best maggi mee ever.

Made the team flag after lunch with sticks and markers. Salamanders VS the LCJS!

After that it was time for games!

First off wrote our team names on a big piece of cardboard, then cut it up into little pieces. Then proceeded to me (for my team, who was yelling for the other team..??) screaming my lungs out to my blindfolded team members who had to run around half-cocked (literally!) looking for the little pieces and putting them together. And Salamanders won! Yay us!

After that, went to the chess grounds and played King’s Checkers (Yellow won!), then went to the courtyard for a game that was kind of like a relay race, except it involved spinning around with a hula hoop and SEARCHING FOR A TINY ROCK IN A BOX OF MEAL WORMS BLINDFOLDED (so sad can’t find the pictures of worms!!!!!). So we got gloves, but that doesn’t stop you from FEELING THE WORMS THROUGH THE THIN PLASTIC AHHHH!!!!!

Went back for dinner with more maggi mee, had cold showers, threw chopsticks and broken matchsticks around the table, played cards, and then it was time for the first tribal council! Gathered up group and Salamander flag, then trooped up to the tribal council area on the hill (so grand!). Candles were lit all around and we played Truth or Dare while people went through to the back to vote on the most helpful team member…

The first day was super fun all over with thanks to Christon, the planning team, and all the people who attended <3

The survivor video Part 1 of 3 (thank you jeremy!!!) can be viewed by clicking on this sentence (:
[just click next on the video to get to part 2 and 3]

let’s give some background on this Pay It Forward, shall we!! Firstly, you might have heard of the movie with the same title, starring Haley Joel Osmont (sp?) of Sixth Sense fame (i see dead people). The movie narrates the story of a boy, who for a school project, initiates a altruistic scheme, which starts small but has vast potential to snowball. Basically, he does a good deed for 3 different people, and these 3 people will have to, in turn, pay the good deed forward, by helping another 3 souls. Hence the name!!

So!! Jurong church organised a one-day event in collaboration with the Yuhua Community, and with special VIP MP: Mrs Grace Yu Foo Yee Shoon!! Involving about 90 recepients from low-income families, a special food hamper cum goodie bag was prepared especially for them. On Sunday morning, they were invited to our church, given free health screenings, and for their family members too! they then attended a speech by Mrs Fu, and were personally handed vouchers by her, which they could then exchange for the food hampers.

i helped out with the health checkup station, and handled the height measuring station with finesse and utter professionalism! at the health check point were also aunty Arlene, Pastor Ericksson, Ruth, Nathaniel (photog), and some other aunties i don’t know (haha oops). the people came in droves but it was pretty fun (i’m just glad i wasn’t in charge of the body fat percentage measurers. those machines are horrors). i also helped to translate some health advice to chinese aunties (cos one of the ACS aunties was indonesian) that was pretty COOL!!

BUT we are coming to the point!! throughout the entire process of Pay It Forward, starting from packing of the food hampers (which included scooping rice and lovingly unwrapping mandarin oranges) to moving the hideously heavy parcels from point to point, to greeting and manning the registration and other booths, to ushering and even acting as a beauty queen (i.e. Truddy), and to following the families back to the houses and helping them carry their food hampers, the YOUTH of Jurong Church helped out mightily!! (no joke hor, one serving of food hampers consisted of 2 large canvas packs weighing about 5kg each, (my rough estimation ok)) Thank God for all the help.. haha. and Thank you everyone who helped out!!! Mr. Cheang promises NUTS!!!! NUTS FOR EVERYONE!!!~~

Now for some gratuitous shots =)

three girls forming an unsuccessful human chain to pass MMMM Korean Kimchi Ramen!!!

while en route to Jurong East MRT Stesen, Tricia eats hair

acting like tourists on the mrt (look!! we even have orchids!!! the emblem of tourists!)

more orchid power

ok the orchids are gone but the tourist feel remains

to round off this splendid amazing awesome post, here is a picture of unbridled brotherly love. <3. one, two, three, everyone say: AWWWW…

(PS Bernice!!! u are lagging!!! haha i have already posted on January event and u havent post December Survivor!!)

(OH PPS!!! Feb 7 we’ll be having the first POWER UP for 2009!! be sure to come, there’ll be “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” in the evening..!!!)

Okie that’s that for the last month of last year which is last year which isn’t what this post is about :p

The overview of 2009 Jurong Youth Ministry (JYM) events are out! Check the youth calendar for dates. Some stuff to look forward to will be the monthly “Power Up!” AYPs, Mark Finley’s (!) Evangelistic Meetings, Jurong Church Camp (in June) and a Jurong Youth Mission Trip (!) towards the end of the year! Okie I won’t spill more beans =P have a look at the calendar yourself, there are many more activities and events.

Cell group was good last year? Let aim to make it better this year! By God’s grace we have many new people coming to join us weekly therefore a need to split up our ever growing cell groups! A small size Cell Group will allow each of us more time to be heard during our meetings and smaller groups are cosier! =) In 2008 we had 4 Cell groups; in 2009 we’re planning to have 6 Cell groups (hopefully! *pray*) We’re (the Youth Leaders/Servants) still trying to figure out the best fit of everyone so that Cell Group Meetings will be something we all look forward to… forgive us if we mess up your initial fitting, if we do don’t hesitate to talk to your current Cell Group Leader.

These are the aspects we considered when splitting the Cell Groups:

1. We put your in a cell where we feel you will be comfortable in (of cause we might not know better so do let us know)
2. We put you in a cell which we feel you can grow spiritually (this is important and thus sometimes the reason we put you in a cell which you might feel “out of your comfort zone”)
3. We try out best to put you with your friends, people around your age, studying the same stuff you do and with similar interest.
4. We tried to put the best leaders we think can facilitate your Cell Group… ok actually we didn’t “put”, the leaders choose their own cells… see that only means they really want to do it and are committed to putting in their very best for you :p

Yep that’s the tip of the ice berg for 2009! Stay tuned.

- pk

On the Saturday of 8th November, Jurong youth made their way to West Coast park to play some games with required more space. We started off with songs led by Christon and Joash (who organised the entire outing including games).

The first game we played was Last Train Standing, which included the leaders of 5 trains of people playing rock paper sciccors, the group that lost surrendering the last people in their train to the winning team. In the end, there was one long train of people. This hilights Romans 12:5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ.

The second game we played required us to split into groups of 3, and each group was labeled with a character in the bible. Other groups then acted out the character so the former would be able to guess. On top of being fun, this also helped us all to understand and learn more about the characters and their roles in the bible.

Finally, we played the old favourite eagle catch the chicks (lao ying zhua xiao ji?) with 3 groups. It represents God wanting us to give up our material possessions, but we being stubborn don’t.

Overall, it was aenjoyable and helped us learn alot more from the bible (: