Heart (hard) Lessons

I must say that throughout all the meetings we had
This would be the most 'impactful' one (to me, at least)
Hence, the title of this post.
But why, you may ask?
Well continue reading then :)
I'm sure those who were there at the meeting might know a little of what I mean

The day started with Linda and Laura's belated salvations testimonies
They're both sisters who grew up in this very church
Linda's the elder one who used to be really mischievous and would lie or steal to get what she wanted. Because of the lack of love and financial support from her family then, she started to feel her self-confidence drifting away and thought herself inferior to do anything. She did accept the Lord at a young age, when she was in a camp. However, she always doubted whether she was truly saved by the Man who died for her sins, considering she never really felt washed away from her sins. It was not an overnight change, she tells us. Gradually, she started to build her relationship to know this Man personally and learn from the good & even the bad experiences. Before her own eyes, her family relationship started to improve. Now she takes God's word seriously and help mentor those in need.

Laura, on the other hand, had always felt rejected amongst her friends during her primary school times and didn't feel that she rightly belonged anywhere. When she started to attend MIF (our church teenage fellowship), the love and sense of belonging she felt there touched her life. She was encouraged to read the Bible which told her that God is in control of all things. She began to serve Him through MIF and still continues to faithfully serve. Now when she feels down, she knows the Lord is always there for her.

After their sharing, D-Way taught us some rope and paper tools that may help us during our trip as we share and evangelize to the children who do have short attention spans.
There's a picture of my 'tearing cross'
and the other was a 'Cut & Restore' rope illustration.
Hope you guys have been practicing and perfecting your 'skills'.

The week before, D-Way asked each of us to bring a favorite piece of clothing or the most expensive piece from our closet.
So each of us obediently brought what we liked best and shared why we chose that piece out of the lot. We had from ManU jerseys to expensive sweaters to even pillow cases (even though it isn't considered clothing...dun worry May people won't know it's you *cough*)
After we talked about our reasons...
D-way said nonchalantly, "Okay can i use that plastic bag?"
You see this plastic bag? We're going to put what we've all brought today and bring it to Phillipines because we're going to give it to the person we think needs it.............
Well the reason why there's so many dots there is because I didn't clearly hear what he said after that.
I'm not sure how hard it was for you guys, but...
To be real and honest, i found it hard to give away that piece of clothing I brought
I never thought it would be this hard, indeed it has hit straight to the heart
Things need to be sorted out with the Lord who was willing to give His only Son away

I guess this is partly what Jesus meant when he said in Luke 9:23-25,

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"

The meeting then closed with some rules & regulations of what to bring and not bring on the trip
As well as an encouragement from D-Way to come back from Philippines without our luggages and only with the things on our backs!
God always gives us more than what we've bargained for, doesn't He?

Signing off, Xinn