Deep Joy

Service and Farewell

The worship time was awesome! Sue Anne and the team put together songs that built into P.Josh’s message and into our leaving…It was a memorable time of worship for me- reminiscent of my first time worshiping in Hbeat with Daniel Lin as worship leader.

The second last song left me on my knees…but not for long. I had to stand because the next song challenged me to take faith in Jesus to the nations. We can’t stay on our knees for long. We must get up and walk out of the building with that worship for the next person.

Vicky did a fantastic job with announcements. She made it look easy. The ushers were very friendly and warm. The AVA; PA guys were slick as!

Every single one of your testimonies, including...the fun games, the sincere words, the letters, the video, the cards, the songs and the dances…all have been registered deep in our hearts.

Let’s take Jesus to the nations. Some of you will go. Some of you will stay, send, encourage and provide. But all of us must give to those who’ve not heard.

This Psalm was prayed over our lives before we went back to Oz.

‘May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine upon us,
that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.

May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you.
may the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples justly
and guide the nations of the earth.
May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you.

Then the land will yield its harvest,
and God, our God, will bless us.
God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth will fear him. (ps. 67)’

Cecilia and I have learnt (we know Ailing says a Big Amen here too) that with all the tough times, dips, failures and challenges one must face up to when doing youth ministry; the rewards more than compensate the sacrifice on our part.

Leadership

Reflecting with one of the Core Team this week, for many months, and perhaps years, we didn’t connect at a very deep level. But then when stuff was stripped away, and we risked being real to each other, there was trust and friendship. More than that, we became Disciples of Christ, brothers and sisters sharing the same Father through Jesus Christ.

I believe happened also in the wider leadership of Heartbeat and SJSM. At a certain point in our time in SJSM, commitment levels broke through and we could teach each other; trust each other; rely on each other. With many SJSM leaders, we could go deep and experience the ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ relationship that Christ promised to all who followed Him.