jenlee's week 10

hey folks!

lots of thanksgiving this week...

1. All of my first round of assignments (papers and presentations) except one have been graded and I want to praise God for favour! I've done well, achieving the highest grade. I really thank God because I know that He has enabled me to succeed despite the challenges of academic reading and writing. In my journalism and communications research, my teacher asked if my literature review could be put on the course website as an example of good work. Glory to God! Please pray that I will continue to do my best and not be complacent - I have two more papers and one group presentation coming up the next week!

2. For last Friday's lifegroup, we screened the movie The Passion of the Christ. We were encouraged to invite friends and on the way to school on Thursday, I felt prompted to invite the guy sitting next to me on the bus. I was a little reluctant because he seemed like the quiet sort and was wearing tinted glasses so I couldn't gauge his expression with certainty. I told God: Lord, if You really want me to invite him, can you give me a little nudge through the devotion material that I'm reading? (I didn't have a chance to read Bible at home that morning because I woke up late)

As it turned out, the devotion had not one, not two, but THREE mentions of reaching out to others. First in the reflection section: "Having peace with God propels us to go and share His peace with others", then in the application section: "Ask God to enable you to preach peace to those who are near and to those who are far away" and finally in the prayer section: "Help me to share this good news with others".

Well, with such clear signs, I knew I had to proceed to talk to the guy so I just prayed for an opening. I had the idea to just talk to my housemate, who was sitting in front of me, telling her: "Eh Van, did you know today is Earth Day? Happy Earth Day!" I felt a little lame doing that because I've already told her that, but it worked to get the guy's attention - he looked over and we started talking!

His name is Yu Liang, he's a physics PhD student from China - we spoke about his research, about movies, about environmental issues, family etc...He has a wife and young son here in Brisbane. As we left the bus, I wrote him my contact details at the back of the invitation for the movie and he agreed to keep in touch. Over email, i learnt that his english name is Matthew and he chose it because it's from the bible - he's interested in philosophy, in particular the bible and buddha! He suggested that we meet up on weekends to exchange views since I'm a Christian. Isn't it amazing when God opens doors?

He was actually going to come for the movie, but because he didn't confirm it with me beforehand (he doesn't carry a mobile), i missed him at the bus stop where he was waiting. But it just goes to show that people can be so willing to come for evangelistic events, if we would only just ask. I'm going to invite him to bring his kid to my church this sunday because we're having a Kids For Christ open house. Pls pray he and his wife will come, and that I will be able to share with him what I believe.

3. On Sunday, I misplaced my diary at some point during or after service. It was a bit distressing because I have my prepaid transport card and a couple of other important documents in there. I asked my lifegroup members to pray that it would be found. Praise the Lord it was found and returned to the church office :) Please pray I will be more careful with my things. I have resolved to carry less things / have a bigger bag so that things don't fall out :) I was using a pretty shallow bag that had no zips or anything.

4. Finally, I want to thank God for an amazing revelation that came about through Facebook. I had reposted an invitation to a Yum Cha outing that I was considering to go and a friend commented on it. His friend, who works as a nurse in a hospital in Singapore, saw his comment and recognised me as a patient from two years ago when I was admitted during a manic phase of my bipolar condition. She messaged me saying she was glad that I was doing well. I wrote her back to ask what she remembered about me since I have an idea to write a book about my experience.

Her reply blew me away:
"Hi Jen! I definitely remember you cos your admission really left a deep impact in me! I remember you sobbing and scared so I sang 'Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus' to try calm you down when we were alone and I was amazed when you started singing it too. That's how I knew you were Christian, and I knew you were in good hands of our Lord."

Reading that just brought brought tears to my eyes to know that God sent someone to minister to me through that song...just on sunday, in my service here, we had sung that song and on monday, I get the message from the nurse. isn't that amazing?

Indeed, He is so faithful, even in our darkest times, when i was incoherent and out of it, He was always there... I do recall someone praying over me, saying "keep the faith" - maybe it was that nurse...
The friend she knows is the guy i went diving with a few weeks ago. what a small small world...and if not for that posting about the Yum Cha outing (which i didn't even end up going in the end), the nurse would not have messaged me and I wouldn't have known about how tenderly God cared for me when i had my breakdown...

I see God's hand all over this...All praise to Him :)

I share this in the hope that it will encourage those of you who may feel all alone in your dark times. He is there. He is always there. and He loves you.
As King David said in 2 Samuel 22:29 "You are my lamp, O LORD;
the LORD turns my darkness into light."

I especially appreciate how it says "my" darkness. God knows the particular darkness that we each go through..and no matter how we feel no one can understand, God does. May the light of Jesus' love shine in your heart today and always - amen.

In-Christ,
jenlee

jenlee's week 9

Hey everyone,
this update will probably be short cuz I worked on a class presentation until 530am this morning and only got about 5 hours of sleep...so i should hit the sack sooner than later :)

but it's important that I give praise to God for seeing me through the week, so here goes:

1. On Wed I joined people from my church (specifically the folks from the uni outreach group called Campus Christian Movement) to go around campus offering prayer to students. We would also write them encouraging messages on notecards and give out some candy (which people here call "lollies"). The aim is to be a blessing to them as they go through midterm exams, which are happening around this time. This was the first time I was doing something like this and I wasn't sure what the reception would be like.

I really thank God that He opened the door for prayer in many students as we went around in pairs or threes. There were a few who declined prayer but most of them expressed appreciation. Within just 15 minutes or so, I was able to pray on the spot for 4 people - Heidi, Chris, Liz and Os. Please pray they will cast their cares on God, for He cares for them (1 Peter 5:7 this was the verse that I wrote on their notecards) and that this little act of random kindness will bear eternal fruit in their lives. amen :)


2. At some point in the week, i enjoyed a good conversation online with my friend H. Sometimes, I feel that I have deeper talks with people when I'm not physically in the same place. It doesn't always happen, but when it does, it's great. My friend is looking for a job in an unfamiliar field, after a mid-career change that was sort of unexpected due to misjudgement. It will be challenging, please pray for H to master the steep learning curve, and for H to experience the love and compassion of God, who is a God of second chances. God knows what H's passion is and I believe H will be able to get back to that one day.

3. I've been having a somewhat challenging time in a couple of my classes. Not because of the workload (although that can be pretty heavy and prayer is always appreciated for my readings and assignments) but because there is quite a prevalent anti-Christian sentiment that is expressed through the discussion topics.
For example, just the other day, my lecturer said the abstinence strategy, advocated by the church, to fight the spread of Aids is "crazy" because it's going against what's "natural". I tried to speak up, but my words just seemed hollow and I ended up saying something like "abstinence is not crazy, it can work in some circumstances" - which is really quite lame actually, but I just didn't wan to keep quiet as if I agreed.

Another more problematic topic is how the Aboriginal people of Australia have gone through much oppression in the past from people who called themselves Christians. Their race was considered inferior and so, for 60 years, it was government policy to take children from their parents, and put them to live with white people in order to breed out the indigenous race. The children were not allowed to speak their language and were forced to give up their culture. A national enquiry in the 1990s by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission found that "many of the people who managed the removals, including both the government and churches, abused their power and breached their supposed obligations as protectors and ‘carers’". In light of this, it's not surprising that Christianity is rejected as being oppressive.

I've encountered this in the US during my studies at UC Berkeley before where the early settlers, again in the name of what they believed was their "manifest destiny", did terrible things to the native american people. In Berkeley, I stopped expressing my Christian convictions. I don't want to do that here. Please pray for wisdom for me as I sort out how my faith relates to these issues.


I have questions of how I should respond to the issues that Aboriginal people are facing today e.g. they want to restore their culture, which is animistic. One classmate who is an activist in this area talked about how no journalist would come to an art exhibition featuring indigenous art. If I was one of those journalists, and the art features animism, should I choose to go for that instead of an event that's more "spiritually neutral"? Are there aspects of my own Chinese culture that is spiritually problematic? How do I show love for the Aboriginal people if their felt need is cultural revival due to the past injustice, which robbed them of choice? We pray for people who want jobs, health, things like that...but how about when they want to pool together money to have a totem statue that features the Rainbow Serpent? As you can see, these are hard questions, and I'm still searching for answers. I believe they, like all other races on earth, need a true transformational encounter with Jesus, and my questions pertain to how we, as His hands and feet, can bring Jesus to them in real ways. Would appreciate prayers, and any comments you may have.


4. Wow, i've rambled quite a lot. Will just end with a thanksgiving for Sunday, the day my uni celebrated its 100 year anniversary. the centenary celebrations on campus included nature walks, which I took part it. I saw a long-necked freshwater turtle digging a hole to lay eggs! quite a rare sight...will try to get the picture up online soon. later when I went to church, the message was about how to have deep convictions (2 Tim 1:13-14) - Paul exhorts believers to ground themselves in sound teaching and to guard what God has placed in our lives. I went forward during altar call because I do sometimes feel afraid that I won't be able to guard what God has placed in my life, especially if I go through depression again.

I don't go around focusing on whether I'm going to be depressed starting in May (that has happened for the past few years, with the low-energy period lasting for a few months), but sometimes when I look at the calendar, I do wonder. I know God can heal me and I do claim His healing, while at the same time, I recognise that God is sovereign so when and how He chooses to heal is up to Him. I don't know if this is a lack of faith, but I just know that I have these moments where I wonder and I don't have clear-cut easy answers to the questions I have. Anyway...I went forward and once again, I'm amazed at how the Holy Spirit can impress on people what to pray. I didn't have to say anything but the lady who prayed for me, whom I've never seen before, was so spot on when she said: "God will heal you. He will hold you together. God's victory is in your life, I see a banner over you". God knows how much I needed to hear that. Tears just flowed.

I share this so that you, my family and friends, can remind me of this truth, if ever I forget. The banner vision is particularly special to me, because I rededicated my life to God in 2003 in the middle of a worship session when I was waving a rainbow-coloured banner over my head and God reminded me of a vision of a rainbow over me that a preacher had prophesied over me years earlier. Praise God for His affirmation. I pray that you will also receive His affirmation, wherever you may be, because His love for you is unconditional. amen!

Okay that's all from me...hmm, this update didn't end up short after all. haha. oh well.
oh yes, one last last thing, I was saying I had a presentation today - it was for my Communications for Social Change (CSC) class, it went smoothly - praise God! I have one more class presentation coming up, based on a team project, it's on May 6. I also have a 2000-word essay for CSC due on May 4 and within that same week another essay for my participatory development communication - I've to do a lot of readings for these assignments so please do pray. Thank you so much!


In-Christ,
jenlee

jenlee's week 8

hi peeps,

it's been two months since i've come to brisbane...again i'm amazed how time flies :)

I thank God for seeing me through the past week...here are the highlights and prayer points:

1. My testimony sharing at Friday's lifegroup went well...the person chairing the meeting that day (the core leadership team takes turns to do that) had called me to go through the testimony so I was better prepared. As is often the case, I only feel nervous when I start talking :) but I thank God that it went well! My coursemate Nilesh was there, despite having a major assignment that he had not completed, and he's open to coming again - Praise the Lord! He's a Hindu but he enjoyed the fellowship and he said he will invite a friend who is Catholic for the next meeting. Pls pray that he will learn more about Jesus and be touched by His love! I had invited other friends to lifegroup since I was going to share testimony, and a couple of them of them were not able to make it but they were open to join in for future. Praise the Lord :)

2. On Saturday night, I worked overnight on my literature review assignment for my journalism&communication research class. I had told myself to get it done so that I could enjoy Sunday, the last day of my midterm break. I finally got it done around 8.30am and then I went to bed for a few hours. When I asked for feedback on it, two of my friends said there was a logical flow to what I was saying. I really thank God because my brain was probably a little clouded from the long hours of being in front of the computer. I also thankful that I got enough relevant articles from the UQ library's online database because there were quite a few times when the database didn't work for some reason or another.

My topic, The effect of the Internet on people's perception of mental illness, is in itself a gift from God because I had been stone-walling for quite a few days when I couldn't decide on a research topic. I knew I wanted to look into media portrayals of mental ill-health and its effect on public stigma but there didn't seem to be any new thing I could contribute to the discussion. So I prayed and that's when I got the idea to look into comparing Internet and mainstream media portrayals. I quickly told my housemates and they gave me feedback that it was an interesting topic, so that's how I got going. Praise the Lord, I got everything done, including a very tedious referencing process, by Monday, which was when the assignment was due. This literature review will be the basis of the second assignment for this course, so please pray that I'm on the right track. The lecturer will return the assignments to us in 2 weeks, so that's when I will know :)

Please pray for me in this coming month, I have class presentations and more papers to write. One of the assignments is a group project with 6 people, pls pray for good group dynamics. I've been getting faster in my readings, thank God, but there's still room for improvement in the area of being focused when doing school work (i'm learning to switch off FB, MSN etc, but every now and then I will still go and check :P)

3. When I went for Sunday service, this girl I had not met before sat next to me, and I learnt her name, L. I often make it a point to ask God for something to pray for the person sitting next to me, because I always believe that there are no coincidences and that God always wants to bless people through whoever is available to partner with His Holy Spirit. So I asked God what I could pray for L, and there was a fleeting picture of a person standing alone in the dark. It was so fleeting that I wasn't sure if it was from God so I didn't act on it immediately. When the pastor gave an altar call for prayer, I went up to be prayed for, for a deeper conviction in my life that will override my tendency to be concerned about what people think of me. After being prayed for, I felt a gentle reminder that I had not yet prayed for L, so I decided to just go up to her and ask if I could pray for her. She agreed and I just prayed according to what I felt God had impressed upon me, emphasising on how much God loves her.

As I prayed, she started to blink back tears. Later she told me that she had been feeling very alone, as she is far from family and going through an intense time at school. We talked more and I learnt that she used to come to Judah 2, the lifegroup I'm attending. She comes from a strong Buddhist background but she started coming to church last year after God helped her to solve her housing problem. I also shared with her my testimony and I felt very grateful that God would use me to speak to her. Please pray that she will continue to discover and respond to God's love for her, which is as deep as the ocean and as high as the heavens. I gave her my email and mobile number, I hope we can stay in touch!

4. Today at the lifegroup prayer meeting, I helped to play guitar. it's the first time I'm doing that in a group setting since coming to australia. I thank God that the song, Draw Me Close To You, actually really spoke to me - especially the chorus and last line, "Help me know You are near". As I shared with my housemates during our weekly prayer session, I sometimes do feel lonely and it's natural to want to have a special someone to share life with. Pls pray that I will continue to look to God and trust in His provision in the right time for this :)

5. My final thanksgiving: I want to thank God that my housemate Jess has started going to another lifegroup as a result of our conversations about Christian living. She's also reading the bible on her iPhone daily. Our weekly prayer session now includes a worship song in the beginning :) I taught them Open The Eyes Of My Heart and both of them felt it was a nice song :) God has been answering our prayers, esp in the area of our school work :) I don't know if I've said this before, but they both call me "mum"...because I'm older (they are both undergrads) and they miss having their mums around. Haha, it's kind of sweet lah :) I do thank God that they see me as a nurturing figure and I'm thankful for the opportunity to do what I can to help them along in their faith journey. Please pray that we can continue to grow together.

Okay, that's all from me. Thank you for reading and being a part of my life!

In-Christ,
jenlee

jenlee's week 7

Dear family and friends,

the past week has really flown by because it was packed with school and church activities...but I've lots to thank God for, read on :)

1. Presentation on Wed for participatory development communication class went well. We went overtime by a bit, but classmates gave feedback to say that the presentation was not draggy and that it was good. Praise the Lord! The report for the project is due on Thursday and my team is in the midst of putting in finishing touches. Please pray that we will be favourably assessed.


2. Had Lifegroup (LG) on Thursday instead of Fri because we were leaving for Oceania Convention (aka OC, it’s the gathering of all the Hope churches in Australia and New Zealand) on Fri morning. One of the sisters had asked her mother for permission to get baptised and she was going to get the answer after LG ended. We had all been praying along with her.
When she did speak to her mum, she was on the receiving end of some very harsh words. Her mum had thought that she was not really a Christian until she gets baptised, but when my friend explained that she already was a Christian, her mum was furious and said: "You are no longer my daughter". My friend, who once endured three weeks of silence from her mum when she first said that she was a Christian, was devastated. Together with a few other sisters, we comforted her as best we could.
That night I was supposed to stay over at her place so I had more opportunity to be with her. It was a privilege to be able to stand with someone as they go through persecution. I look up to this sister because she continued to find her joy in the Lord even throughout the convention, though she had felt on Thu night that she didn't feel like going anymore. I don’t think her mum has spoken to her since Thu and just now at prayer meeting, my friend asked for prayer for her family so I think things have not improved. Please pray for my friend and her mum, that there will be reconciliation even as my friend remains firm in her faith.


3. OC2010, which was held in Gold Coast (about an hour’s drive away), was pretty amazing. God spoke to me about surrendering my everything, including my future – as it says in Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. He also gave me an assuring word through a stranger (we were asked to pair up with someone we didn’t know and ask God to give us a word/picture for that person).
Although I was a little sleepy during some of the longer messages because I had not been getting enough sleep in the past week (due to intensive course and assignments), the praise-and-worship sessions really ushered in the presence of God.
My friend Sun, who considers himself an occasional atheist, came for one session and he said: “I’ve been to rock concerts where there’s a person there that we sing and engage with, but here there’s no physical person that you’re focusing on but yet the atmosphere is really great.” Indeed, when we lift Jesus up, He will draw all men to Himself. Please continue to pray for Sun and my other friends/neighbours whom I am reaching out to: Nilesh, Daniela, Pimmy, Pthai (coursemates), Sergey (friend I met while diving, he’s from Russia), Huan and Tri (Viet couple who live in Unit 1. I’m in Unit 4). I’ve been asked to share my testimony at LG this Fri, so I plan to take the opportunity to invite as many as possible ☺

4. Thank God that I got to know my LG brothers and sisters better. We had great time playing in the ocean (we did this thing that I would call group surfing, basically hold hands in a circle and when a big wave comes, we all jump at the same time and let the water carry us towards the shore. It’s MEGA fun!). We also had fun cooking, eating and playing card games – Heart Attack and Snap were among the riotously funny ones. I know the video we took of one Heart Attack round will always bring a smile to my face…hmm, maybe I will upload it on Facebook, but I probably have to ask permission first because it will put a serious dent on anyone wanting to hold on to their reputation ☺ I noticed that our group seemed smaller at the end of OC, though the number of people was the same. I think it’s because we’ve grown closer to each other and somehow, we’re more ‘one’ than before when our ‘individualness’ was more apparent. Hope I’m making sense. Anyway, please pray that we’ll continue to spur each other on to hunger for God and spread His passion that we received at OC, to positively impact everyone around us!


5. Today I had a very interesting experience of God’s direction and provision. I was supposed to pick up my food box (I get food from a local community supported agriculture scheme) and then take a 5.30pm bus to my LG’s prayer meeting. . It was the last bus so I had to catch it but I left a bit too late and I ended up at the bus stop four minutes after the printed schedule. Now I was in a dilemma, do I walk home and try to catch another bus service that leaves at 6pm or do I wait to see if the bus I wanted to take was late? If I waited too long, I would miss the 6pm bus and I would be late for the prayer meeting.
So I decided to ask God since only He would know whether the bus had passed. I asked Him to show me through the flipping of a 10-cent coin. His answer: Bus had passed. I started walking back, but the food box was pretty heavy so I was getting worried about getting back on time. Then I saw a man leave a house and get into his car, I got the idea to ask him for a ride. He agreed and I found out that he was actually on his way to Gold Coast (where I had been for OC) and he’s a South African who does solar panels. I managed to get to the 6pm bus on time, with only two minutes to spare. The timing was perfect, if I had started walking back later, I would have missed getting the ride. If not for the unnamed “angel” from South Africa (I didn’t have time to ask his name, but he’s kind of “tailor-made” for me in a sense, with the Gold Coast connection and solar power appealing to my inner greenie), I would have been late.
Thank God for hearing my prayer for getting to prayer meeting on time! Don’t worry, I won’t make this a regular habit – next time I will leave early enough ☺ But prayer wouldn’t hurt, so please pray for effective time management for me, especially since I have a big assignment due next Monday for my communication research class. It’s worth 40 per cent of my grade and I’ve not really started on it much, so ya, lots of prayer needed!

That’s all from me for this week. Thank you for reading and for praying!
Let me know if I can pray over anything in your life ☺

Take care and God bless,
jenlee