Back From Macau...

Macau has been an experience in humility… in recognizing that there is much out there greater than myself…

2600 delegates from more than 50 countries, all with one purpose in mind… How to take the gospel to the nations. And the thing is, these weren’t no-life religious fanatics who let their who purpose in life revolve around missions because they had nowhere better to invest their time. Many used to be rich executives who had given up all they had to respond to the call. Very very successful and capable businessmen who were leaders on an international stage. One of my workshops was taught was 2 guys – one was the former director of Prudential Asia Pacific who is now the pastor of Grace Baptist Church… and the other is a former pastor who left to start up an airline to evangelize out to the corporate world… both its leaders as well as his employees. Yet to hear their humility in speech as well as when they talk abt the love of the gospel they have… man.

It was a breath-taking glance at what C.S Lewis spoke of in Screwtape Letters, when he talked of how the Christian will be forever lost as long as it is “abt the gospel plus something else”. I went home thinking abt how easily we all fall into the trap. Emphasize on tithing too much and very soon the church becomes run no different from profit organizations, where a lot of its ministry invariably becomes hampered by people who tithe a lot, but who also end up controlling how the money is spent. Focus too much on organizational efficiency and stream-lining, and very soon the very people being ministered to become mere pawns where the aim is to grow numbers and boast cosmeticized results instead of people. Stress too much on unity and very soon we all become so inward looking that we selfishly squabble and resent each other over “our own resources”, as if we were right to believe that we – instead of God – own them.

Each lunch we had at any table was always with some Reverend or Missionary who would beam at us and tell us how happy they were to see young faces. And I was so struck by their words on retrospect. Here in the second service we complain and we talk so much abt the lack of sucession... and how we don’t expect ourselves to be doing the things we do right now in 20 yrs’ time. Yet here they all are, sitting in front of me… 60 yrs old, and still going out there to preach the gospel and share Christ… and when they shared how happy they were to finally see young faces, I can only shudder to imagine their loneliness in ministry as they labor on, asking God to raise up new leaders with none in sight.

I’ve cried at many a Christian camp before. I’ve cried at many a Christian rally before. Usually it happens during worship, where God’s presence and voice seems to always bring out my emotions the most. Or else its during a very moving testimony, where the story of God working in our midst would bring me much comfort and encouragement. At times it happens during an altar call, where the speaker invokes the name of God to call to either repentance or commitment. But at this conference, I think I was moved to tears each time I just look around me to catch a small small glimpse of what heaven must feel like… surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses. “Humbling” doesn’t even come close to describing what it felt like.

The lessons learnt were very personal ones. Lessons like the call to no compromise. Being reminded again and again of Abraham and Issac, and God's call to offer up to Him what I claim to be my most precious. No big meta-narrative to give here. I really think God spoke to me very very personally in this conference. It wasn’t the typical Crusade-style evangelistic meeting where the theme was always “Christ died for you – what would your response be?”. Nothing wrong with that style, mind you. Just that this conference was… different. There was no eagerness to impose and elicit a response from the people around. There was no need to. Every life to my left and right was a testimony to what a life surrendered to God might look like. Everyone had a story to share abt being hurt by church and by people. And they all had a story to share of how God not only saved them from their spiritual death, but He brought them back from their emotional crucifixion as well.

Been a whirlwind of activity since I returned home… the air was really bad in Macau and Hong Kong, and I returned home with a pretty bad flu, cough and asthma. The fact that I start work the day after I reached home didn’t help…

So I guess I shall stop here….

Lots of pics to come next… very soon, I promise. Tho I broke my camera on the first night I was in Hong Kong, so unfortunately nothing to show from there.

But I think I took plenty enough otherwise.

By the way, don’t bother with the Portugese egg tarts of Macau. They’re an absolute lie. We walked for hours without seeing any. And the supposedly “best” ones were very ordinary. They weren’t bad, per se. Just very ordinary.

Ah well.

I know the dowager is having the time of her life in Beijing, with a lot of pics showcasing what she’s been eating over there. *envious*

Sigh.

Ah well. At least I know its not building up around MY waist.

WUAHAHAHAHAHA…