Just for Laughs!

Weeeell…

i just thought we should exhibit some of the never-seen-to-all shots of cell Just for Laughs!

who’d have known these people go down the escalator backwards? =P

…or that eating green apples were so entertaining?

so this is what it looks like to be speaking to victor’s Hand..

and this is the result of waking up to happy unsuspecting surprises..

this, however.. is amusingly otherwise =P

there was a day when Jean and I grew taller than xinyuen

and on that very day, we also found out that andrew and xinyuen can climb!!

you know, besides climbers, dodgy ppl exist in our cell too!

but, this really is the eye-opener…

 …thankfully we do have alright people around…

to make up for times when xinyuen tears..

.. or times when one descends the escalator alone..

..even during those times when we just stone/ pout

and especially when we’re frowning during times of crisis..

like when the wind kidnapped the flames

or when david thought he was somebody else

and when we couldn’t resist the buying impulse..

Still, how often does one get to fill a car with balloons?

be part of a group hug?

 gets allowed to play with your friends’ toys..

sit side by side with a buddy..

view the same sea together..

…cross the same zebra-crossing simultaneously

and annoy David with the repeated question of ”What’s apron in chinese?”

haha

“So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:7-9 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scenes from “orchestre/nouveau”

There is quite a big backlog of pictures various events of which ISM Ephesians have been involved in over the past month. Without further ado, I start with this particular one.

This is from orchestre/nouveau, a debut concert in which two of our cell members were involved in, namely Eudora and Rachel. It’s actually three, because Samuel “ooh la la” Kwan was also their resident Art Director.

Five of us managed to attend the concert (Andrew, Albert, Jean, Jessica and Melvin). The concert was great not only because it was free but also because it was a superb performance by those involved. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Congratulations and good job!

Here are some snippets:

I’ve got only those photos so far. If you got others to add, feel free to edit or ask me to load them.

Following the concert, we went to Freddo’s to “drown” ourselves in Gelati:

Looking forward to more in the coming future !

Pearls for living…

I have been watching and reading too much philosophical stuff lately…

What triggered it? Plenty of things, we can talk about it some other time.

Meanwhile I leave you with this:

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matt 16:26)

A pearl for living?

Small Gates and Narrow Roads

The Narrow and Wide Gates

 13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it

The context of this passage deals mainly about “cultural Christians”, people who “play church”.

But I am not going to elaborate on that part. This is not a preaching. What I would like to allude to would be the “small gate” and “narrow road” of which we are travelling on. Coming to the end of the year, the gate and the road really feels small and narrow!

Sigh….I am starting to get weary and my optimism is diminishing. Who feels the same way as me?

But am I giving up? NO…for I know its a fight which is already won and is worth fighting. Are you going to give up?

Let’s continue to feed the blog!

I can’t believe that it has been more than a year since this blog came up. Man…that time went by quick.

My appetite for blogging is back up where its supposed to belong, so that’s all good. Thanks to Eudora for maintaining this blog whilst most of us were absent.

But yeah…it’s exciting times for the cell. Let’s continue to press forward (like the Apostle Paul said in Phillippians 3:11-13) and never to falter and never looking back. It is no accident that we were brought together. So…glory be to God and let’s keep the good work going!

Remember….feed the blog. If you haven’t gotten your password to access administration for this blog….email either Eudora or me, we’ll be all too happy to help you get up and running. Meanwhile, I’ll just keep on promoting.

8 words. God Be With You Till We Meet Again from Melvin YDC

Friends are friends forever (:

and its funny how we’re stuck together having commenced/completed the 40 days of community. 

haha (: that’s how we entered the house..

ahh see who’s inside!

xin yuen’s house is really such a house! *bliss

and along the way, we actually celebrated somebody’s belated 21st! haha!

kudos to rachel who snapped these shots (:

people, oh people.

now, this is so natural~

and not forgetting our guitarist/pianist/violinist..

trying hard to sing..

mouths agape (:

fellowshiping!

oo HUGS.

hehe =)

sombreity?!

haha, not quite there yet, are we..

how many faces can you count?

arthur is camera shy =P jess you’re my sunshine!!

and so.. as we have started, we have begun.. is it the end to a beginning or the start of an end.. or the start of a beginning? one wonders. but as it is.. we’ve travelled alongside each other’s lives and loved as much as our hearts would allow! THANK YOU everybody for making the 40 days so memorable!!!

Port Melbourne 2007

And so we began our trip..

Jean: Is that a building or a ship?

I believe these are palm trees..

Wait up!

Hiya!

The lone seagull

Look at that!

What’s sam doing?

The Fish and Chips Shop.

“Be Natural!”

Food.. Glorious Food..

Awwww.. poor sam..

hmmm.

Foot steps to the water.

ahh amusement (:

Peeping from somewhere..

Marvellous waters

wise words sam spotted

Sam’s ingenious idea #1

Sam’s ingenious idea #2

melvin, are you watering the plants?

Playground!

what ever triggers such a reaction?

weeeee!

(: the best place to be~

hehe!

interesting faces Christine caught..

ahh sam.. it looks like your doodle.. so you (:

heyyy! hope everybody enjoyed their time at Port Melbourne.. its real good to be out for once, putting work aside and being there to see the beautiful things God made.. maybe we should chase waves next time.. hahaha its pretty fun getting wet =P and yes.. certainly thank God for a reasonably dry day so that we dont have to battle much with the wind.. there’re actually more pictures but lets keep it short and sweet - i will send you the rest!! Ange, you’re missed heaps.. oh and of course everyone else who didnt come too!! hmm. Conversations and presence. Which  would you choose?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Docklands!

It’s been ages since anyone left footprints on this blog.. *muses*

Anyohow, we’ll let the pictures do the talking!

 

This is Docklands. The blueness and expansive waters makes it just so inviting (:

Some of cell went to Docklands last year.. and i’m sure they had fun! if you’re wondering why the sky’s a different colour, it’s because these are 2 different days.

Today, we made the trip to Docklands again! The 7 ppl supposedly coming resulted in just 3 arrving. Wasn’t the exact same spot, but we did have fun! =) In fact, Jean spotted 3 jellyfishes!

Guess who’s who!

And the grande finale of our trip.. the threesome fellowship!!

 

./.

 

=) happy Easter everyone! let’s ALL go Docklands again!! weeee!!

-eudora-

Heard of this a millions time:”People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Just dropping the first half, it is increasingly difficult to care the others for me this year with the injury, financial pressure that came with the master course, uncertainty of my future, and being confused in Aussie culture for the first time in my life.

Rather Interesting Weekend

To cut things short: What’s below is a rant.

And I will start of with this: What causes man’s heart to harden? And I meant ‘harden’ towards his/her fellow human being.

This is how the story goes. While waiting for some companions to the footy on Friday, I was approached by no less than 3 drunks/homeless/poor/God knows what. One (an obvious drunk) came up to me then stared me and down. No harm there. The next one just shook my hand, no harm there too. The 3rd one asked for $, he says its for accomodations. And it is my policy not to turn people away at 1st contact, so I had a chat with him. It went alright till the point where he produced a complimentary pen from some hotel and proceeded to ask $ in return for the pen (in his words “look its gold plated!”). And I went “Geez, mate. We’ve talked for awhile and you could’ve guessed I ain’t no stupid Asian. What are you trying to do?”. IMHO, he just ruined his own attempt to get quick $. He went off to bum $ of some other Asian guy not far away from where I stood.

The next day, I was early at church to prepare for Corporate Night’s refreshments. While sitting in the auditorium waiting for stuff to cook, I noticed this bearded and suspicious acting guy walking around. Considering how a sister’s bag was stolen right in church not long before, I went up to ask the guy what he is up to. He said “Oh, please I need some money to buy Hungry Jacks”. And I went “You need food? Sure, no worries. We got plenty of food. I’ll get you some”. But he refused and persistently asked $ for Hungry Jacks  (he said it was “good food”). I replied “Hey mate. I ain’t going to give you crap stuff. You want the food or not? “. In the end he went away. Be mindful that this conversation happened in the Lower Chapel (yep, its in a church). Did I do the right thing? Did I do the right thing in the eyes of others? Hard to tell.

Sunday! I went to the evening service to do communion. Thank you guys again for coming to help out. You might have noticed a bag full of bread on the table or saw me holding it. I got that from some Chinese lady who popped into the church and said she wanted to give it to us. Naturally, the others there and I went “???”…but oh well, nobody wants to eat’em so I guess I’ll give it to the 1st homeless person I see. After service,went back with some others I followed that night…don’t see any homeless around. I wondered aloud “Why is it when you want the homeless to be around, there are not but when you do not want them around, there they are!”. Slight chuckle at that. When I finally came across one. Throughly bearded, dirty and unkempt. I went to him and asked “Hey mate, do you want some…”. He interrupted and said that he doesn’t want any food. I ended up having to throw the bread away. What a waste!

As a person who doesn’t believe in coincidences, I wonder what all those that happened over the weekend are trying to teach me? Its not as if this is the 1st time I’ve come across such events. But for this to happen 3 days in a row and in seemingly identical situations…hmmmmmmmmm….I wonder.

I thought, wow…it is so easy for us to close our hearts up…such experiences could mould your outlook for life. What more a Christian if not a more worldly individual? Not that it is going to stop me but its amazing how things work sometimes when you take time to look back on things. Or is it just something on my face that people don’t like? Hmmmmmm…..I wonder.

Cheerio,

Melvin YDC