A Gathering for Japan

An evening of worship, prayer, getting to know one another, sharing stories and visions, seeking God, connecting, networking and mutual inspiring.

Hear past teams share what God has done and revealed through their times in Japan. 

Seek God's heart for Japan in 2011 and dream His dreams together.

Sneak preview of the night's sharings: 

Social advocacy through photography

Christianity through a Japanese's eyes

Thoughts from a missionary to Japan

Worship and the arts

Songwriting for Japanese youth

27th October, Wednesday 

7.00pm

YWAM Base, Lorong 23 Geylang

Tweet Tweet!

"Sometimes being our authentic selves gives us an excuse to be our worst selves" @erwinmcmanus on speaking in truth without love. @MosaicLA

Sneaks

Some sneaks from our Japan pictures......

Fooling around with our Japanese girlfriends

Cooking breakfast together

Going up to the clouds in Hakuba (Nagano Winter Olympics ski site)

Man, sorry for the lack of updates, but my laptop died of old age 3 weeks ago and so until I get back from Japan and get a new lappie, no photos for now.

I have loads to share with you... the trip to Shangri-La, GComm 2010 - where I learnt how to reclaim indigenous music for worship in the church, how to find the heart music of a people... but it'll have to wait till August when I'm back.

This Tuesday we leave for Japan. Our funds came in, in abundance! Thank you one and all who supported in big and small ways. Thank you for your prayers that mattered in this process.

You know, I am so psyched about what God is gonna do in Japan. Really feeling passionate about the truths we're gonna tell the young people... things like how God sees them, and affirming their worth. Pray for open doors for God in this people!

Stay tuned!

In preparation for Japan.....

Image from here.

This Summer in Japan.....

ETHNOS has been involved in ministries to the Japanese youth since July 2008, when I went to Tokyo to search for ways to reach out to Japanese youth. 

My findings in 2008: God is passionately moving to fill the emptiness in Japanese youth. There on the streets of Tokyo, my team interviewed the young people. We heard confessions of emptiness, purposelessness and rejection from school dropouts, young 'service agents' (pimps, we would call in our district), musicians and students. God is opening the hearts of Japanese youth. Who knows how long this time of open hearts will last? Thus, my sensing for ETHNOS is to minister in Japan as much as we can - NOW is the time. 

I thank God for my past teams who have gone with me - Brandon Myles Krause, Suwit 'Tee', Joshua Riordan, Justin Ho, Jachin Pousson, Brian Cheung, Benjamin Wu, Ruth Lee, Charlton Ying, Jasmine Sia - THANK YOU for being part of the vision and work on behalf of Japan, and your sacrifices to make a difference to the young people of Japan through media, music, photography, video, translation, teaching, worship, prayer, testimonies, sports, games, stories. The possibilities for you guys to contribute to world missions are limitless, keep multiplying your talents to disciple the nations.

 

This 20th July- 8th August, another team of us will be going to Japan to run 3 camps: 1 youth worship training camp, 1 evangelistic youth camp, and 1 evangelistic children's camp.  Much of what we will do will focus on imparting truth and kingdom values to youth who need ministry into areas of unworthiness, perfectionism, depression. For the children, we will be focusing on calling out their giftings and abilities. 

The team consists of Jasmine Sia, Robin Xu, Khoo Yingnuo, Xiao Qiying, Chia Swee Kit and Joshua Riordan.

After 8th August, I will stay on to follow-up and spend time with the youth.

We're currently trying our best to raise funds, a total of $7,650 to cover airfares, ground fees and ministry costs for the team. If you'd like to bless us, do get in touch with me at regina@ywam.org.sg. The team needs your prayers and support, thank you!

love,

Regina

I am back. Safe and sound. Was there at the right time and right
place. Thank you for your precious prayers and gifts. Updates again
later!

- Regina

People in Penang are People-People

In Penang last week with the best friend, I saw so much of Jesus on the streets we walked.

I walked past a man giving a beggar money - his body language spoke of value and genuine compassion. He patted the beggar on the shoulder as he walked off, with a big brotherly smile.

That simple gesture and smile floored me.

Because it was so genuine, and simple.

It spoke of love and brotherly kindness, to a beggar.

We encountered warm Penangites of all ages, who gave us directions, spare change to take the bus, and appreciative smiles. When a beggar walked down the line at the bus interchange, many people responded to him by giving, not begrudging.

I felt warmed at how these Penangites knew how to live.

On a hot afternoon, we passed by a roadside drink stall (above). 

Uncle told us to sit down, enjoy the drink, and pay when we were done. 

So we sat there and chatted with him. We had his au naturel soyabean drink, which he proudly proclaimed to be free of chemicals. He told us stories, of Singapore and Malaysia, his life and family.

Somehow, I am drawn to the relational nature of this society.

I almost didn't wanna come back to Singapore.

Goodbye Chos, you will be missed....

Spotted at Food For Thought 8Q:

Finally ALMOST through with my series on hearing God's voice at SJSM. I'm beginning to miss my Saturday nights.....

Haven't blogged for a long time, maybe I shall summarize the highlight of my week: I find it so true that when we cease to try to 'fix' people, their characters, or their problems, and just try to love and accept them, our purpose in this world changes completely.

Even if the ones we reach out to never want to accept Jesus, or use and abuse us, what matters is that you were someone there for them no matter what, without conditions or needing to see results.

Failure Is Necessary

Extract from "Thoughts on Calling" by Tim Morey:

"If we are to live into our calling, failure is necessary.

In God's hand, failure, like a woodworker's lathe, becomes a tool by which he shapes our lives and makes us fit for his purposes. God uses our failures to purify our motives, to equip us with tools we didn't know we needed, to adjust our direction when necessary, and to deepen our convictions on who we are and what we are called to do.

Might things have occurred differently for Moses and his people had he not killed the Egyptian? Very likely yes. But still God was at work. For decades Moses lived and worked in the very wilderness in which he would lead his people in decades to come. Moses didn't know that rescuing his people would require him to have an intimate knowledge of the desert, but God did. Even Moses' failure contributed to the shaping of his call."