Month: September 2008

This afternoon we all got together here in Singapore to plan and pray for our last conference– a Radiant Purity Conference. It starts in about 12 hours. I am excited and anticipating the Lord to do great things. Please pray that the Lord’s hand would be at work and that everyone would have perseverance to continue! Some on our team are sick and need prayer.

Since I’ve been battling a cough, the other night my mom gave me this strange dark brown tea. I sipped it and was going to finish it later, but Sarah said I was supposed to drink it while it was warm. I wasn’t too thrilled, but I just gulped it all down.

It wasn’t until the next day that they told me what the tea was made out of…



Following the instructions of one of the Asian mothers here, my mom boiled big black beetles (above) together with leaves for a half hour. Then she drained the beetles and gave it to me warm to drink. It’s “traditional Chinese medicine”.

Well, I’m happy to report that I’m all better now and feeling great. As Stephen reminded me, “It must have been the bugs.” 🙂

Since there was so much traffic when we arrived in KL, the bus driver apparently couldn’t park the bus in the bus station. So we all just got off in the middle of the road. We had an interesting time crossing the street! On this side of the world, cars have the right-of-way, not people.

We have a lot of extra stuff because of all the supplies, skit props, etc. we bring along the conferences. Thankfully Mr. Teh had already sent some of our stuff ahead of us with others, otherwise I don’t know what we would have done.

I sat in on Christine’s small group for a while. She did a great job she did communicating to her girls the awesome vision of truly being strong for the Lord in our teen years and how it’s a privelege to be a part of His army.

We are excited at how the Lord is raising up a godly team of young ladies here. Some have started Bright Lights groups already and others are making plans to. We have to leave and go home soon, but these girls are carrying on the work. Please pray for them as there are always many obstacles.

One morning some mothers arranged a picnic in the park. My dad shared a few thoughts from the Word with us and shared 3 important “F’s” of the Christian life: “Flee, Follow and Fight”.

So many beautiful tropical flowers…

We had many traditional and delicious Chinese meals. The octopus, squid, large prawns, and frog meat made this meal especially… memorable. Good thing we have so many friends who graciously tell us what is in each dish. 🙂

Me and my little guy

Packing up to travel back to Singapore. Everywhere we go we travel with our family, our team of 5 American leaders, our team of about 10-15 Asian leaders, and Mr. Teh, our organizer/host. Sometimes it gets a little confusing with so many people and so much luggage. Good thing Mr. Teh is so organized!

The last week we’ve been in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where by God’s grace we were able to hold another two Bright Lights conferences. The first one, a Strong in the Lord conference, was 3 evenings (Tues, Wed, Thurs) and the Radiant Purity conference was Saturday. Friday was a day of seeking the Lord and fellowship with our group of leaders. Each one was special and went well. Thanks for your prayers.

Because of full schedules, limited online access, and trying to get over a cough, I haven’t been able to post as much as I wanted to. I think I’ll have to do some catching up now!

We are now back in Singapore and our next conference is this Saturday.

Last Thursday through Saturday was the Christian homeschool conference in Malacca. While the parents were in sessions, we had a lot of fun with the girls! We did a Bright Lights conference, but it was new material–not our standard Strong in the Lord conference. (We did that one 3 years ago, the first time we were here.)

Our leaders did an incredible job leading their small groups! The Lord has really raised up a neat group of young ladies here.

The girls responded very well to our session on presenting the gospel. They were so excited to receive the tracts I gave them, and many kept coming back to get more from me. Please pray that these young ladies would truly be bright lights in this part of the world!

Speaking to the parents

“Jungle Jane”, in an Australian accent, taught the girls about how every kind of wild beast can be tamed…..

…but no one can tame the power of the tongue!

Skits were so much fun at this conference because the girls laugh so much. They sing really loud, too. It’s fun working with a group that is so responsive. 🙂

We arrived in Malacca, Malaysia yesterday afternoon.

Eating dinner with good friends

Danielle and Chelsea

The view from the flat our family is staying in on the east side of Singapore.

Yesterday we went biking with several of the girls from the Singapore Bright Lights group and a few of their brothers. The trail was gorgeous. The weather was great. We really enjoyed ourselves.

Notice that in Singapore, not only do they drive on the left side of the road, they bike on the left side. I’m surprised I haven’t collided with anyone yet. 🙂

We ate lunch in Changi villiage. Dani is having fun eating the coconut meat from her coconut drink.

After about 20 hours in the air we arrived in Singapore about 1am this morning.Here is our team this year… (Miraculously, I got them all to look and smile at the same time)
Left to right: Chrissy, Danielle, Chelsea, and Nickie. In the front are Sarah and my parents.
Stephen stayed home to hold down the fort.

My mom and I went shopping at an open market this afternoon. It sure feels good to be back in Singapore!

Tonight we ate dinner with several of the families we’ve become friends with the last two years we were here. It was a very nice time. We are looking forward to what the Lord is going to do here in this next month!

Danielle eating tapioca (not tapioca pudding, but the real stuff with coconut milk as a dip… it was delicious!!)

This is my view right now as I type… it’s getting late and as you can see, jet lag is beginning to hit!