Grace Notes

Miscellaneous

Fireproof Movie

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Our family saw the movie FireProof this week, and we highly recommend it — for teens as well as adults. If you’ve already seen it, I’d recommend babysitting for other parents so that they can see it too.

Not only is “Fireproof” making a huge impact in the Christian community, it is also capturing the attention of the secular world. ABC World News gave a report this evening on the amazing success of this low-budget Christian film made in no-where Georgia. (And what a great day for it to be highlighted on ABC! So many people were watching the news today because of everything else that’s going on in this country.)

ABC News states,
“You can almost picture the Hollywood studio execs scratching their heads. A film that was made for $500,000, relied more on word of mouth than television and print ads, and is headlined by an actor best known for a 1980s television show, opens at No. 4 in the country and rakes in $6.8 million in ticket sales.”

The world marvels at how such a low budget film could be making such a huge impact, but it’s no surprise to us as Christians. We know that it’s the way our God works! He loves to take the efforts of the small and unlikely and use them in amazing ways for His purposes. This way, He gets all the glory.

Paul said to the Corinthians,
“…God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-31)

We’re also encouraged by the great testimony Kirk Cameron displayed by upholding his commitment to not kiss anyone but his wife—even in acting. (His real wife, Chelsea, was a stand-in during the kiss.) See the story here.

Radiant Purity Conferences/Singapore and Malaysia

Singapore Radiant Purity Conference

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…Our last conference here in Singapore and Malaysia! The conference went smooth (PTL!), and we were encouraged by the response of the attendees. The whole idea of an alternative to dating was new to many.


These are the girls in my discussion group. We discussed many topics such as the importance of saving your whole heart for one man, how to keep your mind pure, accepting the way God created you, honoring/communicating with parents, modesty, how to deal with crushes in the right way, etc.


We all enjoyed a time of sharing Saturday evening after the conference. Each leader shared encouraging reports from the discussional group she led. And, of course, we had many laughs…


We are so grateful for our “team” in SE Asia. Pictured above are some of the girls (and moms) who helped lead the conferences this year. It’s not possible to do Bright Lights conferneces without young ladies to lead the small group times, but God provided this team of godly young ladies in SE Asia who filled this role. They rose to each challenge that was thrown at them and did a wonderful job.

Guess what? We are HOME now! It feels wonderful. More reports and pictures from the trip coming soon!

Singapore and Malaysia

Mystery Tea

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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.” 🙂

Singapore and Malaysia

In Kuala Lumpur

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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!

Singapore and Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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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.

Singapore and Malaysia

Bright Lights Conference in Malacca, Malaysia

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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. 🙂

Singapore and Malaysia/Strong in the Lord Conf.

Singapore Strong in the Lord Conference

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The Strong in the Lord Conference last Saturday was an encouraging time. We pray that the seeds planted in the hearts of the girls will produce much fruit for God’s kingdom.


For lunch we had Chicken-Rice, Ar Char (pickled vegetables salad), and various exotic fruits. 🙂


After the conference was over we ate dinner at a local food area near where we are staying. It started to rain really hard so we stayed there for a while eating and listening to stories. My dad shared about a talk he had with some Jewish buisness men in the Tokyo airport. (He share with them some thoughts about Jesus and salvation from Romans 4 and they responded with great interest.) Dani also shared about a good talk she had about the Lord with a man from California on the airplane.

Singapore and Malaysia

Enjoying Singapore!

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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.

Singapore and Malaysia

Crossing the ocean…..

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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!