Quick Update

Hi...
It's been more 2 weeks since I posted my last blog.

Well, let me give you a quick update.
I started my work on Monday, 3 days ago. Yep, this week is actually my first week at work. Tomorrow is Friday, man.... I'm tired, ahahha....

Life-group is growing, qtty and quality wise. I'm getting used to waking up early now, at 5.30am. But i'm still trying to have some good quality time with God. It's a bit challenging waking up early morning and open your eyes and mind to talk to God.

Oh ya, I bought a new mobilephone, and I was stupid enough to delete most of the numbers in my sim-card. YES, I lost so many numbers, hence I had to ask my friends to send me theirs, ahhaha...

I guess that's about it. I'm so sleepy. Good nite.
:)

The little announcement

Yday at the Princess Theatre, after our church prayer meeting finished, I gathered my group and told them to stop praying for me. Then they asked why, and and answered themselves by guessing that I got a job, to which I nodded with a smile.

Then guess what happened?
They all screamed happily. So loud that they attracted so much attention and within minutes people started to come to me and congratulated me for getting a new job. I was so shocked. I didn't expect the little announcement turned into a big one, it's as if I just announce my engagement or marriage. Man... that was overwhelming.

Lesson to learn, never announce something to my group where there's a lot of crowds around us. ehehhe....

But 1 thing that I really cherish is the look of their face and eyes when I nodded yes I got a job. It's as if they just received one very good news, and that made them scream so loud. When I got the phone call from my agent saying I got the offer, I wasn't as excited as they are, but because of them I became so excited myself, ahhaha....

The screaming part maybe a bit too much, but it shows how much they cherish the news. I love them, I must say that this group is the best group so far. I praise God for blessing me with these crazy and loud people. I am so looking forward to grow to a new level in God together with them all. Thank you Lord.

Moving on

Today my grandpa will buried in his hometown. Mum, dad and my older brother are there now, ah... how I wish I could be there.

While I was jogging this morning, I received a phone call from my recruitment agent saying that I got an offer for a job. It was quite pleasing to hear it, because it means I know that my place is here, that I'm supposed to serve in this church.

I thank God for the job not because I got a job, but because the job represent God's answer to me when I asked Him if I should stay here, and not go back to Jakarta. ah... it's a mixed feeling that I have right now. But I thank God for all the challenges and blessings. Thank you Lord.

Goodbye Ompung

hmm... I guess people come people go.

When I got home after LG last Fri nite, I received a msg from my sister saying that our grandpa died in the afternoon (grandpa in my mother tongue is ompung laki-laki, but we normally just address him as ompung). Mum, dad and my older brother flew back to Medan straight away. The good thing is that mum was not so sad as the whole family had been anticipating this time to come. Apparently grandpa had not been doing well in the past few months, health wise that is.

When I received the news, I was thinking about mum straight away, as she really loves grandpa, so much so that almost every month she would flew back to Medan (2hr away by plane from Jakarta) just to see him.

ah... I really want to go back and attend the funeral service, but the ticket is so expensive and I'm still in a situation where I'm not flexible with money and time, as I'm still seeking God for direction. I don't know why things seem to be getting harder and harder right now. Lord, what is in your mind?

Goodbye ompung, I look forward to seeing you again in Heaven.

You my strong tower O LORD

When I looked at my current situation, I felt so discouraged and I kept on asking God why I should go through this challenges, and it made want to cry out loud. I can't even make any concrete plan for my future. I felt as if I'm in a dark, so dark I could not see anything, hence I don't know where to move/go.

But instead of crying, I was proclaiming the goodness of God, the God who would never leave me nor forsake me, and the assurance that He will bring me through this.

You are my strong tower, shelter over me. Beautiful and mighty, everlasting King.
You are my strong tower, fortress when I'm weak. Your name is true and holy, and your face is all I see.

Great leaders produce greater leaders

These couple of months, me and my leader have been busy building and training a couple of guys in my group to grow in their leadership skills. Starting from the basic stuff, that is growing in their personal relationship with God, to how they should communicate different things to others, be it in formal or casual way.

It takes a skill to be a great leader in the house of God.
Everyone knows that without God's support, a leader will not last long. But more than that, it's a leader's responsibility to grow in his/her leadership skill. And that's what I and my leader have been doing. It's not easy, as we needed to touch on few sensitive issues, like pride, faithfulness, as well as communication and interpersonal skills.

One thing that I learn is that, as we both help them to grow in their skill, I am actually also growing in the areas we're teaching/helping them to grow in, as I was reminding myself again about the things we were discussing at any particular meeting.

I remember someone once said that, great leaders produce great leaders (in my dictionary it should be great leaders produce greater leaders). When we disciple others, we need to think of this question, 'who can replace us if we're not around tomorrow?'.

If no one can replace me, then I'm a failure. In times of need, followers must be able to rise up to be great leaders, as Paul wrote in 1 Cor 11, follow me as I follow Christ. Elisha rose up to be great prophets thanks to the training he received from Elijah. Elijah made so much impact on him that he dared to ask for double portion of Elijah's spirit (anointing of God). In the bible, there's only 4 occasions where waters were parted, Moses with the red sea, Joshua with the Jordan river plus Elijah and Elisha both parted Jordan river as well.

I do not want to be a leader where I achieve so many things during my leadership period. I want to be someone who leads and produces great leaders in the house of God. What's so good about it when you can achieve so many things but no one can continue doing great things you've done. There's nothing fascinating about it. Examples are everywhere, you can start with Alexander the Great. The moment he died, his empire died as well.

So that's one of my goal, if I'm not around next yr, or next month, or even tomorrow, someone (under my leadership) will be able to rise up and take my place to lead others and produce even greater leaders than they are in God's house. All I have to do is just to give my best (and I'm trying to give my best) in training them and helping them grow in their leadership skill, and then let God do the rest.

My future

My life has been very interesting these last few months.

Frankly speaking, I really don't know where I'll be next month, ahaha.... I feel like screaming now. There's so many things I need to think about, to pray and to plan, but my situation is not getting any better, at least from where I'm standing at the moment.

I am honestly so tempted to look for job outside brisbane, like melbourne (for some reason, this place captured my eyes), and I have even been talking to a couple of friends in jakarta, about possible job opportunities there. But ah... deep down in my heart, I don't know why, but I feel that my place is here. This is the place where I can really grow in God. However I keep on questioning God's plan for me right now, what is it Lord? Where do you want me to be?

ah... why should life be this challenging. Can't wait to get out of this dark tunnel. I could see that little light, but it's seems to be so far away.