"Connected" and Leadership Nuggets

by Flor Esteban

We’ve been blessed recently with Pastor Timothy Loh’s (Senior Pastor of Eaglepoint based in KL) visit to our church last Sunday (Sept. 26). During the morning service he introduced the next preaching series “Connected”. God wants our lives to be connected – the God kind of church. He shared the 4 key words that apostle Paul used for being connected (Ephesians 4:16) : fitted, joined, supplies and working. He said that for the church to be meaningful, one must be connected with one another (for food to be meaningful, we have to eat it). Connectedness precedes change. He shared a testimony about an answered prayer because many people prayed about it.

Then, Pastor Tim spoke about 4 things that he wants everyone in the church to be connected to: purpose, pattern, practice and people. He talked at length about purpose (the first in the series) and its power. Purpose defines why we exist, it clarifies and focuses the way we live, it fuels, rallies and unleashes resources to accomplish that one thing and shakes off every distractions and noise in our lives. He emphasized that we exist to serve God, therefore, after we discern God’s purpose for our lives, we must align our ambition to it. Pastor Tim also mentioned the 3 dimensions to God’s purpose, namely, eternal, time and space and personalized. And the way we personalized the purpose of one’s life is to make disciples (what our movement is all about). Jesus makes disciples (Matthew 5:1), Jesus wants us to be a disciple (Matthew 14:27) and Jesus commands us to make disciples (Matthew 28:19). Let’s choose to be a disciple everyday!

But what is a disciple? A disciple is a follower of Jesus (not a borrower of Jesus!). A disciple is one who spreads the gospel, changes the world, trusts in God despite setbacks, hangs on in the midst of persecution and eventually martyrs for Christ. Thank you Lord, for your Word!

The Leaders Meeting with Pastor Tim took place in the afternoon. Once again, he shared his leadership wisdom with us but not before asking the attendees to answer 4 questions pertaining to the health of our church in Penang (what we think are our strengths, weaknesses, what changes we’d like to see and thoughts/feedback for Pastors Tim and GP).

After that, he discussed a study about some factors that define a church (worship, preaching, small group, etc.) and the importance of addressing the weakest link to achieve growth. In addition, he talked about another study regarding church orientation and pastor’s role vis a vis church size. For a church our size (0-150 attendees), relationship is of paramount importance and the pastor’s role is more like a shepherd. As the church grows, other components such as structures and programs need to take place and the pastor takes on additional roles (planner, communicator) for the church to be successful. Pastor Tim asked, “So how good are we at relationship?” He stressed that there can be no shortcut; a structure can’t hold for a long time without relationship at the core. 

Moreover, he gave us a glimpse of next week’s preaching series #2, Pattern. A pattern is reproducible and transferrable. He reminded us of Eaglepoint and Every Nation’s purpose to make disciples and the need to align our culture (the pattern) to it: Believe (discover a life with God), Belong (discover a life with others) and Become (discover a life with a purpose).

My other take aways from the said meeting are:

1)    Leader = servant

2)    Bring 3Bs into the life of others

3)    Relationship = Care

4)    CARE is Concern, Acceptance, Remember, Encourage

5)    3Cs for new comers to church – care, connect, contact

6)    Connect by generation, geography, gifting or grace

7)    Chemistry is important in Life group

8)    Why Life Group? Discover life with God, life with others and life with a purpose

9)    In Life Group, share about life, heart, truth and vision (church)

10)  Be a disciple first, then, make disciples.

  

Thanks, Pastor Tim, for the leadership nuggets that you imparted to us! 

Mid-Autumn Celebration

by Flor Esteban

My family has been in Penang for more than 3 years now, and have witnessed countless local celebrations from different cultures - Chinese, Malay and Indian. Last Sunday night, we were able to take active part in the Mid Autumn Festival (a.k.a. Lantern Festival, Moon Cake Festival) sponsored by the Community at Heart ministry. What a great experience!

We got to church shortly after six; our spiritual family and friends were milling around waiting for the program to start. Danzity opened the “show” with a dazzling performance by Shaun (the choreographer) and company. Next, Grace who celebrated her birthday the day before was presented with a birthday cake. Pastor GP told everyone just before dinner that the winners of the “Best Dressed” competition will be announced later.

Then, it was time for makan. It was another "potbless" gathering, so people came with food – all sorts of dishes and the traditional food, mooncake. While people were enjoying the “feast” at the back, the photo shoot (mostly with kids) was also going on near the stage

After feeding the body, came the feeding of the soul by hearing God’s word through Pastor Charles Curtis. He came to Penang with his wife, Jane, and the Every Nation Church Singapore (ENCS) Mission Team. He talked about Psalm 119:105 where it says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” No matter how small our light is, it can shine brightly in the dark and bring comfort (to the weary travelers).  And if I may add, let’s always take with us the light-giving word wherever we go so we don’t slip with our feet. Pastor Charles also spoke about people as salt of the earth and the many uses of salt (e.g. heals, preserves). He also said something that struck me, “Salt does not draw attention to itself but to the food or thing that it enhances.” I can still remember Pastor Charles’s moving story about the boastful donkey that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. It was a good reminder to us all - to draw people to Jesus not to us.

Hmmm, what happened next? Oh, yes, Pastor Jojo and Ida who were celebrating their 24^th wedding anniversary were also surprised with a cake. We sang Happy Anniversary to the tune of Happy Birthday for lack of appropriate song to sing haha. How creative can you get!

And the winners of the Best Dressed of the night are shown below. 

 

Finally, the Lantern Walk! Each one was given a colorful paper lantern  and a candle. Then with the lighted lanterns, we walked to the waterfront opposite Queensbay Mall to admire the beautiful seaside view, the Penang Bridge and, of course, the bright moon.

                        

Birthday Parties and Photo Shoots

by Ari Esteban

It was a double birthday party at the Henson’s place last Saturday. Why? It was Chloe (4th) and Sabina’s (9th) birthday! The girls, Sabina, Chloe, Hannah, Janie, Eirene and Gabi were dressed like princesses. One corner of the house was turned into a photo shoot area with a colorful backdrop. There were clothes hanging on a rope fastened to the wall and a makeover table with cosmetics and nail polish on the side! 

The food was also “dressed” to fit the occasion like stuffed pink eggs and cute birthday cakes.  There was Mac ‘n’ Cheese by Tita Shaynne, S’more cake courtesy of Tita Cindy and more! The girls also tried their hands at making pizza!

After eating, we all went into the “dressing room” to plan out what we were gonna do. We talked about some fun games like Models, Private School-Mega-Rich-Girls, Super Heroes and Shopping. We all got bored at one point in the games. I finally decided a fun game and it was called, “Hair Commercial Models”! It was lots of fun and before we knew it, it was time for the Photo Shoot!

The girls were so excited and hurried to get dressed. They had different types of themes - City Chic, Formal, Girly and Beach. They also had tons of cute poses like a REAL photo shoot! 

After all that, we headed home. We brought Tita Shayne, Chloe, Tita Anne, Tita Mylene and Marcus, Tita Myla and Eirene home.

We had a great time at the party.☺

Cameron Highlands, Here We Come!

by Gabi Esteban

Last week our friends from church planned to make another trip during Hari Raya. Cameron Highlands was a good choice because my parents have not been there. Our trip there last Friday was fun and quite a long journey but it didn’t feel that long. My family and I woke up at 4:30 a.m. I was still so sleepy. We went to a place near the church again to meet the other people going on the trip. My dad invited some of his friends. We boarded the bus at 5:55. The bus started moving at 6:02. My friends and I were all so excited. 

While on the bus we watched a movie called Ip Man 2. It was an exciting movie but it was quite violent because there were fights and stuff. On the way to Cameron Highlands we stopped in Ipoh to eat breakfast. We ate at a dim sum restaurant but it took quite a long time to serve our food so we had some “take away”. When we went back to the bus the driver put a new movie called The Last Airbender. I wanted to watch the movie so I went in front and sat with my dad. The movie made time pass by really quickly and before we knew it we were in Cameron Highlands!

On our first stop we passed by a store and bought a lot of sweet corn and vegetables. We also bought corn in a cup it was very delicious. On our next stop in Tanah Rata we were supposed to go to the “pick your own strawberries” farm but it was closed because it was a public holiday. So we walked around and looked at the shops. We ate at an Indian restaurant. My sister and I ate roti telur (it means egg bread). My mom ate nan while my dad had capati. After eating we hopped on the bus and continued our journey around Cameron Highlands. We also dropped by  Cameron Highlands Resort to take some photos. I heard that it's a six-star hotel!  

Our next stop was in Cactus Valley. I bought three small cactuses for RM5. Then we went inside Cactus Valley. There were lots of plants and colorful flowers and big cactuses. The bus also stopped in Kea Farm. It isn’t really a farm but just a mini wet market. We were supposed to go to another strawberry farm but sadly it closed early. There my mom bought more vegetables and of course strawberries. Our last stop in Cameron Highlands was in Bharat tea plantation. My friends and I climbed up the hill. It was so tiring.

On our way back to Penang we stopped to eat dinner in Ipoh but all the food stalls were full and some of the people sitting down didn’t even have food! So some of us went to eat at McDonalds which wasn’t as crowded as the hawker stalls. On our way back we watched another movie but we changed it to Spy Next Door.  The other one was so gory and violent. When we reached Penang it was almost 1:00 a.m. and we were all very tired but happy. My dad dropped off some of our friends on our way home. The trip was very fun and enjoyable. I had a great time. Hmm…I wonder where we are going next.

Trip to Bukit Merah Laketown Resort

by Gabi Esteban

Earlier today my friends from Kids Church and I went to Bukit Merah Laketown Resort. Our family members also joined us. Even my friend's grandmother came. We actually rode a bus going there. Before boarding Bus Sekolah my mom and I passed by McDonalds to buy sausage Mcmuffins for the kids. 

After my dad dropped us off at our church we waited for other people to come then we boarded the bus. It took 1 hour (or shorter) to reach there. When we went inside to go to the water park, we found out that the park opening time was changed from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.!!! So we had to wait for a while. While waiting, the girls including the moms went to the shop and looked around. Meanwhile, the boys and the dads played games in the arcade.

When the ticket counter opened we bought our tickets. Before we went inside we applied sun block. Once inside the park we put our bags on the chairs and jumped into the wave pool (there weren’t any waves though) while our moms watched us. The wave pool had salty water because there was sand at the shore. After that we went on the slides. There were many slides. We rode the tube slide and the body slide - it was fun! Then we went to the boomerang. It was so scary yet we had a great time. Later we tried the lazy river. It was very slow but we reached the end anyway. Our last ride was on the chairlift for free! It was so scary and high but we enjoyed it.

When it was over we went to the bathrooms to change and go back home. I didn’t ride the bus though. I went with my dad because I had tennis lessons. I didn’t want to go but I had to. I had a lot of fun in Bukit Merah Laketown Resort with my friends. I wish we could go there again.