:: Thursday, February 17, 2005 ::

All glory and praise goes to the Father, who is faithful to call us, and faithful to bring it to pass. What I have witnessed in recent times is unprecedented personal, emotional and spiritual growth of my brethren here.

Last week, Justin Chia's grandfather passed away. His death was a shock to the family as it came quite suddenly and unexpectantly. What was also a deafening concern was that he wasn't saved. My experience of funerals have been a silent joy, celebrating that the person would be reunited with their heavenly Father. Instead in this case, there is a real sense of sadness and regret.

There's not much that we as friends can do than pray. What however I have witnessed is the power of prayer can extend way past what we could ever say or do as friends. On Friday night, we gathered to pray for Justin after fellowship. What a powerful display of support, bearing one another's burdens and sorrow. But the love of God did not end there. 10 of us were convicted to go attend the wake on the weekend on Sunday. This was quite a display of love and passion, since a lot of the brothers were in the midst of quite a heavy load of exams and work. But that doesn't stop people willing to have the Lord's way in their lives.

The men here have come a long way from just a few months ago. It's like they're maturing into real men of God, with their faith being tested, their personality being compressed on its sides in order that they be tried and proven faithful in their spirit. The moment the 10 of us arrived in Markham that Sunday night, dressed accordingly to respect the family of Chia, and walked into that funeral home, I felt the Lord had been preparing the men all this time for something like this. We weren't concerned with our own needs, our own desires... instead we were dedicated to being not only spiritually present but physically present at one of our brother's times of need. And praise the Lord... the moving of ACF does not stay in London or just within Western. No, it can be present anywhere.

The significance of such a large group of brothers, each coming on his own will, each with their own unique gifts and personalities, is great. God has been working in these men's lives in order that they be more than ambassadors.

That Sunday night, as the 10 of us gathered around Chia to pray, I noticed how much the Lord has blessed our group so abundantly. IT was true that the only floral display with a bible verse was given by the men's cell. Yun Ping with his passionate and sincere heart to love and encourage, Jon's presence and intimacy, Chris' wisdom and experience in respect, Sam and Joseph's deep comraderie, Justin Liu's light heartedness, Enoch's quiet display of support, Brian's never ending committment to be present in a real tangible way, and Caleb's all encompassing leadership. I is an absolutely incredible mosaic of the Holy Spirit's traits.

Praise the Lord!

:: Jesse 11:21 AM

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:: Jesse 11:21 AM

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Yay! Charity Ball! Cho's (Cynthia Ho) master plan worked out... and we mostly made it there. This year it was held at the London Convention Centre. I had never been to a Charity Ball throughout my career here as a student and figured that I would once knowing Priscilla was coming up this weekend. The last time I did something like this was back in 3rd year when a hole crew of us ACFers hit the Delaware formal.

Back Row (L-R): Caleb, Sam, Kendrick, Sam, Ian, Thomas, Mike
Front Row: Priscilla, Doreen, Anthea, Theresa, Adrian, Cho, Lillian, Rebecca

Oh yeah, and there are more pictures on the gallery link.

:: Jesse 11:20 PM

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This is that picture from 3 years ago. Wow... such memories!!!

:: Jesse 11:20 PM

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The place was MAD nice! I believe it was a Roman theme, and there were tons of people that we didn't know either. Oh wells. This reminded me of one of those prom scenes from American high school movies!

:: Jesse 11:15 PM

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Priscilla, Me, Thomas and Becky. Oh, and the Siamese twin off Rebecca's head is named "Mini-me".

:: Jesse 11:14 PM

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Awwww, aren't they sooo cute? Hee hee... hey, there's no need to spend 50 cents to talk to one another! :)

:: Jesse 11:12 PM

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