We are Songs of Magnificat!

Ju and I spent a weekend in Lublin, Poland at the invitiation of the Magnificat Ministry which is a women-to-women ministry.

I was invited to share my personal testimony at the Magnificat meal which gathers women for an evening of worship, fellowship and testimonies. The meals are held quarterly and it was extra special this time round because the meal coincided with the Feastday of the Immaculate Conception of our Lady on 8th December.

After I gave my testimony, Ju led the women in a time of prayer and surrender to God.

260 women attended the meal and the university canteen was transformed

School of Missions 2007

We are now into the second week of the School of Missions happening in Allerheiligen, Germany.


This year we have 8 participants coming from Singapore, Korea, Slovakia and Germany. Ju is co-leading the School with Derek and Chris is one of the school staff.

We had a very good bonding-in week blessed by great weather, good fun and encouraging input from our team and community members.



For more updates and pictures of the School do visit www.bandoffollowers.blogspot.com, the blog of our worship ministry.

God bless ya!!

Buon Giorno!

Shots of our recent Italian holiday...

St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

Some famous people we "met" along the way....(Jem, please correct me if I got any of the facts wrong!) By the way, all the pictures were taken by Jem.

Moses by Michelangelo. Met him at Piazza della Vincoli in a church which also contained the chains which held Peter captive before an angel came to free him.

Jem was lucky to meet Francis as he was making his way to San Damiano Church on the outskirts of Assisi. It was at San Damiano Church that Francis heard the Lord's call to rebuild His church.

Padre Pio at San Giovanni Rotondo. Man of few but impactful words. Enough said.

Peter outside the Basilica named in honour of him while he lived and died in honour of his Lord Jesus who loved him and called him and gave him the keys of His Kingdom.

Paul, the great missionary. And we who aspire to be true to our calling. Pray for us, St Paul!

What a privilege we possess, to call these great men our friends and our family. We are truly surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Of men, women, children. Down through the ages. We share the same faith as they did, in the Lord Jesus. Let us then not lose sight of what we possess and what we have been promised but always look to Jesus, the Leader and Perfector of our faith. "He is faithful!" is the resounding testimony of these witnesses.

OK...back to the rest of our photo-itinerary:

St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

Inside the peacful cloister of St Paul Outside The Walls. We highly recommend a visit to this beautiful Basilica!

The bell tower of the new St Pio's Church in San Giovanni Rotondo.

One of the numerous fountains of Villa D'Este in Tivoli, Rome.

The day Chris had 4 Yazzees in one game! Ju's face says it all!

On the Ponte Vacio of Florence. We visited the Uffizi Museum just before this and it was worth the almost 2 hour wait. So many beautiful art pieces in there. A true showcase of God's gift of creativity and imagination to man.How can we not showcase one of Ju's classic poses? ;-)

Basilica of St Francis, Assisi

Florence

St Pio's Church, San Giovanni Rotondo

The spacious piazza outside St Pio's Church.

Love the space and the beautiful olive trees in the background.

Never imagined such a shot in my life!

Jesus, You Be Lifted High

Ju was on outreach in Leipzig, Freiburg and Erfurt for 3 weeks in June with the participants of the latest School of Missions held in Allerheiligen.



Here are some shots of the mission.

Ju and Tanja praying for Jenny whom they met at the gothic festival in Leipzig. Ju found many of the young people very open to hear about Jesus and also met many who wanted to receive Jesus into their lives. Jesus is truly the Light of the World whom the darkness cannot overcome!

Miriam and Joy, Francisco and Luke engaging in conversations with people they met on the streets. Many of such conversations ended in a prayer for these beloved children of God. Many have not heard of God up till then. We thank God for giving us this commission to make Him known, so that people may hear and believe in the Good News of Jesus Christ!

Michael Park holding up Christ Crucified. Jesus said, "When I am lifted up, I will draw all men (and women and children) to myself!".

Jesus, thank you for using us as Your hands, and feet, and face and mouth, to extend your LOVE to people everywhere! You are the only one who satisfies our deepest longing. Come Lord Jesus! You are the Hope of Nations, the Hope of Deutschland, the Hope of every land!

Experiencing God's Love in Lublin, Poland - Update from Chris

I was away in Poland for 5 days and when I returned last Wednesday, I was surprised at how much new life has sprouted all around Allerheiligen in that short space of time. Yes, life is bursting forth in a most fascinating way. It really makes you take a second look at your surroundings and think, "Hey, was this plant here all this while??" :-)

Pia, Stefan and I conducted a 4-day introductory seminar on inner healing in Lublin. We emphasised our chosenness and blessedness as the people of God, touched on some areas of our lives that may have wounded us, shared some basic tools on the renewal of our minds and encouraged them to be wounded healers - helping others even as they themselves journey to wholeness in Christ.

This seminar was personally very faith-building for me because I experienced our Lord's tremendous love and affirmation for His people and His great desire to bring healing and restoration into our lives. The people were very hungry to receive God's message. From their animated discussions during the workshops, we can see that they had a lot to share on the topics they have heard. Many were touched by the love and truths of God and strengthened by them to continue moving forward.

It was my first time serving in a seminar of this nature and it humbled me to see that God chose to use us - cracked pots as we are - as His channels of grace. What we had to offer was modest. What God did in the hearts of people was far too tremendous to describe. This brought home to me the truth that we are not called to be anyone's saviour or solution. Jesus alone is. We are just called to give of ourselves and to speak the truth of what we believe and testify to what we have received from God. That realisation was very liberating for me and enabled me to serve with joy and conviction. Being on this mission brought for me new thankfulness to God for the calling He has placed in my life.

I shared my testimony of God's love and healing in my own life using the image of a sparrow which Jesus referred to when He spoke about God's providence and care for us. And it was very moving to discover sister sparrows in Poland that day - people to whom God is restoring the fundamental sense of belonging and significance.

We also met members of our sister covenant community in Poland called the New Jerusalem covenant community. It really helps me to experience this covenantal relationship when I meet these brothers and sisters face-to-face!


While there we were treated to Polish hospitality and cuisine (sausages, smoked pork, potato bread, beetroot soup, mushroom soup, and more soups...), both of which were simply wonderful. I must say that Polski kawa (coffee!) is the best coffee I have tasted to date!

When you read this, please offer up a prayer for the people who attended the seminar. That God will protect the seeds of healing and faith planted in their hearts. That they will persevere in renewing their minds with the truths of God and rejecting old lies and scripts, that they deepen their trust in God and love themselves as God loves them. Danke!

I will write again to update about our lives in Allerheiligen where the School of Missions is moving into its outreach phase, after completing 3 months of lectures and ministry times.

Greetings from the Band of Followers

Dear fellow followers of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Last December saw the Band of Followers in South-East Asia for 3 weeks. At times it felt as if we were in the Amazing Race as we moved from one "pitstop" to the next in a matter of days! For some of us, it could well have been "Fear Factor" when faced with exotic Asian cuisine (like century eggs!!) and having close encounters of Kakerlake (the ubiquitous cockcroaches!). For Ben, it was his first time in Asia and we are proud to say that he and Pat did very well.

It was also an especially significant bonding time for Ju who finally joined us after finishing her commitment at the New Zealand centre. And we can finally present to you the complete Band of Followers group photo! \o/

All in all, we had a blessed time of ministering and of being ministered to, of giving teachings and being taught by young and old alike, of encouraging others and being very much encouraged ourselves, of growing in our identity as a ministry and in our personal relationships within the team.

In this update, we would like to share with you our reflections on some of those precious moments, so that you too may join us in giving thanks to the glory of God!

Youth weekend retreat - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Pat: The retreat we did for the young people in Johor Bahru showed me the deep thirst that the young people of Asia have for Christ. It was also beautifull to see that there were more men than women attending the retreat. On our part, we allowed ourselves to be the hands and the voice of Jesus as we gave teachings and led worship and ministry times. The Holy Spirit moved in a very powerful way over the 3 days and many of them testified to experiencing God's love and power for the first time in their lives.

Worship and Fellowship Evening - Ju's house, Singapore

Ju: When I responded to God's call to be a fulltime missionary in 2003, one of my prayers was that He would continue to provide for my family and to lead them to deeper faith. Over the past 3 years, God has shown Himself to be faithful in so many ways but the greatest miracle has been for me to be able to share my faith and my spiritual journey with my brother Jem. Thus, the worship evening at my house was a special night for me, not only because it was packed with friends who have been our fellow pilgrims of faith, but even more so because Jem had agreed to open our house to host the evening and also joined us for worship.

Someone said, "Faith is believing in advance what can only be understood in reverse." That worship evening was a precious moment of grace for me to look back so that I could understand more of the great things God has done for me and my family. And I stand in awe of His faithfulness! My prayer then is for courage to forge ahead in faith, trusting that though I cannot see the overall design of my life as it is being moulded in the Potter's hand, He knows and He is faithful to transform the clay of my life into something perfect and good to Him. Glory be to Him whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ever ask or imagine! \o/

Planetshakers Conference - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Derek:
It was my joy to see 4,000 youth from Malaysia loving Jesus with so much energy and surrendering to Him for His Kingdom. The Planetshakers team was truly inspiring. Over the 3-day conference, we had worship service in the evening, teachings in the morning and workshops in the afternoon. The strength of Planetshakers is in ministering to youths and we have been blessed by their enthusiasm, courage and encouragement to go for more! Check out the exuberance of the Planetshakers team as they abandon themselves in worship!

ICPE Mission Centre - Manila, Philippines

Angie: Derek and I shared with the community some technical aspects of worship leading and also gave practical sessions with the musicians. I had met several of the brothers and sisters currently undergoing staff formation on previous occasions. So what edified me very much was to witness how much they have grown in their faith and also in their music and worship leading skills since then.

Pat: It was an experience for me to visit some families living close by to one of the rubbish sites in Manila and to also touch their poverty. Through the visits, I also came to a greater appreciation of the work that our ICPE Mission is doing among the poor people in Manila.

Chris: One of my happiest moments was to attend the Christmas party that our Manila centre held for the children of Montalban. Over a hundred kids turned up and filled the little house with joyful singing and excited chattering. I was deeply moved by the evident love that my fellow missionaries had for these little ones as they prepared the presents, decorations and bakings for them; at the party, they were generous with their hugs and smiles and attention and care for all the kids, treating them with dignity as befitting princes and princesses. For these children who have so little in life, that afternoon must have felt like being at a party in their heavenly Father's house!

Pat shared, "I definitely experienced His goodness during my time in Asia and I am very grateful for this and also for the brothers and sisters that accompanied me on this mission." We couldn't agree more with you sis! :-)

New Year's Eve - Allerheiligen

We returned to Allerheiligen in time to join the community in hosting the New Year's Eve experience for our guests. We transitioned into the New Year with a time of worship and thanksgiving. What we found very encouraging that evening was the active participation of our own youth during the worship time. As our ministry's motivation is to see the future generation of Catholics express heartfelt worship of the Lord Jesus, we praise God that we could witness this happening in our own community and pray that He continues to mould the hearts of these young worshippers!


What's Up?

School of Mission - Allerheiligen

The School begins on Monday, 5th February and we are expecting 15 participants from all over the world! Already there is a new buzz and hum in Allerheiligen as the participants started arriving a few days ago.

The Band of Followers will serve the School through worship-leading at Mass and other worship and ministry times. We will also put our culinary skills to use (or, to the test, for one of us at least!) to prepare community meals. In addition, Ju will serve as a staff of the school, journeying with sharing partners and participating in cell groups.

At the same time, we will work on the basic needs of the worship ministry such as having regular band practices and honing our respective skills in music, worship-leading, singing and sound. There are also plans to do a first recording.

Final Note

It has almost been 5 months since we embarked on this year-long project and we are aware of the need to to discern and concretise the future direction of the ministry after the year is over. We would also need to start planning for the School of Missions in September 2007 which will have a focus on worship ministry. So, please do lift up a prayer for us when you read this!

The heart is rich when it is content, and it is always content when its desires are fixed on God. Nothing can bring greater happiness than doing God's will for the love of God. St. Miguel Febres Cordero (1854-1910)

May the treasure of this happiness always be the desire of your heart, dear brothers and sisters!

What's been happening

What's Happening on Our Side?

The School of Missions is going into its fourth week. We've just finished a week on Jesus in the 4 Gospels. It was a very intensive week of learning (with lectures in the morning, afternoon and evening) blended beautifully with times of prayer and reflection which allowed us to also experience the person of Jesus we learnt so much about. We also had lots of fun working in groups and preparing creative summaries and leading animations. Mike and Patricia Papendkort did a great job as our teachers and facilitators. This is indeed their ministry and I hope that more and more people will get to experience and learn as much as we did from them.

As we spend time with the participants, we are getting to know the 14 of them more and more. They are varied and great company: ernest, receptive and very fun-loving. The youngest among them is Luke who is 19 and hails from Great Britain. There are 6 Koreans and we are very impressed with their assiduity as night after night they gather to re-cap the day's teachings with Michael Park who would translate the teaching into Korean for them. Wow!

Another beautiful thing we witness in the group dynamics is how friendship can be forged over language barriers as we see how a young German participant became buddies with another Korean participant with haltering English as their communication bridge.

We also have 3 Singaporeans in our midst: Jocelyn, Stephen and Sharon. It was great to celebrate the Lunar New Year with these new friends!

On the ministry side, Ju's learning the ropes of sound engineering on the job! Yes, it has been an interesting time.....it is nice to be able to learn something new. All i can say is that the sound is improving so that is a good sign...and yes much more of the rope to climb but i am really enjoying myself.

I am happy that we have re-started our regular band practices and thus been able to learn new songs and introduce them to the School and the community. Recent songs include “You Alone Are God”, “From the Inside Out” from Hillsongs’ Mighty to Save album. We’ve also introduced “Pick It Up” and “Fall in this Place” from Planetshakers’ Pick It Up album. We are planning to learn “Awesome is the Lord Most High” by Chris Tomlin. This is not a new song (relatively speaking) but nonetheless it has good lyrics and rhythm. In addition, Luke just got me excited about new songs from Soul Survivor, Delirious! and Tim Hughes which I would like to listen to and see if we can introduce any of them as well.

The heart is rich when it is content, and it is always content when its desires are fixed on God. Nothing can bring greater happiness than doing God's will for the love of God. - St. Miguel Febres Cordero (1854-1910)