A Heart, Renewed

A Heart, Renewed

by Alice Weng Yin Chan on Sunday, December 19, 2010 at 7:24pm on FB

It has been such a long long time since I feel so "hot" serving Him. Few months ago a sister in Church asked me whether I want to teach tambourine, and I thought, why not?; since I have the knowledge and doing nothing about it, might as well share it out.

I still remember that I do not really planned my teaching materials and most of the time, I just played by ear. There was a week I was feeling very tired due to insufficient sleep and I just do not know what to teach the children. Coincidentally there was an altar call and I went out for prayer. I was touched by God and was renewed for the rest of the day.

I always wonder whether this really worth the effort. That week itself, having no idea what to teach, I decided to have a mini-presentation for the children. I gave them a song, and asked them to think what step they want to put to that song. I was encouraged after that session, because they could remember the steps and although there were some imperfections, it was acceptable.

I try to use a different approach to teach the children as I noticed that many had a different perception on the instrument. To many, it is just another musical instrument. To me, it is an instrument to praise God, and the tambouriners are the front liners.

In September, I asked the children if they want to perform for Christmas and their feedback was positive. On one hand, I was happy because of their passion; on the other, this would mean more work for myself.

To cut the long story short, I was happy to see the children on stage, because they have shown me their effort and commitment. I was taken by surprise myself when they could continue the dance although there was technical problem to the sound system. This really gave me a big encouragement, because they are not relying on the music to dance; and this had also proven that they know what should be their focus.

I hope the children will continue to serve the Lord with the right attitude, and that was my condition when I chose the performers. I have also learnt to be more flexible with the children, and to set my expectation slightly lower. A sister told me to enjoy and not to be too hard on the children, because after all, they are children. A brother told me "a little messy" is actually enjoyable because the adults would find them "cute".

I thank God for the opportunity given, and although it was tiring, and sometimes tedious and frustrating, it was indeed an enjoyable process. There was some technical problems to my slide show today, but in the end, everything turned out to be fine.

Jesus, I thank You for Your Wisdom, Guidance and Strength; and I thank You because You have reminded me to work out on the inspiration. I know that some of the children's father do not attend Church, and I took the opportunity to get the children to draw an invitation card to their parents. I am glad to see some of the fathers today. At least some seeds are being sprinkled on them.

Jesus is amazing, Amen!

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• WindLover Chai, Jocelyn HuOy, Alicia Thong and 4 others like this.
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    Cho Poi Yee Amen!

    December 19 at 7:58pm · · 1 personLoading...
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    WindLover Chai God Bless~

    December 21 at 1:09am · · 1 personLoading...
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    Wai Yip every bit we do is counted,keep it up ya~

    December 21 at 9:58am via Facebook Mobile · · 1 person

Grateful [III]

Yesterday during the children worship session, the song "Path of Grace" was sung. I was close to tears because I feel that God has been very good to me.

When I was six [6] years old I told my mom I wanted to learn ballet. She brought me to the ballet school, only to be told that I was not accepted because the "oldest" age they accept was three [3] years old. I went back with disappointment because I thought I like dancing.

Sometimes God is amazing, He took away one option and gave us a better option. At nine [9] years old I told my mom I wanted to learn piano, and ta-daa, I began my first piano lesson at the age of nine [9]. I thought, given the condition of our family back then, if I learnt ballet, I would not have the opportunity to learn piano. God is good, Amen?

Also at the age of nine [9] I had the opportunity to learn dancing at Church, and that was my very first performance on stage. From then on, I started to serve God with performances. At the age of twelve [12] our Mrs Pastor saw a need for tambourine and the very few youths back then were chosen to be the first batch. At that time I thought, "God is so good to me! He knows I like dancing and although I had no opportunity to learn ballet, tambourine also not bad!"

From then on, I danced tambourine till 1st January 2006, and that was my last day dancing at GTPJ.

I love the tambourine because it is a way for me to build a relationship with God. Few months ago when a Sister asked me whether I am interested to teach tambourine, I said yes and just trust God to lead me through.

My aim was to change the people's perception on the instrument. Many think that it is just another musical instrument to praise God, but to me tambourine is an instrument used during war and tambouriners are the frontliners. The worship team leader is the General leading the team to war.

It is so amazing to see that things just come in place at the right time. For example, I did not purposely choose the colours of the ribbon but it was such a coincidence that the meaning of the colours just match at the right place:-

White - Purity (Jesus)

Red - Blood of Jesus

Silver Lining - Redemption

Purple - Kingship, Royalty

Gold Lining - Glory to God

圣诞节,是庆祝主耶稣基督的诞生.他来到这个世界,为要担当我们的罪,甘心被人钉在十字架上,舍命流血.

  
主耶稣是无罪 的,他的宝血中洗去我们一切的罪，把我们从罪救赎出来.

他死后，被人埋葬，就在死后第三天，神叫他从死里复活了. 耶稣显现四十天后，就升天，坐在神的右边.

他就是我们的万王之王，万主之主!

我们将一切的荣耀都归给神!

The performance is finally over but the mission still remains. I always remind the kids that they are serving God and He should be their only focus. I hope they will continue to serve Jesus with all their hearts, all their mind and all their soul. I pray that God will continue to give me His wisdom, guidance and strength because I am to be a good example to my students.

It is indeed a blessing to see that they are growing up in Christ. No words can describe how grateful I am. I do not want people to say how good the performance is, I want them to see that tambourine is not an ordinary musical instrument to serve God.

I told my students to take good care of their tambourine because it is an instrument mentioned in the Bible, and I am happy that they take my words.

God should be our focus at all times and we should not drift from it. I give all glory to Jesus because without Him, I am nothing and I would have no idea what to do with the students.

Thank You Jesus. Please be my only satisfaction!

Touched [II]

I am very happy to see that my students take their "ministry" seriously. I am glad to see that they enjoy the tambourine. I always put emphasis on their attitude and hope that they will serve God with the right attitude.

When I saw them yesterday, dancing without me guiding them, I Praise the Lord because I could see that this "ministry" bears some fruit. I pray hard that these students will continue to love God with all their heart, all their mind, and all their soul.

I stressed on "attitude" since the first day of class and I am happy to see that they understood what I want. However, it is not me, because it is God who is OUR focus at the end of the day.

18th and 19th December, 2010 will be coming soon! Girls, let's shine for Jesus =)

I am Tired

I did not attend Church last week and was wondering if my students practised tambourine at home. The first session I had with them, I asked them to do some artwork. Thereafter we started the practice. I was disappointed with them as they could not remember the steps I taught them and they have been learning for about two (2) months now. I really have no idea how to proceed because I still have half way to go.

Nonetheless there is a voice in me to have faith in them. I believe they are able to do it. I pray that God is with us each time we practise. Lord, please lead me through. I know I am feeling tired now. I pray for Your wisdom and strength. I cannot do the impossible, but I believe that You can do the impossible.

Jesus, You love the children. I trust them in Your hands. Please lead us so that we are able to work together as a team to make this performance possible.

In Jesus' precious name I pray, Amen.

Inspirations

As I was surfing the net yesterday I received a call from my tambourine students. They have been absent for about a month now, because their father disallowed them to attend Church. When I first got to know about it, I felt that it was such a pity because they have the potential to serve God with the tambourine.

What surprised me was, they sent me a letter, together with their contact particulars and asked for mine. When I have given them mine, they called me to chat. Yesterday was the second time I received their call. I was happy to talk to them despite having no idea what to talk about. I was happy that they remembered me even though they are sitting for examination now.

As I was taking my shower this evening, an inspiration came to my mind. I have no idea if this plan would work out but I would like to give it a try. It may not be easy to implement, and I am not sure if the outcome is positive. Actions are always better than words; actions are more powerful. Therefore I would definitely want to include God in this Project.

As I was having that inspiration, I believed that it came from God. I pray hard to God that this Project will be successful, because He makes it workable.

I was browsing through FB a moment ago and a friend posted this:

"Inspiration plus perspiration combine to produce success"

What a coincidence! Lord, I cast this Project unto You. Please give me the wisdom to have this done for You. May Your will be done! In Jesus' precious name I pray, Amen.

Expectation

I have been teaching tambourine since July this year. Frankly, I have no idea why I took up the responsibility, probably because of my love for tambourine. Today I figured out that I have high expectations on the children. I am preparing them for the Christmas presentation and started to teach them the steps today. I was "fierce" to them and some of them were not too happy about it. Hm, something that was "fun" to them, turns out to be very stressful.

It is not my intention to make them feel stressful about the presentation. Perhaps the fact that I grew up in a strict environment, I just applied what I have learnt in the past. However, I seemed to forget that they may be different from me.

I went to Church Camp and became close to two [2] of my pupils. They could not come to Church because their father opposed to them attending Church service. They wrote me a letter telling me so, and I replied their letter [in Chinese :p]. I left my number with them and they called me today.

I could feel the joy being a teacher, and because I could feel that the children like me too. Once I received a card from another student telling me that she was sorry because she could not be consistent in her attendance. This is the second case.

Lord, what do you want me to learn from here? I pray for Your guidance.