COUNTING GOD'S BLESSINGS--CITIES I'VE VISITED

I thank God for letting me see his wonderful creation around us. I've pinned those cities on the map:

• Create your own travel map or travel blog


• Travel Info at TripAdvisor

I'M DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS . . .

I can still recollect vividly my first "white Christmas." That Dec 25th morning I woke up very early, couldn't wait to see if my dream had come true. I quickly opened my window. Lo, and behold—the garden was glistening white as far as I could see from the heavy overnight snowfall! What an exciting experience. Over the next few days I went out with Invar (one of my buddies from Scandinavia), and he taught me how to make an angel in the snow.

Angel in the snow

We also created caterpillar's(tractor) track around the garden, and made a three-feet snowman--complete with hat, scarf and a carrot nose. And of course, we had a snow-ball fight too, not forgetting the hard labor of scattering gravel on the footpaths around the huge community (to make it safe for walking). Incredible!

However, this year I can only share my dream of a white Christmas with my wife in Singapore, and watch amusingly how some Singaporeans are decorating their Christmas trees with cotton-wool snow!

A Blessed Christmas & New year to all!

TAKARA TOMY TRAIN LAYOUTS: CREATIVE MINI-RAIL ENGINEERING

When bored and tired, I find a new way out--creative mini-rail engineering!

A SLICE OF DAVINA’S LIFE (December 2008)

AMAZING RACE . . . AMAZING GRACE!
I was in high spirits when I left for Bangkok, Thailand, on 18 November for the last transitional module of my PhD programme. And when it was over, I would be rewarded with a trip to Israel. The module—Educational Leadership in Christian Faith Communities—was facilitated by Dr. Pieter Theron. We had great time learning about leading change in a learning community as well as leadership principles and practices. We even developed our personal leadership development plan. On 25 November, we concluded Pieter’s sessions with a sumptuous dinner—our last meal together as a cohort. “Great! This time, tomorrow, I will be in Singapore!”

Blissfully enjoying our dinner on
25 November in Bangkok

However, panic and fear gripped my heart as I watched the news that night. Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport had been taken over by anti-government protesters. “Oh, no! I need to be in Singapore by 1 December!” By morning, the airport was closed. I was now a helpless victim trapped in the web of Thailand’s political turmoil. When I heard the airport would be closed indefinitely, I told the Lord that I was prepared to bid farewell to my Israel trip. The next morning (27 November), Dr. Allan Harkness suggested that we find alternative ways to get out of Thailand instead of waiting indefinitely in Bangkok. To me, it was a risky venture. My initial reluctance to follow the group to Phuket bent under the strong persuasion of my classmates who encouraged me not to give up my Israel trip so quickly. They even promised to let me have the first available air ticket out of Phuket. By that time, Casey had begun mobilizing many of you to pray for my safe return to Singapore.

Our group’s Amazing Race started in Bangkok at 4:30 pm in a hired van. We arrived at the Phuket International Airport at 2:30 am.

Listlessly waiting for a flight out of Phuket in the wee hours of the morning of 28 November

Because of my classmates’ sacrifice, I was able to get the last seat on Firefly (I had not heard of this airline before) from Phuket to Penang. I left Phuket at 11 am on 28 November. Thankfully, Casey also managed to secure a seat for me to fly from Penang to Singapore that evening. I reached Singapore at 7:30 pm, thankful and relieved after a 27-hour Amazing Race! By God’s amazing grace, I returned just in time to prepare for my trip to Israel. Thank you, friends, for your prayers! I could not have done it without you!

THANKSGIVING
 For our group’s safe return from Phuket (PS. The last person to leave reached Singapore on 3 December)
 For the able assistance of my colleague, Benson Goh, who taught my Greek 2 class and helped my students while I was away
 For Casey’s completion of his initial thesis proposal
 For an ‘educational’ vacation in Israel

PRAYER REQUESTS
 For strength and wisdom in my ministry at EAST
 To design a meaningful Greek Exegesis course for the third quarter that would be relevant to my students
 To mentor effectively the girls in my family group for their spiritual and personal growth
 To find and read books and articles relevant to my research topic
 For a suitable supervisor for Casey who is writing on Contextualization of Theological Education

To all my partners-in-ministry,
Joy & peace be with you this festive season!
Davina (& Casey)

I GAVE UP READING THE NEWSPAPER

I used to enjoy reading the many interesting reports in the newspapers daily. However as I read the newspaper lately, I couldn't help wondering to myself: Isn't there any good news around? Most of the news seem so depressing. So I gave up reading the newspaper daly and even unscribed it.

What I really need to see is some good news. And I found them in the Good News of Christmas! Yes, there is hope even in the midst of so much uncertainties. May this Christmas bring to each of you the hope of Good News.

A SLICE OF DAVINA'S LIFE (OCT 2008)

The school van perched precariously on the edge of the driveway (on the left is the steep driveway; on the right is the slope of the hill)
My AGST-MST friends at the foot of the driveway on a bright sunny day (in the background, the Straits of Malacca and the Batu Ferringhi road

JOURNEY MERCIES ARE FOR REAL!

Often times, before we travel, we would
pray for journey mercies—for God’s
protecting hand to be upon the travellers. It
may seem like a ritual but it should not be
so. We really do not know what danger lurks
ahead and we truly need God’s protection
upon our lives.
My fifth AGST-MST module was held in
Penang at the Malaysia Baptist Theological
Seminary. The buildings of the seminary are
sprawled across the slope of a hill and the
driveways are steep.
On our second night there, a local
student, Caleb, kindly offered to drive us out
for dinner. When we returned to the campus
after dinner, Caleb asked all of us to alight
from the van so that he could park the van
nearer to the side on the steep driveway. We
alighted and started to walk to our rooms.
Realizing that it was taking Caleb longer than
expected to park the van, we turned back to
take a look.
We saw Caleb struggling to engage the
brakes. All of a sudden, the van just rolled
down the driveway. We could only stand and
gasp in fear—“What if the van just rolled
over the edge of the slope?” Mercifully,
God’s protecting hand stopped the van from
rolling over the edge. One of the wheels hit
the kerb and rolled over, but the whole
vehicle came to a halt. Caleb came out of
the van, visibly shaken but unhurt. God had
protected all of us from a possibly nasty
accident. Thank you, prayer partners, for
praying for my safety!


With Grace (middle) & Crystal (right) from my family group; Crystal had just returned to Korea to prepare for long-term mission work in East Asia with her husband while Grace is serving her Filipino countrymen/ women at a local Baptist church

Thank you, my precious partner-in-ministry,
for your prayers and giving.
Davina

PRAYER REQUESTS

 To teach Greek 2 in a way that my
students can understand
 To mentor effectively the girls in my
family group for their spiritual and
personal growth
 To maximize learning and be in good
health when I attend my last AGST-MST
module (Education for Leadership) in
Bangkok, Thailand, in November (18-26)
 For complete healing of the recent
recurring bouts of hives
 For Casey to complete his initial thesis
proposal by November

A SLICE OF DAVINA’S LIFE (July 2008)

Top: With some of my Greek 1 students
Bottom: With Sharon (left) and Mi Youn (right) who are now serving in Korea CCC

THANKSGIVING: COMING FULL CIRCLE

When Casey and I went to the Philippines in 1986, we thought we would just do a one-year master’s degree. My eyes were set on an MA in Christian Education. However, God changed our plans and we returned to Singapore 3¼ years later with a Master of Divinity in Biblical Studies and a Master of Theology in New Testament (in progress). Twenty over years have passed and both of us are now working on a PhD in Christian education. My education path has come full circle. I have returned to my “first love.” Learning more about education now, after eighteen years of teaching, has given me a new perspective of my calling as a teacher and helped me to improve my teaching-learning skills.

This quarter, I am journeying through Greek 1 with fifteen students who come from Singapore, the Philippines, Korea, East Asia, and Nigeria. It is tough for them to grasp nouns with grammatical genders since such a concept does not exist in their languages. If “heart” (kardia) is a feminine noun, does it mean it is a female heart? Come to think of it, I could have been less sympathetic towards my students’ struggles in the past as I was using the male “mind” (nous; a masculine noun). Just kidding! I can only say that my present studies has caused me to become more aware of my learners’ struggles and needs. I thank God for this opportunity to grow as a teacher.

PRAYER REQUESTS

 To raise an additional $1,500 per month as soon as possible
 To teach Greek 1 in a way that my students can understand
 To maximize learning and be in good health when I attend my AGST-MST module (Education for Spiritual Formation) in Penang, Malaysia, in August
 For Casey to complete an initial thesis proposal by November

AN URGENT APPEAL

Some financial policies in Singapore Campus Crusade for Christ were revised and implemented in July 2008. With this revision and my existing monthly deficit, I need to raise another $1,500 per month. I thank all of you for believing in my calling and participating in my ministry. Please let me know if you have friends or anyone who would be interested to be my partner-in-ministry. Thank you for your continual encouragement through prayers and giving. Without you, I would not be able to fulfill my teaching ministry at EAST.

MY CONTACT:

Davina Soh Hui Leng
Blk 322 Tampines Street 33, #09-152, Singapore 520322
E-mail address: davina@east.edu.sg

Learning the New Testament can be fun!

Top-Bottom: From "Beauty Pageant" to "B-drama" (B = biblical) to "Star-War Simulation" to "Game show" to "Talking Point"! Who says learning is only stress leh?

Those good old days . . .

Here was one of our last adventure:

Found an incredible article

Casey has just come across this incredible article by an anonymous writer. Perhaps, someone cares to comment on it:

"I knew about laminin. Here is how wikipedia describes them: Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue.' You see...laminins are what hold us together ... literally. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. And I knew all this already. But what I didn't know is what laminin looks like..

Here is what the structure of laminin looks like... and this is not a 'Christian portrayal' of it....if you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see--(Google diagram of laminin).
Now tell me that our God is not the coolest!
Amazing: The glue that holds us together...all of us...is in the shape of the cross.

Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind.

'He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created, things in heaven and things on earth visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.' Col 1:15-17

Call me crazy. I just think that is very, very, very cool.
Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, Paul penned those words. And now we see that from a very literal standpoint, we are held together...one cell to another...by the cross.

You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything other than the mark of a Creator who knew exactly what laminin 'glue' would look like long before Adam even breathed his first breath!"

AGBC Retreat 08

Casey just came back from AGBC Retreat at Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. The cool mountain and beautiful floral added to the majesty of God. The speaker, Rev Dr Peter Ong (from Kuala Lumpur), reminded every believer of the importance of the "being," "becoming," and "doing" of "spiritual fathering." Yes, not forgetting the "omnirelevance" of God! And everyone returned with a sense of this awesome responsibility entrusted by the Lord.

Of course, Casey enjoyed renewing fellowship with old-time friend, Peter. Casey would also not forget the enroute stop-over at good-ole Ipoh. Wah . . . the crunchy "ngar choy kai"(or "Bean sprout Chicken") & original smooth "Ipoh Hor Fun," Funny Mountain's soya milk, Sun Yoke Moon's dim sum, etc. Yummilicious! Plus, the endless shopping of more food . . . like Overseas' Mooncakes, Gunung Rapat's "Heong Peang", Fisherman's Menglembu groundnuts, Bidor's "Sakima," etc. Oh . . . how Casey's going to miss them for some moons.

Take a shark break!

Here is an interesting shark break--just point your cursor at the shark & move. You can also change the type of fish by clicking at the fish side-bar:

Click here to get more mini-SharkBreak widgets - www.SharkBreak.com

Time to catch up . . .

Here is Davina with two of her family group members who had just graduated (L-R: Sharon, Davina, & Miyoun). School is still out for Davina at the East Asia School of Theology (EAST). So she is trying to catch up with her assignments for AGST studies as well as her preparation for the coming English review class for new students at EAST.

College has begun for Casey!

The 2nd semester has just begun at AGBC. And Casey is now coaching 6 students on Exegesis of Matthew over the next 2 weeks. Patterned after the MBA-style for busy Singaporeans, the 2-week intensive classes are from 9am-5pm (every Mon & Sat) and 7-10pm (every Tue & Wed)--very "siong" (Singlish: tough). The 6 brave students who have signed up are from diverse background. Back row (L-R): Jireh (a church worker), Han Hui (a lecturer), David (an IT consultant); front row (L-R): Casey, Liana (a broker), Elizabeth (a home-maker), & Nancy (a tutor). But they have a common worthy goal--to be a better interpreter of the Gospel! Wow, may the Lord honour their desire. Amen.

Casey at the College

Here are some of Casey's "kaki"(Singlish: colleagues) at the Assemblies of God Bible College (AGBC). L-R: Vincent (Librarian), Isabella (Business Manager-Registrar), Magdalene (Dean of Students), Casey, & Peter (Dean of Studies [English--partially hidden).

Emmanuel . . .

Before: "Lord, help me!"
After: Smile, sashimi . . .!

". . . and they will call Him Emmanuel--which means 'God with us'" (Matt1:23). What a comforting assurance from the Lord Jesus. Recently when we arrived at Osaka-Kyoto, Japan, Davina was sick for four days. Being strangers in a foreign-speaking land, we felt so helpless. It became more critical when she ate up the last two panadols that we brought along. All we could rely on was the name of the Lord--Emmanuel. And the Lord was with us--she was up early the next day, somewhat what brighter and stronger. We were able to enjoy our remaining trip to Tokyo for the next five days without a single panadol. Hallelujah! What a wonderful name--Emmanuel.