can i post something i think might be useful for you guys in this period of time.
Coz i''m gonna mail my students this to ask them to write encouragement cards to their friends during the exam period. maybe you guys wanna do them too, knowing quite a number of you do actually write cards fellow Philippians, and i have received quite a few also.
Now you can write to your Non-Ct friends. yup, happy studying :)

Just a simple guideline, you can do your own its fine too.
Steps in writing Encouragement cards:

1.General encouragement

Example:
- JiaYou! Exams are coming, continue to work hard ok.
- How have your revision been thus far? Hope you are doing fine! J

2.Identify 1 area that you struggle in which is similar to theirs’.
OR identify some similar feelings/sentiments that you share with them

Example:
- we all know exams are stressful, revision work is tiring ya?
- Exams very scary right, like cannot finish studying one.

3.Make a link from what is your struggle/feeling mentioned in (part 2) to God’s character and His ability on how He is able to help you conquer whatever difficulties you may encounter.
(basically, link to God – How you identify/experience God in these revision/exam period)

Example:
- hey. But I know I can draw my strength from God who is our Creator.
- I know that God will grant me peace during exams as He never forsakes me and all I need to do is to place my trust in this mighty God.

vin

was reading the Mission Convention booklet yesterday night before sleep.
(partly coz i want to be put to sleep, but never mind, i just want to read through the book which hasn't been touched prior to yest)

so i flipped from the backpages and was reading through various mission trip reports, then i came to the front page which is Pastor's opening address to the church. after reading through it, i was excited and amazed at God's work, prayerfully conscious of the church's vision, certainly encouraged from pastor's sincere assertions & strong charges.

He started by recounting the amazing work of how God used SanFu people to reach out to people. A perfect example of people being opportunistic to share the gospel. like, really, the SanFu people, well trained and equipped, always on their toes, ever ready to be sent to share the gospel. So a Sister in church went to visit her brother warded in a private hospital, chanced upon 7-8 Chinese workers (PRC) who met with mishaps.

Our dear opportunist saw their need for support, most importantly, beyond all needs the need for God that can provide comfort and peace, to calm their worries. i noted how pastor penned it down, our dear sister-in-christ was extremely excited (xing4 fen4) when she contacted them. Seeing all their needs, she went straight to tell fellow workers of the good findings, and they got together in one whole concerted effort to reach out to them! (zi4 fa1 was what pastor used)

Read on, and you will be left glowing with fire to share gospel. See the fruit of the harvest? 3 people committed their lives to God!! Alleluyia! The Joy that workers get? priceless.

So what did you learn, did it touch you? did mission convention sermons and testimonies encourage you? most of the time, it fizzles out as quickly as it is kindled. And sadly, how often is yours kindled? Can we be opportunists? Can we pray to ask God open our eyes to the needs of this ailing world and its people? Can we share the same heartbeat in wanting to reach out to the non-Cts? Can we not wait any longer?

Lets not pass the feeling off as merely a feeling which is nice to feel and feels good to feel, but may this feeling position itself to the work God has commanded us to do.

please. People need the Lord.
vin

Congratulations to one and all A levellers upon completion of prelims!

happy happy day!
ahahaha... what a way to celebrate with a croissant feast. ate 13 breads for the record. i'm not gonna eat any more bread for week ahead. you know, the feeling is sickening after stuffing so many bread down my tummy. after the bread buffet, i can't get near Breadtalk coz the smell, which is normally fragrant, peculiarly is the sort of smell that will make me throw up. Like if you want to have the ability to smell the pungent aroma of yeast that is shielded from our senses normally, but a person in church having this ability to do so, we can shuff 20 bread down out throat and walk by any bakery shop.

then came the freakish weather. scorching heat preceding heavy downpour.
then went street E! haaa... quite good, funny, but there really is a certain timing that students pass by that place. really, when you miss that timing, you won't get any students. so like for the 1st hour there were a lot of students, then after like that hour, i stood there for like half an hour with NO students of that school i'm targetting. so ya, timings are very important.

you know how irritating people can be? Eunice Chua is one of the annoying irritants, who at this veyr present moment has sent me 39 consecutive nudges.

vin

oh yeah, preliminary exams are over. yeah, thank God i've got a real speedy recovery last night - 2hours after i took medicine i'm up and bouncing. haha. yeah. but didn't revise much anyway, all the grogginess and all.

exams are finally over, a temporary break for me for now, attend to the much neglected ministry work.

let me sprawl on the soft, mild arabic grass, with clear blue skies, low rise buildings, breathing up the cool sea breeze, with only myself and a few people in a 1km radius. then i'll do 50 cartwheels and backflips into the horizon.

idealist
vin

i officially announce that i'm sick.
Down with fever and the insides of my ears hurt.
Reason: yesterday afternoon i went to bed with my hair wet.

so ya. please pray. this does not bode well for tomorrow, dealing a blow to my last paper.

vin

i'm alone again!! for the next 2 days.
Parents have went back to Malaysia to catch up with relatives, and eat lots of good food.

So i'm left with Chicken Rice, yup. had my 4th packet in 1 week.

so left with 2 more papers. Chemistry and Econs, with another break in between to prolong the entire duration of the exam.

keep in prayers every1!
vin

had initially wanted to attend DAy 2 of Mission convention -is that how you call that in English?
But woke up with a stomach ache with sent me to the toilet several times.

Maths paper 2 today was horrible. Blame it on myself for not preparing well.

vin

you won't believe this:
someone, out of somewhere, somehow popped a question.
He asked whether i'm representing Singapore in Asian Games!

ah! arh! orhaaahahahaaa!!
should i feel flattered or should i concede into lamentations.
for this time, i'm gonna bask in this stupid man-centred glory. haahaha.
i'm going crazy. for a moment i really really thought maybe i'm really going. But as hard as i try to think so, i can't. so annoying.

if only. if only. if only. perhaps. perhaps. perhaps.

vin

feel like i'm in Daytona Beach the moment i finished my Chemistry Paper 3.
the feeling of liberation from studies, being alone at home.

Excited coz my house will be be filled with livery again tomorrow. So i'm gonna be a good boy to embrace fellow dwellers' homecoming by doing some cleaning up. yeah.

vin

feeling light headed now. Was up studying, then watched Champions' League, an impeccable midfield, a midfielder with so much prowess in set pieces (better than Roberto Carlos & Bekcham), an impressive 90% shot on goal, and an embarassing performance by World Cup winners' Captain. wow, i'm so mesmerized by their performance, i'm happy i stayed up.

And i'm sad that i'm not well prepared for Chemistry.
argh, ugh, oh, arh, argh. its chemistry

vin

gonna start by thanking God for sustaining me the past few days. late late nights, early mornings, gruelling taxing long exams. really heavy duty. tomorrow's another bomb, chemistry paper 3 to cap off a seemingly tiresome week. School has cruelly bunched all the most tough papers together.

So i'm looking forward to the mini break after tomorrow before buckling down to study for the moderately tough papers next week again.

so continual prayers.

Psalm 121:
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm
he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore

fear not guys, the Lord is faithful.

vin

the skies darkened and i've decided to take a breather.

funny. how externalities can affect me so badly. Like, dark skies, Maria winning US Open.
its like so 'none of my business'

So i'll count the number of externalities i have in the upcoming week.

On both domestic and International fronts, in some order of significance.
1. Prelims - its here, finally here.
2. My family is taking turns to fly away. (parents - Tues; Brethren - Saturday to 3 weeks later.)
3. IMF-World Bank Board of Governors meeting commencing.
4. September 11 Anniversary.
5. a good friend is leaving too.

i'm gonna miss people. seriously.

pray for dezhang also, heard that he's down with fever.
vin

hi.
mood: irritated
reason: 1.woke up at 4am to watch a tennis match. My favourite player crashed out terribly, with so much at stake. 2.Thinking of the amount of revision to be done.

c you in church later

just let me study.
vin

My 1st fashion statement:
LACOSTE is so prettifully pretty!
Especially for girls, they've got really wonderful simple cuts.
Slick, plain, simple.
was watching the tennis matches, must say LACOSTE did a great outfit for the US Open.


i hate adidas, i really do. those 3 stripes are so attention grabbing, so splashy.

thats why i love NIKE.

vin

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/229131/1/.html

worthy enough to join that league? happy nonetheless. more of culture than education i feel.

vin

a quick update of prayer requests before i embark on another edition of revision.

- not being overwhelmed by the copious amount of revision left.
- being committed to other responsibilities also -calling students -wrapping up the great gift (chore)
- able to complete what i've set out to complete today.
- perseverance
- fellow people who are studying - Eunice, Rinus, YeeWah, Shao Ning, Zi Jun.

i have this feeling that this blog is becoming more accessible. So do remember to pray for us k.
and do leave an encouragement note at the side if you read this (be it ever so secretly or...)

jiayou guys
vin

juz something to share with you guys which was taught at a Christian students' meeting past Saturday:

Nehemiah 4:1-23 : when the wall of Jerusalem was to be rebuilt, the people faced an uphill task of doing so - the drastic magnitude of the task, fierce opposition which is life-threatening, all these that leads to stress, stress for Jews. Look at how they handled these stressful situations:

'v9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.'
'v6 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.'

so to u people who are preparing for exams, dun run away from the difficulties, instead, trust God, and continue to work, with everything thats in you!

'v20 ...Our God will fight for us!"'
And of course, helping one another, encouraging each other is also important.

God is our vent.

I've conquered Trigo! was frustrated at the start coz i was scraping those rust off my head, but everything was a breeze after that. So its always those life-threatening initial stages (those situations when u hold up your worksheet only to read something thats foreign) that is tough, and tough means you've got to struggle through it, not fleeing from it.

tomorrow i've got a dinner date with my parents and this angmoh. remember my father was scheduled to go abroad? His cancelled plans resulted in the angmoh coming over instead to play guest. I was entrusted the gift department. So i've got him a book - Neil Humphreys' Final Notes from a Great Island, with the evil intention of depriving him of sleep on his long journey home. haha. its just very appropriate thats all.

vin

My butt is hurting, from sitting down too long to do Trigonometrics.

thanks to all who have been encouraging our fellow Bro - Sis in the their studies! :)
your reward? stored in heaven :P
no la. haha... we'll go out and celebrate 1 day k.

oh man, so so stressful is studying. i harboured thoughts of committing suicide just now (sin). thank myself for the cushion which i wisely abused in place of myself.

I'm gonna reward myself with a tennis game now. So hopefully the skies will hold out, coz losing everything is like the sun going down on me.

Counting the number of days to prelims, number of days to A levels, number of times i'm gonna play tennis before i enter army.
vin

just before retreating to the books again

my heart is filled with thanksgiving. Today had follow-up prog for the students we got to know of through the activity at the Esplanade couple of weeks back. I thank God for the number of students who turned up excitedly, the smooth flowing of the event, and some of them heard the gospel. Prior to the event, i had felt very very worried and anxious, coz we're supposed to share the gospel to them on a personal basis and be vigilant to spot opportunities and create them. i prayed and prayed and prayed. I shared the gospel to my group members, it was relevant and they were connected. haha, the link was vulgarities, coz they were quite crude and all. So i hope they know they have sinned and God is angry with them.

I cried last night when Agassi's (Andre) tennis career ended. I felt sick as he grimaced with every shot he retrieves, half-limping his way to the chair during breaks, valiantly running down the gunshots fired relentlessly by his unknown opponent. The feeling i felt was exactly the same as witnessing the last moments b4 death of a person, being there to see him run out of breath. Agassi choked with tears at match point, then it flowed after that point. The passing of a great.

vin

hi!

thank you to shao ning & eunice for inviting me over to study with you guys.
Pigs are really pigs, they invariably will fall asleep sometime in the midst of all the intense hardwork, 'power nap' they call it.
loads more to cover!! ah!! the J1 topics.

i'm so so happy Agassi survived another day, with all the odds stacked against him today, he upset his fiesty opponent in an enthralling encounter with almost everyone roaring him on, i can see him play for at least 1 more day :) jia you!

My parents (dad) have abandoned their scheduled expenses paid for a business trip to an immoral dam-ned city which foundations are laid on a delta half a world away for a holiday in the Kingdom of Cambodia. crazy fellas. i'm disappointed they can't get some chocolates from afar, without a single cent required to pay for anything (you'll be surprised how much these ang moh companies are willing to splurge, so much so that both wives travel for free!) coz my dad's partner's wife fell down in the hawker centre 1 fine day. shhh.. hahaha. There goes that trip, there goes my chocolates :(
So my dad didn't want to waste his leave. So with his own expenses, he's gonna 'drag' my reluctant mum along for a holiday ('drag' coz my mum was originally scheduled to be dragged to that land below sea level) . now, i can't expect any chocolates from them right. i had vehemently objected to their insane idea, i mean, will you suggest going Cambodia for holiday, i will if their missionaries. But my dad pressed forth. So i've arranged their flight & accommodation. To my horror, the earliest check-in time for the hotel is 4 hours after their arrival. I hope they don't bring home an unblown mine for me when they're left stranded.

But they'll leave me at home to mug thru the night for prelims :)

pray: continual discipline to study study study.

i won't be going for Sports on Sunday. sorry guys. 'rotten'- 'lan' grapes as what dz called me. why ah? i'm going for my scheduled tennis tomorrow though. haha. jiayou.
pray for those going - Christians - courage to share with new friends, ability to strike rapport with them
non-Christians - many many to come. open hearts be prepared to receive the gospel

vin