please pray for the South Korean mission team who've been kidnapped by Taleban forces in Afghanistan. its terrifying. Pray that their lives may be protected and their family members at home and church may place their trust on the Lord. However frightened they may be, to endanger their lives for the Lord requires faith. So please pray for faith.

Vin

through it all, thick and thin, bruises and cuts, God is there with me. He knows when i'm anxious (sometimes for the wrong reasons), He knows when i'm feeling empty and struggling to fight the devil's insinuation, He knows my worries. So what can i do but turn to Him in prayer and submission, knowing well that He guards my heart and mind with His cloak of peace, comfort, righteousness and control, so that things become fittingly right.

i guess sometimes it matters to me - results. Its mainly due to this innate competitiveness that i have. It matters - a good showing for IPPT which is highlighted by an impressive 2.4km run timing; a stellar SOC performance. when its apparent that what i've achieved is good enough, i crave to do even better. So pressure starts to exert from both sides - my own wanting to improve on my previous showings; the expectation to maintain my pole position in front of others. See that sinfulness? totally lost it, no sense of purpose that is God-centered. totally. But more often than not i'm ceaselessly reminding myself to put in my best effort for God, to measure how far i can go pushing myself, but still its hard to locate my own limits. its a real spiritual tussle for me to know that i'm veered towards self glory. I just wish i can be alone in taking all these tests, disposing of the presence of sinful mentalities.

i do thank God for fine results, for it is given by Him. So i trust that at the end of the day, i will see a stronger person who's ready to handle God's work in the ministry with much tenacity.

again, what a joy to be around with Christians!
Vin

thank God! for great Christian buddies! :)

its always a joy to be with people who share the same faith.

Happy Birthday LiangFa & in advance, Shao Ning!
thank God for His work in your lives and for both of you in serving Him faithfully in the church ministry. Pray that you all may abound in love, in knowledge; to mature as Christians! Pray that your lives may be geared towards living for God alone.

Vin

i've sauntered through the week, and i thank God.

well, my feelings are playing with me again. It always does on Sundays.
book-in blues.

Somethings i really wanna boast about, but in God's eyes, in view of eternity, it counts to nothing- naught. with expectations piling up even higher than what i think i can reach, i'm feeling so pressurized. So much for raking in results that matters.

remind myself: i'm doing things for the Lord

always, just as i think i will be wrecked by nerves & vapourize under pressure, i will almost certainly manage to pull it off much to my own amazement. So i just wish that people in the army will not view my results as something that comes easily from my in-built abilities; or a solid certainty. Because i know i'm no better than any one and i'll fully capable of producing a lacklustre performance the following week.

Enough of nerves and pressure. I just need the Lord really. Because i feel so choked and sick with dealing with pressures.
Vin

right. thank God my first week in SISPEC wasn't as crucifying as i'd imagined it to be.

there were the usual runs of physical training and weapon handling skills. I really like our commanders, coz most of them aren't fierce but are actually approachable and friendly. Furthermore, my company saw the induction of 9 girls whom passed out of BMT with us.

I took my IPPT categorization test. As usual, i went ahead drooping low in confidence and expectations. So i prayed to place my trust in God. This categorization test is really crucial as it determines the measure of training you'll be dealing with subsequently. Obtaining anything other than a gold will burn a portion of your weekend. (i.e. silver: Saturday corrective training until 10am; Pass: until 1130am; Fail: until 1330) I was kinda feeling stressed up as expectations were piled on me, being 1 of only 2 reigning gold medallists in my platoon. I think the only station i have absolute confidence in is Standing Broad Jump, credits to my early years of training when my buddies & I will hobble off the gym.

Thank God! I struck Gold again! Was overjoyed in retaining the accolade. You know, even though i've already reached the Gold standard in BMT, to come through with a Gold again, being able to clock a 2.4 run <9:45,
doesn't take away its sweetness and euphoria. Really coz i didn't expect much from myself, so being able to repeat the feat comes as unexpectedly as it can be. I was thinking before i took the test from a godly perspective, if i achieve a Gold again, it may imply that i'll get to meet my students and even go for Street E on Saturdays. Now, it'll almost certainly come into action. Thank God!
haha... coz my OC has promised to give nights off and early Friday night book outs to those gold awardees. As i'm the sole recipent of that award in my platoon for now, it'll be quite funny if I go for nights off alone.

Pray for me, for humility, i can sense arrogance creeping up honestly. All credits yield to God actually. When my platoon guys congratulated me after i came in first across the finishing point, all i could say was, thank God really. Pray that i'll be a source of encouragement to them, as i get to know them better.

My commanders are really expecting a fair bit from me from then onwards, pray that i'll not remain in that passive zone, but be confident.

Vin