Becoming Stronger

Becoming Stronger

Last weekend, I announced to the church that we were sending away our eldest daughter.  Before you jump to conclusions, we love our daughter very much.  She was and still is our pride and joy. 

Viv came out into full-time Christian service in July 2014 and grew the work in our S2 church.  Now 5 years later she is ready for the next challenge.  So is our church.  

I announced to our church that Viv will relocate to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and grow the church there. 

As much as our family and church will miss her, we are encouraged that she will be growing spiritually in a greater way.  There will be challenges yes, even adversity and painfully, loneliness. But she will grow stronger.  I recall the words of a song she and the twins wrote and recorded some years ago, “what doesn’t kill you, make you stronger.”  

Somewhere in this situation, this verse is also relevant when we think about what the Lord went through as he lived the life of submission and went to the cross, “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.” Hebrews 5:8 NIV

Viv knows this well, so I salute her facing the challenge to “suffer.”  She will be stronger.

When Progress is Not Visible

When Progress is Not Visible

Recently someone close commented that after so much work has been done to train leaders in that denomination, only 1 pastor has implemented EE training in his congregation.  Seems like nothing much to show. 

I took the opportunity to explain: 

Foundations of a building construction are not readily visible.  

This is the building foundation of the Petronas Twin Towers whilst under construction.  For several months they were building foundations only.  As a passer-by, you will not see any growth from outside.

Then suddenly one-fine day, presto, you have this ....

The story of the Chinese Bamboo Tree is also relevant.

The Bamboo Tree Story

Like all other plants and trees, the Chinese bamboo tree requires nurturing through water, fertile soil, and also with enough sunshine to ensure that it will grow.

If you try to plant a bamboo tree and you make sure you give it enough water, the right soil, and also enough exposure to sunlight, you will NEVER see any visible growth in the first year.

And if you continue to nurture the bamboo tree, after the second year, nothing will grow above the ground. And if you choose to continue on for the third and fourth year, you will see nothing too.

Finally, in the fifth year, something amazing will happen. The bamboo tree that you planted will grow to 80 feet tall in just six weeks!

Why is that so? For the first four years, nothing had happened, but in the fifth year, the bamboo tree grows to 80 feet tall in just a short six weeks.

Does this mean that within the first four years, nothing has happened to the tree? Nope, not at all, in fact, the bamboo tree is growing, UNDERGROUND, but you can’t see it.


Personal Testimony

I learned this during my years of church planting in Seremban.  After toiling for a whole year, we only have 5 persons attending church regularly.  You can imagine how much I wanted to give up … and almost did.

But by then, I had shared the gospel with many people, making new friends, and also deepening relationships.  All these are not visible, and when you come to our church at that point in time, you will only see 5 people.  

But all good things take time, and eventually some of those friendships blossomed into commitments for the Lord Jesus and made their way into the church congregation, and eventually even as church workers. 

As they say, “it takes 9 months for a woman to deliver a baby. 9 women cannot do it in 1 month.”

Of course this is no excuse for being lazy and not doing anything.  But it is an encouragement if you are working hard and the results are not visible.