A Seed Definitely Sown...

Aunty Katherine drove grandma, my Dad, my Mum & I to my church this evening. There was an evangelistic event held at my church at 7pm, with Dong Fang Billy coming to my church to share his testimony. I had invited grandma & my Mum, but in the end, my grandma brought along Aunty Kat & my Mum brought along my Dad! *Laugh*… Praise the Lord!

Getting to Tekka wasn’t a problem, coz I knew how to direct the way, having taken a cab to church occasionally. But we ended up at a dead-end while trying to find a place to park the car! Worse still, there were also other cars wondering around that area, finding a place to park & two of them ended up at the dead-end where we were!

Finally, we decided to park at one of the open parking spaces in the middle of nowhere. For the first time, I really appreciated & gave thanks for the excellent transportation system that our Government had designed… coz it seemed so much easier to get to places by bus & MRT! There are MRT stations located around Singapore, with even more stations opening up over the next few years! Even if we were to take a taxi, it would cost less than using & maintaining a car… as well as absolutely no fuss about trying to find a place to park!

These thoughts continued in my mind, as I watched Aunty Kat tear out parking coupons, 4 of them in total, coz it costs 50 cents for every half an hour of parking. I don’t like tearing parking coupons… it’s such a hassle! Must look at all the small numbers & holes... It would be difficult for the elderly as they get older with far sightedness. Someone ought to change the font of the parking coupons soon. Singapore has a growing ageing population…

After parking the car, I brought them to Tekka market for a quick dinner. It turned out to be a slow walk coz grandma had difficulty walking steadily. It wasn’t a far walk, but I could see that my parents didn’t look happy. I think they are just too ‘soft’… it’s just a few minutes walk…

Thankfully, the food that we ordered turned out quite tasty, since all of them were first-timers at Tekka market, except me. I made a mental note to remind myself that Tekka market stalls are mostly closed on Saturday evenings. The fish ball noodles that I ate tasted pretty nice too. I like the way the noodles were cooked…

During our walk back to church, my Mum suggested that we cut through the wet market, despite my advice against it. In the end, we had to walk through puddles of water, which made me worry for my grandma. Plus there was a short flight of stairs which we had to walk down at the end of the wet market. Grandma slipped nearing the end of the staircase, despite Aunty Kat holding her hand. See… I warned my Mum against going that way…

We went to the washroom before the event began & my Dad was a bit unhappy coz there was only one cubicle for men at the first floor. One church member suggested that we go to the 3rd floor, which we did… & found out that there was also only one cubicle there… & likewise, it was occupied. So we had to go up to the 4th floor… & finally managed to use the washroom. I still don’t understand why there has to be one cubicle for men in this church… why not just build a few urinals instead? Takes up less space & more men can use them…

The sanctuary was crowded by the time we reached, so ended up having to sit near the back of the sanctuary. It was warmer behind & I had a bit of difficulty trying to read the Chinese wordings of the song lyrics from so far behind…

Christina Ong led the short worship session of a medley of Mandarin Christian songs. As usual, I had difficulty trying to read the Chinese characters, but I tried to follow along. I’m not sure if grandma sang the songs, but I noticed that Aunty Kat wasn’t clapping along, so maybe she wasn’t singing. But it’s okay; it’s a good start that she didn’t object to coming to my church. A very good start already…

After the worship session ended, a short video clip was shown about Billy going through the painful moments of his agonizing struggle against Leukemia. It was a terrible experience for him & I winched in my heart at the scene where he was spitting blood out of his mouth. The blood wasn’t exactly being spat out… it was more like flowing out of his mouth. It was scary… I really thank God for healing him… though his body is still recovering…

At the beginning, I had to adjust to all the Mandarin that was being spoken, coz I’m so used to listening to English church services. I wouldn’t say that I managed to adjust entirely by the end of the 2 hours session, but I did try to listen as intently as I could, though some of the Mandarin words & phrases spoken were rather ‘cheem’.

At the end of the testimony sharing, there was an altar call by Billy. There were a handful of hands raised, though I noticed that my grandma & Aunty Kat wasn’t one of them. Yet I knew that there was a seed sown in their heart, if not, they wouldn’t have even bothered to come for this event… after all, it is a church & such messages or songs can usually be expected.

We went outside the social hall for some light refreshments. I asked for a plate of ‘siew mai’, but gave it to Aunty Kat in the end. Never mind, they are the guests. But I got one ‘siew mai’ in return from my Mum. It’s okay lah… it’s only ‘siew mai’.

Uncle John & Rebecca managed to chat a little with my parents, grandma & Aunty Kat… while Evelyn stood quietly alongside. So I chatted a little with her about her job search with Ritz Carlton Hotel. She’s still hoping that the hotel calls her soon… I hope so too…

All in all, it was a good experience… & I even heard my grandma saying that name ‘Jesus’ twice in the car. In my mind, I was thinking – if an unbeliever can call the name ‘Jesus’ (of coz not in a resentful manner), there might a chance that the person is quite open to the gospel! Plus grandma even referred to Jesus as ‘Lord’ in one of her words! Praise the Lord! I will pray for her & invite her for future events…

I also felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to ask Aunty Kat & grandma whether they could understand the Mandarin that was spoken, or would they prefer English. Their unison answer was still Mandarin, coz they are better at reading Chinese characters & speaking dialect. My heart felt warm, as I had a better idea of what kind of evangelistic events to invite them in future… maybe even to the Chinese Ministry… Praise the Lord!