Day 16: Sad News - the last day of devotions

Hey everyone! My name is Eliel from Malaysia.

Eliel working on crafts in his team

Today, I have some sad news for everybody. Are you ready of it? Well, today is the last day of doing serious devotions and I am pretty sad that it was the last day :( However, I have learnt a lot from it throughout the three weeks of doing devotions.

Daily Devotions at YBKB Office, Jakarta

Making music with the various guitars we had the pleasure of having!

One of the things that I learnt from devotions today was to put myself in the devil's shoes and to create a master plan to destroy myself and then how I can counter the plan that I just created. I really learnt a lot from this experience as I now know the things that I can do to not fall for the devil's trap.

Martha, one of our group mates leaving for Seminar

Olivia, looking forward to CI!

After devotion, we soon were ready to start another day of CI.

King Ahasuerus & Haman in the Queen Esther skit

James and his team

Jemima & her team member getting to know each other over the CI workbook

On Monday, I felt that I did not do a good enough job to get the kid's attention and to pique their interest in CI. But thank God, today all the kids were much more behaved and they were all interested in the lessons taught in the small group. When we asked the questions, they all tried to answer them. All in all today was a 'good' day.' I cannot wait I see what other things God has in store for me in this trip.

Eliel Cheang

Team Member

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Day 15: Loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind & strength

HAI everyone! My name is Tracey and I hail from Malaysia, and this is my lil report on our official first day in Indonesia! We arrived on Sunday and pretty much rested the whole day. The real stuff all started on Monday.

The team met in the morning at the IBLP office and this time, we had translators for the seminar nights to join us! :) Some of them were experienced oldies of the past and some of them were a fresh new breed of translators. But all in all, it was really cool to have a mix of both!

We started off by having introductions and some get-to-know-you games. We played "2 Truths and a Lie" where each of us had to share 2 Truths and 1 Lie about ourself, and the others had to figure out which one the lie was.

After introducing everyone, we had our devotions. Victor would ask us a number of questions to reflect on and then split us into smaller groups to share. The whole theme of the devotions was based on "Loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength". In the first two weeks, we covered loving the Lord with all your heart and soul. This week, we discussed about the mind & the strength. Personally, I thought that it was really good to dissect each area more specifically so that we could understand what it actually looked like to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

And the next day came... PRACTICUMS. The most dreadful part for me. Each teacher were given a task to choose a principle/lesson that we have been teaching to the kids, but this time we had to teach it to the rest of the teachers.

I honestly was just waiting for the time to pas by and get it over with because I really didn't like the idea of having to present my lesson to teachers instead of kids. But in the end, it actually didn't go too bad. It was pretty fun watching the others teach after my turn was over.

Time was running really fast that day. So we quickly headed to church and tried to get our lessons, craft & self prepared. Before you know it, CI kids ran in all ready for the first night!

I was pretty excited to meet my new team. It was a really good first night. The children were responsive and energetic. Thank God for that. Now our hope is that we'll be able to build close relationships with them and share the gospel with them in the next few days! :)

The "Fanto" Skit

And that's all from me :)

Tracey Peh

Team Member

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Day 14: Reflections

It's easy to think that you have it all figured out. Or at least, that's a problem that I often have. I think that I'm almost always right. I think that I'll be safe even if I don't wear my seat belt. I think that I have endless amounts of energy. But then, when it's all written out like so, it's obvious that these subconscious beliefs I hold to are inherently silly.

So that's what I've been learning as a staff member on this trip - to listen to what others have to say and put myself in another's shoes. But I'm getting ahead of myself so let's backtrack a little and let me explain how all this came about.

Around lunch time one day, a team member came to tell me about a bad headache she was having and asked to take some time off. Now, such health complaints from the team are pretty common and after hearing of so many, I had started to doubt their authenticity. So when this team member came on this day with the complaint, I listened but wasn't incredibly sympathetic. Still, she got the time off she requested and she later felt well enough to join in for team activities again. 

In the afternoon, I had many things to do and so I decided that I didn't need a break. However, I tried to insist that another staff member took a break and when he chose not to take one I mentioned to someone else that he really should have listened. Obviously, he needed a break but I didn't need one!

At 3pm, we were all supposed to meet for devotions but due to some unforeseen circumstances, I was a few minutes late. Usually, I'm the one who complains about the team not keeping to the schedule I set so this was new! I had no idea that Victor had decided to come up with punishments for the late and so unfortunately, I got a taste of my own medicine.

Later in the day, another team member came to say she had a fever and this time, I thought it was serious enough to insist that she return to the hotel to rest but she didn't want to. That left me a little irritated. 

Still, I was rather pleased with how the day had gone until after dinner that day. As I ran up and down the stairs to get ready for CI, I suddenly realized that I was unusually out of breath and felt quite light headed. I even carelessly dropped and broke a bottle of essential oils in the process, which made me rather upset. Little by little, it occurred to me that this symptom was a result of my pushing myself and not taking any breaks and also being so busy that I had ignored the signs of an upset stomach and continued eating things that aggravated it further. I suddenly understood how the sick people I was talking to earlier in the day must have felt. I also realized that instead of insisting that others take a break, I should have taken one myself.

As I thought back on the long day of hard knocks, I was tempted to dwell on my silliness and get discouraged. But then, I slowly realized that it was a lesson I needed! The Psalmist says in Psalm 119:71 "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy statutes". As we have been teaching the children this week, the bad things that might happen to us in life, or sufferings as you may call them, are for our good if only we see them from God's perspective. Aren't you glad that we serve a God who loves us enough to show us the truth?

Jolynn Tan
Staff Member

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Day 13: Depending on God's strength

*Tadadadatadadaaaa*, Miss Retasya!

Heyyo! Today marks the final day of Singapore week! :O Looking back, the week has zipped by so fast, even reaching the epic speed of time! Working with Debstep and Kwystale has been great and I find their constructive criticism so helpful. This morning was pretty rough since we were all tired, sleepy, and slightly sick, but although the kids were very lively, they were well behaved as well. I've enjoyed getting to know them sweety kids and wish I could spend more time with them.

All throughout weeks 1 & 2, I have felt thoroughly drained and tired and brain fried. However, God's Word never fails to provide comfort. There's always a verse for when I feel worried, tired or nervous and even for when I miss home :)

The staff and team have also encouraged me to explore creative ways to teach lessons and take the lessons to a deeper level.

I think the most significant things I've learnt this week are dependency on God's strength focusing on delivering the Word and applying the lessons I teach into my life as well. CI has been a challenging new experience fell of opportunities. Not just the seminar itself, but the fellowship and devotions have been fantastic as well. I can't wait for Jakarta week, both for the new opportunities it will provide and because there's no other place than home :(

As for now however, I will proceed to hit the sack... Zzzzz

Retasya Badudu

Team Member

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Day 12: The SEA Games!

Greetings! My name is Nathanael, and this is my very first post for the CI blog! I am focusing on the of our Singapore week, which was an off-day for us.

Our first activity for the day was . . . shopping! One of our toy swords broke during a skit, so my group sauntered about looking for a replacement. We found a plastic katana, and many of us were eager to try it out. 

After our walk around the shops, we were brought to a big surprise. We found ourselves entering the national stadium of Singapore to watch the SEA Games! We really enjoyed ourselves, feeling the excitement in the competitions. Our Indonesian friends were delighted when a gold medal was awarded to a representative of their country! 

All in all, it's been a long and exciting day. We had much fun and fellowship together. I am blessed to be part of this amazing team! 

Blessings in the name of our Lord, 

Nathanael Chong

Team Member

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Day 11: A Gigantic Tornado of Events!

Hi! Michelle here and just telling you guys what’s happening on the 11^th day of CI.

We started off with the Youth to Youth event. First some introductions, then some games in the field.

Today, Sam talked about life, how it didn’t matter and how it wasn’t worth anything unless we lived it all for God. It was really motivating to be reminded that our time on earth was only a tiny speck of dust compared to our eternity in Heaven; that our days are numbered.

It was great bonding with some old friends and making new ones.  Being there was really energizing for me. I like how everyone got along so well and how the environment was just super friendly.

We had devotions right after that. We’re basically given a few questions that helped us think more deeply on how to strengthen our faith, then divide into groups to discuss them. This time we examined our desires. Were they Christ-centered? Were they pleasing to Him? It was so totally nerve-racking, but at the same time it was nice being given a challenge to be a better follower.

Now, seminar nights. Haha. To tell you guys the truth, I was so scared to teach the kids. As a CI kid, I really admired how my teachers just made learning Biblical principles during small group fun. Not just that, but the skits they put on were just… wow. Living up to those really really towering tall standards and expectations that those previous teachers set was not easy. The first lesson I taught seemed like an absolute disaster. I was so disappointed with myself I literally just couldn’t look at anyone for a while.

I guess through this experience I really came to understand learning from your mistakes. The next lessons got better and better though. I learned how to grab the kids’ attention and how to make the lesson “fun”. It really helped to have a team leader and a fellow assistant to help me grow and learn.

I’m not one to take constructive criticism lightly… ever. My insides flip out and I starting boiling. So, I guess even taking hints from my fellow team mates was a hidden lesson.

I really love being with the kids. Warming up to them is quite a challenge for me. I’m not usually the one to initiate conversations with people I’ve never met before, but after that it’s practically a slow steady rising friendship.

This week, there are only three kids in our team and they’re just amazing. They’re attentive and have such teachable hearts. After breaking the ice, I found that they were just full of enthusiasm and there is just not a dull moment on our team. The coordination between the teachers also seems really great, but I guess if you were to ask me what I could possibly want more than this wonderful, unreal team, I would probably say significance in the kids’ life. I really pray that what we teach them will help them in this journey to live to the glory of God.

Well, I guess that’s all I can say for now. This whole day was practically a really packed gigantic tornado of events; although quite exhausting, it was so fun. And even though I got “punished” for being late to devotions by just a few minutes, it was still a really awesome learning experience that I would absolutely not switch for anything else.

Michelle Widjanarko
Team Member

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Day 10: Seeing the Power of God

Hi, my name is Jeremia Pasaribu and I’m from Indonesia. CI has been a part of my life since I was 5 years old. I’ve always wanted to be a CI teacher because of the lasting impact that my CI teachers left for me.

I come from Indonesia, so I’m used to having “150 kids, 20 kids per team” kind of CI’s. So when we came to Singapore for the second week of CI, I was shocked when Victor said that most teams would only get 2 children. God really showed his power from day 1 of Singapore because after a short prayer with my team just a few hours before CI night started, we got news that our team got 5 kids!

Although our kids are very young, I love the energy that they bring. All of the our kids are under 7-years old and the youngest is 3 years old. Dorcus, my team leader and Tracey, my fellow assistant, are great people to work with. Their planning, energy and just overall love for the children is really awesome to have on a team.

On Wednesday, the CI team went to a day care. The planning and execution of all the songs, games and story was by the teachers and not the staff. Surprisingly, everything went super smooth. It was really touching for me when  left because so many of the kids there said things like, “I hope you guys come tomorrow”.

- Jeremia Pasaribu

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