We had a camp-out at Pasir Ris Park in May. Some families stayed overnight in the chalet that we booked (both in tents and in the chalet's bedrooms) while others came the day after for cycling, games and a BBQ dinner. Although it rained, we still had a lot of fun!:) Those that slept out in the tents got woken up by the storm in the middle of the night and they had to come inside to sleep, but the next morning we all enjoyed a good time at morning devotions that Uncle Stu led.
Some of the highlights and pictures:
A lunch of tin-foil-chicken (??) taught by Auntie Suzi and Uncle Joseph. We cut potatoes and carrots and tomatoes and along with chicken and sausages, wrapped them in aluminum and cooked them over the barbecue pit.
The packets of food cooking. Rotate the packet every five minutes, and once it bloats up, it's cooked. It was a really good meal :)
Games led and planned by Carolyn! There were a lot of team relay races (such as the three-legged race and others), and everyone enjoyed it, especially the younger children.
And, of course, we played Captain's Ball, where everyone had a ball of a time.
It was a pretty exciting game because though one team got the ball more times than the other, the latter team scored more often. :)
It was the eve of Mother's Day so everyone gathered together, and the fathers sang Blessed Assurance while the Bright Lights girls sang Beth from Psalm 119 as a serenade to the moms. :)
It was a great gathering and was a lot of fun! We're looking forward to the next one. :)
This is wishing our dear mothers a very blessed and slightly belated Mother's Day!! Our moms have been very supportive, encouraging, hospitable and gracious in helping out with Bright Lights, and we're very grateful for that!
Every fortnight they put in a lot of effort in shuttling us to the meetings, in preparing food, in organizing events, and just in being of assistance in any way possible.
THANK YOU, MOMS!
It is definitely by God's grace that we've come this far.
While we're being thankful...
Here are some videos from a Bright Lights meeting long ago, when we were studying Gratefulness. An activity we had to do was to compose words on the topic of gratefulness to familiar songs. (I was supposed to post it up after our meeting, which I didn't do, but I guess it ties in pretty nicely here too). They are both videos thanking the Lord for His provision:)
How long has it been since we've continuously posted stuff??
It's been very long...though Jolynn posted something on one of our meetings in March:)
And so, I decided that I would just write a little something to declare that yes, we're still having Bright Lights meetings, and yes, we're still learning more about the word of God!:)
We've had a few new friends join us, while a lot of our old friends have gone overseas or elsewhere. Bright Lights has changed somewhat from last time, but we still have lots of laughter and good fellowship every fortnight:)
We also have gone back to the beginning of Set 1 for the sake of those who weren't here when we last did Set 1.
Last week, we learnt about developing a disciplined walk with God. John Wesley said, "Do not seek after a ministry, rather anticipate the fruit of a disciplined life."
We were encouraged to purpose to keep some new disciplines as well as the ones we already have. Being disciplined is not getting a punishment; it is instead a healthy habit.
It is also getting a closer relationship with God, which is the most precious thing we can seek after.
Some disciplines to consider are:
01 Bible reading
02 Prayer
03 Fasting
04 Memorization
05 Meditation
06 Honouring the Lord's Day
07 Giving
08 Witnessing
09 Early rising
10 Modesty
11 Listening to good music
12 Wise internet use
I love what was said about giving: 10 things we can give that cost no money... a warm loving smile, a precise word of praise, a verbal blessing, a word of encouragement, a note of encouragement, a fervent prayer they request, a listening heart and ear, a good report to others about them, a recognition of a birthday, a word of comfort during sorrow.
As you go about your daily life, you can give to others by noticing them and giving them one of these ten things mentioned above, and you might make someone's day:)
The next Bright Lights meeting is this Monday, 18th May 2009. Check the email for details!:)
Meanwhile, we will try our best to post more often. LOL:)
"We all face irritations and the temptation to respond in harsh, unkind, prideful, or annoyed ways. So how can we “do all things without murmurings and disputings” as Philippians 2:14 commands? Is it possible? After all, doesn't everyone get into arguments?" - Quote from Bright Lights Set 5 Meeting 5.
Going through the lesson, we learnt that arguing happens when...
we take things in to our own hands in order to get our own way.
we see things only from our own perspective.
we stand up for our rights.
we love ourselves more then our neighbour.
we have an expectation of others.
May God give us all the grace to be humble and not argue!
Next up was the ATI conference, which was held in Melaka and was 11-13 September. The girls who came participated very well, considering the fact that the age gap was ranging from 6-year-olds to 13- or 14-year-olds! During large group, although the younger ones did get a little antsy (it had been a long day) they all still managed to pay attention and take part in the activities. Some of the girls were quiet at first, but since it was over three days, they warmed up some. :) Here are a few pictures:
DAY ONE Large group! The girls, especially the younger ones really enjoyed the singing, which I believe is what we're doing in the picture. :) This year there were a whole lot of new crafts, specially planned by Carolyn and Cassandra Lo! Here is my group (12 little girls!) making a little memory verse booklet.
DAY TWO - field day! We rode buses out to the forest, where the ALERT Cadet was, for the whole afternoon. Led by Major Farr, we had a "paralympics" theme, where each team could compete in discus, javelin, Olympic torch relay, shot put and long jump. The girls always enjoy field day cuz it's like going on an excursion. :) On the bus ride, which was filled with laughter and singing The final heats! haha.. I think they're doing the javelin throw, which is really a foam noodle Besides using our muscles (?) we had to use our brains. Using simple materials such as a styrofoam cup, plastic spoon, ice-cream sticks, tape and a mousetrap, we had to make a catapault to fling an eraser as far as possible. Most of the catapaults basically looked like this. And I think the record distance was about 12 feet!:) This was another project we had to use our brains for. We had to build a boat out of, again, basic items, like a CD, a cup, straws, tape and a plastic bag. The boat which could contain the most pennies without capsizing won. It turned out that the youngest group held the record of 285 pennies! The teams walking back to the bus at the end of the afternoon... it was a pretty long walk but the girls were good sports about it. :) My group in particular liked to run...
Aileen (from my group): Can we run noww?? Pleeeaase? Me: Okay, you can run. Girls: *feet pounding the road* Me: Okay, STOP! Charity: Stop so fast?? I wanna runnn! Me: No, you see, coz we caught up with the other people alreadyyy.. if you want to run, we have to walk slowly, and then once they are further away, we can run. Okay? Aileen: Oh! OKAY! Charity, we have to walk slow slow!
DAY THREE Here's the girls performing at the Parent Presentation! They did several memory verses (with actions!), and a few songs too. Parent Presentations always are a little confusing, but by God's grace everything went smoothly! Some final pictures before at the end of the day... This was the last day and so a lot of pictures were being taken. All the leaders from the ATI conference 2008! We really thank God because everything went well, the girls were mostly cooperative, and we had enough strength for each day! Without Him, we wouldn't have made it, that I'm sure!:)
This video is of the girls singing a song entitled God's Word Abides Forever during the Parent Presentation. The song was composed by Grace, just the night before the conference began! The girls really loved the song. :) Grace did a very good job with it! :) haha.. okay, that's all!<3
I thought that I'd also add more pictures and such on what Jolynn already said about the conferences... Of course, it wasn't all play play play; we had lotsa work during the conferences! :) haha. But it was a "good" sort of work. :) So this is the Strong in the Lord conference, 6th September: My group! It was nice having Emily as an assistant and Phoebe, who was not actually an assistant but a "talker", getting the other girls to respond too.
Sitting in the church during large group "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven." ~Matthew 5:16
I just thought I would add some things to what Jolynn posted before this. It was a blessing having the Bright Lights team from America come to Singapore and Malaysia! They were very encouraging to all of us, and a huge blessing in many ways! Without them, all the conferences would be impossible. :) Here are some of the places we went with them in Singapore while they were with us in September... Hort Park! (Dani's hilarious...) East Coast Park! It was so hot. Haha:) It was their first day here and we went on a long, long bike ride from ECP to Changi and back. Even though they were jet-lagged, they still managed the ride really well! From left to right: Liz, Priscilla, Petra, Naomi and Chrissy
Little India: Chelsea takes a big bite of Sev Puri or something of the sort Singapore Zoo, on a tram ride! On the ferry to Pulau Ubin where we went cycling on a tough terrain trail. It was pretty challenging, but fun, and we were rewarded by a lot of food at Auntie Suzi's house after that. :) Sentosa: Jolynn, Sarah, Chrissy, Abigail and Nickie, who is talking about a concept in Bright Lights Chrissy and Dani chased this gecko they found at the beach, and they actually caught it (in Chrissy's shirt) and played with it, to the terror (?) of some of the girls. :) Dani and Chrissy proudly holding their new friend Balancing on a coconut tree! It was not easy to stand up there! haha.
We miss the Bright Lights girls very, very much! It was great having them, and we sure enjoyed it too! <3
This blog is a journal to record God's work in our Bright Lights group in Singapore. It is our prayer that in reading our blog you will be truely blessed and motivated to live a life in view of ETERNITY. For more information about Bright Lights, check out our links or refer to our first post.
