it's along park street, that's why the name. i think. haha. *rolls eyes* anyways, it was a good church. been there couple of weeks back. but this time i met up with a singaporean, karen (i met her while out with serene once and called her that morning to ask), to go. i was waiting for karen near the edge of the boston commons (the park where i went to watch shakespear) when i met this other singaporean couple i knew from the Contact Singapore dinner last week. heh. they too, were going to Park Street! small world huh? so apparently chung han's also deciding to stay in this church too! anyways, i went for the 11am traditional service. i'm ok with the 'procedures' but not too keen on the hymnal worship. heh. but.. i was very blessed by the sermon. first ever in the church history here at Park street that a female pastor preached for morning service (talk about being liberal in US =p *grinz*).
God's plan for us. taken from Jeremiah 29:1-14 - a letter from Jeremiah the prophet to the Israelites taken captive in Babylon. sometimes i've to confess that i dont read every line of the word of God carefully.. so when pastor brought out about how it was that the captives were blessed even tho they were supposed to be cursed for disobeying God (refer to Deut 28 on blessings and curses), i was just amazed at God's grace. truly, they didnt deserve it but yet, God asked them to build houses and dwell in them, plant gardens and eat of its fruits, have children and marry their children so that they too, will have sons and daughters. according to the curses, they would build houses but not live in them, have produce but not eat of them.. have children but watch them be taken away from them. but.. God was still in their midst even though they were in captivity. wow! how often we complain about our "Babylon" and how God has left us in a forsaken place. but God is always true. He stands proclaiming His goodness that endures forever and we should too! of coz all these were further emphasised during the international lunch fellowship after service. they broke us into smaller grps to discuss the sermon for that day (or any other pressing issues). i of coz did not join karen in the chinese-speaking grp (talk about chinese, even their notes was in chinese! *gasps - horrified look*). what can you expect from sarah? haha. cant read/write/speak chinese loh.. but not many seem to think of me that way here though.. haha. *evil grin*
anyhows, so i was in the english-speaking grp led by a (relatively) young singaporean couple. lunch was good. *grin.* this "table" (they call small grps in that way. haha) was 2 new folks. me. and this other ang2 mo2 (direct translation is white; in this case, refering to american) guy. he's a lawyer. had a lot to say. a lot to ask. guess he's seeking. glad i was able to contribute to the grp and encourage them. heh. i think i'm matured enough in that sense. still thinking about setting up a mini-grp in the suite to help the younger ones to grow. maybe i'll co-lead with keng so he can learn and grow too. =) we would have a guitar and a keyboard so worship would be fine. can invite non-christians or seekers, singaporeans or not (but likely at least southeast asian so can understand our accent), to join us once in awhle and reach out to them. it'll be most ideal. heh. thinking big for God. so pray with me and come alongside me if you can, to guide me and support me in any way. =)
i went to a free children hospital for burns after the fellowship. the chinese-speaking grp had 3 other singaporeans so got to know them. the story was that there's this china girl. probably about 7 or 8 years old. she comes from a very poor family in china. her family ran out of money to pay for the electrical bills.. so he dad managed to beg enough to buy a kerosene lamp. except that the company was cheapskate and had placed some gasoline in the kerosene. boom! the lamp exploded and the girl and her sister were badly burnt. they didnt have money to go to the hospital to get treatment, nor have their bandages changed. poor them! so they went begging on the streets. this kind lady (american, who's going to beijing to teach english come 1 sept) picked her up and got american airlines to sponsor her flight over so she could come to this free childrens' hosp that treated burns on children who couldnt afford treatment. she came to church to ask if people were interested to help (they're gonna sell the paintings the little girl did - with half a thumb and no fingers mind you!), either to raise money or be a legal guardian for her in US (they're thinking of keeping her here to let her go thru *years of* treatment) or just help in any way.
it got everyone's attn and so, heh, almost everyone in that small grp went down to the hosp - all can speak chinese mah.. the girl is now learning english from that american lady and her mum & teacher, who are due to leave at the end of sept, can only speak in chinese. it was a beautiful place. 9 storeys. facilities look modern and even the play area was huge! good thing about it? it's free!! wah, the singaporeans were agreeing it can never happen in singapore. haha. can you imagine, over here, this hosp is taking in a girl from another country, and giving her a hope and a future? wow. it's beyond me sometimes. i promised keng and serene that we'll all go to other churches for them to check out and then maybe make a decision together at the end of sept, or early oct if necessary.. that it wont be a decision based on what i like, etc. but i do feel home away from home whenever i'm with singaporeans. it's bad but heck, i'm just praying God will bless us with a good fellowship grp and church to attend so we'll all grow. =)
we zipped a car (rented one) to head to grocery-shopping. i had initially arranged to meet shirleen and take her to the nearby supermarket. but karen and sumin (both singaporeans in harvard. grads.) and another china guy, guo rui, were keen to go too so we rented a car and made our way down to super 88. heh. again i spent money. haha. realised that it's usually fruits that take up a big portion of my spendings. like half. haha. i know my parents would encourage me to spend on food itself but haiz, i do feel bad sometimes. $10 on fruits? oh well.. healthy living. yeah right.
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