It Must Groove

Maui Adventures V – The Wrap Up

2011-07-04T22:17:00.001-07:00

Got home late last night so I am just now getting to do a little update. I had a blast being in Maui and more importantly getting away; it was much needed and very enjoyable. It is the 4th of July today and the sound of fireworks is rumbling around my neighborhood. I can’t help but be reminded of freedom on this day and feel very thankful.

Our last day in Maui was a chill day; we had plans to sleep in, then hit the beach for one last run at the sun and then enjoy a night on the town. Unfortunately for us, the sun was partially hidden most of they day but clouds but still we made it to the beach and hung out for the afternoon. We decided to head to Wailea, a pretty ritzy area of Maui with nice resorts, big houses and high end shopping. It was a little bit of a bummer with the sun being covered, however, it was still good to be out and about.

My little tribute to the beautiful Maui.

White sand beaches, still beautiful though cloudy.

Ah…the life.

After hitting the beach, we decided to “sneak” into the Grand Wailea Resort to get some pictures on their scenic grounds.

Inside the wedding chapel at the resort.

A beautiful sunset to end a beautiful experience.

Maui Adventures IV – Snorkeling

2011-07-02T14:33:00.001-07:00

Morning came unusually earlier – knowing that we were tired, I decided to set 2 alarms just in case since we had to check in for our snorkeling trip at 6:30 am. Did I mention being tired? One of my phones is set for Seattle time still and the other is in Maui time, but in my sleepiness I set alarms for both as though it were both set for local time. So when 6 am rolled around, I jumped out of bed, quickly got ready and woke the guys. They were really quick to tell me that I was actually waking them up at 3 am! The wrong alarm went off; I quickly apologized and jumped back into bed.

I was very excited to go snorkeling having never done it before. We showed up blurry eyed, thanks to me, and checked in. We quickly found that there were many Seattle folks in town and many of them moved here to work. Most of them said it was the sunshine that brought them here and they seemed happy temporarily. We missed the short briefing they had for the people headed out on our tour because we were milling around the shop, so we just followed the masses.

The tour we were on was sponsored by the Pacific Whale Organization, a non-profit working on marine life conservation. We had a bunch of fun loving young people taking us on our snorkeling experience.

The Ocean Voyager – our mode of transport

Eric was very excited for the trip as you can see.

Eric and I posing for another picture.

Here is the Molokini crater/island that we were snorkeling by. It is a preserved/reserved area so, full of marine life.

This was Jarron’s first time snorkeling as well.

Our stunt man Eric

This was one of the coolest experiences ever. It was like we were in our own underwater aquarium hanging with the fish and coral.

After snorkeling for an hour, we got back on the boat and headed off to where the sea turtles hung out. We were stoked because they guaranteed us turtle sightings and they surely did deliver.

Snorkeler Jireh :)

A sighting in the distance. Let’s just say I was determined to swim by this guy and I booked over there. I think I even swam over and kicked some people with my fins just to keep up with this guy.

The water in this area was a little murky and cold so the pics aren’t that great.

I think someone had threw food over board or something because all of a sudden these guys came rushing at me and it was crazy.

My attempt at being a cool underwater photographer. The sun rays were shining through the water the whole time so I thought let’s try the reverse and shoot upwards out of the water and at the sunshine.

Jarron spotted this guy hiding out in the coral reef.

Some good coral shots by Jarron.

What a fun experience today snorkeling! Learnt some much, especially breathing through a tube. Looking forward to more fun as we wrap up our trip.

Maui Adventures III – The Road to Hana

2011-07-01T01:04:00.001-07:00

Had a rough night sleeping – kept waking up for some reason. 5:15 am came really early again today. We were hoping to get on the road at 6 am headed for Hana; let’s just say everyone was as tired as I was so we were a little delayed. The drive was estimated at about 3 hours one way, except we were driving about 74 miles. It was a winding mountainous road leading to Hana, most of it single lane and huge section of unpaved roads. It was quite the trip.

Jarron manning the wheel on this drive to Hana

The view from the drive

Some of the few & far between patches of “straight” road.

Finally after about 3 hours of driving and then getting lost and getting some more distinctive directions from the locals we found our first stop – 7 Pools. These were 7 pools of water coming from waterfalls leading out to the ocean.

Our first warnings…

Ocean view from the top of the last pool before the ocean.

Quick upward view of the different pools and the waterfall.

Jarron posing for a profile pic.

My turn.

Eric getting stepping into the ocean

The water was nice and cold.

Welcome to the ocean.

Surrounding rock and greenery

The 3 person shot (me taking of Eric and Eric taking of Jarron)

The Falls

Next stop – Red Sand Beach. This place seemed to be an elusive place. We were told the access was shut off to the public but we could risk it and try to get to the beach. We asked around some more and got an inside scoop and found the best place to park and hike down to this famous beach. It was indeed tricky to find and quite a treacherous hike (especially in flip flops) but we were determined.

The view on the way to the red sand beach

The cove where the red sand beach was located.

Very scenic

The boys and their “beach ready” bodies ;-) (not so much)

After we took this shot, we started our descent to the beach and what we were not really prepared for what was to come. As we made our approach to the beach, we started noticing some of the people already at the beach and swimming were nude. As such we have no pictures from the red sand beach. It was quite an interesting experience. On one side of us were two older gentlemen from Europe who were very used to being naked in public and then on the other side were a younger couple that were basically hitchhiking their way around the island and had no issues being in the buff. We did our thing and had fun. We didn’t stay long for obvious reasons and we also wanted to check out the other spots around Hana.

Our next stop was the black sand beach which was located in a state park and so there were a lot more people there and of all ages; quite a change from our last stop.

We found ourselves a shady spot on the sand and actually all fell asleep for a couple of hours before heading on the road back towards our hotel. We were going to stop in a town on the way back for dinner. We started on our next 74 mile trip down hill.

It was a really fun day albeit a tiring one. Another early morning awaits us but it should be another fun day. We are heading out to sea on a boat for a snorkeling trip – really looking to it because it will be my first time snorkeling. Until tomorrow…peace out.

Maui Adventures II

2011-06-30T01:38:00.001-07:00

Day 2 in Maui came really early for me; Jarron and I were signed up for surfing and paddle surfing lessons. We had to arrive at about 7 am for our lessons which meant waking up at about 6 am. Although we are 3 hours behind Seattle, having travelled and stayed up way late to try adjusting to the time difference, I was quite out of sorts. Nonetheless, I was excited to try out paddle surfing, the one thing I really want to do while here.

My paddle surf instructor Kyle and I.

I was the “perfect” student in that I didn’t fall into the water and I even got to catch some waves on the way back in from paddling. It was fun and quite a work out paddling while standing/balancing on a board. I am going into look into trying this at home. It was fun and a good work out.

After the surf lesson, Jarron and I hung out around Lahaina, a little touristy area. Kyle, my instructor had recommended some good eateries around there so we decided to stop at one for brunch. We tried out the famous local entree called the “Loco Moco” – served with 2 balls of rice on top of a beef patty and topped off with 2 eggs, covered finally with a mushroom sauce. It was a very large meal and very tasty.

The Loco Moco from Captain Jack’s

After brunch, we walked about town for a bit and enjoyed the sunshine. We then headed back to the hotel where I spent some time at the pool. Let’s just say the sun here in Maui is different than anywhere else and I am a little pink from spending a short time in it. Thankfully I don’t hurt too much just look weird. We chilled for a while before heading out to dinner – we decided to hit up the Hard Rock Cafe.

Had me some Hickory Bacon Cheese Burger – sad to say it didn’t taste like any I had before, oh well…

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and since it was still early, Jarron and I decided to go on an adventure to find some good entertainment/music. We are slowly discovering that there really isn’t anything on the island very exciting; life here is very laid back and the night life is quite dead. We finally found a decent place and came to find out it was where most of the locals and tourists hung out at night. It was fun to meet different people from all over the country; we sat by some older teachers from San Diego and had a good time chatting with them.

Since we had a late night, I figured I would sleep in the next morning since we didn’t have anything planned and was going to just take it easy. Unfortunately, (I know I am on vacation) my phone and emails woke me up early and I got to working for a bit. After taking care of business, I went back to the room and made some breakfast. I then managed to take a pretty long nap to make up for sleep and it felt good.

In order to get a bunch of discounts on activities we signed up for, we agreed to sit through a sales pitch for timeshare here. All 3 of us made our way downstairs for our appointment and after over 2 hours we walked away without signing our lives away and got our vouchers for the activities. By the time we were done, it was time to head to the Luau we signed up for. I had been to a Luau a long time ago when I visited Honolulu and it was fun experience so I was looking forward to all you can eat food and a good show.

Stage of the Royal Lahaina Resort Luau

Dancing to the Wedding song originally performed by Elvis Presley

Fire and Light Dance

The end of the show with our MC and end of our night. Got an early start again tomorrow as we are headed on the road to Hana – a 74 mile drive that will take us about 4 hours to complete one way. Good night…

Maui Adventures

2011-06-28T00:43:00.001-07:00

Really excited about my first vacation in 7 years; blessed to be able to come to Maui and enjoy this week. Here’s a snap shot of my first day:

The view from our room on the 6th floor of the Kaanapali Beach Club.

Getting our leis (Jireh, Jarron & Eric) – Mahalo

The beach by connected to our hotel; very nice.

Sunset over Lahaina; gorgeous.

Dinner at Bubba Gump, brought to you by Forest Gump. Good seafood.

Back at the hotel now, worn out and ready to crash; still adjusting to time change here. Will update more tomorrow.

Mission Ready?

2011-06-16T19:02:00.001-07:00

It is hard to believe that 2011 is almost half way through. This has been by far the most intriguing year of my life. I’ve had some major transitions and changes in life but none quite like the one I am about to encounter. The year so far has consisted of putting into play a change of vocation if you will. I have been challenged and directed more than I have been before. I took tests and went through a discovery process to evaluate my gifts and personality traits. And as usual, I’ve internalized my progression till this point of attempting to put something down in writing.

As I alluded to earlier, I am undergoing what some call a change of vocation and in legal terms a “change of status” – moving from the corporate world into a “religious” environment. I am anxiously awaiting the day to arrive when that transition occurs. I have thoroughly enjoyed being bi-vocational (working a corporate job and volunteering as a minister). I enjoy living life outside the church bubble and it has been liberating; it did take a while for me to get there though. Spending time learning and reading about Jesus’ experiences allowed the shift in my thinking; some of which have held me back in being Mission Ready.

Several books (Second Hand Jesus, Crazy Love & Radical) I have listened to recently have also catapulted me a little further. There’s a common thread in these books and they all put forth a challenge that is hard to ignore. Here are some of the things that have rocked my comfy thought process:

1. The Great Commission – not a suggestion, but a command. Matthew 28:16-20 (NIV) ¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” I was once again reminded that going was not merely for the missionaries who felt called to go but it applies to me. I think about the community my church is in, the people living in next to me and the people I work with daily – “all nations” are represented so there is no excuse for me.

2. “Live a life so radical that it demands an explanation” // “Preach the Gospel, and when necessary use words” – these quotes speak for themselves and they motivate me daily, shaping how I approach life. 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV) “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” I am living these out as best I can even at this time. God has blessed me with a gift to play music and recently I have been thrust into the world of music outside of the church walls. God’s timing is impeccable because as I have been processing all these thoughts, I am allowed to live it out. I play music in environments where Jesus is last things on people’s minds, but by simply living out the “good news” I don’t have to use persuasive words. I am prepared to give an answer for the hope and joy I have and that in the words of my friend Jarron is “AWE…SOME!!”

3. Sufferings – Romans 8:16-17 (NIV) ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. This one, I am still unpacking. I know with leaving a decent paying job, losing the stability in that and entering a journey of faith, there will be hard times and “sufferings". My parents probably had foresight in this matter when they named me Jireh as a reminder of God’s faithfulness and provision. I do want to share in Jesus’ glory so if it means sharing in His sufferings I am all in. I am clinging on to the promise “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, whohave been called according to his purpose…What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:28 & 31 (NIV)

Am I Mission Ready? I believe I am; as with anything in life, learning is never complete so there is more to prepare for. I have been training and continue to train. There is a term the military uses in Singapore when our national service is done, and that is we are called “Operationally Ready” men; the idea that we have gone through our training and the exercises and simulated missions and now we are ready for the real deal should we be needed to be called upon. The Great Commission is calling and it is time to engage.

Aroma

2011-04-11T19:16:00.001-07:00

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (NIV)

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life.”

I recently read this passage and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I have awoken in the middle of the night thinking about the idea of aromas and how it applies to me and how I can apply it. I figured writing out my thoughts is probably the best way to do; hence, my first entry of 2011.

I am a big fan of the my sense of smell. Personally, I like to smell as nice as possible, which is probably linked to why I enjoy taking showers as often as I can and able. I also like people to smell nice. A few days ago, my mum and I were talking about how we enjoyed the smell of fresh bread, especially in a bakery. It is amazing what effect aromas have on people and what it triggers. It reminds you of a person, a place, an encounter or it stimulates hunger or the need for something. The thing about aromas is also that it lingers. I know when I go to Starbucks, or a Chinese or Korean BBQ restaurant, I leave smelling like the place.

I got to thinking about the passage and how Paul says that God uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere. I began to wonder about the aroma I was spreading, whether it was a scent worthy of Him or maybe a little funky – like Paul said a pleasing aroma of Christ. Yesterday, my friend Josh, related an experience he had with someone he had known for a couple years who was pleasantly surprised to find out he was a pastor while they were conversing. That immediately triggered my mind to wonder whether the people I encounter, on the phone or in person, can pick up on my Christ aroma. This passage of scripture in Acts 4:13 quickly came to mind: “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Is my aroma reflecting where I’ve been or who I have been with?

I was challenged again this morning in thinking about this when I saw this quote from Craig Groeschel: “Don’t worry when people make fun of you for your commitment to Christ. Worry when they don’t.” That immediately brought back memories of elementary and high school years. My friends at school would always asked what I did over the weekend and they would be so puzzled when I told them I was at church. I wasn’t bashful about my commitment, in fact I often invited them along with me and if they parents would allow them. I don’t want that aroma to stop permeating from me; as we heard at church this weekend from Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Everything I do, in word or deed, I want the aroma of Christ and the knowledge of Him to be evident so that it triggers the senses of others around me.

“God Can Be Added To My List Of Loyalties”

2010-12-01T23:06:00.001-08:00

I’m back! It has been a long time since I’ve written and I am looking forward this.

I have been listening through the book “Secondhand Jesus – Trading Rumors of God for a Firsthand Faith” by Glenn Packiam. In the 5th chapter, Glenn addresses the “rumor” that “God can be added to my list of loyalties.” At first I wasn’t quite sure what that meant and after listening for a bit more, it hit me. I have in many ways bought into that rumor of God.

The thought that struck me is that I can add God to my long list of loyalties and priorities as long as I put Him first. I don’t have to give up my old goals and aspirations, I just add Jesus to the mix. Somehow, we, or rather I, have fallen for the notion that as long as Jesus is my top priority, I can still keep the other aspects of my life going – Jesus even gets to become the miracle provider of those goals and aspirations.

When I pause to reflect, it doesn’t take long to realize it all stems from the condition of the heart. Matthew 12:34 (NLT) says “…For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.” More than what I say, it determines how I behave and what I long for. I often quote the passage of scripture that says “…delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4 NIV); true as it may be, my reasons for delighting might be suspect to say the least. As the old hymn sings “prone to wander, Lord I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.” (Psalm 95:10). The heart is created for so much potential yet because of our sinful nature, the heart craves for things it shouldn’t and pride takes over.

I am a musician, a worship leader, a pastor, a businessman, a friend, a son, amongst other things. I have been able to influence many lives with what I do and say, most often with the best of intentions. I have personal friends who are connected beyond belief and I get to rub shoulders with very talented people constantly. I am told that I am a lot of things, and my ego gets massaged; I crave more unknowingly at times even though I don’t profess to seek it. Being a part of a Church movement, I constantly think of ways to be creative and innovative in the hopes of drawing people in. I look for more influence in the name of moving things forward.

These things are a long list of priorities and loyalties I have and of course Jesus is included, and He is at the top of it all, driving most of these; but is He? Today, I stopped to ask myself whether God can be added to my list of loyalties or is He my one loyalty. I confess almost daily that Jesus is Lord, yet I still hoard parts of me. I give other aspects of life priority.

My heart is heavy and I know I have to surrender. Jesus simply cannot be added to my to-do list. I have to protect my heart, like Solomon wrote in Proverbs 4:23 (NIV) “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” And today I pray the prayer of David in Psalm 86:11-12 (NIV):

“Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.”

Jesus, You have my attention now, feel free to make adjustments and corrections. Amen.

W.W.J.D.

2010-09-11T03:28:00.001-07:00

Remember those initials (W.W.J.D)? Those initials were so popular through the 90s and you still see it around today – What Would Jesus Do? I must say from a business standpoint, someone better have made bank for the genius marketing that took place. I never did get into the fad all that much; having a name that starts with “J” didn’t help since I could insert my name, plus I thought it was a cheesy phrase.

The phrase came to the forefront of my mind recently (amongst other things that I ponder daily about) in light of what started here in the US and has sparked an international outrage. I have to preface what I write and reiterate that these are my personal internal dialogs and writing them down is cathartic for me. I love current affairs and try to be educated on things that happen around the world – I read up on news from all over the world and absorb as much as I can. I am intrigued by politics and systems of governing. I have a deep faith and thus, am drawn to faith conversations here and beyond.

So, when our dear pastor friend from Florida decided to go public with his intentions, I began observing the backlash or outbursts from all angles – political, religious, military, legal, personal. I must admit that the day the news broke and I saw the headline, I was a little disgusted by it; I didn’t need to read to much into in to know that it was not a good situation. Being a bi-vocational pastor myself, I like to know what other pastors are up to and how God is using them, so this was not a good start.

I understand the mainstream media has a job to spread the news to a mass audience and the bottom line (sponsors, ads, etc) more often than not gets in the way. As such, a slightly sensationalized headline will grab attention. I honestly don’t like to see a headline with the words “Pastor” doing or involved in something; mostly likely it is not good. Rarely does the media leave the headline space for a pastor who is doing something good. I digress.

This was when the phrase W.W.J.D. popped into my head. There were and still are tons of responses/comments/advice/whatnot that are in a similar vein. What would Jesus do? What I considered a cheesy phrase now was illuminating my mind. What would Jesus do, not only to the situation at hand or the root of it, but also with the person who started this whole international incident? My little imaginative mind started to wonder and picture how Jesus would respond. I started thinking of scriptures and scenarios in the Bible of similar encounters.

Jesus is and should be our perfect example. He personified compassion; He showed love; He offered grace and mercy; He spoke truth, calling things how they were, all at the same time not discriminating. I think about the Samaritan woman at the well and how her life was radically transformed – Jesus made it a point to engage her in conversation. He broke tradition and rules when He came into her life; she was a woman and a Samaritan, both a big “no no” during that time and for a man of His heritage. He was willing to cross boundaries, and it wasn’t a coincidence it occurred because He chose to go that route and be at the well at that specific time. I also think when He raised the only son of a widow because He knew her needs.

Jesus did not tolerate things, neither did He teach tolerance. He made it clear as to the only way to get to heaven and have eternal life. He showed love, a love so great that eventually led to His crucifixion. I heard it once said that tolerance is the antithesis of love. What does it mean to tolerate? In simple terms, it means to put up with something even though you may not want to. Why would that be a good option in life? I choose love and the expression of Christ’s love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NIV) says “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal…and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” I am a drummer so I know the effect of a clanging cymbal and it is not pleasant.

There are so many people in need of hearing the good news of this love; one that is so readily available. People need to hear about the real Jesus of the Bible and not the one that is designed for specific needs and/or wants. Christ’s return is eminent so there is much work to be done – Matthew 24:4-8 (NIV) “Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” Jesus continues to say in verse 14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” We have the game plan, it is time to execute and show the world the real Jesus and let His love shine through. No time to waste, it is time to be like Jesus!

Today my perspective is realigned with Jesus and when I ask myself W.W.J.D, I want to show His love and grace and point all things to the One who made all things.

Life’s Lessons

2010-08-20T18:36:00.001-07:00

Last night I spent a few hours with one of our employees talking about his job, and things that have gone on since he started working with us. One big thing that stood out to me, while I was listening to him talk, was the human need for positive affirmation. It made me think about people in general and how we all crave some kind of affirmation; almost like a thumbs up in things that we do to help us move on.

It is very easy to nit pick, criticize and find negative things to point out; conversely, it is much harder to genuinely affirm someone. We are selfish and prideful by nature, which in turn more easily allows negative expressions rather than positive ones. Some of us have developed much resistance over the years to receiving much affirmation, yet are still able to perform at a high level; but I’d be the first to admit that there come a tipping point of feeling neglected/taken advantaged of/unappreciated.

My encounter last night was a little wake up call. I am tasked with creating a culture in this area of work and I realized corporately we didn’t have a culture of positive affirmation. It made me realize that even the smallest form of affirmation can go a long way to energizing another person and possibly motivating them to press on.

I am involved in some many worlds (music, church, corporate, personal) and I realize that there are probably some inconsistencies in how I treat people across those worlds. As a manager at work, a leader at church, a band leader and as a friend and family member, I don’t practice this trait enough and I need to improve. This little experience made me reflect (especially since I have long commutes) on my relationships. My relationship with Jesus, my family, my friends, my co-workers and even, as the songs says, “to all the girls I’ve loved before…”. :) For a moment I had an overwhelming sense of guilt for neglecting/taking advantage of/under-appreciating people in my life. The saying “you don’t know what you got till you lose it” immediately came to mind. I know in reflection and hind sight I feel that way about past relationships and it makes me sad that I didn’t do a better job.

I really try my hardest to maintain the best relationships possible with people in my life and ones I encounter, but I know I’ve succeeded in some and failed in others. Now that the light bulb has come on, I am going to strive to positively affirm someone, say thanks, give someone a pat on the back and maybe bring a smile to someone along the way. So if you are reading this and I have let you down recently or in the past, I apologize and I am changing and hopefully take a step in mending hurts.

Cheers!

Summertime

2010-08-03T23:45:00.001-07:00

Summers are always fun when sunshine, friends and relaxation are involved. Here are some summertime highlights so far:

Jarron and I driving to Crescent Bar for a little “day-cation” and warm sunshine.

Driving East on I-90 heading up to Snoqualmie Pass.

Was fascinated by these humongous windmills along the way.

View of Crescent Bar section of the lake.

View from the backyard of our condo.

The pool just outside our back deck and my sun-deprived pale skin.

At the Gorge waiting to watch Kings of Leon play.

Crowds filling in as the sun set.

Beautiful sunset.

The “day-cation” was much needed and very fun. I am grateful to have been able to go away for a night and day.

Got a visit from my Uncle and Aunt, Gideon and Carol; all the way from Singapore. It was great to catch up with them and enjoy good food with them.

Doing the tourist thing and catching the sights of Seattle (Space Needle in the background).

Summers are also popular wedding times. Attended my first wedding of the season – my friend and boss’s daughter, Rachel’s, wedding. It was a intimate and fun wedding.

Rachel, with Rick and I.

Natasha (Rick’s friend), Rick and I at our dinner table.

Partners at work and good friends.

New friends – Natasha & Larisa

It has been a fun season so far and hopefully with will continue this way before the season ends. Love summertime.

Entanglements

2010-07-27T17:30:00.001-07:00

Hebrews 12:1-3 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

This passage demanded my immediate attention this morning as I read it. I couldn’t escape he phrase “sin that so easily entangles.” The truth behind that phrase hit me; I started to think of the things that I do that is not pleasing to a Holy God – the “small” stuff and the big stuff. It definitely easily entangles!

I try my hardest to fix my eyes on Jesus just like the passage instructs; yet so often I run my life in auto-pilot, and I let God down. Running the race takes stamina, and stamina comes from working out and training; I definitely can do better and must do better. I really do try to live a missional life and want to bring the hope of Jesus to people I encounter, so the hindrances and distractions of life take away from that pursuit. I liken it to text messaging while driving (guilty) – looking down for a split second could make it the last second to breathe (extreme case of course). So fixing my eyes on Jesus and not growing weary is essential. Once again, “training” and a good spiritual “diet” is key to not growing weary.

One uplifting part of this passage is that “we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses” so we have the support and accountability which I am utterly grateful for. There is hope even when the race is not easy to run and at times giving up seems the best option. Jesus is the answer.

Rain

2010-07-12T21:55:00.001-07:00

It is never fun to wake up on a Monday morning, after our only week of summer weather so far, to clouds and rain. You see, it rains a fair bit throughout the year here in the great Northwest, so we take our summers and sunshine very seriously.

Filled with a little disappointment, I put on jeans, a shirt and shoes, took to the wet roads and headed into Seattle for work. I was reminiscing on the 90 degree weather we had experienced last week as I was driving and then it dawned on me. There is a passage in Matthew 6:25-34 that is basically been my life passage; it says:

²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I looked around and I noticed the grass and leaves around me – I am sure they were very glad to have the rain come this morning after enduring the record weather we had last week. I was reminded of this passage and how the rain is God’s way of taking care of the grass of the fields and how He is even more faithful to me. I may be going through some tough times in areas of life but God remains true and I have to keep my eyes on Him and trust Him. So, thank you Jesus for gentle reminders like these.

4th of July

2010-07-05T23:29:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we celebrated Independence Day here in America. It is a unique holiday for me because I am a foreigner who has lived here for about 15 years and this where my home is. I can sing a lot of the patriotic songs thanks to the years of playing in the patriotic celebrations at churches around here. It is a wonderful day because we do truly celebrate freedom and remember the cost that it comes with. I also love that I get to celebrate with my friends. I am really blessed to have friends like these here.

Something new this year was that we cancelled church this being that the 4th was on a Sunday; and instead of having a regular gathering, we had a block party with an inflatable for the kids and food for everyone. It was a cold and dreary morning but it was fun to see people bring friends and family and it was especially cool to see people from our community come out to join us.

Our food table getting set up

People starting to show up and mingling

One highlight of my morning was getting to hang and actually watch Janelle for a little while. Aik and Alexis came as well but had to take off for a bit so I was tasked with being Uncle Jireh and playing with Janelle. She loved the slides at the playground and I enjoyed being with her.

Later on that evening, I went over to my friend Lindsey’s place to celebrate with some friends. Lindsey lives close to a place called Gas Works Park in Seattle, where they have an annual fireworks display at night for the 4th. Lindsey last organized a party like this in 2008 and it was a blast so she decided to host it again.

Here’s what Gas Works Parks looks like in the day (take a week ago):

The park has a great view of the city and its skyline.

The weather was not very cooperative throughout the day on Sunday; in fact in rained in Seattle all afternoon and it was cold. We were a little concerned that the fireworks show was not going to be any good because the skies were so clouded. But thank God it stopped raining in time and conditions got better just before the show.

Some sparklers to start the festivities. Paul brought some of his own fire works to light up in the neighborhood.

Paul, Corey and Jarron getting ready for the big show

Zoe, Tina and I waiting for the show to start

Zoe posing for the camera.

Zoe and me

and finally…The Big Show

We were definitely not let down by the fireworks display, it was quite spectacular. A perfect ending to a long dreary day.

Throughout the day and evening, I was reminded of the privilege I have to live in this country and more importantly the relationships I have here. I would not feel at home here if not for my friends here in Seattle. I am grateful. I was also reminded how much I love kids; one of my friend even commented on how well kids and I interact. I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with Janelle and Zoe.

I thank God for freedom, especially the freedom that comes from knowing Him. Happy Birthday America!

The Sun

2010-06-25T18:20:00.001-07:00

The sun finally made an appearance this week. The first day of summer didn’t kick off well, but the sun came around and everyone here was out soaking it in. When it is sunny out here in the Pacific Northwest, there is no better place to live in – simply breathtaking.

After a day of being at the office and a 4 hour long meeting, I decided since the sun was still out to hit up the beach by my house since I was close. The combo of sun, water, blue skies and breeze is what I needed. God is an amazing creator!

The simple pleasures of life – so lovely.

The drive home was too shabby either…

Days like these remind me of my many blessings and how thankful I am to Jesus for everything.

Friday Night

2010-06-25T18:10:00.001-07:00

It’s Friday evening and here I am finally getting to take some time to write about last Friday. I’ve been back in Seattle for 2 weeks and it has been non-stop for me. Time is flying by so quickly; the month is coming to a close and the sun is only now starting to shine.

Last Friday, my friend Nate had some extra tickets to the Seattle Mariners game and even though they are horrible this season, it is always fun to go to the ballpark; further more, they was 3 row between 3rd base and home plate – primo seats that I couldn’t pass up. So I invited my co-worker/friend Rick to go with me to the game; we had plans to hang out that night anyway.

It was a beautiful night for a ballgame and thankfully the Mariners came up with a 1-0 win. These “night off” opportunities are rare and I am very thankful for being able to enjoy it with my friends.

Rick and I got off work slightly earlier so we could make it to the ballpark and hang out a bit before the game.

Here’s Rick getting ready to pitch a fastball – he clocked at 66 mph pitch; unfortunately his “record” was broken later that evening when I saw another guy throw a 74 mph pitch.

Thanks again Nathan for hooking us up with sweet tickets!

The Bad

2010-06-16T23:58:00.001-07:00

Today I discovered that I had been a victim of something bad; my debit credit card was hacked and fraudulently used while I was away in Malaysia. Someone or some people somehow managed to get a hold of my card number, generated a card and used it till it was put on hold. They bought $1,400.00 worth of stuff from IKEA, TJ Max, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc, so I might have helped them furnish their house in Atlanta, GA.

The reason I checked into my card today was because it has been on hold during my trip and had not been reinstated even though I called the bank on my return. Thankfully I was able to verify that I was out of the country and had possession of my card the whole time. I still can’t believe this happened and why people do such things. I am grateful that the bank is refunding me for the fraud and will launch an investigation. I am sure they can find these people because of security cameras and such at these retail establishments.

I was reminded of the evil that exists and how we are all born with the propensity to do such things. I am not perfect and I do things that are not good and pleasing and I hurt people around me who care for me. But if not for the grace and mercy of God, I would be in heaps of trouble.

Something else caught my attention today as I was driving around my neighborhood – a woman/mother cigarette in mouth attending to her toddler. I might have developed a righteous anger for this one. I can’t be the judge if she is the greatest mum around and regardless of whether she is or not, putting your child’s health at risk is not acceptable. You want to jeopardize your own health with that habit do it but don’t set the example for your kinds and don’t let them be exposed to it. That is being selfish. Come on parents!

This was definitely an interesting day filled with mixed emotions and sense of right and wrong. Just a reminder of a fallen world, one in need of Jesus.

The Flight Home

2010-06-13T23:45:00.001-07:00

It is great to return to sunny, blue sky, non humid, Seattle – thanks for the warm reception Seattle.

Our adventures didn’t end when we boarded the plane in Kuala Lumpur. During the security screening, it was found that Aaron was carrying a bottle of liquid and upon inspection it was his prized and brand new bottle of Sour Sop concentrate. The guys had taken a liking to the fruit so this was going to be Aaron’s supply for now. However, while packing, it didn’t occur to him that he shouldn’t hand carry the bottle on the flight, instead he should have packed it into his suitcase. Big bummer. Oh…but there’s more “drama” installed for us on this ride home which we couldn’t predict.

Peter and Aaron chumming it up with Buzz Light-Year at the KL International Airport.

After taking those shots we proceeded to look for a quick bite before going to our gate to board. Peter and I scrounged up whatever Malaysian currency we had left not converted and decided to split a sandwich and chips from O’Brien’s Irish Cafe. On our flight from KL to Taipei, Peter and I again chose the same in-flight meal; the fish option. After about a 5 hour flight we arrived in Taipei where we just lounged around until our connection flight to Seattle. It was about a 2 hour transit.

When we finally made it on to the plane, we were all too tired to stay up for too long even though we wanted to try and adjust back to local time. Our bodies were tired and so we all fell asleep. Peter and I were seated next to each other again on this leg and I had the aisle seat. Mid way through our flight “drama” unfolded. This is the kind of stuff your hear about or watch in a movie but you never think it happens to your friends or even yourself.

While sound asleep I was suddenly awoken by Peter jumping over me to get to the aisle. I figured he really need to go and couldn’t wait, so I dozed off again but not for long partially because we were encountering turbulence. I opened my eyes shortly and realized that the attendants had gone by with our food and since we were asleep they left Peter and I a sticker giving us instructions on what we needed to do to get our meal. Still in a daze from waking up, I tried to read and focus on the sticker. Just then I get a tap on my shoulder from a flight attendant and she says, pointing to the back, “is this your friend?” and the only friend I knew who might be back there was Peter and when I turned back to look I didn’t see him standing there and Peter is a hard guy to miss especially in a flight full of Asians. I figured she got the wrong person. Then she taps me again and says “is this your friend?” this time point to the ground. As I turned around, still in a daze, I see a pair of legs and a person lying on the ground. To be honest, at first I thought it was a joke that Peter was playing on me, then it hit me, he was lying there motionless. I quickly jumped out of my seat and ran back. I didn’t even think to alert Aaron and Bryan.

When I got to Peter, the flight attendants were tending to him. I was then told that he just collapsed while walking towards the lavatory. I quickly got up close to Peter and started calling his name. After a minute or two, Peter tries to open his eyes and manages to say to me that he just wanted to puke and then he was out again. I wasn’t quite sure what to do but I knew I need to get him in a comfortable position to ensure proper blood flow if anything. I was comforted by the fact that he managed to respond to me and was able to tell me what he was trying to do so I knew he was somewhat coherent.

The attendants then spotted that Peter was bleeding on his forehead so they started wiping the blood away and stopping the blood. One of the chief attendants then asked if we should raise the alarm and announce that we were in need of a doctor’s help if there was one on board. Now we got the attention of the whole plane and people started to peer around from their seats. By this time Aaron and Bryan and had come back as well and before long we had 2 medical professionals show up. I am still not sure if they were doctors or what (one Chinese and one American), they quickly attended to Peter. They tested for this oxygen level and also his heart beat to ensure it was normal and he was. After a few more minutes Peter slowly came around and was able to fully communicate. The guys treated his head wounds and talked to him for a bit and then we finally pulled him up.

At this point, Peter still needed to use the restroom and us 3 guys helped him in and everyone went back to their jobs and seats. As we were waiting for Peter outside the lavatory and were talking, something came over me and I started to hyperventilate. I just knew I need to breathe in and out deeply. Aaron and Bryan started to get concerned. I then told them that I was feeling the same thing Peter did and I might be passing out too. Not sure what I was thinking but I tried to take a few steps towards somewhere and just then my face turned ghostly pale, eyes rolled and I started to fall over. I remember hearing Aaron and Bryan calling out to me and I remember starting to give instructions while falling how to treat me then I was out.

Thankfully I only blacked out for a few seconds and the guys were there to catch me. By the time they laid me down I was awake again and able to direct my immediate treatment. I quickly asked Aaron to grab me a cold towel for my forehead and for Bryan to lift my legs so blood would flow back to my head. Right away I felt back to normal. The Chinese doctor again came back and decided to test my oxygen levels and heart beat and I registered the same readings as Peter. He asked me a bunch of questions and determined I was all right. I told the doctor that I was really hungry and so I felt weak. He asked the last Peter and I ate and I told him. The funny thing was when Peter came out of the lavatory while this was happening and had to do a double take because I was the one on the floor now.

After getting up I went back to my seat and requested for my lunch which helped me and I felt normal after. I thank God that nothing really bad happen to us and also for the miracle of where Peter actually landed when he passed out. Being the big and tall guy he is he could have been pretty banged up if he didn’t fall in the right spot. But because he was on his way to the lavatory, he fell right at the opening of the aisle way leading to the galley and lavatory so he fit in there perfectly. So apart for a jammed ring finger and cuts to his forehead, he was all right. And also thankfully Aaron and Bryan were there to catch me as I fell over so I didn’t have a scratch on me.

It was definitely a long and very eventful return trip home and a good story to tell for a while. We truly thank God for His hands on us even in our crazy circumstance; Peter and I were able to walk off the plane on our own and make it home.

Very grateful…

Last Day in KL

2010-06-12T06:48:00.001-07:00

We got to be tourists today for a few hours on our last day here in KL. Two of our new friends, Adrian & Darren, were kind enough to take us out sightseeing and shopping. We started our day at the KL Tower.

This is an impressive structure and one that gives you a panoramic view of the entire city.

It was good to see the city from the elevation and learn some of the history behind some of the buildings around town.

Our amazing hosts for the day, Adrian & Darren along with Peter

After the tower visit we headed over to the KLCC where the famous Twin Towers are located. Another impressive building and one time the tallest building in the world. Adrian and Darren tried to get us tickets so we could go up but the tickets were all gone by the time they got there; so we observed it from the ground.

Posing with the towers

Potential album covers?

The Twin Towers are also home to the Philharmonic Concert Hall.

After our visit to the Twin Towers we next head over to Petaling Street – a place known for real imitation goods of all kinds and infamous for pickpockets.

Adrian getting us fresh sugar cane drinks and they were so refreshing.

Aaron with his sugar cane drink

The busy street of Petaling Street – lined with little shops on either side selling any branded goods you can think of (the imitations of course)

I don’t think the girls were pleased to be in my picture

Peter checking out some Nikes

After making some purchases, we walked over to the Central Market, home to some local crafts and souvenirs.

Aaron checking out some batik fabric

Adrian and Darren helping Aaron bargain with the sales lady – we got her to lower her asking price.

Next up, our favorite part of the afternoon – Bryan “shopping” for “clothes”

Flexing his muscles and settling on this outfit. Bryan the Chinaman!

Fun to see they had a store here to recognize us

We had a fun filled afternoon sightseeing and shopping. Next up was the prayer meeting at Calvary Church and our last ministry opportunity of the trip. We have been continuously been blown away at the response and turn out at these midweek/weekend events. The people of the church are definitely desiring God to transform them and also transform the city for His glory. We were very privilege to be a part of this movement and honored that we got to participate.

The prayer meeting was very powerful and the church prayed over us and Pastor Petrina even spoke a word over us. We are truly blessed and looking forward to what God has in store.

Aaron with Pastor David. The people here say Aaron is the American version of Pastor David.

The team with Adrian and Darren

The team with Andrew, one of the excellent keyboard players here

The team with Tabitha, the fearless Youth director and also our fine host for most everything we did.

The team with Kimmie

We spent sometime saying our goodbyes and then we headed back to our hotel before heading to dinner. We were going to head to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and by the time we got there, the restaurant was completely packed because of the world cup broadcast. So, we just ended up getting some souvenirs and then eating in the lobby restaurant.

My dinner

We were also serenaded at dinner by this Filipino band – they sang Oye Como Va, go figure. They were quite good actually.

We saw quite a few of these around town. Very pretty.

After dinner with Pastor Steven, we reconnected with some of the young people at a local hotspot called Pappa Rich. It was a upscale coffee shop that is open late. Bummed we didn’t get a picture with the entire crew that came and hung with us. It was great to meet these guys and have the opportunity to encourage them and hear their stories.

Back at the hotel

This was an amazing trip and filled with great memories and new friends. We were very blessed and very well taken care of. We are definitely looking forward to partnering again with the church. Thank you Calvary Church and thank you KL!

Until I get home…peace

Back In Kuala Lumpur

2010-06-10T09:28:00.001-07:00

We are finally back in KL and back to internet access! It has been a very busy yet fulfilling week at camp with Calvary Church. God is doing something great in Malaysia and it is exciting to see the people of Calvary Church carrying our His mission.

This week at camp we got to lead worship for all the adult sessions, teach some songs and teach the lessons for the kids sessions and also do the breakout sessions for the adults and youth. We had a blast serving and ministering. We also had fun getting to know the people of the church, they are a good bunch.

Here are some pictures of our adventures:

Bryan checking out our hotel room at camp

Peter checking out our beds

Calvary’s worship team – good people

Pastor Bryan addressing the kids on our first night

The kids we got to spend time with

Pastor Aaron and Pastor Bryan tag teaming

We are known here with the title Pastor which we are all not used to.

Pastor Bryan doing his thing, teaching the kids. He did great!

I got to speak to the adults during the first breakout session and here’s a partial shot of all the people gathered. I was unaware it was going to be this big and so I was very nervous but it was fun nonetheless.

Some of our new friends – Pastor Chris, his daughter Azalea (in front of him) and Joanna (in green) who lead some of the kids worship and directed the kids choir at camp.

A great treat to see my friends Eva & Shawn who drove north to see me for a few hours.

Pastor Aaron & Pastor Peter re-enacting David and Goliath

Pastor Peter aka Goliath suffering his fate

Peter leading the charge in posing for the camera

My breakout session with the young people of Calvary

Jeremy & Charisa Seaward came up for a visit and it was good to catch up with old friends.

Little Caleb Seaward who refused earlier to joining us for a picture, so I had to sneak this shot.

Pastor Bryan wrapping up the kids sessions at the camp fire

A little “joy juice” as a reminder of my childhood

On our way back to KL, we made a stop in Melaka, a city in Malaysia that has lots of history; so we got to do a little sightseeing and shopping.

Our first stop was a famous local snack shop

A church from the 1700s built by the Dutch

The Dutch also built a fort around the area

Peter posing with a cannon

My turn at the cannon

Old school mode of transport – the trishaw

Good day for a white wedding

A little snack that brought me back to my childhood

That’s it for the update, it is time to hit the sack. Peace!

Kuala Lumpur Update

2010-06-06T07:56:00.001-07:00

It has been a hectic couple of days for us. We have 2 great days of ministry and are now packing up for the morning drive to the start of camp.

Our first morning in KL started early thanks to jetlag. Bryan and I were up at 5 am, way before we were planning on waking; and so began our Saturday. Bryan worked out and I worked since we were up. Then we had breakfast before we were picked up to head to the church for a sound check before the afternoon youth service.

Our hosts have been amazing and so hospitable to us and we are being well taken care of. Here are some things we have been up to so far:

Having lunch (Indian food on banana leaves using our hands to eat) with some of the pastors (L to R Pastors David, Chris & Susan) from Calvary Church.

Peter attempting a fried bitter gourd.

After lunch it was time for the youth service.

Getting ready to do a Malaysian style line dance.

The students in worship.

After the service, we were taken on a little drive to see some of the city and then grab dinner. Here are some of the sights:

Entrance to Chinatown.

They even have a Times Square here.

Our dinner destination, famous for their chicken wings.

Peter attempting a fresh coconut.

Bryan working the coconut.

Chicken and beef Satay – so good!

Chicken Wings, Baby Bak Choi, & Clams. Bryan ate most of the chicken wings.

We called it a night after our sumptuous dinner. Sunday came really early for us. Again we woke up before of alarms went off. We had a early morning sound check for the 2 services. The morning services were great and we enjoyed worshipping with church and hearing God’s word. We played for the offertory.

We had a relatively quick turn around before we had to back for another sound check for the evening services. Tonight we lead the worship for the evening service. One significant moment for me tonight was during the middle of the message, the speaker stopped and looked at me in the front row and prophesied over me. He had been praying in the afternoon and God brought my face to mind and gave him a word for me. I haven’t had one of these encounters in a while so it was interesting for sure. God is good.

After the evening service, we packed up and headed back to the hotel and we hung out again with my parents and grabbed some dinner at the food court by our hotel. We have a 4 hour drive tomorrow morning to camp so we are winding down now.

It has been a fun and eventful weekend and we are excited to what’s in store at camp. It has been special for me as well to be able to see my parents and have some time with them. Thanks dad and mum for making the trip out to see me. I love you guys!

The parentals.

Greetings from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!

2010-06-04T16:35:00.001-07:00

I am on the road again and this time to the beautiful country of Malaysia. It doesn’t seem too long ago that Peter, Aaron and I jumped on a plane and traveled for hours to Spain; this time we brought Bryan with us.

It is now 7 am here and I have been up for 2 hours – thanks jetlag. I was too wiped to even crack open my computer last night so I figured since I am up I will update a little here.

We left for the airport in Seattle on Wednesday night about 11 pm and we arrived in KL 11 pm Seattle time (2 pm here on Friday). It was a long flight! Our first leg was about 12.5 hours (Seattle to Taipei, Taiwan). We all barely slept on that flight so it was quite brutal. Then we had a 5 hour layover in Taipei and we were quite out of it with all the time difference already.

Our adventures started at SeaTac where the airline agents wouldn’t let Peter and Bryan bring their guitars on the plane with us. It was understandably a full flight but there was room; unfortunately they made them gate check the guitars in their soft cases. I think what was worse was that they kept telling us that they couldn’t guarantee the integrity of the guitars when placed in the belly of the plane. Duh! We are quite aware the scenario and would have rather carried it on. I am happy to report that the guitars made it in tact to Taipei and we were then allowed to carry it on to our connecting flight to KL.

It’s hot and humid here in KL. We felt it as soon as we step off the plane. We were even starting to perspire just from standing in line at the customs check point. Aaron is loving the humidity though. We were originally scheduled to attend a prayer meeting in the evening after our arrival but were surprised and thankful to find out that we had the night off. Our hosts are amazing and have gone far and above to make us welcomed. We are staying into a really luxurious hotel, The Gardens Hotel, that is also connected to a mega mall called the Mid Valley Mega Mall. It seems like their version of the Great Mall of America – hence Mega Mall.

My parents drove up to meet and hang with us so that is really exciting. After we got settled in and we all took a long need shower (brushing our teeth felt so good), we met up with my parents and headed out for dinner. It was a fun relaxing night for us and then we called it a night pretty early since we were worn out.

Bryan and I are sharing a room and we were both up at 5 this morning. Bryan decided to go work out while I worked out my typing skills, checking emails and doing some work. It is time to get ready now for our day ahead. We are heading to the church to set up and sound check for the Sunday services and also we are participating in the youth service tonight. It is going to be an exciting day and I am looking forward to it. So until later, here are some pictures so far…

Trying my hand at photo taking, not so good attempt at the SeaTac airport.

Posing at the Hello Kitty kids area at the Taipei International Airport.

OUR TEAM (in the transit lounge)

Aaron Welk

Peter Blue

Bryan Wall

And me

Hello Kitty even has a world map with the time zones on it

Here’s us packed into the van with all our gear

Easing the guys into the local fare….YUM!

Catching Up

2010-06-04T16:02:00.001-07:00

I wanted to do a little catch up before I started a new series of adventures. I got to go see one of my favorite artist, Carrie Underwood, perform last weekend and she didn’t disappoint! My good friend Tina, came along with me for the show. It was so fun to hang out with Tina and let her experience country music.

Cool stage – just before Carrie came up from below

Carrie rocking out on her guitar

Weak camera and long distance, sigh…

High flying act. Carrie was singing from the bed of a truck suspend over the crowd.

It was definitely a highlight concert for me and what was even cooler was that every artist (opening acts and Carrie) all made sure to talk about Jesus and they even sang a couple of hymns.

This was a nice way to end May 2010.

More Adventures

2010-05-21T22:08:00.001-07:00

The day started with great anticipation and excitement, mostly because I was going home and starting my weekend. I was also excited to meet up with my friend, Daniela, whom I had met my last trip to TJ.

Daniela came and picked me up from the hotel and we went to her favorite Starbucks (only 3 in TJ) to hang for a bit. It was fun to catch up and then she took me on a little drive to see the “downtown” also known as Centro/Ave Revolucion. The streets and shops look really run down and dirty during the day but this is the area that is known for it’s night life. There are bars and seedy establishments that light up that part of town. It where a lot of tourists come to drink and party.

After the little tour, I got dropped off at the hotel and waited till it was time to go get my passport at the US Consulate and then make my trek across the border. Here’s where every best laid plan comes apart and the drama that follows me each time I come to TJ/San Diego comes alive. Typically, walking across the border usually means you get into the US quicker than by driving; however it was not the case today.

After standing in the line under the scorching sun for about an hour, I got to the fence leading into the United States. Once I cross that gate, my next stop is supposed to be the permit office before clearing customs. My last trip, it took me maybe 10 minutes at the permit office. This was not the case today. There was a line and led me back through the fence I came in and back into Mexico again. I couldn’t believe it!

I couldn’t believe the lack of systems in place to handle the permit line for one. If I had know an hour earlier there was a 2nd line for the permit office, I would not have had to spend the next 2 hours in the sun waiting. As I stood there watching the clock tick, thinking about my ability to catch my 6:30 pm flight out of San Diego slip away, I wondered why there wasn’t a better and more efficient way to move this much human traffic. No one really seemed to care.

Finally getting into the permit office, we found that there was one actual officer serving these hundreds of people. Unbelievable and unacceptable! I understand protecting the borders, but with lines like I had to endure, I even tried to figure what it would take to “by pass” the fence and all these red tape. If people choose to endure the sun and lines for hours, let them through for crying out loud!

After paying to return into the US, I joined another line to speak to another customs officer. Of course I had to pick the slowest line. Once again unbelievable and unacceptable! Upon getting closer to the check point, our line got shut down by the slowest officer of all the lines. This was not cool. Now we were required to merge into the line next to us and all of a sudden, we were getting through like a breeze.

Seriously, I wish there is an 800 number to call and voice my opinions. What I went through today is ridiculous – if airports can move that many people through and constant paces, so can the borders.

By the time I made it through, I had to book it to my rental car and then head to the rental agency before catching a shuttle to the airport. Just as we were about to leave the lot of the airport, I realized my work phone was once again missing; I had left it in the car. I quickly grabbed my suitcase and jumped out of the shuttle and ran to my car before it was taken away. This phone went through a lot this trip.

Got to the airport and I had already missed the flight which was also the last flight home. There was now no one manning the airline counter so no way I could change my reservation. I quickly ran to the other airline counters that were still serving people and all the flights to Seattle had left. So I am not sitting here in the corner of the food court which will be my resting spot for the night as well.

I also found out a little tit bit that was fascinating about the San Diego airport located in Point Loma. There is a noise ordinance in the city which dictates that no planes can fly out after 10 pm; hence even though SD is a large city, their last domestic flights out are around 7 pm. So politics won over functionality in this case. The residents of Point Loma determine the flight schedules because they like to sleep at night even though they have chosen to live by the airport.

Sounds like we have a more severe problem than protecting our borders. When politics and inefficiencies in government affect to the detriment of common tax paying folks, there is something wrong. Unfortunately I can’t vote at this point even though I am taxed quite heavily, at least I hope I am free to voice my opinion.

Well, hopefully this is it for my adventures. I leave at 6:30 am for Seattle and since I’ll be sleeping here at the airport, I should be on time.

Until next time…cheers

April

2010-05-20T21:22:00.001-07:00

My goal has been to be creative enough and disciplined enough to write something each month; and I thought I had done so in April but I guess I didn’t. It was mostly for a good reason and some of it was because I was not feeling like I had anything to say.

So, here’s a little recap of what happened in the month of May…

Part of my family came for a visit. The primary reason was for Joseph’s ankle replacement surgery; which was very successful actually.

Joseph, my mum Jenny and me

Out to dinner with the Borns (Jarron, Keilani & Ron). The Borns were very kind and helped me a lot with taking care of the family when I wasn’t able to.

Old friends – dinner with Lindsey

Mum and me :)

It was so good to have my mum here and to spend time with her. I wish I had more time than what I was able to afford but it was a crazy season of life. Thanks mum for taking care of me and for the many good conversations we shared.

Another thing I got to do during the month was to lead worship and play in the band as well for our AG Network (District) Conference. It was a huge honor to be asked to lead one of the main sessions and I had a blast.

That pretty much summed up April 2010. Now to try and stay on task and keep up the writing.

Jesus is Lord and He loves you…

Live from Tijuana

2010-05-20T18:04:00.001-07:00

After a long hiatus from writing, I figured I start back up from out of the country. Yes, I am once again in lovely Tijuana, Mexico. This place has definitely grown on me; I wish I spoke Spanish because it would make it even better.

Each visit to TJ has brought some incredible adventures (see blog posts from September). I was hoping for a much smoother trip since I am better prepared from my last visit, however, it was not to be. I walked across the border like I did the last time. Surprisingly this time, the armed guards didn’t stop me and look through my bags; might have been my cool shades, I don’t know. I did, however, get stopped by two young people, who were looking through some other guy’s bag. Apparently I am supposed to press a button on a contraption that looked like a traffic light so it would go from red to green before they let me walk by. Quite strange; oh well, at least they didn’t open my bags.

Having done this the last time, I walked confidently to the taxi stand and got into a cab. So far so good. Along the way to the hotel, my two cell phones got text updates informing me that I was now roaming and what my charges were going to be. I checked the messages and I put my personal phone back into my pocket and decided to put my work phone into my backpack. When I got to my room at the hotel and started unpacking, I realized I didn’t have my work cell phone anywhere. This was not how I planned to start the trip but my adventures in TJ kicked in.

After spending a few minutes getting settled in (unpacking, checking emails, voicemails), I went down to the lobby and asked if they could help me call the cab company to find out if the driver might have found my phone. A few calls were made and some time past and still nothing. I decided to call my co-worker Rick and ask for him to initiate a cancellation on my number so no one could use the line. Then a little while after I was informed that they had managed to find my phone.

A few hours later, I got a call on my personal cell from the cab company saying a driver had brought the phone by the hotel and no one knew how to get a hold of me. Long story short, I paid to have the driver bring it back one more time and I was personally at the lobby to meet him. The strangest part about it was my phone was powered down; not sure who “found” the phone or why they powered it down. I am thankful to get it back nonetheless.

That’s was enough fun for one day; I worked a little from my room and then chilled in the evening before hitting the sack. I had a morning appointment at the US Consulate here to renew my visa.

The guys at the Marriott are really nice and this morning I got a free shuttle to the consulate which saved me trying to communicate in Spanish to a cab driver and having to pay as well.

I was quite excited albeit a little concerned still about how quick things were moving along at the consulate. On my last visit, the first part of my renewal process took place within an hour and then I had to wait 4 hours for my next interview in which they told me I had to extend my stay. This time it was clicking away and the wait wasn’t too long. I got to my visa interview slightly after 2 hours of being there and it sounded like it was going to be a breeze. Then the officer asked me to sit and wait for 30-40 minutes while they verified some details on my renewal. That wait turned out to be about an hour. My name was called over the loud speaker and I went over to the counter. I was then told they were still needing more time to research some details and I was going to get temporary pass to leave the consulate to grab lunch and return after 2 hours.

I left and walked a couple of blocks to the mall and grab some lunch, then I started my trek back to the consulate. Went through security again and then found a place to sit where I was highly visible to my officer. After an hour of waiting, one of the lobby attendants, who obviously had seen me wait all day, came over to ask me what I was waiting on. I told him about it and he went into the office to inform the officer I was still waiting patiently.

Another hour went by and my name is called again. I go over to the counter and this time they had a “quiz” for me. They wanted to know in detail what I did and then who my customers were. It was definitely a strange question and one I never in 10 years had to answer. I rattled off some our major customers but I missed one that was a big client but based in SF. So I was given some hints and I provided the detail. All day long, this is what they have been researching, our customers info. I am not sure how they got all these details but that was an interesting twist. I was then told I passed the test and my visa was approved. Thank the Lord!

Hopefully, tomorrow will be smooth and I will be able to cross the border in a timely fashion and in time to catch the last flight out of San Diego so I can make it home. It is incredible how each visit here (my 3rd now) has very unique adventures of its own. I can never predict and fully prepare for but I am grateful that I am not having to extend my stay over the weekend.

Side note, on my way to the hotel yesterday, I saw something that moved me. There was a young mother, baby swaddled in arm, out on a hot afternoon, at an intersection waiting on cars to stop so she can try and sell them flowers. I wished I knew her back story and what I could have done to help (besides buy flowers). I was reminded about how blessed I am.

Until my next adventure…peace!

The Choice

2010-03-30T23:31:00.001-07:00

Today I saw a quote that said “the choices we make determine the consequence we face” and the question was asked, what choices are we making? I was immediately reminded of the fact that if we say yes to Jesus, then saying no to bad choices will be a natural progression.

As I reflect this week on the last week in Jesus’ life, leading up to Good Friday when he was crucified and then Easter Sunday when He rose; another thing that struck me was the choice that Jesus made. Zoom out some more and we see the choice God made when Adam and Eve chose disobedience – He made the choice to pursue us and demonstrate His love, that meant sacrificing His Son for us.

I heard a depiction last weekend about the process of the crucifixion. The Romans used this form of execution for criminals and enemies of the state. Their methods were diabolical in that they tried to delay death and extend pain and suffering by the way they nailed the condemned person to the crucifix. By nailing just the wrists/hands the person would die in minutes because of blood loss and asphyxiation from the weight of the body hanging. The Romans added the nailing of the feet, bending the knees, so that the could “prop” themselves up to breath thus delaying their death. Imagine being nailed like that to a coarse wooden beam while trying to prop oneself up hence rubbing one’s back against the grain of the wood after been whipped and tortured prior to being nailed. The punishment was meant to shame and disgrace the person.

When Jesus was crucified, it was with two others beside Him; two thieves, possibly deserving of such a punishment but certainly not Jesus. He made the choice. He chose to enter Jerusalem and walk into this eventual scene. Wrongly accused, beaten beyond recognition, spit on, mocked and then nailed to a wooden cross for display. I remember a line from an old song - “and as He hung there dying, He was mending lives…” It was for you and me that He made that choice. The criminals didn’t choose their punishment, Jesus made that choice to suffer through it; because of love for you and I. His choice has an amazing consequence and I am so thankful for that!

As we move through the rest of the week and celebrate what Jesus accomplished on the cross, think about your choices and then reflect on what Jesus chose. May you and I be overwhelmed with His unconditional love and grace given.

Peace…

Can’t Afford To Be Safe

2010-03-22T13:52:00.001-07:00

Acts 4:13 & 20 (NLT) - The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus…We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.

I have a feeling this is going to be the scripture passage that took me from 2009 into 2010 and will continue to challenge me this year and beyond. Yesterday was one of those days where I was reminded all day long. At LATR church yesterday morning, Josh talked about the marks of people who are obsessed about Jesus. We should be marked by unusual love (Jesus loved and gave His life because that love). We should be marked by faith – faith to be fully engaged, willing to take risks and of unusual sacrifice (again like Jesus).

Then last night, Jarron and I visited New Life Church and once again I was confronted with these thoughts. The pastor talked about when he gave his heart to Jesus and was baptized, he experienced a transformation and passion for Jesus that led to a relentless boldness to share Jesus with everyone and anyone. Then he said when he got older something switched, he started to be “safe” – he got married, he got a mortgage, he had kids, etc, and he discovered the boldness dissipating. His descriptions resonated with me and then he referred to the Acts 4:20 where when Peter and John were basically asked to stop talking about Jesus, their response was that they can’t stop telling about Jesus and what He has done.

I heard a stat yesterday that motivated even more. I found out that I was living in 4th most un-churched county in the country. I cannot afford to be safe anymore! There are people all around me that have never heard and/or experience the love of Jesus. It is no longer ok to be safe; it is time to be bold and be recognized for having experienced and been transform by Jesus.

Another encouragement and challenge as a part of a church plant was something else the pastor said – he had been struggling with the idea of membership and the number of people attending the church. The idea of a church with a few thousand people attending being known as a mega church was not what he wanted anymore – he desires to see a church of mega missionaries; people who are outward looking and sharing Jesus with everyone. I know it is the heart of Josh and mine to see our small community of people at LATR be mega missionaries and be concerned with growth that comes from people coming to know Jesus and be changed forever.

It is now time to live a marked life and not stop telling about everything we have experienced and seen Jesus do!

The Weekend

2010-03-01T00:59:00.001-08:00

The weekend was one of the most fun I’ve had in a while. I reconnected with some old friends in person and online and the weekend marked my 10 year anniversary with my company (which is in its 10th year of existence as well).

I am really blessed to be able to celebrate a huge milestone in my life and in the life of the company I work for. It is the longest job I’ve ever held and it has had such a huge impact on my life. As with every job, there are moments of tension and moments of growth, but I do enjoy what I do and work with good people. I am thankful as I reflect this weekend.

We went to a nice Italian restaurant in Ballard called Volterra and I had the Veal Chop with Wild Mushrooms (Costoletta di Vitella alla Griglia) - 16 oz. veal rib chop grilled and served with a Parma prosciutto, wild mushroom and truffle scented demiglaze sauce, Volterra mashed potatoes and asparagus. Very delicious!

Here’s the core of my company Matrix Transportation – L to R: Jackson Fuiten and his wife Sarah, Sandi and Tim Bransford (my boss), myself and Rick Venables. Our company started with Tim and I for about year before we brought on Jackson and after another year Rick. Tim and I had previously worked as the logistics arm of another trucking company before we launched Matrix. We had fun reminiscing about how we started till where we are today and it has been quite the journey. We are looking forward to the next 10 years!

My weekend ended with a nice dinner with my good friend Tina Timbang. I had not seen Tina since last summer and so I was excited to reconnect with her. She had recently moved back to my side of town and so it was much closer to meet up. Tina and I have been friends for quite a while now and is one of my few Asian American friends here. It is always so much fun to catch up and encourage each other – we barely skip a beat.

My homie (as I call her) Tina

Tina and I after our 4 hour meal. It was a great way to end the evening and a fun weekend. I truly thank God for the friends he has given me and also for providing me with a good job.

The Lenten Season

2010-02-25T18:18:00.001-08:00

We are into our 2nd week of the Lenten Season and I have been made aware of things in my life that need work. This year I have chosen to fast a meal or two everyday and spend the time in prayer. Not easy!

One of the most glaring things that has surfaced is how ill disciplined I am. I am Singaporean and eating is our national past time; so skipping food is tough. I just plain love to eat and try different foods. I believe that is why I felt so impressed this year to give up food – I need to bring my body under control. John 3:30 “He must become greater; I must become less.”

Fasting truly does reveal things in my life that control me. We often use food or other nice/good things to cover up things in our lives and fasting just exposes them. As Josh said a few weeks ago at church – Information + Application = Transformation and that is exactly what I need; to be transformed by Jesus! Another important aspect is that I felt the urgency to use the time I would spend eating to pray. Funny thing is, like an alarm clock, my hunger is a loud sounding reminder for me to pray. I have started to embrace it; let’s just say the first few days was tough – the spirit was willing but my flesh was weak and resistant. I am reminded of what God says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." And I echo what Paul says in verse 10 “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Breakthrough is coming!

In fact, I actually have had an opportunity to pray for someone who is disconnected from Jesus and also help a newer Christ follower along in his faith journey. It has been refreshing!

It is not too late to participate in the Lenten season. It is a great way to get aligned with Jesus and celebrate the transformations that will result.

Peace!

Pictorial Updates

2010-02-22T18:45:00.001-08:00

The last few months have been pretty uneventful so I haven’t been able to post much pictures of my adventures. I have, however, been able to reconnect with old friends, meet new ones and keep up with good friends. It has been fun engaging these people in conversations and relationships and walking along with them on life’s journey. I am very blessed and grateful for the opportunities and trust.

My big brother, Joseph, came for a visit and for a doctor’s visit. It was so good to catch up with him! Looking forward to have him back for a longer period in a few months.

Celebrating Chinese New Year with my closest childhood friend, Aik. He is living the “bachelor” life now because his family has return to Asia for a long visit. They’ll soon be reunited when he heads over, but in the meantime we get to hang a little.

My life group feasting at Maggiano’s Little Italy Restaurant. I love these guys and have thoroughly enjoyed living life alongside them.

(L to R – Jarron, Kami, Elise, Lindsey, little Zoe hiding under the table, Dave, Jireh & Sheree)

Enjoying a meal with dear friends in honor of Kami’s visit.

The Year of the Tiger

2010-02-12T16:22:00.001-08:00

Acts 4:13 (NLT) The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.

Tomorrow (Sunday for us) many Asians, especially the Chinese, will celebrate the Lunar New Year. It is a 2 week celebration in some cultures and everyone takes a break. I liken it to Thanksgiving with a little Christmas mix. Thanksgiving because everyone in the family gathers for a Reunion Dinner on the eve of the new year, much like the Thanksgiving feast. Then on the first day of the new year, the younger generation will take the time to visit their elders and celebrate and there is an exchange of red packets containing cash. If you are single (to a certain age I suppose), you’ll most likely get one.

This year has some significance for me as I was born in the year of the Tiger (according to the Lunar Calendar).

I only just realized it a few days ago and it got me thinking. So when the thinking comes on, so does some creativity, hence this post. My friend Aik told me that I don’t seem like the typical “tiger” personality. I don’t have an aggressive personality or display the “roar”. My mind quickly went back to the scripture (above) from Acts.

I had used that passage to challenge people at my church at the end of last year when I got to speak. And we have been on a series at church called “Bold (New Year)” – living bold lives (in giving, in worship and in the Spirit). The passage came back to mind as Aik was jokingly teasing me about my lack of “tiger” personality. I know I want to be bold like Peter and John and have people be amazed enough to ask questions about it. I also want to be recognized having been with Jesus – working on this discipline, need to spend more time with Him. I want to be ready and able to give a reason for my faith/hope in Jesus (1 Peter 3:15) and live my life so it demands that answer.

I am looking forward to an awesome Year of the Tiger! What about you? Do you have a fresh start? Are you living boldly for Jesus? Have you met the real Jesus? It is never too late!

Peace!

The New Year

2010-01-04T18:50:00.001-08:00

I have been trying to keep up on my blog the last few weeks but it has been a slight struggle. I have been pretty busy with work and various holiday events and I have had a hard time getting motivated/creative to write. I have definitely been thinking of things to write about and having conversations in my head about different topics – I am strange like that; I do talk to myself too.

Well, I figured I should at least post some pictures and provide some update about the last few weeks. It has definitely been eventful to say the least (more on that later).

Few days after getting home from Spain, our life group celebrated our annual Christmas Gift Exchange Party. I am blessed to be a part of such an incredible community! Here are some highlights:

Everyone showed up! So cool!

Critical instructions on how the gift exchange game was going to go down.

Marcelo showing off what he picked up.

Cozmin giving the thumbs up.

Brent with his gift.

It was a fun night with lots of food, fun and interesting gifts.

Christmas came next. I had a very different Christmas this year; very quiet and personal one. I actually took time to relax and unwind – there were times I wasn’t sure what to do with myself but the break was good for me nonetheless. I played at the Christmas Eve Candle Light Service at Cedar Park Church. I enjoy that service each year and it definitely is a part of my tradition since 1997.

My view from inside the drum enclosure at the Christmas Eve Service.

From the other side.

Lighting up the room with just candles.

One for the festive season.

The weekend after Christmas was a nerve wrecking one for me. It was my turn to speak at church on Sunday. I have the highest regard for the guys who communicate week after week; it is not an easy task speaking. Give me a guitar and microphone and I get some nerves but once I start playing it all becomes natural; take away those elements and ask me to speak in public and I cringe. I actually had some restless/sleep deprived nights leading up to this weekend. I prepared for it and knew what I was going to try and communicate to the people but oh mama! I did my best on Sunday and I was very thankful for the kind people who came up to me after to encourage me and tell me that I gave them something to think about going into the new year. Let me say that it is all Jesus.

Then Monday came. Most times, I tend to coast through the week leading up to the new year but this year was different. I don’t think I have experienced such a week as this. I am still processing it even till today. On Monday we discovered we had an AWOL personnel at work and it set some major changes into motion. More than just dealing with an AWOL co-worker, I had to deal with the emotion of disappointment I had never really felt before. Along with my other co-workers, I had invested a lot personally and professionally into this person; and with one decision all of that was lost. A traditionally slow week became one where I had to work long hours trying to keep up while dealing with mixed emotions and trying to find some answers.

By the time new year’s eve came around, I was spent, physically and emotionally. I tried hard not to let it ruin the holiday weekend; it was going to be an exciting weekend. I spent New Year’s eve with some friends, watching a movie, playing UNO and just hanging out. It was a nice low key evening that lasted till 4:30 am New Year’s day!

I got home around 5:30 am and tried to get to sleep, planning to sleep in for a bit but I was awoken 3 hours into my nap by an important phone call and I couldn’t get back to sleep. As such the first day of the new year began. I wandered around the house for a few hours and made some plans/reservations for an evening birthday celebration for Sheree. I was looking forward to having a fun evening with friends and celebrating. We had dinner at Barrio’s in Bellevue – good vibe and good food.

The birthday party.

The birthday girl, Sheree.

After dinner, a few of us went to Lucky Strikes to bowl the night away. It was my first time there and was surprised to have been able to reserve a lane there. We had a blast bowling and we had a most encouraging people in our group, cheering everyone even when they didn’t bowl well. Fun times.

The bowling after party. (L to R – Jarron, Jireh, Shannon, Sheree, Stephanie, Rachel & Brad)

It was so fun to celebrate life and a new year – a new beginning. I am thankful for my family and friends. There are so much unknown this new year but I am certain with Jesus as Lord of my life, it is going to be a good year and I can’t wait to see how it unfolds. There’s so much I need to work on in life but it is going to be a fun journey.

Here’s to the end of one decade and the start of the next! Happy New Year!

Goodbye Spain, Hello Seattle!

2009-12-14T11:25:00.001-08:00

It is good to be home! It is also good to be welcome back by an immigration officer. I always dread going through customs upon returning to the US because most of the time they don’t appear to like us resident aliens; however, I got in the shortest line with the longest wait but I got a nice welcome from an immigration officer, so all is well.

Thanks to Esteban, Antonio & Samuel, who came to our hotel in Madrid and took us to the airport and waited for us to go through security. We truly appreciate your hospitality and for your time. Thank you Alex, Pedro & Daniel, for taking time to show us around Madrid – it was fun! Thank you Jona & Lara for taking care of us and doing all that you did to make our visit smooth. Thanks Tan & Kaarin for allowing us the experience and opportunity to share our lives. Thanks for taking care of all the details and for looking out for our needs (even the need for WIFI) :) We are looking forward to seeing you soon. We have been blessed, so thank you Alavanza 2009!

At the airport – (L to R) Samuel, Jireh, Aaron, Kris,Esteban, Pat (behind), Antonio & Peter.

It has been a weekend of adjustment and I think I am slowly recovering from the jet lag and from being tired. It started to flurry yesterday so that was a nice treat, no sticking snow though. Back at work today, haven’t resumed full duties yet (waiting to meet up with my co-worker) but been pretty busy already.

Now, back to reality, so until next the next post, blessings.

Spain – Day 9

2009-12-11T13:37:00.001-08:00

Today is our final full day here in Spain. This trip has been the highlight of my year and I am glad to have been able to make the trip! I love the people, the culture, the history and I am definitely praying that God will continue to use a generation to reach this nation and that He will again be Lord of all here in Spain.

After a good night’s sleep, I was automatically awake at 5:45 am. I tried to fall back asleep but it was hard, so I laid in bed waiting for the alarm to go off. We had an early start again today, heading to the city of Segovia. Today we get to take the train directly from where our hotel is Madrid Chamartin.

The morning train ride.

Our train ride this morning was scheduled for 1/2 hour, just enough time to catch a quick nap. It was a beautiful morning when we arrived at Segovia; the sun was up and the air brisk.

This place was a little different than where we were yesterday. The train station was a modern looking building and there was nothing around it. We had to catch the bus into the city center and to where the ancient city boundaries were.

On the bus.

Segovia is known for its Roman Empire influence and an aqueduct the Roman engineers built for the city. The is also an amazing Castle that also acted as a fort and artillery academy. There was a a lot written about this place in our travel book so we didn’t know what to expect but it was a fun experience.

Leaving the station, we got to see the first outdoor cows of our trip.

Our first sight of the aqueduct as we got off the bus. I have never seen an aqueduct before so this is was quite an impressive sight. The sheer engineering, design and execution is unbelievable. What’s even more unbelievable is it has been here for over 2000 years!

The stones are held together themselves, even the arches – it is an amazing work of science and math.

(L to R) Pat, Peter & Kris below one of the columns.

Peter’s attempt at scaling the walls of the aqueduct.

Here we go again, walking and scaling lots of stairs. Ahead of us (both ways) were students doing a morning jog.

Close up on the design of the aqueduct – all pieced together by intelligent engineering.

Being ever the tourist. The guys have teased me about being the stereotypical Asian tourist; my camera and video camera comes out every opportunity I get.

Another angle of the aqueduct.

Cool architecture.

Don Juan Bravo – an important political dude back in the day.

Roman inspired architecture with the columns.

Cool apartment building and structure.

The main cathedral in Segovia. This building was built during the Gothic, as seen by the pointed peaks of on each side; however, it was completed in the Renaissance period so the top of the cathedral became a dome instead of a tall tower.

Entrance to the cathedral.

Thanks to Gothic architecture, the cathedral is surrounded by gargoyles. Very interesting for a church building.

Peter checking out the souvenir shops.

Entrance to the castle/alcazar.

The castle from a distance.

A monument to remember the sacrifice of people who protected Madrid and Sevilla.

Outside the castle gates.

Looking down from the bridge leading into the castle.

Royal Seal.

The courtyard.

Peter trying to get Filipe II’s attention.

View up to the guard towers from the courtyard.

One of the ancient cannons that was part of the artillery arsenal here.

One of the coves in the castle looking out.

Great views surrounding the city.

Armor that has been preserved.

“These boots weren’t made for walking…” Ouch!

These dudes were short - shorter than me!

Every room in this castle had unique ceilings.

The Audience Room.

Another room’s ceiling.

One side view of the city.

A mural that covered the wall.

17th Century Turkish rug, still in amazing condition.

Another ceiling.

17th Century tapestry that adorned each room.

17th Century desk. Ceramic tiles covered the top. Unbelievable condition!

Where the royal “magic” happened.

Another room’s ceiling.

An entry way.

The Monarch Room. A room chronicling the past monarchs.

Another ceiling.

A chapel attached to the royal chambers.

Picture of saints.

Ceiling of the chapel.

One wall in the castle.

The Armory

Swords.

A special cross bow with leather straps.

A balcony area outside the armory.

Looking down at a little garden area from the balcony.

End of the balcony with Kris.

Peter went down from the balcony to check on a door that lead to a view post. The door was screwed shut.

View from that view post door.

There is a deep well on the balcony. Peter dropping a good luck penny in to see how deep it went.

Columns, cannons and a doorway.

Another courtyard view.

Yet another ceiling.

A painting of a warrior defeating the Moors.

Next up was a climb to the watch tower. 152 steps! It almost killed us. I feel sorry for the soldier having to run up and down those tight stair wells to report news and views.

Views from up above.

View of the city and cathedral from the watchtower.

Looking down the stairwell.

Inscriptions dating back to 1797 – still in tact!

This is probably one of the few castles left in Europe that has so much still in tact interiorly. It was a worth the visit and we had a blast!

Upon heading back into town on our way out of town, we came across this:

Little piggys. Apparently this is a delicacy here in these parts and I hear they love the tongue which all of the piggys still had. Right below the piggys was a selection of seafood (lobster, etc). Quite a strange combo but it is what the people like.

We had a fun day and it was a good way to wrap up the trip. I know everyone is looking forward to returning home, to loved ones. We have a long trip back still so it is a chill night, packing and what not.

I’ve had an incredible time here in Spain and look forward to visit again God willing. Next update will be from back home, until then, blessings.

Spain – Day 8

2009-12-11T10:52:00.001-08:00

This morning came way too fast for me. I didn’t realize what time it was last night after finishing up my blog and doing some work – I got to bed around 3:30 am. I am also the designated alarm guy so when it went off this morning, it was painful.

We headed out for the Metro station this morning around 8 am; we needed to switch trains and give ourselves enough time to make our connection to Toledo. We made it with time to spare and without difficulty. Seattle should really consider implementing a subway system of some sort.

9:20 to Toledo; Train 8292.

The sun was almost done rising as we headed down to the platform.

Aaron and Kris

Pat and Peter.

Toledo is an hour south of Madrid (1/2 hour by train). Spain’s former capital has 2500 years of mixed yet rich history – Roman, Jewish, Visigothic, Moorish and Christian. It sits on a high, rocky perch surrounded on three sides by the Tako Rivers. Because of it’s rich mixed history, it is not a huge tourist attraction. It was home to one of Europe’s most powerful king and its most famous resident artist, El Greco. Today, the Catholic cardinal of Toledo is the most power leader in Spain and has a lot of influence in religious and political matters.

The train station with Moorish architecture was dedicated in 1912. Side note, Peter’s quite tall, so you will notice a lot of pictures with just his head in the frame.

Inside the train station.

As we left the train station, we had conflicting info with regards to which direction to go, so we went with some instinct and from there we basically had to go most of the way with instinct because we had a tough time getting oriented with the map. We finally got our bearings once we found the city center, Plaza Zocodover.

On our way into the hilltop city. It was a foggy morning and it didn’t clear to late afternoon.

View of part of the city and river.

Remember how I mentioned that we walked a lot in the last 2 days, here was our first “hurdle” of the morning – making it up these flight of stairs. It was a long climb and the thin cold air didn’t help our breathing. When got to the top, we discovered elevators and escalators on the opposite side – good to know for the return journey to the station.

Half way up those flight of stairs.

At the top of those stairs we came to a major thoroughfare with apartment buildings and shops. From here we figured we were a little lost but decided not to be afraid of being lost and to venture out to create our own adventure.

Amazing architecture.

Posing with some poet (I think)

Peter’s turn.

After finally finding the city center, Plaza Zocodover, and getting situated with maps from the Tourist Info Center, we made our way to our first stop – Museo de Santa Cruz. It was a hospital founded by Cardinal Mendoza with traces of Covarrubias. Now it houses paintings by El Greco and others, as well as tapestries, sculptures, ceramics, textile and archaeology.

15th Century carved coffin lid. Very ornate.

The courtyard/garden of Museo de Santa Cruz.

16th Century sculptures. Amazing the condition of these artifacts.

3500 (?) BC (if I remembered right) Roman Togo sculpture.

Side entrance to the Holy Church Cathedral. This cathedral is one of the biggest attraction of the city. The Holy Church Cathedral is dedicated to the Virgin Mary in her Assumption to the heavens. Its construction began in 1227 and was built over the foundation of the Visigoth Cathedral of the 6th Century, which had been used as a Mosque. Constructed in a Gothic style with a French influence, it measures 120m long by 60m wide and contains 5 naves supported by 88 pillars and 72 vaults - “Holy Toledo” some might say. The side naves are extended behind the Main Chapel surrounding the presbytery, and this creates an apse aisle with a double semicircular corridor. These side naves could not be finished until the 14th Century. Also in this century, on the north side, the low cloister was built with its compartment. By the end of the 15th Century, in 1493, it was finally considered finish. Other interior additions were added in the 16th Century.

Unfortunately, every cathedral we’ve been to have a no camera rule, so I haven’t been able to capture the interiors. Let’s just say it is quite a sight to behold; really decadent (gold plated everything), very ornate carvings and sculptures and amazing art all over the place (from ceilings to walls).

One entrance of the cathedral; notice the details in the arch.

Another view of the cathedral.

I felt bad today because the guys had to deal with an “out of it” Jireh. I was literally falling asleep everywhere I went. I would lean up on something, find a bench or just plain stood and slept. I almost fell over a few times, started a few dreams that were cut short. I have not been like this is a very long time. My fault for staying up late.

After walking around Toledo for a bit, we were all worn out and decided to try and get back into Madrid to have an earlier dinner and to get some sleep in. Our tickets were booked for late evening out of Toledo so we tried to get them changed for an earlier train. The computers at the station didn’t quite work so we couldn’t physically change for new tickets but the agent told us we shouldn’t have trouble getting on the next train. Well, we had a problem and had to stand in the cold until everyone else boarded before they allowed us on, to an empty car no less!

We decided to go for an “early” dinner at about 6 pm and at this point in our trip, everyone was craving a juicy burger and refills in our pop, so we made our way to the the Madrid Hard Rock Cafe. Oh baby!

The entrance to Hard Rock Cafe.

We had a to walk, yet again, quite a long walk from the train station we got out at. This particular train station was significant though, it was the station that was part of the terrorist bombing a few years ago. The station is called Atocha. It is in the heart of where a lot of government buildings are as well as where many high end homes are. It is a also a very large station that services a lot of people in multiple underground levels.

Here are the names of the 200 that died in that bombing. There is a memorial set up attached to the station and we paid a quick visit.

The monument is a circular glass structure with these inscriptions on the inside from different people.

Next up, Hard Rock Cafe!

A modern Christmas tree all lit up for the season. They have these lit tree structures all over the city.

One of the streets along the way to the juicy burger. Cool lights.

Introducing…Canvas - (L to R) Jireh, Peter, Kris, Pat & Aaron.

At last! My juicy medium BBQ Hickory Bacon Cheese Burger and fries! Yum! Great way to end the night.

It was fun day, albeit tiring, but still really fun day. One more day tomorrow and we’re visiting Segovia in the morning, so no more late night for me.

Ciao!

Spain – Day 6 & 7

2009-12-09T18:14:00.001-08:00

And…we’re back! We are back in Madrid after wrapping up camp. The hotel we are staying at doesn’t have free WiFi available so I haven’t been able to post anything. I finally broke down and paid for internet usage for 24 hours. Some needed to check in on funds in the bank and some needed to get messages to spouses, check emails and do work.

The past 24 hours have been a whirlwind. We wrapped up camp in Toral, packed up and loaded up to leave by 5 pm. We originally were supposed to return to Madrid via train but somehow the tickets were not purchased a head of time. By the time we tried to get tickets, there were only 4 first class tickets left to purchase, that meant one of us who have to hitchhike back. Our next best option was to rent 2 cars and drive back ourselves. Some of us rode in style (see pictures) and we were teased that we were living it up as rock stars.

We bid our goodbyes to everyone at camp and we hit the road. We followed Pedro Suarez and Alex Wickham back to Madrid. The drive was smooth and we made good time, making it into Madrid in about 3+ hours. After quickly checking in and returning our cars, we were out and about again. Pedro and Alex were going to take us for a night on the town. We hoped on to the Metro (subway) and made our way to the city center (Plaza Sol) and from there we started our adventure. We have walked bazillion miles in the last 24 hours and we are sore; all this and we haven’t even gone on our planned sightseeing trips to Toledo and Sergoiva.

There is so much history, culture and diversity in this city. I am thoroughly enjoying myself and learning much. I am very thankful for this opportunity to travel and hopefully I’ll be able to be back and visit more places.

After our night on the town, we came back to our rooms around 3:30 am. Most of the guys have never been to some of the places we visited last night and most have not stayed out this late in a long time. We decided to sleep in a little before tackling the new day. We left the hotel around noon and took the Metro into town again today. We checked out a lot of historical sites and even spent 2 hours at an art museum.

The people we have met at camps are very gracious and have gone all out to make us feel comfortable and taken care of. We are humbled. Tonight, one of the leaders, Daniel, took us out to see the city of Madrid via a car. He gave even more information and background on the city and culture. Then he took us (and bought us) for a very traditional Spanish meal (to these parts) in the bull-fighting district. It was a great meal and we tried things we don’t typically consume. Fun times!

Well, I am going to wrap up for now, need to sleep a little since we have an early start to catch a train to Toledo. Here are picture highlights from the last 2 days:

Last night of camp and this was game time, hosted by Daniel.

Everyone cheering us on as we were made/asked to participate in the games.

Dance portion of the night begins

Here they go!

Of course we couldn’t leave out our own camp dance tradition.

And we push it, push it, push it…

We put the gas in, we put the gas in…The Lawn Mower baby!

After the campers went to bed, we were invited to a “after party” with the leaders. We had some traditional meats and some local drinks (except for the Coke).

This is one of the drinks they had (0.9% – not sure why they even add the alcohol in it – I hear it tastes better just as a lemonade drink). Drinking alcoholic beverages in moderation is a cultural thing and acceptable here. And no, mum (I know you are reading this), I didn’t have any. :)

Peter and I toasting a drink called Bitter Kaz. It is like it’s name says, Bitter! It is made of some herbs and roots or something like that. We said we would try anything they gave us and this one is definitely an acquired taste; not even every Spaniard likes it.

(L to R) Daniel, David, Tan and Jona – great guys!

(L to R) Noemi, Daniela (baby), Samuel & Aaron. This was Aaron’s “missing the kids” moment. He even carried Daniela later on for a bit.

Our team with the team from Galicia, Spain. We’ve already gotten email from Ishmael, their leader, about how much the camp meant to them, the encouragement they received and what God has in store for them. Really cool to hear!

Delia & Carlos – a great couple we got to know, very musical team.

A typical exterior of homes in Toral. Notice the white shutters over the windows – that’s to keep the cold out of the houses. Very interesting.

Tan and his team, teaching the people new Spanish worship songs they can use back at their various churches.

Some of our new friends.

Peter and I traveled in style – this was our ride to Madrid.

Our other rental car.

One final pose from Tan.

Our hotel room in Madrid has one of these – the all in one bedside counter (radio with built-in speakers underneath & volume control, light switches, & room service call button). Old school baby.

Buying our Metro train tickets.

A Matrix-like waterfall display in the train station.

On the train.

Arriving at Plaza Sol (Sun Plaza) – the city center of Madrid. Unlit Christmas tree in the background.

Plaza Sol is where distance is measured from in Madrid to the rest of Spain – so it is 0 kilometers.

Our dinner destination – the best Calamari in town, served in a sandwich form.

My Calamares sandwich dinner – it was good!

The Haagen-Dazs Theater – I was hoping for the ice-cream actually.

I can’t resist taking a picture when I see a Chinese restaurant – they are everywhere!

Cool architecture and cool lights to illuminate.

Moroccan Kebabs – they were oh so tasty! We thought we were getting skewered Kebabs as we know them from home. Yummy!

The Honky Tonk - our last stop of the night (1 am by this time). This is supposed to be the best place for live music and it is free of cover to enter.

The band for the night were doing covers of Janis Joplin – not quite our cup of tea, but they were good players. It was a very smoky joint and we were quite out of place. But it was a fun night nonetheless.

One of the students at the camp asked me if I heard of this place called Foster’s Hollywood and I told him no. They were puzzled since the advertising here is Spain is that it is the No. 1 restaurant in the US and we had not heard about it before. The draw of this place – free refills!

Our first stop – the Egyptian Temple.

A little background on the temple.

Our next stop, the Royal Palace. This is one end of it.

Palace garden.

Changing of Guards Ceremony.

In front of one entrance.

Outside view of the courtyard.

The other end of the palace and courtyard.

Tour guide Peter.

The cathedral across from the Palace with a 5,000 pipe organ.

A Spanish street.

Peter, Pat and my attention was drawn to this store.

This is a cool indoor market/food court.

Tapas Sushi fusion.

$1 Euro for the Tapas Sushi fusion.

Reminded us of home.

We were drawn to this pastry/dessert/confectionary booth.

I love this because it is only in European movies or movies set in Europe that you’ll see scenes like this. So cool!

Next up, Plaza Mayor. This plaza is where people were killed during the inquisition.

Monument to the Plaza Mayor.

Overweight Spidey “performing” in the center of Plaza Mayor. I think he would and should have been “killed” for being a joke.

A pit stop at Starbucks for a chocolate frap. They could figure out my name so it became Jaiver. So you can call me Jaiver Wei now – it is my new Spanish identity.

The Invisible Man also made an appearance (no pun intended) and was posing for pictures.

In the midst of all the cultural and historical buildings you have a huge CK billboard.

Congress building.

The Westin Palace Hotel – very opulent.

Stopping one more time…this time for souvenirs.

Dinner destination – Puerta Grande. It is a bull-fighting reference meaning the grand entrance/exit of a bull fighter after an excellent performance at a bull-fight.

The real deal – wall is filled with pictures of the fights.

Our traditional spread.

Peter showing some love to the bull (which we referred to as Tan Molina). Hopefully Peter doesn’t get a zit on his lips in the morning.

That’s it for today, I am way past my bed time. Until the next available opportunity, good night.

Spain – Day 5

2009-12-07T12:17:00.001-08:00

We have a short break now so I thought I would do a little update on our day. The day started pretty typical with breakfast before our first session. This morning we got to try a famous pastry in the region compliments of Jona and it was yummy.

The pastry known as Hojaldres.

Jona applying what I believe is olive oil on his toast and then…

add a little salt to the mix and you have breakfast of champions!

This is what happens when I left my camera unattended.

Tan representing - showing some love to the Seattle Sounders.

After breakfast we headed back for our first worship session. We discovered today during the worship time that the Spaniards are very expressive outwardly except in expressions of worship and of being vulnerable in a safe environment. Peter encouraged them to open up a bit and asked if we could pray with them, especially if there were going through tough times in life or struggles, etc, and only Tan responded. It was, to me, an indicator of what came in our next session.

Pau giving sharing the devotional this morning. He talked about going to the Bible as our original “song book.”

Peter talked about planning a service order and the flow of a worship set. It has been made known to us that the churches here don’t have the freedom of a service order. They have a loose order which includes allowing people to stand up in the middle of the worship time to request a song (that may come from a thousand page hymnal) , say a prayer and/or talk about their dog that passed away and give a testimony. They asked how the flow of a set can be worked into spontaneous requests. There was also a suggestion/comment that at some churches, women were not really permitted to share but were allowed to request a song and that was their only way of expression. We told them that it all had to be of a sincere attitude and not one of rebellion that these women make their requests known.

As the questions came about the “order” of the services here in Spain, I observed an under lying theme; traditions were getting in the way of a true personal experience with Jesus. They struggle with why they are not seeing many more people come to discover the real Jesus, yet they don’t realize some of the things they do are hindering them from the mission. The people are ready for a change but are faced with resistance. I understand cultural implications, I am after all a foreigner with certain “church” traditions from my past. However, I also know and am experiencing what it means to be on a journey to discover Jesus and what it means to follow Him and that He is Lord of all we do and the Church is His and we are being called out.

Needless to say, I am quite burdened for the people and I will be praying for breakthroughs and life transformations to come through Jesus and the people as they leave and return home will have supernatural, God-given, creativity and that Jesus is lifted up and people will drawn to Him.

Carlos (keys) & Delia (vocal) leading their team in a rendition of “Be Thou My Vision” – they wanted us to critique them and give them pointers. I was able to share with Carlos a bit and Peter encouraged Delia.

Peter having a “dad” moment with Erik Molina. I think Peter misses the E-man.

Siesta is the best “invention” ever! We had a nice afternoon nap after lunch and it was good! That helped me for the next session. Kris and I did a bass and drum combo session. I only realized after the session that we had gone for slight over 2 hours. It was great to work with these guys and helped them develop as better players. Once again, these guys are a tough read – we couldn’t tell if they were getting what we were saying or they were benefitting from it because they all kept straight faces and weren’t overly responsive. Ultimately I think we did get through.

I was trying to take a picture of this dude as he was trying to take a picture of another guy but he saw me and stop to pose.

Our youngest bass player.

The guys in our combo session. Good guys!

Well, we are about to head our for dinner (9:15 pm) but before I go, here is a classic European picture:

Samuel and his European man purse.

Until next time, stay warm Seattle! Ciao!

Spain – Day 4

2009-12-06T15:15:00.001-08:00

It is hard to believe we are on day 4. The early mornings and late nights are becoming a blur for us, in addition to eating at 2:30 and 9:30.

Today at breakfast, we observed the start of Advent. Tan read scripture and light the advent candles. It was cool to celebrate that.

Here is where the campers stay and where we have our meals. It is a great facility and the food is excellent. After breakfast we headed back to do a quick sound check and get ready for service. This morning was a lighter day for us, we were to lead worship and they had arranged for a speaker to come to share, so we got to enjoy the talk. We were also not part of the next series of breakout sessions.

Here is Miguel who spoke at the service and was teaching on recording here.

We were up next; demonstrating what to do and what not to do when leading worship. This was a fun exercise since we over exaggerated everything and the campers had a good laugh.

Here’s us with one of the worship leaders/piano player.

Lunch was paella and a salad with onions (that taste lasted a bit).

After lunch, we had about an hour break before we were to pack up and head out to the concert venue. We were really looking forward to playing at the concert except we didn’t know exactly what the plan was, we were going with the flow.

This was the building we played in. It was a interesting facility in that there was a concert hall on the one side and then a bar/restaurant/dance hall on the opposite site. This was in a nearby city called Valencia. We were told that most of the people that were coming to the concert were from surrounding areas and were mostly non Christ followers.

We had kind of a mad rush to get setup and get going because we were behind on our schedule. Concert was to start at 7 pm and we got to the venue and 5:30 pm and had to set up an entire sound system, choir risers, instruments and lights. Basically we didn’t get to sound check and the poor sound guy had to run the sound on the fly.

Aaron and Pat supervising the set up.

The choir in their Christmas outfits getting set for a mini run through.

Samuel rocking the drums!

Tan leading a time of singing some folk/Celtic music.

The audience that came to see the concert.

The concert was a blast. Everyone did their best with the limited time to get ready. Jesus was shared and even though we didn’t have a formal altar call or anything like that, I pray that people were moved by the lyrics and music to want to find out more about who this Jesus we sung about is.

As we were loading up to head back to camp, I walked past this. If you can see, it is a bunch of older couples dancing. It was so cute and cool to see them enjoying each other; bear in mind this was after 9 pm – not sure any of our parents are up this late dancing on a Sunday evening.

We made it back for dinner at 10 pm and were ready to call it a night. It was a fun day and we’re looking forward to another full day of sharing and worshipping together.

Ciao!

Spain – Day 3

2009-12-05T14:34:00.001-08:00

After a frigid night in our room where the heater quit working, our 3 day began pretty early. Peter was awoken by a rooster from the neighborhood and so it began, our day.

Aaron and I at breakfast.

Noemi and 9 mth old Daniela. Noemi spent some time in Seattle a few years ago.

Breakfast was first on our agenda. We discovered that Spaniards don’t typically eat a full breakfast. They have a coffee break at 11 am so breakfast is usually coffee/hot chocolate and toast. We ate fast so we could sound check before the morning session. We led worship and Peter spoke this morning about wisdom in leadership; he did a great job and the people responded well.

Tan interpreting for Peter.

Listening to the message today.

After the morning session, we split up into our breakout sessions. I spent some time with some drummers and it great to be able to answer questions and encourage them in playing as well as their approach to worshipping Jesus with their instruments.

Aaron and his adoring students. Aaron was the only one that had an applause after his time with them.

Peter with Ishmael after his session.

Pat giving some tips to one of his student.

Kris with one of his student.

By the time we were done with our breakout sessions it was time for lunch (2:30 pm). I think all of us in the team were more excited about the siesta time we were going to have after lunch; all except for Aaron who was asked to play with Tan at the concert tomorrow night and they needed to rehearse. Siesta is a wonderful concept and should be implemented back home! I know my productivity level went up tonight after having a nap. I hit a wall last night by this time and now I am still holding up pretty well.

We congregated again this evening around 7:30 pm for the night service. We had a great time of worship!

My view just before we started playing.

After worship and a prayer time, we transitioned into a time where we had the campers come up and play our instruments and lead in worship. It was fun to see them jump right in and take over.

Peter posing for the camera.

Tonight we also found some look-a-likes in the camp.

Here’s Jose who looks like Kris and also plays the bass.

Here’s Alex (of English descent) who looks like Darren and who actually plays the drums too.

Here is Alex and Pedro (who was in Seattle a year ago and played for the Christmas project for Cedar Park).

Pedro rocking the small pipes

We’re ending our night with a game night starting at 11 pm. This is when stuff happens here, 9 – 10 pm is considered the evening time and after that the night begins and people go to bed around 2 or 3 in the morning.

I am going to wrap up here – it has been a great trip and we’re looking forward to another day ahead and we get to play at an evangelistic Christmas concert in a public venue. Pray for us. Good night…

Spain – Day 2

2009-12-05T09:42:00.001-08:00

Day 2 of our trip came early – Peter and I were up around 6:30 am and he tried to start reading his Kindle under the covers with this little reading lamp. I turned to tell him he could turn on the lights if he wanted. We had about 7 hours of sleep and were now wide awake. We hung out in our room till it was time to head out for the day.

Jona, Tan’s bro-in-law, was our designated guide for the day. He had driven from Barcelona the night before (arriving around midnight). Jona is a cool dude and a hoot to be around. First order of the day was to feed us breakfast and he brought us for some yummy food.

Our starters – hot chocolate milk, OJ and muffin.

The main meal – Spanish omelet with potatoes and bread. So good!

After breakfast, we went for a little walk and visited some more historical buildings in the area.

Over looking the river that runs through Leon.

From there we walked to the church (Iglesia Evangelica) who oversees these camps and where Tan ministers at.

After hooking up with Tan, we headed on another stroll through the city. Our first stop was the “gypsy market” and it was amazing to see so many people out on a Friday during work hours.

Dude sells some all kinds of meat at this stall.

The crowds at the market. Prices are cheaper here than the grocery stores.

I love Euro fashion and I was hoping to visit one of my favorite labels that is from Spain while I was here and today I got the opportunity.

ZARA is not yet in Seattle but I am excited that it is coming. They have cool clothes there. Tan “dropped” me off there by myself to shop. I was a good boy and window shopped – I have scoped out a few items and hopefully i will get another chance to shop before we leave.

After walking around for a bit, we headed towards where we were going to have lunch. Apparently this is a place that not many people know serve food and this is because it is partially a monastery, spiritual center and museum. The food is used to feed the priests typically but they also use it as a means to generate income for the church.

This is a really beautiful and serene facility.

Here’s Pat and Jona playing a game on his iPhone. As you can tell by the place settings, this was a pretty elegant dining experience.

Our main entree was a cream and wine based sauce dripped over perfectly roasted pork loins and “fries.” This was served to us after our soup which was green bean soup and seafood potato soup. It was an excellent meal but we weren’t done.

Cinnamon dusted, blackberry drizzled rice pudding

Chocolate Banana pudding/cake

Orange flan

And finally to top off the meal was a round of coffee

Peter, who doesn’t drink coffee, decided when in Spain, to try coffee (with loads of sugar in that small cup).

As we walked back to our vehicle, I couldn’t help but notice this restaurant. The Chinese people are everywhere and this is a Chinese restaurant. I was hoping to catch one speaking Spanish but no luck there.

Jona and his wife Lara having their moment together. Lara is Tan’s older sister. Next up was the camp in Toral and that was about a half hour drive on the auto vista from Leon.

Toral is a small little town/village off the auto vista (freeway). The air is filled with the smell of manure and the windows and doors of everyone is closed. I found out that they are constantly closed because of the colder climate here. It is a very interesting sight because the streets are empty and the houses shut tight; looks like a “ghost” town except for the gringos, one asian and campers that had descended.

We got situated into our rooms and we proceeded to set up our gear and do a sound check. That reminds me, schedules and pace of life is pretty laid back here so we have had to adjust to go with the flow; we were asked to lead 2 songs tonight which was not part of the camp schedule, so we have to be ready in season and out of season. I think we have begun to slow down from our city life and have adapted quite well. It has been fun to be able to serve whenever we can and be a blessing.

Our “stage” – the corner of a very small room

A drummer’s dream – fake drums :)

After we set up and sound checked it was time for dinner and it was about 9:20 pm by this time.

Aaron, Kris and I at the dining table.

Chicken Macaroni soup for dinner and every meal this is bread.

Tan giving some announcements and also instructing everyone about an ice-breaker game we were going to be playing.

And my favorite picture of the night…

Business in front and party at the back! Full on mullet – the try to be fashionable kind! Come to find out, this is Philippe and one of my drum students :) Good kid and very eager to play for Jesus.

After all the festivities, everyone gathered for some light snack, coffee and cider and this started around midnight. It was a wonderful day and it was exciting to be at camp and start the weekend with the people. We were wiped by this time but looking forward to the next morning of teaching and sharing with everyone.