Christmas Carolling

Man, finally it's time that I can say.. ORD LOHHH!!!! :) Now I cannot go back to camp even if I want to haha

As I'm going to start work in January, I have more time to rest, to help my mum in her Biz, to serve, to exercise, to meet up and to seek God :) I've been sleeping a crazy lot, there was once when I slept 6-7h the previous day, and the next day, I overslept even though I set 7 alarms on my phone and overslept by 4 hours haha

I ORD-ed on the 12th(Friday), and on Saturday I was invited to join for a Christmas Carol at Geylang on Sunday. As I just ORDed, a spontaneous Carolling session is fine. However on Sunday, I was feeling really tired, and I reached over an hour late when the dinner and practice was almost over. I am unfamiliar with Christmas Carols too, the only one I know is We Wish You A Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad :P Oh wait are they the same song? And are they Carols? LOL

The session was organized by Tamar Village, a Christian organization that aims to empower women affected by the sex industry in Geylang (Singapore) to pursue opportunities for an alternate lifestyle. We went to many of the legal brothels in the neighbourhood to sing the Carols, bless the ladies there with cookies and pray over the brothels. As we went about, many many many people in the streets gathered to listen and to follow us. It was as if we were celebrities, as the crowd was huge! Though many of us were unfamiliar with the Carols, thank God for brothers and sisters, including Matthew who not just sung but even danced to lead us.

At our last few stops, we simply sung Carols to crowds that gathered, gave them cookies and offer to pray for them. We were about to end the journey after asking if anybody needed prayers, but nobody stepped out. But as we were leaving, a Bangladeshi approached me, and a few other brothers from Hope. He told us that he had lower back pain when he walks and is experiencing it now. It just happened that I was experiencing the same pain during this Carolling session too. As I prayed for him, he said that he felt something on his back, like a pull, but there was still pain. There was also pain on his knee and foot. We continued to pray a few more times and also shared more about Jesus to him. After the prayers, he felt a huge tugging and said the pain was gone! Chris(A brother who's connected to the Bangladesh group in Hope) could speak in Bangladesh and also invited him for the Bangladesh Christmas party :)

After the whole experience, I realized that my tiredness was gone. And though I mumbled through most of the Carols, I am blessed to see the multitudes who gathered to listen, some even asking about Christmas, and others cheering and clapping to the Carols. There were also people whom were invited for our Christmas musical during the whole Carolling session :) It's really great that many can at least come to hear the name of Jesus whom we celebrate, and to know that God really loves these people, and healed this Bangladeshi who stepped forth for healing in faith.

There was also another impromptu Carolling session today. I went with Vincent and other brothers and sisters to visit Khatijah, a Malay Muslim lady. Thank God for Songjun as he organized the session. He and Cedric constantly visited and blessed some of the people who lived in the area. Khatijah used to work as a chef and she prepared lots of good food to host us; there was a lot and we had to da bao. Khatijah enjoyed the time of Carolling, and the storytelling that Songjun did to share about the gospel to her.

As we spent the time with her, she opened up a lot to us about herself, her family and tough circumstances that she goes through. The pain she experienced is great, such that her heart is still wounded now.. But I'm glad that she got to share it out with us, and thank God for Songjun for constantly visiting her. She also suffers from serious ailments. We prayed together for her, however she did not receive supernatural healing. I'm sure that she was blessed by the time together, and she wants to invite us for further gatherings and for New Year too. I pray that she'll receive the emotional, physical and spiritual restoration that she needs from Jesus and know Him personally soon :)