Hey everyone! A question I get asked most often apart from “How old are you?” (from the youth and campus students) is “Van, how’s MTS?”

My apologies if I didn’t answer you as well as I would like to in person – so I hope this post gives you a better idea 😉

In MTS, sometimes a week goes by like a blur… to a point where weeks can go by right before my eyes. And while time can feel like it’s moving so quickly, it also seems to be going so very slowly! I cannot believe it’s been less than a year in training for ministry. I’ve been learning so much — a countless number of lessons! And I do hope I remember all of them and grow from them.

Reflections

I’ve been learning about myself, particularly who I am in relation to our Sovereign Lord. I’ve also been learning about His design for the lives of His Beloved Son’s Church before their glorious resurrection. And of course, learning about His ministry. A few things I’ve been training in:

1. Training in preaching

• So far I have preached at SEGI CF, INTI CF and Hope Community Baptist Church’s Youth Camp (my first time doing three talks from one series in succession and it was a fantastic experience!).
• Oh and I’ve also preached to One Academy students, kids at Havil International School and very soon, REAL International School on a weekly basis.
• I’ve also had some experience preaching to a weekly group of Sunway U students and will be doing so at Monash CF – real soon! (Do pray for me!)

Hope Community Baptist Church’s Youth Camp

Teaching weekly to a group of Sunway University and The One Academy students

2. Training in other teaching opportunities/avenues

• Biblical counseling; pastoring others; reading the Bible with people one-on-one; writing, leading and training others in bible studies; running School of Christian Ministry or as we call them, SOCMs on evangelism.

3. Training in administration

• Organizing Little People, CERC Camp, the upcoming Thinking Theologically Conference for Gospel Growth Fellowship, to name a few.

CERC Camp: True Comfort

4. Training in looking after myself

• Part of MTS is also learning to submit to Christ in ALL aspects of life, including areas of rest, food and drink, discipline, self-control and every other aspect and constant reminders of Who Jesus Is and what he has commissioned us to do.

5. Training in various other specialized ministries

• Children’s ministry (CERC’s Little People and Sunday School), young working adults, teenagers and women as well as campus guys and gals.

A big, heartfelt ‘thank you’

I hope you reach this bit of my blogpost to read this — I’ve been wanting to say this for a while now (but haven’t had the guts to do it in person! :P)…Believe it or not, church, I can be pretty embarrassed to speak my feelings.

*I tangibly feel shy preparing to type this sentence out haha*

Please accept my VERY-VERY-VERY-BIG-I’m-so-grateful-to-you-you-have-no-idea-THANK YOU to the many generous & kind people who fall into these categories below (You know who you are):

1. Those who had to make sacrifices in so many ways – time, energy, monetary resources or putting up with my failures and mistakes (like when I constantly lose everything – phone chargers, keys, glasses, your belongings :p)
2. Those who patiently and consistently teach and correct me – in person, via WhatsApp, in many forms actually. Please keep the corrections, suggestions and rebukes coming…and hopefully my need to be corrected decreases soon enough 🙂
3. Those who have picked up after me more than once *blush* – I really shouldn’t say more haha!
4. Those who gave me the opportunity to minister to you and/or the community you are in so that I can be trained – there’s no substitute for learning in training!

5. Lastly, I have been wanting to specially thank those I never found the opportunity to thank – probably because the circumstances made it odd to say ‘thank you’ out of the blue. [Note: The following sentence does NOT mean “Thank you to the entire universe lah, basically” – really it isn’t]

To those whom I work with every single week,

To those whom I minister to every single week,

To my elder and his wife and children,

To my comrades – Dan, Mark, Adrian and Jerome,

To my seriously-irreplaceable-every-single-brother-and-sister-in-Christ-of-CERC,

To the very encouraging crazy-and-courageous-for-Jesus youth and campus guys & gals who are a constant example to me in their life and ministry,

To my what-would-I-do-without-you mum who loves God,

To my ex-work colleagues and friends,

To my fellow laugh-ers 😉

Thanks for the times you goofed off and/or spent time just being yourself with me – I appreciate this more than I can show. I’m really thankful for you being yourself when you did.

Ministry Training has not been a walk in a park but more like a walk into a CRITICAL SITUATION WHERE IT’S ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO BUILD A STRONG FORT ABLE TO WITHSTAND ANY WINTER DROUGHT, STORM AND BEAST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SIBERIAN TAIGA – when what I have with me are the mostly-lacking survival skills of a … Vanessa – very far from the ideal but please do pray and spur me on to:

1. Persist
2. More than persist but do well in my training for His glory and the good of the church. 🙂
3. Pray
4. Trust God like Jesus did (who was obedient to the end).
5. Stop. Breathe. Reflect and Grow.

Jesus and His Church, CERC, I do love you and my prayer is that He will strengthen me to express reality in more than words 🙂