Ladies' Meeting with Pastor Josephine

The princesses from our tribe met up with Pastor Jo for 4 sessions. Even though I have already been in this tribe for more than 2 years, there were still many girls whom I did not know and I looked forward to knowing my spiritual family better during the meetings. God also ministered to me during the meetings, especially during the first two meetings.

During the first session, we broke the ice by arranging ourselves in order of our age. It was quite a challenging task since we were not allowed to communicate with one another verbally. Some of us nearly fell off from our chairs, but none of us were injured because we helped one another out. It was truly heartwarming to see how God had united all of us who were from different backgrounds together even in a game like this. [...]

Ps Jo then asked us to prepare our personal testimonies in the form of drawings, reminding us that every one of us had a special story to tell. Knowing that I had to complete the drawing within a short time, I quickly began preparing my testimony without praying. When Ps Jo asked those who had called upon the Holy Spirit before they drew their testimony to raise their hands up, I was sad that I could not raise my hand up because I had neglected the Holy Spirit. Ps Jo gently reminded us of one of our tribe's core values:

"The Holy Spirit is our first recourse, not our last resort."

Indeed, God has given us the Holy Spirit as our Counselor, but turning to Him as our first source of help is a choice that we must exercise actively in all that we do. My personal testimony is not about how I had overcome trials in my life or how I had changed; it is about how Jesus came to take the place in my heart and how God carried me through the low points in my life - Who else but the Holy Spirit can guide me in writing the story of God's hand upon my life?

The memory verse for the first meeting was 1John 5:11-12
" And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the son has life, He who does not have the Son of God does not have life"

During the second meeting, we watched the movie "The Prince of Egypt" together. As I listened to the lyrics from the theme song, I was reminded that God can indeed do miracles through me and in my life if I believe, because the God I worship is the same as the God who led Israel out of Egypt. We were all asked to pen down the dreams that God would help us to fulfill in 5 years' time. Even though I have encountered many setbacks for the past 19 years, I know my future in the Lord is bright, because God says in Jeremiah 29:11- 13:
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord,"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Thanks to Cindy, Esther and their girls, we all had a fun playing games together when we met for the third time. God taught all of us through Ps Seng Lee that in a family (ohana), no one gets left behind. (I believe that our successful completion of the games due to our combined efforts was an illustration of the truth that if we were united as a spiritual family, we would be victorious in the Lord)

After the meeting, we gathered in our clusters to reflect on what we had learnt from the day's events . We also agreed as a cluster to look out for one another during service, to make it a point to sit together and to pray for one another because we are to be one another's keeper. I now know that I am not just a member of my G12 group, but I am also a member of this big family.

During the fourth meeting, Sook San led us in a time of worship and we sang the song "How lovely is your dwelling place" I felt that I could not sing the words of the song " My heart yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord" because that was not the attitude of my heart. There and then I knew that I had to ask God to help me to get rid of the rival thrones in my heart so that I could thirst after Him again. My G12 leader Lay Ching prayed for me that the condition of my heart would be that of the psalmist who says in Psalm 84:10 that "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere". God helped me to further understand the meaning of this verse in the later part of the session.

It was interesting that Ps Seng Lee then asked all of us a question, "How should a Christian look?" , to which one of us replied, "Happy!" Ps Seng Lee reminded us once again that the word "blessed" in the Bible, in usual terms, means "happy", and shared with us from Matthew 5, which says that " Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven". We can only be truly happy and blessed if we first confess that we are poor in spirit apart from the Lord, secondly invite God to be on the throne of our lives and choose to wait on Him. Indeed, if I allow God to make my heart His dwelling place, I will be able to have abundant joy in His courts. I know that before I can share with others about the hope that I have in God, I must first come before Him daily to receive His love for me.

I am really blessed by the meetings and even more blessed by this spiritual family! Praise God! Praise God!

Cheryl Tan
Lay Ching's 12