I plant, I water, but God makes it grows

It is a privillege to be able to help someone to grow in God - through shepherdings, exhortations, encouragement words or just simply spending time together. May I always make sure every moment I spend with people – that my life will somehow impact them and also be their role model. 

My life is not my own as I stepped up to be people’s spiritual mentor. People tend to somehow look up to me. I will have to be careful how to live my life now. I will have to make sure that I will continue to grow in God because If I don’t grow, my sheep will not grow too.

God has been teaching me to have HOPE on people. I love the word ”hope” because when I have hope in God - I know that the things that I hope in God, one day it will come to pass! On the other hand, I know too that when I have hope in something which is not of God, it will NOT come to pass or it may come to pass temporary and quickly slip away (yes I experienced it before).

I have such a great hope on that people that I care after. I hope. I hope that one day, they will be all that they can be in God. They will one day be men of God, be disciplers, be great leaders, be men after God’s own heart! I constantly telling God that I may not be able to ”do much” in helping them to grow due to my limitations but I know that God can; so I fully entrust my sheep into God’s hand because God is ultimately their shepherd. I am only here to help and guide them, to plant and water them but God is the one who make them grows.

I made a phone call to Thailand to my very first shepherd of my life – P’Gift. I simply just told her that I love her and sincerely want to thank her for what she did in my life. Thanked her for faithfully taught me with 18 lessons every week. I thanked her for always bringing me to do evax with her although I hated it so much. Thanked her for always calling me during the week and asked me of how am I doing with my Quiet Time. Thanked her for every encouragement card.

I told her that I totally understand how she must have felt toward me when she shepherded me at the beginning of my Christian life. I told her that I totally understand her heart of shepherd at that very time. As now I am doing exactly the same thing that she did for me. I am now feeling the same as what she felt to me 6 years ago. 

Overall, I thank God that He brings me closer to His heart. A Father’s heart. A heart that loves and care for His sheep. Oh how I want your heartbeat to be mine!

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[1 Corin 3:7]

“So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything but only …

God who makes things grow“

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With Christ in the Centre

Below is my testimony which got published in the church bulletin on 6th July 08. Hope it will bless your heart:

Becoming an Australian Permanent Resident has always been my desire as I believed God wants me to serve Him in Brisbane. However, in order for me to apply for my Australian Permanent Residency, I am required to work full-time in the field of my course, accounting.

On my 21st Birthday, I asked the Lord to provide me with a full-time accounting job within the month of May. Despite a number of failed attempts that month, by His grace I managed to secure a job on 29th May.

I thank God for His prompt provision. I believe that God blessed me with this job in order to fulfill His calling in my life. And as promised in His word, when we chose to put His Kingdome and righteousness first, all the things that we need will be given to us (Matthew 6:33).

I pray that despite working as a full-time accountant now, I will still be as effective a witness for God as I was before or if not more. I pray too that God will expand my capacity to love the people He placed around my life, to care for them and meet their needs.

I live this life to serve Him. No matter how busy I am, may I always remind myself that His business comes first. This is also my prayer for all of you in Hope Brisbane – no matter you are studets or working adults – that you will put God first before all things.

Feeling blessed??

P’Tor aka Torchie

                                                         A baby face Torchie & me (year 2004)

I always want to write about this man. Torchie is the very first Hope Brisbane person that I got to know before I came to Brisbane. He e-mailed me before I came to Hope Brisbane, offering me if I need any helps in setteling down my life in Brisbane. In the e-mail he told me that he was orginally from Hope Bangkok and at the end, I saw the name Torchie. I was wondered about the name, maybe he mispelled his name or something because I’ve never seen anyone in Thailand named Torchie before.

When I arrived Brisbane, I longed to visit Hope Brisbane. I called Torchie and asked about the church address. He volunteered to pick me up but at that time I lived in Sandgate, he didn’t know how to come to my place. (Sandgate is a far faraway land). I decided to go to church by train by myself and eventually I met him and I found out that his name is really “Torchie”. Later on, I found out that his Thai name is actually “Tor”. From the name that he changed from Tor to Torchie, I could tell that he is a very creative and interesting person. He told me that the reason why his name is Torchie is because God wants him to be a light to the world which indeed he is.

I got to be in Ablaze eventually. Every life group, Torchie often drive me back home to Sandgate which takes around 1 hour from the city. I could see his great sacrificial heart and how he value people. Without him driving for me, i wouldn’t go to life group because i would not know how to come back home. 

Torchie became my 2nd shepherd in Hope Brisbane (my first shepherd is Nick Lim). Although we didn’t get to spend much time together. But I knew that Torchie is the one who I can alway run to. When I was backslided from the church, Torchie never ceased (yes never ever ceased) to E-mail me, called me, asking me to go back to God. On my 19th birthday (I still a backslider), he and Nick came to my house with without telling me, knocked on my door and brought me and birhtday gifts. Torchie told me that everyone in Ablaze miss me everymuch and waiting for me to go back. Torchie hugged me with tears in his eyes and I could truly feel the love that he had for me and how he really wanted me to go back to God. After that incident, I decided to come back to God until nowadays. I’m forever grateful for what Torchie did for me on that very night.

Now I’m serving with Torchie in WAM, i can testify this that if you are in his morning worship team, you will not have to worry about eating breakfast! Torchie will buy breakfast for every single member in his worship team including PA! And if we have a worship practice with him in his house, don’t worry about lunch or dinner for he will cook for you. And his Thai cooking is THE BEST!

Torchie is a godly leader who I always look up to as a role model. The one who always be my inspiration. The one whose life always encourages me by his life example. Everytime I see him on the stage, I can see the glory of God shining so evidently through his life . P’Tor, please train me to be a spirit-filled worshipper like you!

P’Pern aka Apple

I hate apple because I don’t like eating fruits. Although my mom cutted it into little pieces, i still don’t like eating apple. But there is an exception for this “Apple” This “Apple” is a sister from Hope Bangkok who came to Daniels about 1 year ago. The one whose her words changed my life, encouaged me to be courageous, inspired me to press on. Apple came into my life 1 year ago. I remember the night before she landed in Brisbane, I was at 3-monkeys cafe celebrating my friend birthday. Chris called me on that night and asked me if I could please help bringing a sister from Hope Bangkok to church next day. I was so gald that we have another Thai person coming to join our church.

From the first time I met her and after the first chat on the bus to church, i knew that this woman is truly a woman of God. Her love for God makes her so beautiful. She is gentle yet brave and courageous inside. She reminds me of Esther in the Bible how she was courageous to save her nation. Apple was courageous to come to Brisbane with many limitations & personal struggles yet she fully trusted in the One who sent her.

As time goes by, I got to know more. She is now become my covenant sister who I love, trust and respect. For me, she is a leader who I will and always look up to. The one that I can always go to when I feel down. One statement that she said to me when I was so down in my walk with God was “in God, you can only choose one; between to grow or to die”.  This is my life changing statement. It stuck in my mind forever!

Through bad and good times, through tears (over the phone) and laughters, she was always there praying for me, support me. Her ecouragement words are so simple but it’s just make it make think about them over and over again. At times, I do take her for granted. It seems the only time that I will call her is when I’m in troubles, when I feel so tried with my emotion, when I don’t want to move on in God anymore! I’m sure when she sees my name appearing on her mobile phone, she must think “here we go again, jimmie is in troubles again” Interestingly, she never reject my phone call and always call me back and talk to me no matter how late it will be.

So much to write about this sister. A humble and courageous one. A strong woman of God.  What else can I say to you except … Thank you so much P’Pern!!  *tears*    

                                                                       OC 2007 – Melbourne