Sunday, November 12, 2006
Cabe Hijau Tua: [zha bei ee jao tu-ah] Old green chilli
" 1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. " - 1 Cor 13
I can't deny I'd found a true friend. I'm sorry this story is scarred in this way. But I can't believe God caused our paths to cross for no reason. Or that the story ends here.
The greatest of these is love. It also stands as the greatest challenge to date. The weekend trip to Tanjong Balai amplifies the statement above; the greatest gift we could offer are our genuine acts and expressions of love. And it was the greatest challenge when it cannot be masked by poor substitutes like material comforts and empty promises or consolations. Yet it is so easy to offer what is often overlooked in hectic lifestyles (which is driven towards early retirement, how ironic); pure and simple human connection via time spent and companionship given. Never mind if half the time what is spoken is not understood; there is something so essential in human companionship that it's sufficient to touch the Balai folks. Someday I pray the believers there will be equipped to come over here to do outreach. They sure could teach us a thing or two about not missing out what's important in life! Not to mention the pure and simple faith they have in a living God. Didn't take much education for them to know the love of Christ, still it resides strongly in them.
As you can see, I had a blessed time! Sometimes all God requires is obedience. The rest will be added onto us who knows full well how weak we are. It didn't matter how much (or little) confidence you have in serving. Once you don't have the right spirit no lives would be touched by what you're doing. I love listing down my first time experiences! They make me realize how much God has blessed me:
- Definitely the first time I expended so much Hokkien and Teochew vocab in my entire life (I was translator la..)
- First time praying in dialect.
- Worshipping in dialect.
- Seeing a Bahasa Indon Bible
- Leading children in altar response.. In Hokkien!
- Having children repeat a dialect prayer after me (even when I said, 'Wrong, it's tend Your sheep not mine.. -_-")
- Walking along a kelong
- Seeing a man with so much determination and enthusiasm in life he isn't going to let a dystrophied leg stop him from experiencing life to the full. I will miss him and his tender heart and uninhibited demeanor.
The list is not exhaustive; shall talk more when the opportunity arrives.
So love is the essential thing. A memorable gift I got was from a sweet little girl I affectionately call Cabe Kechil (Chilli Padi). It's a simple slip of paper that says, "Jesus love you. You very love Jesus. Thanky you very much, you care me. May God bless you. Jesus love you. For: (cartoon version of me with glasses) cabe hijau tua virsent ko-ko. From: (cartoon drawing of her) cabe kechil mary"
It tugs at my heart like..! Notes make me feel loved.. This one definitely was dripping with sincerity..
If you open your eyes to see the love in the world around you, you can tell romance to take a backseat. I'm sad to have left. It felt as though I was leaving a part of my heart behind. It always hurts when that happens. And this is the second blow in a period of days. Though not as hard it still leaves me feeling poignant.
Looking back when we first started,
I never thought I'd see this day.
If only I could write the pages,
our story wouldn't end this way..
Mantou at 11:05 PM