Grace teaches us

Grace teaches us because Jesus said He will never leave us nor forsake us...

(Grace dạy chúng ta bởi vì Chúa Giêsu đã nói Ông sẽ không bao giờ để lại cho chúng tôi cũng không từ bỏ chúng ta ...)

Grace is for our heart to comprehend

GOOD MORNING, AFTERNOON & NIGHT in Chinese Character - A Tal...

GOOD MORNING, AFTERNOON & NIGHT  in Chinese Character

As For Good Morning 

Luke 23:34 And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do". And parting His clothing, they cast lots. 

As For Good Afternoon 

Luke 23:44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 

As For Good Night 

John 19:30 Then when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished! And He bowed His head and gave up the spirit.

CAME & COME in The Chinese Character - A Tale of Two Covenants

CAME & COME in The Chinese Character

The Character Of Came Has A Picture Of The Cross at Calvary 

The New Way Of Writing "Come" In Chinese Character Has A Picture Of A Cross And Grain!

GOD in Chinese Character - A Tale of Two Covenants

GOD in Chinese Character

 God In The Old Covenant

 God In The New Covenant

Every Stroke Of The Character "God" is Found In John Chapter 19

Blood on His Head

John 19:2  And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and put it on His head. And they put a purple robe on Him, 

Blood at His side

John 19:34  But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a lance, and instantly there came out blood and water. 

The time of His death

John 19:30  Then when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished! And He bowed His head and gave up the spirit. 

Matthew 27:46  And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?

THIEF and ABUNDANT in Chinese Character - A Tale of Two Cove...

THIEF and ABUNDANT in Chinese Character 

John 10

9  I am the door. If anyone enters in by Me, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. 

10  The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

We are all vessels.
盗 (thief) = If we (our vessels) contain anything that is secondary, we have been robbed!
盛 (abundant) = If we (our vessels) contain the finished work, it results in the abundant life.

tNCC 2011 Family Camp

I was invited by Pastor Peter Sze to share in their Chinese Service during their recent Family Camp in Kampar about 150 Km away from Kuala Lumpur. This three days two nights camp was awesome... Everyone there were full of laughter, joy, the love of Christ and the fellowships were awesome. Many life in tNCC have been impacted by the grace of God and they have their own life impacting testimonies on how the grace of God has transformed them. As I listened to their sharing, I could see the making of great preachers in the kingdom of Light!

Though my family has been to numerous family camps in our life as a Christian, we would say this one is the best ever. Me and my family woke up on Monday morning finding ourselves missing the good time we had in the camp... With this "hangover", I spent my time sleeping the whole day on Monday and I began to understand what Elder Alex meant by being laying flat on the bed after the Sunday Service....

I just could not imagine how a church like tNCC which is without a church office, and yet had put up a well organized and successful camp. THIS MUST BE HIM! And indeed, the world will say the Lord is with them! I have learnt in my walk with Christ that some of the things are to be learnt, some are to be imparted and some are to be observed; and as for this Family Camp, I have learnt, I "LAMBANO" the impartation and I observed too...

I also observed that my son Norman, has made himself an awesome photographer. I am proud to see how he handle the little details professionally on what and when not to show certain slides on the slide show. Well done boy...!

The tNCC Official Slide Show Highlight by Norman Hiu

My family was indeed blessed to be part of the camp and I want to take this opportunity to thanks the Sze Family and the Chong Family for their awesome hospitality. Indeed, by the grace of God, we are all blessed to be a blessing....

Last but not least, Thank you, tNCC....

A Pastor With A Big Heart

Last Sunday, 17 October 2010, Elder Alex and I preached at The NEW COVENANT Church (tNCC) in Kuala Lumpur upon invitation from their Pastor, Peter Sze.  Elder Alex preached at their English service while I was sharing at their Chinese fellowship. It was an amazing experience preaching and sharing at a Church very similar to ours and to believers energized by the Gospel of Grace. 

tNCC was born about a year ago and has grown fast into a Church with 250 members.   About a dozen of our Church members studying or working in Kuala Lumpur are attending this Church. tNCC meet at Wisma Atria, an old shopping mall in Petaling Jaya.   Their story is very much similar to ours when members from all backgrounds offered to serve in the newly formed ministries.  Like SIB Grace, they have bought the best equipments whenever possible. It is also a God incidence that they also have after service refreshment.

It was encouraging to see some of our young people serving there. Norman operated and cleaned up their sound system for them, while Darren has been with their worship team for quite sometime.

Pastor Peter and his wife Seefen

We had a refreshing 2 days fellowship with Pastor Peter who opened up his house to us.   As we fellowship, I learned that he actually started this Church with his wife and children and since then, many from the Methodist Churches, Full Gospel Assembly and various other Churches have joined them. 

Pastor Peter is indeed, a pastor with a big heart... We were amazed to see that his big house is actually a meeting place for his members throughout the day or even week and all the invited speakers stayed there. 

tNCC is supporting Churches in Cambodia with finances, teaching materials and teachers.   The Pastor in charge of this Cambodian Ministry had a miraculous healing that Pastor Joseph Prince mentioned in his books and this is the same place where Pastor Joshua Lee had ministered to. We also learnt that this was  a supernatural connection when the Cambodian Ministry's previous support pulled out, God miraculously brought in tNCC.  

Elder Alex has told Pastor Peter that SIB Grace would also explore ways which we could partner them in the Cambodian work.  Elder Alex also mentioned that it would be a good idea to introduce the ministry of Susan Hoover in Medan to tNCC because of their geographical location. 

Pastor Peter has invited Andrew Farley, the author of  The Naked Gospel as speaker for their camp next year and we are delighted to learn that Pastor Peter is able to let us have Andrew Farley for a few days.   Andrew Farley is a well-known grace preacher whose book, “The Naked Gospel” has radically transformed many Christians with the pure Gospel. 

Personally, I am always refreshed when God opened a door for me to preach or teach outside SIB Grace.   I am overwhelmed that we are beginning to allow us to minister out of our overflow.  It makes us more resolute to shout this Gospel of Grace.  

We are no longer alone!   Besides tNCC, there is a Grace Church in Kuantan and a Tamil Grace Church in Ipoh.  I have met some Chinese speaking believers from Penang preaching grace in Facebook. There is also plenty of Holy Ghost movements at Churches in Indonesia and the Philippines.  

So lets cheer, and a goood one...... Grace!  Grace!  Grace!  

Medan

We spent six days in Medan for sharing the message of the Gospel at Celebration Bible School. For the first time, we have night session at different location from the morning session, which was attended by the members from a Chinese congregation. When we arrived in Medan, we were told by Susan that the Headmaster of the Bible School, Mr. Gola Tiruneh, would be marrying on Friday and the students were a bit disappointed for they won't be able to attend Gola's wedding ceremony at the town called Berastagi, about 2 hours drive from Medan.

So graciously, we all agreed to squeezed the five days lessons into 4 days, so that everybody could go to Berastagi to attend Gola's wedding. Oh... everyone of us were happy!

Celebration Bible School is majoring in mission and the students are from different congregations in Medan. So by nature, they are more work orientated.  As we shared the Gospel of Grace with the students, we found that we were actually killing their sacred cow.  The "aftermath" was, we were getting the same reaction from some of the students as described by Apostle Paul in the Book of Romans. The question of "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" automatically came out from their mouth... Wow... what a Gospel! What a Good News! We are actually preaching the message that Apostle Paul preached!

View From Danau Toba Internation Hotel

Tree planted at the Medan Mall where the School is located

Students in Celebration Bible School

Praise & worship Before Class Started

This Gospel of Grace has waken up some but made some confused. The awaken one began to see light and received revelation by themselves. The confused one still wondering how could it be! This message is too good to be true and there must be something leave for them to do... Ya, grace message is too good to be true. Remember the famous formula frequently quoted by the founder of the Celebration Bible School, Pastor Peter Youngren? i.e. Jesus + something = nothing. Jesus + nothing = everything!

My New Friend In Medan - Pak Yong An

Yong An is my new found friend in Medan. He is a business man and he attends the morning session Bible School. He is one of the awaken one and the most attentive person in class. During our week long stay in Medan, he took time off  to bring us around in Medan. When we were fellowshipping during our meals, I was often jabbed by some of his revelations on grace. Can you see the way he smile? He is an interesting person...

Students From the Night Class

Pak Alex, a friend I knew through Facebook

The night class was make up of believers from one of the Chinese congregation in Medan. They would only have a week class in each month when the invited speaker is available. Alex, a friend I knew through Facebook was attending the night class. Indeed, I am honored to meet him in person. Well, how often can you meet a friend that you know through Facebook? Mind you, this is my second time!

When Friday came, we were all up in the mountain to a town called Berastagi to attend Gola's wedding. Gola is an Ethiopian migrated to Canada and he is a missionary from Pastor Peter Youngren Missionary team. His wife is an Indonesian Chinese, a leader in the local church. That is why the folks in Berastagi called this wedding "the Wedding of the Century". This wedding was witnessed by people from Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, friends and relatives from different parts of Indonesia.

Gola's Wedding

We meet again in Berastagi

Batak way of eating in Berastagi

As the altitude of Berastagi is approximately 1300m, the weather is cooler as compared to Medan. We could see beautiful flowers all around. The famous market in the street of Berastagi is full of all kinds of colourful fruits ranging from strawberry to avocado...

According to Susan, many teachers would wish to visit Berastagi but they did not have the change to do so. We ware the fortunate one and not only so, we are blessed to witnessed the "Wedding of the Century" in Berastagi.

Famous Street and Market in Berasgati 

Beautiful flowers and fresh fruits sold in Berastagi market

We felt so bless to have this honor to share the message of Grace with the Bible School. As what we have been experiencing before, whenever we have a change to share the Good News, we are sure to receive new revelation after we have poured out ourselves. This is what I used to call the "Tithing Principle"!

We are looking forwards to return to Medan for more oppertunity to share this wonder good news to the people there... 

Medan ~ My Hipstamatic Prints

Medan

The city is bordered by Deli Serdang Regency to the east, south, and west, and the Strait of Malacca to the north.

Berastagi

Berastagi (meaning "rice store") is a town in Karo Regency situated on crossroads on the main route linking the Karo highlands of Northern Sumatra to the coastal city of Medan. The village rose to significance when Dutch settlers in Sumatra opened a boarding school there in the 1920s.

The main economic activities in Berastagi, centre on the colourful fruit and vegetable market and on tourism. Berastagi is famous for its passion fruit. The main attractions of the town are the two active volcanoes; Gunung Sibayak, with its hot springs, and Gunung Sinabung.

The town is also a stop on the way to Lake Toba. The dominant ethnic and linguisitic group is Karo Batak.

Polonia International Airport

Polonia International Airport  (Popularly Polonia Airport, as in Indonesia, Bandara Polonia) is located in the city of Medan, Indonesia, about 5 km from the Central Business District. It is the first international airport in Medan. It serves flights to several Indonesian and Malaysian cities, along with a flight to Singapore. Flights to Indian cities are also planned. In terms of passenger numbers, Polonia is the fourth largest airport in Indonesia after Soekarno-Hatta, Juanda, and Ngurah Rai. The name of this airport is taken from the name of the area in which it is situated, which originates from the Latin name of the country of Poland. 

KL LCCT

Medan, Here I Come!

We are scheduled to travel to Medan this afternoon for one week of teaching session at Celebration Bible School. This is the second year that we are asked to help out with the teaching of the Gospel.

As I was packing my luggage, I was wondering whether I still need to bring my laptop or not... So now I am trying out to blog with my Iphone. Hmmm... I feel rather confortable with this little giant.

So, here I come Medan!

An e mail From Gola

Our first night started with only a few people on the field. There was a lot of tension because of the threats coming our way. The police were there to keep the peace. I decided to go ahead and preach even though I had no permit to speak. Then I prayed for the sick and called all who were healed to the stage. We interviews four healed people from the stage before Daniel ran up on stage and told me that the police want me to stop. Later they apologized for stopping me. They were concerned that the Muslims will get more agitated. They also asked Daniel if I have the permit from the capital yet. We still did not have it. The chief of police then told Daniel that even though we don’t have the permit I can still preach but no one can know we have his permission. Yet another miracle that saved this festival from being shut down. And he did not stop there, he said baring no major reaction from Muslims (remember he himself is Muslim) we can do it again the next night but no more testimonies on stage.

When we came to the field the second night, I was called over by the chief of police again. He seamed a little different than the day before. I started to pray again. He said the intelligence office is a bit concerned about what I am doing but since there has been no reaction from Muslims, he has decided to give me 1 hour to preach and pray for people. We had another night of miracles. But instead of having people come up on stage, I asked all the healed people to stand up and wave their hands as everyone else sat down.

After our second night, the soundman called Daniel over and said if we don’t pay for sound in full by noon the next day, he will tare up the sound and leave and report us to the police. By this time Daniel and I have both emptied our bank accounts and had no money. We had to produce $4,167CAN in 12 hours. We sent out a quick letter to sponsors asking for help. Most of you probably got that letter.

The next day we went to check our bank accounts and it still showed zero. It was only 15mins before the dead line, when we got someone to lend us $1,000US. We quickly called sound, and they decided to leave everything on the field. We promised that we will have all the money in before we leave town. Daniel handed in his national ID card as a guarantee. We are still in the city waiting for money to come in so we can pay all our bills. We trust God will provide for us. He never leaves us or forsakes us.

Our last night was by far the best night. The field was almost all covered by people. I preached the Gospel story starting with creation, the fall, Jesus’ redemption and building a relationship with God. I asked everyone on the field to stand up, raise their hands and gave them 1 minute of silence so they can pray to start building a relationship with God. That was wisdom from God.

We had many more healing in the last night. Many blind eyes were opened. I really desired to share the testimonies with the crowd. So instead of calling the healed people on stage, I went off the stage into the crowd and had a camera follow me. Everyone saw on the big screen and heard the testimonies. Praise Jesus! Afterwards, I even got to lay my hands and pray for the chief of intelligence and another police officer so that they can receive healings. They asked for it. They were the only 2 people I laid my hands on in prayer during the festival. I was told not to lay my hands on anyone by the same intelligence chief! We also handed thousands of salvation books the last night of the festival.

Here is another interesting thing that happened and people are talking about after the festival. We had great weather the first 2 nights. The last night, it started to rain just before I got into the car to go to the field. But there was no rain on the field. In fact we were told, it was raining everywhere except inside a 100 meter radius around the soccer field! Then all rain stopped before we started. The first day after the festival, and we just got heavy rains. So much so water was starting to come into the house. I believe this is a sign and wonder God is granting to the people. All glory to Jesus and none for us!

We want to say a special thank you to...

Irwan Alexander, Fandy from Indonesia Idol and Lembah Pujian band for coming and ministering in this event.

Also a huge thank you and God bless you to our youth committee and our 25 year old chairman brother Anis Rudy in Pati.

We are planning our next Gospel festival in Indonesia on the 1st week of March, 2010. Please keep us in your prayers.

Your co-workers in the great harvest,

Gola Tiruneh, Daniel Sugiarto and Olivia Nidya