The Mental Toys: FGT - 365 Student Ministry

So it's finally online. The video that took me and Paul wanted to do for some time.
This is Full Gospel Tabernacle's youth ministry, also known as 365 Student Ministry.



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So come!

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I must say I had tremendous fun shooting this little project. It was nothing particularly fancy, really, but it was a fun experience.

It started some time in 2007. The previous youth promotional video was getting outdated, and me and Paul decided that we were doing too many videos and wanted to do something that would last at least two years before anyone's gotta think about a promo video again.

You see, the usual case would be, I write the thing. I draw it out. Then either me or Paul will shoot it. Then Paul will cut it up. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's bad. So this time. We were lazy.

Or rather, I was lazy.

So I got him to ask a bunch of other youths to write out ideas and proposals. And we collated maybe about 4 or 5 ideas. And Jamie's one stood out tremendously, mostly because it had some visual potential that excited me. Then we parked it in my brains and left it for a few months.

Then we wrote the thing out properly (it's scaled down a lot) and shot the thing. It was very fun dragging Jamie (she's the actress too) and Paul around Subang Jaya shooting stuff. And that was that. Then we cut it. And we screened it.

Mental Toys: Domenech the Stupid

This man insults me. The French coach. Raymond Domenech.

Domenech said France would go all out to win in Ukraine.

"We are not Italy. We play every match to win it. Anyway, we have our fate in our own hands," he said.

Like I said. This man insults me. I sincerely hope Ukraine stuns the French. France will probably qualify for the Euro finals, then it'd be great if Italy meets France in the final again, and this time we'll win in a more convincing fashion.

Wait. I hope France and Italy gets drawn in the same group again, then have the French shut out of the playoffs because Italy played to a draw against them. That would be very fun.

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Zoo Photos

Zoo

More to come. Sarah's pretty emotional right now after a day at the zoo (due to her meeting her long lost relatives. I think she shed a tear at some point, when she saw the chimp, and also when she saw the Hippo [I think she recognized her future form there] and yeah, well. She's very emo now. She didn't want to leave. [and she felt a connection, a bond of sorts with the babi hutan] but shhh she doesn't know I'm telling you all these), and I don't have my photoshop with me cos I just reformatted my PC, so here's just one pic. Will post more later.

The Mental Toys: Sidetrack/Pray

This is for a certain lady, who has over time grown to be one of the greatest people I've ever met. Someone who taught me that all the successess in the world, though applauded by the world and the people living it, means nothing at all if it's not what and how God intended it to be.

I've heard it several times from several people, but coming from this lady, it mattered the most.

My prayers are with you. Be well soon.

The Mental Toys: The Fairy Tales - Other Heroines

There was once a princess who slept in the sky.
Who slept in the bed of sleeping princesses. No one could awaken her. Not even the many princes who pressed their lips upon her still-warm but motionless lips. She has slept on the bed where she is laid down on for generations. Kingdoms and civilizations have come and gone, but there she lay, in the center of the city of dwarves. No one could awaken her.

She was as white as snow, but she was not Snow White.
She was as fragile to look upon and behold, but she was not Cinderella.
She radiated an intense but largely incomprehensible beauty, but she was not Belle.
She slept with a slight smile of a carefree soul, but she was not Ariel.
She was the princess of all princesses. She was the sleeping beauty. The fairest of them all.

Aurora, some called her. But she was not Aurora, for Aurora died many ages ago.

This nameless princess, the true sleeping beauty, was neither as charming or distinct as all the princesses in the pantheon of royal ladies, yet she was the most universal in attraction. People who passed her resting place could feel her light fall on their faces, and they would be happy.

She would never wake up. Not even beyond the age of centuries. Most have forgotten her. Even the Prince of Thieves and Snow White have forgotten that there was another hope, besides the tree of their hearts, for the land of Fairies to relight their old fire and glory.

But the sleeping beauty will never wake up. She will never wake up. No prince would wake her. No shooting star. No frog from the bushes near by. No beast and no giants. Nothing.

Not even the Prince of Thieves, were he alive, would be able to steal her sleep and wake her from her peaceful slumber.

However.

Her mind moves.
Her thoughts are alive.
Her thoughts are not asleep.
Not today.

The sleeping beauty wants to wake up.
Yes. She does.

But no one knows her secret.
So no one can save her.

She sleeps.

The Mental Toys: The Transport Minister

Friday

I am usually at work. Friday I frantically prepare my lectures for the coming week, meet students who might have any questions. Run errands. Meet people. Friday's the run-around day. Sometimes it's the boring-est day too.

But most importantly, I work.

Usually on Friday I get a list of possible people coming from Daniel Chia. And a few phone calls from other leaders telling me of potential attendance for the weekend. Usually somewhere in the middle of work I'll open up the excel sheet with all the regular passengers and what not, take a quick look in anticipation of what might be the weekend, and leave it at that.


Saturday

The fun starts. Literally. At exactly 9 a.m. onwards, a steady stream of SMSes will pour in to my phone. On average, on a Saturday morning I would get 3 to 4 phone calls from Daniel, 3 to 4 phone calls from Min Ser, and a lot of messages from everyone else. Calls too. Usually when the messages are coming in, I'd go to the shower, take a quick bath.

Make coffee. Take a bite of whatever my mom prepared. Sit down at the computer, read the messages, then open the Excel file. Then check my mail and all that. (At this point the excel file is only open, I have yet to touch it).

Then when I am finally motivated enough, I'll start filling out the excel sheet with drivers' names and the passengers. There are about 15 - 16 regular drivers for the youth. Them being Justin John Daniel Mincer Grace MHong Rich Louisa Sam Gideon Joyce Karkien Joey Kenneth Jiachui Leo Steven Jacob Terence Abel Paul (and a few more I don't directly contact). I slot in the names of people who need transport to church.

Then I kinda have to balance emotional and financial weights. I kinda get to choose who to send for long drives to the ends of the earth like Cyberjaya and Cheras and Kajang and Stadium Merdeka. And I'm blessed to know that most of the drivers above are willing to make the effort to bring people to church, as long as they're treated with some respect and handled with punctuality.

At exactly 12noon I stop taking calls. I make the last few changes. Fit everyone nicely into a car or a bus/van (this is where I usually call some drivers frantically to see if they can find more space, and go round looking for more avenues to transport people). It's usually a hectic 30 minutes of back and forth of Min Ser. Then when all is said and done. I SMS the list out to the drivers.

Once the drivers confirm their loads. My job is done for an hour. This is where I eat lunch. (Thanks to the new system, I can actually have lunch with my gf on Saturdays now. Something which wasn't very possible back then [sunday morning breakfasts with grace, once my favorite pasttime, is now almost nonexistent] )

Then I started planning for the road home. Usually I just write the list out during the service. Going home usually isn't so hard. I just make minor adjustments to the arrivals list. There are times when drivers make specific requests to go somewhere else (because they too, have a life. In fact, they're the ones with cars, so of course they have a bit more space to have a life, and should not be subject to the demands of the princely and princessy passengers) I get a headache.

Then after they are all sent home. I go home for dinner.

I open the laptop. And type 'Sunday transportation' onto a new Excel sheet.

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This is not a puffy story of what the transport minister(s) do. Gideon, Daniel, Justin, Min Ser, and a few others have been tremendous help in sharing the load. Many times they carry the load themselves.

It's just that this is a church ministry where the dynamics of what is involved is sometimes not fully shared and out in the open. People talk about what goes on with other things in church, but I guess here's me detailing the life of a transport minister in FGT. And yes, this is an attempt to ask you, if you are a member of FGT's 365 student ministry, to be of help.

None of the above is a lie. Your weekend social life will be greatly reduced. Your pockets will be burned a little more. Your patience will be GREATLY tested.

But I must say, now that I've been doing this for two years, doing transport I've seen the best of many people. No one asked Daniel to start making lists. Gideon showed up ready to make calls and arrangements when a whole gang of drivers were on vacation. Justin would win almost anyone's driver of the year award. So on and so forth.

And really, you get to see the growth of God's kingdom first hand. It passes by seamlessly, the increase that God brings. You start out handling five cars, and before you even stop to think about it, you're looking at 18 cars, 2 vans, and 3 buses. It's the one place where despite all the difficulties we've been through, I can say that God has been good.

So.

Now that you see the picture. Be nice. Serve :D

The Mental Toys: Best Picture People

Some people are permanent casts in your adventures and exploits. Great escapes. Adrenaline. Like the joy of being in an Ocean's Eleven movie (minus the cash and a trip to Vegas). If every episode life's adventure had an opening credit, these people would be displayed as part of the main cast. These are friends who bring about several smiles, and the desire to embark on another silly project, whatever it may be.

Then there are others who apart from being main casts in your series of unfortunate adventures, are also main casts in your tragic feature films. You know how in the real world, the blockbusters rarely wins best picture, best actor, and all the artsy fartsy awards. Well, the same principle applies here.

These are friends whom you have struggled with. You've either struggled alongside them, or struggled with them. You've contended as their comrades, or you've contended against them, and realize that at the end of the tragic episode, you're both still alive. Then the next adventure somehow seems more meaningful.

I cherish these friends the most, even though I rarely show it. They are too few and too hard to come by, and I can count them with my fingers. I only wish that I'm such a friend to others too, but that's not for me to judge.

Here's to my "best picture" friends. You know who you are.

(I know I've not written many things about my personal life on my blog, and much less encourage anyone, or say anything decent about anyone. No, it's not a suicide note. Just a passing acknowledgement of people who deserve more than a passing acknowledgement.)

“Those thinkers who cannot believe in any gods often assert that the love of humanity would be in itself sufficient for them; and so, perhaps, it would, if they had it.”

– Gilbert K. Chesterton, sometime in the late 19th century.

Lately, a Few.

Some photos.



My dad celebrated his birthday last Friday night. We had a family dinner. My brother was looking for matchsticks when I whipped out my mom's stove starter thingy, James Bond style.



Family pic.



Very recently celebrated Joel's birthday too. These are my cell mates.
Clockwise from me, Arthur, Kenneth, John, Joel, Kar Kien, Joey.


Took this picture while attending my campus prom (as in, the place I am working at).
This is the Dataran Merdeka. I think.

and...


















Click on picture to be taken to a new blog set up just for tracking Idiot3 updates.

P13

1 How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God;
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4 Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

5 But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

6 I will sing to the LORD,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

- A Psalm of David.

There was once a heart that was made of finest gold. It was refined in every respect.
It was desired by many, and its value was high.
For all its brilliance in design and artistry, the heart was still.
It laid on a pedestal.
It did not move nor beat.
It did not love.

Reunited

Filming Fikri tomorrow, which should be fast, considering he's done this about a hundred million times.

Also filming Kerry, whom I have not filmed since that gargantuan piece of disaster, The Door. It's like re-uniting Zhang Yimou and Gong Li. Lynette can be the Zhang Ziyi.

With Fikri he's the Tarantino and I'm the Rodriguez.

For some others I'm really just Superman.
Wait did I just let that out. Oh no my secret is out.