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Race
uth chronicle
Issue I 2010
Jan — Mar
Editor’s Note
Greetings, dear reader! us useful pointers when endured much more than
embarking on a new leg of many of us will ever go
Once again, another year has life’s journey. Our >25 section through. Joel Quah has
passed. The Uth Chronicle is features an article by Auntie written a short review of a
published quarterly and as I Esther who talks about book titled 'Tortured for
pen this note, it is with the 'Running the Rat Race', with a Christ', which details the life
realisation that I will (God very pertinent reminder for of Richard Wurmbrand and
willing) only write another all of us to ensure that our how much he accomplished
three of these before yet time is spent wisely, where we with God's help.
another year passes. 2009 seek after the things of God
has flown by like many years first. On a parting note, let us also
before it, and before we know remember to 'Look not every
it 2010 will vanish into For some of us, the new year man on his own things, but
eternity as well. May we keep may already have brought every man also on the things
in mind God's command for us concerns to light. Do you feel of others' (Philippians 2:4),
in Ephesians 5:15-16, 'See daunted by events on the for our race is not against
then that ye walk horizon? Are you worried each other.
circumspectly, not as fools, about the hurdles before you?
but as wise, Redeeming the Do you perhaps feel weary May God bless your reading.
time, because the days are already as you think of how =)
evil'. many laps must be run before
the race is over? Elder P.S.: If you have been blessed
This issue's theme is 'Running William Seah shares God's by reading the Uth Chronicle,
the Race' and as we begin the Word with us with regards to then don't toss it aside after
new year in earnest, are we 'Spiritual Endurance' and reading! Pass it on to
truly prepared (in the draws our attention to the someone else and share the
spiritual sense) for what is many encouraging promises blessings!
ahead of us? Some of us may in the Bible. I have also Yours in Christ,
be moving into a whole new contributed an article to this Brian
environment whether it is in issue, where I share some of
school, work or (for some of my personal experience in UTH TEAM
the guys) the army. Before we 'Overcoming Hurdles'. Advisor: Bro Henry
Chua
plunge straight into the race, Editor: Brian Lim
it is important for us to first It is also encouraging to Secretar y: Jonathan
Tay
stop and check our walk with remember that others before Layouts: Grace Auyo
ng
the Lord. Dn James Fu writes us have run this race and Photos: Samuel Chia
about 'Starting Off' and gives emerged victorious. By God's Special Ops: Yeda Ko
grace and enabling, they have &
Michelle Chiang
3
Starting Off by Dn James Fu
around us. God has specifically placed
us as beacons of light wherever we
are. We should only leave our post if it
is no longer God’s will for us to remain
there.
Overcoming Hurdles
by Brian Lim
•••
Hurdles everyone will encounter. We hear all the time people
talking about problems they have to deal with, whether it is an
examination or a mid-life crisis. But what sets us, as Christians,
apart from the world is how we deal with these hurdles.
Unbelievers will turn to a myriad of solutions and sometimes in
our faithlessness we follow suit, often forgetting that we have a
gracious God who has promised to provide for our needs.
10
Tortured for Christ Christian would have exacerbated an Wurmbrand, where the Romanian
already harsh situation to be in, for the church was altering their doctrine to
by Joel Quah only sort of Christianity that the Nazis accommodate the wishes of the
••• did not allow was true Christianity— Communists. She prompted her
The following is the review of a book and Richard Wurmbrand was certainly husband to stand up against the
that I hold very dear to my heart. It a true disciple of Christ. Now having blasphemy, and he initially resisted,
has gotten me through the parts of my endured merciless treatment at the saying that if he did so, she would
life that I found the toughest, mainly hands of his captors, Richard lose her husband. But she made it
by showing me how my life (or if we’re Wurmbrand did not have time to clear to Richard Wurmbrand that she
honest, any of our lives) isn't really celebrate freedom at his release did not want a coward for a husband.
that tough or miserable. It helped with following the Nazi’s defeat, for the
bringing my focus off earthly woes up Communists came to power and the I encourage one and all to get a copy
to heavenly blessings. It has also cycle of physical pain re-started, and of this book. The YF theme for 2009
made many Biblical concepts in fact, intensified. was “Myself Aside, Jesus Inside”. It
concerning Christian living very speaks of laying aside self and all our
tangible. It has shown me how much This book describes much time spent carnal requirements for God’s work.
I’ve underutilized God’s strength, and behind bars, under torture, in solitary The theme of the camp was “Laying
how my ‘new-found great faith’ is confinement, but it is no ‘Mein Your All On the Altar”. This resonates
really just a slightly larger mustard Kampf’1. The focus was never on with the 2009 YF theme. To knock it
seed than before. physical suffering. Instead, one finds all home, the theme for 2010 is
passages of singing and dancing in “Taking Up Your Cross Daily”. This
I implore one and all to examine the joy and of his intense love for his book will show how much we can do
life of Richard Wurmbrand, a captors. He preached fervently to the when empowered by the love of God,
Romanian pastor of Jewish descent soldiers, and when he asked one of edify us and reveal the deficiencies in
that lived through both the Nazi them whether or not he believed in our service. I pray that it will inspire us
Occupation and Communist rule. Christ, the soldier replied, to truly give up our entire beings as
living sacrifices unto Him, that no
The above synopsis of Richard “I have no such military order to principality or power might deter our
Wurmbrand’s background would have believe. If I have an order I will service.
evoked quite a response from those believe.”
with a basic grasp of world history. It The copyright of this book has been
is hard enough to be a Jew converted Such a response brought tears to his relinquished, and the .pdf file of the
to Christianity—for that usually means eyes and spurned an agape love that entire book can be obtained from me.
that you would be shunned by your would bring him through all his days, I hope this book blesses you as much
family and the rest of the Jewish no matter which cruel captor had as it has blessed me.
community. It would have been hard custody over his mortal frame.
1 Editor'sNote: For those who do not
enough for a Jew to live through a
Nazi occupation; I need not elaborate This book also has brief accounts of know, 'Mein Kampf' (translated as 'My
on the atrocities committed by the his most courageous and wise wife. Struggle') is a book by Adolf Hitler, which
Nazis during the Holocaust. Being a She attended a meeting with Richard serves as both an autobiography and an
explanation of his political ideas.
11
My Bloo
Heylaz the voices which we
It’s hard to believe that I’ve been lift in praise with such
away from Singapore for almost half great gusto every
a year now. I can’t imagine how I worship service. I
would have managed starting work would join them, if and
in Shanghai without God’s grace! when I master reading
the Chinese lyrics, and
Although my journey has been recover from this sore
filled with enriching encounters and throat… >.<
interesting experiences, the road has
been bumpy and uncertain. Much As for friends
has changed; from the food I’m used outside of the church I
to eating, to the church I’m used to attend here, be they
attending, to the way I view expats or local Chinese, all
Singapore life. I hardly know where already seem to have varying sets
to begin writing in this article! of unsound beliefs rooted in their
minds. Compared to the
people I met while schooling
or otherwise in my
sheltered life in Singapore, I
find these people somewhat
more hard-hearted and
parochial-minded. This
frustrates me somewhat,
and I realize that the
childlikeness of our sheltered
Singaporean youths may
actually be a quality to be
treasured as well,
while it lasts.
To move on in
Maybe I should start by counting blessings,
counting my blessings. life is full of trials
I’m glad that I had a here, and I thank
sturdy upbringing, God just for bringing
especially in the me through
Christian faith. I have no everything. I’ve been here!) seen so much more of the
familiar Christian lost in a typhoon’s diversity of humanity here… but
friends here to support thunderstorm, had whilst enjoying the new experiences,
me spiritually, and even the electricity in my I keep reflecting on the old. There’s
after I managed to house cut during the nothing like moving out to a new
locate people that bitter cold of winter country yourself and starting a new
share my beliefs, it’s nights, contracted flu life of work in a new company, to
still not quite the twice, had an allergy understand the value of true
same- it’s not convenient at all attack, still have friendship and agape love- something
to meet up regularly in this large and diarrhea just about too rare in this world, it seems.
capricious city, and there’s always every week, been befuddled by the
the language barrier. It would have language barrier at every turn… and My most vexing concern is often
been so easy to fall away and forget the list goes on. My life verse proves simply trying to understand people;
God, if not for the foundation that my most pertinent in these times, especially in an unfamiliar, secular
years in CPBPC have given me. Dear however. It’s Romans 8:28… “We work environment, exacerbated by
reader, do treasure your fellowship know that all things work together the Mandarin culture. I pray that I
group(s), treasure having a building for good to them that love God, to will be able to learn faster- the
to worship freely in, and treasure them who are the called according to language, the culture, the roads,
even the beautifully bound His purpose.” :) everything! Either that, or come
hymnbooks you have to sing from back to you guys faster ^^ Do take
every Sunday! I have seen God’s hand in care, and remember to count your
wonderful scenery as well (I am blessings too. :)
In my little Christian group here, exceptionally grateful to BM for
showing me around China a few In Christ,
we have none of the above, except for
12
times, during my first few months Phoebe Choo
>25
Running the Rat Race One
of
the
orphanage
kids
I believe this topic is not new
to you. Perhaps I was asked to
write this article because I was born
into the year of the rat?
13
shopping, friends, and of course, the
Olympics. Service took a backseat
and I didn’t make an effort to find an
area of service in church. However, by
the end of one year, I realized that I
felt really empty instead. Everything
that I had accumulated had nothing to
do with my spiritual growth. I was still
at base camp spiritually. For 2009, my
resolution was
God has been so good to you that sometimes, it is easy to take for granted and to forget His goodness.
Although not born into a wealthy family, you had no lack. Through the various stations in life, you were
blessed with good friends, challenges never insurmountable, in fact often smooth pathways, and most of
all, God’s guiding presence.
The “O” levels came and went without you really realizing it. Then the “A” levels. You will recall you
prayed to the Lord for 4 things before the “A” levels. You had wanted to :
1. Be a strong Christian
2. Do well enough in “A” levels to enter the U
3. Train yourself physically and to be an officer in the army
4. Embrace chivalry as a gentleman, and have a steady girlfriend
Perhaps the last three you attained, but are you sure you became a strong Christian? What good is getting
the last three without the first, the most important?
What is a strong Christian? A strong Christian is one who knows he is weak. A strong Christian is one who
does not indulge in self-reliance, and because you did on various occasions, you cannot be said to be a
strong Christian.
The problem is that which is visible are the last three things. A person’s academic results are tangible,
and the route he takes after that is clear for all to see. What is not clear is how he attained the results. For
you – do you not remember the second year when you committed most time to the Lord, and relying on
His strength instead of yours, you actually did better than the other years? Had you committed more to
Jesus, whether the results are the same or otherwise, you would have been able to view the results with
the perspective touched by God.
Preparing yourself physically and being an officer in the army brought that tinge of pride, no matter how
slight, into the equation. Especially when most friends were not selected for officer-training, and both
your brothers did not do well in the army. Yes, you did pray. Yes, you did turn to the Lord during the
twelve months of training as a recruit and officer cadet. But the extent and frequency with which you did
so could have been higher, the level of reliance on the Lord much deeper. Did you not turn to Him more
when you were down than when you were up?
Let’s talk about relationships. Thank God your girlfriend then was a good Christian girl. But you could
have been distracted by other girls who were not necessarily the same. To you, what was most important?
God’s will for your only life-partner, or your will to have someone you think suits you most. Or that cute
and adorable girl who is head over heels with you? The girl with whom you share a relationship must be
someone you know can be the mother of your children, someone whom you can depend on through thick
and thin; not some flippant flighty personality who tickles your fancy.
Coming back to the 4 points you prayed for, at the end of the day, if you got it right on the first, you will get
it right on the other three. You see, if we are right with God, if we are close to Him, the other three and for
that matter, whatever other issues that crop up in life will be seen in the right perspective.
So Henry, you must be so grateful God has given you so much for so long in the past despite your lapses of
unfaithfulness and periods of self-reliance. What lies ahead, no one knows. My only advice is : remember
Psalm 119:9, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy
word”.
15
YFspeaks
COMFORT ALONG LIFE’S JOURNEY
The race of life can be fraught with trials
sometimes. So what/who do we really
turn to for comfort along the journey?
We asked YFers (who were familiar with
the use of writing instrument and paper)
for their top 3 items, and here were the
responses, in order of frequency:
1. God/prayer/quie
t time
1. Family/a family m
ember
3. God’s Word/the
Bible/
memory verses/psalm
s
3. Food
3. Hymns
3. Sleep
3. TV/movies
8. Friends
9. Computer
9. A musical instrum
ent
Cottage Meeting at Dr Tow
11. Sports
Ah, time for our usual spread the Gospel to others,
11. Drawing
11. Girlfriend YF cottage meeting! but they were not touched by
11. Soft toys Thank God for the sharing by God’s Word. I still remember
11. Tears our senior pastor, Dr Tow. feeling very discouraged
after that!
Our memory verses
Sharing top spot were God and family. A that day were Ephesians However I realised
good start it is that many of us 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye that we should not keep this
remember to turn to God at some point saved through faith; and that joy of salvation to ourselves!
(one with the qualifier of “only when I’m not of yourselves: it is the gift Even when we faced with
really panicking”), but one that falls of God: not of works, lest any obstacles in the midst of
short. It’s easy to turn to things and spreading the gospel, we
man should boast.” As
people around us that we can see with should press on and pray
children of God, we owe
our eyes, but may God be our very
Christ a debt of gratitude. We about it. That was why we
present help in trouble.
were saved to serve the were saved. We were saved to
Various foods as a collective, presumably LORD and help others. I was serve.
to be consumed in the quest for comfort, reminded of my duty to
ranked above “friends”, who are spread the Gospel and tell I will try again!
generally less edible. others about Christ and his
goodness toward us. There God Bless,
“Girlfriend” was found among the bottom were times when I tried to Carmen.
feeders, along with various inanimate
objects and solitary activities.
Next up – gam
es! (eat alread
exercise, righ y must
t?)
iz
d?) BMC qu
(m uch a n ticipated/feare sw or d
The fort cros Of course, physical feeding is important
be a group ef
turned out to ng, but good fu
n for too:D The food was all lovingly prepared by
l ch a ll en gi
puzzle… stil the various groups – each group was in
o!
the groups to charge of contributing 1 food item. YUM!
17
Storm clouds started to loo
m…
rain long
th a nk G od He held the
But photo…
fo r u s to take a group
enou gh
18
YF Camp Thoughts
THANK GOD FOR A FRUITFUL YF CAMP. Truly a week of
spiritual feeding, it was revival for some, and a time of
fellowship, especially between the YFers and Teens. I was
tasked by Brian to do a little sharing on my thoughts of the
camp, so here it comes
It didn’t make it any easier that I only accepted the task around July. The list
of preachers chosen was slowly ticked off as they all were busy.
Forming a suitable committee, finding a theme and all the
logistical preparations had to be done. On top of these, university
was starting and it would take up a sizeable amount of my time
and mental faculties. Thank God for His providence and how He
saw me through all these, yet at the same time trying my faith and
helping me to constantly seek His face. Other problems, especially
with the ever-changing numbers and various situations/requests
(especially those that came at the very last minute while I was
overseas), sought to frustrate me and make me lose faith in God.
However, I thank God that through the reading of His Word and also
the encouragement of brethren there was the peace in my heart that
all things would fall into place, albeit in ways not of my choice.
There was also the help received from committee members.
Thank God He gave me wisdom to choose these members for they
helped rectify many deficiencies.
In addition, I thank God for the number of people that attended, as the initial sign-up rate was a little slow.
Above all these, I was glad and encouraged that among those were turned up were teens and infrequent YF
attendees. Especially encouraging was to see Hui En not pulling out even though none of her friends her age came.
That was sweet. Indeed thank God for the warm fellowship, and that the younger ones (mainly the teens) did not
hide in one corner, but really came out of their comfort zones to fellowship with the older ones. I trust that we
have all gotten to know each other a little better, and hope that this will encourage more to attend YF.
In Christ,
William
PERSONAL POINTS
Name: Yeong Lee Wei
Age: 22
Studying at: Imperial College London (2nd yr Computing
Masters undergraduate)
Hobbies: Ice skating, Playing computer games,
Programming, Reverse Engineering software
My hopes & dreams: Want to get a job at Google/settle
overseas like in London when I'm 30 (provided the world's
still around by then!)
20
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Short and Broad
January
Who are you taking up your 25th - Reformation Sunday. CPBPC commemorates Luther's nailing of
cross for? his 95 theses to the cathedral at Wittenberg, and celebrates also 500
years since the birth of John Calvin. Rev Quek delivers the morning
6th: Combined YAF-YF Meeting message on "Discerning the time (Luke 12:54-56)". Young People's Choir
presents "A Mighty Fortress".
13th: No YF in view of CNY Eve
30th Oct-3rd Nov - Sophia Huang goes on a road trip
in Norway, where she delights in the snowcapped
20th: What is God? — Eld Chew mountains and magnificent fjords.
27th: Who is God to you?
31st - YF outing @ Botanic Gardens. YFers enjoy
— Eld Chew the beauty of God's creation at the Botanic
Gardens, with a devotion by Kenny Cheong on the
Birthday: 14th JQ topic of "Does your soul thirst?", a potluck feast
prepared by each of the groups, and an
entertaining time of games organized by Elvin.
March Some also get quite a workout walking from the
Denying Yourself Tanglin to Bukit Timah side of the park or just
plain wandering about, but God graciously grants
splendid weather.
6th: What is ‘denying yourself’? •••
— Rev Quek NOVEMBER
2th - Brian Lim is appointed the
13th: Character Study on
student coordinator for FCM
Denying Self (OT) — Rev Quek NTU/NIE.
Birthdays: 2nd Elliot and Ivan Also on the 7th, YF Cottage Meeting @ Dr Tow's home. YFers meet at the
3rd Johan 4th Wella and Lisa home of Dr Tow Siang Hwa and wife, as Dr Tow reminisces about
the Youth Fellowship of his time, gives advice for our generation, and
6th Elvin 11th Kang prepares a sumptuous spread for them. This is followed by an impromptu
17th Jelaine 31st Yin Leng session of singing Christmas carols.
Short and Broad II
NOVEMBER CON’T
11th - Pr Ko Ling Kang returns from Perth after a 3 Truth B-P Church.
month stint ministering to the brethren at BPCWA.
4th-13th William and Jason Quah and family travel to
13th-29th Abigail Quek and India, where they meet up with naturalized Indian
Evangeline Chiang set off together lawyer Danny Quah and spend their holiday touring
with a group of church members Delhi and Rajasthan.
led by Dn Milton for a 3 week tour
of the Holy Land. They are very, 5th - YF Games Day. Wet weather notwithstanding,
very well-received by the locals YFers gather in church for a time of indoor fun
(particularly of the male variety) remembering nicknames and birthdays, slashing and
in Egypt, Jordan and Israel. shooting, and dodging balls.
16th - Brian Lim takes his first-ever Literature paper, Also on the 5th, The Ko Ling X siblings and special
and finds that his fellows publish an average of 4-page friends travel up to Malacca for a break and lots of food.
length responses to each question, 2.5 pages more than
he. 8th-11th JW Camp: "Be Ye Ready". Rev Quek and Pr
Dennis Kabingue are the speakers.
16th-20th - Carmen Yeo attends NJC's Youth Leadership
Training Camp to further develop her skills as a squash 8th-29th Kenny Cheong returns home to Melbourne.
captain.
11th – A small party of dotK girls gets together with the
18th - Ivan Ting, Jason Quah and Ruth Ng finally intent of exercising their bodies standing up
conclude their gruelling 2-year International (badminton), but ends up mostly exercising their
Baccalaureate programme. stomachs sitting down (food).
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