Dwelling Places...

This worship song was sung during the first service of the new year, and what a choice it was!
The presence of God was so tangible, so strong, yet so peaceful then, when the whole congregation, united in one voice, worshipped Him...
I cut out the song from the sermon video recently so that I can listen to the song repeatedly. Even now as I listen to it, it still touches my heart and His presence continues to fill my heart every time... =)

Dwelling Places

by Hillsong Music Australia

Verse 1:
Lovely Are Your Dwelling Places
Thristy I Come After You
Jesus My Joy, My Reward
Your Love's Restoring My Soul
Now I'm Yours And You Are Mine
And From My Heart A Song Will Rise

*Chorus:
I Love You, I Love You, I Love You
I Love You, I Love You, I Love You
I Love You, I Love You, I Love You
And My Heart Will Follow Wholly After You

Verse 2:
Jesus There Is None Beside You
Righteous Ruler Of The Earth
Nations Will Come And Bow Down
Name Over All Names, I Sing You Praises
And All That I Can Say To You Is *

Callie's Water Baptism on Christmas Day!

To a Christian, water baptism represents a great significance in his/her walk with the Lord. More than just a religious ceremony, it is an occasion whereby the baptism candidate decides to declare publicly that he/she is formally a believer of Jesus Christ. Even more importantly, there is much spiritual significance in water baptism, when the believer will, in fact, begin to experience and encounter God in a brand new way, and be given new grace and spiritual blessing from the Lord by faith. I am so grateful that I am already water baptized since November 2004 (the very same week of my 21st birthday!), and I never regretted making that decision at all! Haha! =D

My friend Callie (from SMU) was baptized on Christmas day last year (Gosh... actually it was just like a few weeks ago from today but the phrase 'last year' sounded so long ago... haha...). How cool is that? Baptized on Christmas day! In the card I gave to her I wrote that she would from now on never ever treat Christmas the same way again, coz' it will become a day for double celebrations yearly from now on. Haha! I went to her church (i.e. St. Andrew's Cathedral) in the evening to grace the occasion after attending the Christmas services in the day. Zing and Kangming were there too! (It is very common to get friends to come for water baptism coz' it is so so so so so important and significant!) Took quite an amount of pictures for Callie, and must say she was so so so happy after the baptism. Haha! May the presence of God be with her always and His blessings overflow in her life. AMEN!!! =D

Kangming, Callie and Zing

Callie and me!
(Photos taken on Sunday, December 25, 2005. Copyright © 2005-2007 Chiu Pak Kwan Elvis.)

Candlelight Service @ CHC

Finally, CHC moved from one end of Singapore to another, from Jurong West all the way to Singapore Expo! I missed the first service there as I was away in China for BSM, but then, I was so grateful that when I came back, my 'first' service was actually a special service. In a way, the church ushered in the Christmas atmosphere one week earlier -- Candlelight service! Not only the sight was so so so beautiful and incredible, but more importanly the presence of God was so tangible and really touched my heart.

Went to CHC website to download some of the pictures taken at the service... hmmm... I should have brought my camera!

"Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, Jesus says that we are the light of the world. May the light of Christ pierce through the darkness of our souls, and make us the light in Singapore and all over Asia. In this whole world, we are gonna shine the love, the glory. The gifts of talents and the abilities God has given to us--we are gonna use it to shine for the Lord in the marketplaces of the world." -- Rev Kong Hee, Founder & Senior Pastor (Honorary/Volunteer)

(Photos extracted from City Harvest Church Official Website at http://www.chc.org.sg/. Copyright © 2000-2007 City Harvest Church.)

First Visit to HK Disneyland!

After the BSM, almost the entire class extended their stay in Hong Kong for 3 days. Same for me too! After all, it is my home and I didn't mind staying away from Singapore for few more days before hitting the project again! When we were there, quite a number of us went to the new HK Disneyland, which I must say it is an awesome place to visit if you wanna forget about everything about the outside world. My experience there was really magical. I was like living in a fantasy and got myself all familiar with the cartoon characters whom I grew up with all over again. It was crowded, but not really to the extent like what the media described. The waiting time for the rides were quite okay. I was so glad to have Michelle with us when we were there coz' she was like a Disneyland guide and led us running around the theme park like nobody's business! Haha. Imagine 5 young-20s adults running around... but like I mentioned just now, the experience was magical, and till today I still couldn't explain why I kept on smiling and laughing all the way even though we were running and running all the time! The shows there were great. The staff there were really friendly and they were so genuine in their service. (Great job!) Hmmm... I really hope that the HKSAR Government and Disney will start expanding the theme park soon into its next phases of development. Can't wait to go back there again!

Special MTR train to HK Disneyland Resort Station: It's so... Disney!

Mickey and Minnie in the Parade!

With Mickey Mouse, my favourite cartoon character since childhood!

Fireworks at the Sleeping Beauty's Castle. How I wish if the wind was not so strong that night then the fireworks would look even better!

Yuptz, went there with my SMU-CHC friends Michelle and Eunice. On our way back to the city, where they would continue their shopping! Haha!

(Photos taken on Wednesday, December 14, 2005. Copyright © 2005-2007 Chiu Pak Kwan Elvis.)

Business Study Mission (China)

I was on a Business Study Mission to the Pearl River Delta region in China organised by SMU during the early December 2005. (Gosh, this sentence is really long and what a mouthful! Hehe... =P ) It seems like everytime I went back to mainland China, I would never go beyond the provincial boundaries of Guangdong! I must really find the opportunity to go to other parts of China and 'see see look look'!

Anyway, talking about the trip. It was awesome. We not only had the opportunity to visit many types of companies and interact with the business people and government officials there, but also got to travel around the delta and really appreciate how big China is and how fast she has been growing and developing over these years. And of course, how could I ever forget the great food we had there throughout? I never gained so much weight so fast in such a short time, as compared to me frequently missed eating breakfasts when back in Singapore... (sob...)

Had a great time with my classmates there also, and we took like so so so many pictures there and my camera ended up overworked there and I had to send it for repair lately. Haha. Posted many of them online at http://www.pbase.com/elvischiu/bsmchina05/. Do take a look! Below are some which I would like to post it here in the blog, to make it more colourful! Haha!!! =D

Our BSM contingent!
(Photo taken in Guzhen county on Friday, December 9, 2005. Copyright © 2005-2007 Chiu Pak Kwan Elvis.)

With other SMU-CHC friends in the BSM: Eunice & Michelle!
(Photo taken in Zhuhai on Friday, December 9, 2005. Copyright © 2005-2007 Chiu Pak Kwan Elvis.)

Never will you find a SMU trip without us doing the SMU jump, many many times!
(Photos taken in Guangzhou on Monday, December 12, 2005. Copyright © 2005-2007 Chiu Pak Kwan Elvis.)

Our final night in China on a river cruise. Say cheese!
(Photo taken along Yangtze River on Monday, December 12, 2005. Copyright © 2005-2007 Chiu Pak Kwan Elvis.)

Gone Missing... and Found!

I think I have gone missing from blogging for a long time!!!
Realised lately that my last blog was actually in December 2005, and it's like close to 1.5 months ago! Tsk tsk tsk... talking about consistency... haiz...
Some more throughout all this while a number of my friends asked me how come my blog has not been updated for ages! Haha... Can't believe that I needed reminders to get me back to blogging!

Anyway, just wanna take the opportunity to inform and announce to everyone that I am still here. Yuptz. Will be more consistent in my blogging... I hope. =P And friends, thank you for dropping by to find out how I have been. Really appreciate it, for your interest, concern and love.

To restart my blogging with a blast, I shall post many posts at one shot! =D