It is amusing to unearth what lies within the thoughts we have in our heads, while reading and taking a sip of hot tea, the thoughts of a surrendered heart, appeared out of nowhere and completely unrelated to what I was reading! I could choose to shake off the thoughts and define it as random, but I do enjoy chasing my random thoughts and realized it was beautiful enough for me to pen it down.

A surrendered heart is one that has decided to submit fully to a notion, person or a thing that is greater than itself. Possessing the full ability to trust willingly at all times and cost, without any doubts, in full confidence and security that whoever you are giving your heart to, is worth every bit of the “dying to self” moments, for more of the greater things and less of your own desires and ambitions.

A heart that is completely surrendered to a cause is utter foolishness or insanity to some, as they count their costs and wonder if being possessed by a mere thought or a idea is worth losing your “sanity”, as the battle begins in the mind, for one to decide how much to push or give themselves up towards an idea, or to stay within the certain boundaries of what is defined as safe and sane.

All things or actions done out of a surrendered heart, is deemed as brash, emotional and irrational to the logical and rationals. A laid down lover has no qualms in trusting or in pushing the logical boundaries that so bind our minds, because they are assured in the nature of the receiver of their love, regardless of the process or outcome, they know it will always be good.

Faith and obedience comes easy to a surrendered heart, for it is always trusting and rooted in love, there are barely any rooms for fears, doubts or negativities to grow. Steadfast, passionate and persevering is the nature of a surrendered heart, who does not sway at circumstances or in rough times, because it always trusts and obeys.

Perhaps it is the transformation of our hearts and minds, a realization of who we really are, after the initial rude shock of just how ugly one can be, that is masked within the worldly definitions of “greatness” or “helping one another”, to the realization of a need of finding someone out there who is affirming or loving enough to see past all these flaws of ours and to know that we are loved.

Does this Lover exist at all or possessing a surrendered heart a possibility or is it a mere fragment of my own vivid imagination - It is a choice we all make, to decide which world we intend to live in and from. Perhaps to some, I’m only a dreamer but I certainly do enjoy chasing down the roads of my random thoughts, to realize the way I was made, designed and to enjoy the way I am! How everyone was made unique and different, I came to a conclusion that once again left me in awe and splendor of this great and grand weaver, who is ever so visionary.

I think about this oncoming wave of laid down lovers, one can’t wait but to marvel, behold and get all excited about discovering what lies within each of us - every single one of us and it is exciting times indeed!

Whoops, I just checked the last update, and realized Iʼve been not updating since the New Year, so Iʼve been asked what is life is like up in the village or how does East Timor actually looks like.

Life in Liquicia is a little different from life back at Dili. (Top left: A house in the village and the mountains/hills in the background)
Market Day is once a week, unlike how it was in Dili, where it was way more convenient where I could get my vegetables on demand, a stone throwʼs away.

Teaching English remains, from the youths and young adults to these Sec 1 students in school. Tables and chairs are better here and I actually have “special guests” that follows me around school. This is Blacknose (I have doggie company here), he actually walked me from home to the school and into the classroom, which was hilarious as I introduced myself and him to the class, on my first day of lesson to the students, like a prop?

Kids program is also conducted for the children in the community, where they sing songs and learn some English through stories or through pictures and drawings.

One of the most fulfilling part of teaching English that I love apart from creating my funny cartoon drawings, is teaching young toddlers how to hold a pencil and to write. It is totally empowering to watch how these tods how the pencil in complete concentration, in attempt to complete a “Aa” exercise.












Iʼve actually picked up a new hobby here while attempting to cook my 48 meals here and have finally perfected my art of my “veggie/minestrone soup” copy in Uncle Kim Chyeʼs kitchen that Iʼve discovered the joy in cooking (with good knives and Tefal pans and great pots and stove), is quite like music - practice till you get it right and be creative in your ingredients mix eh?

My housemates (ཬն๨ included) for a week, we relived good old classic times of playing board games - Mastermind anyone? If you ever intend to get SY to talk more, play Mastermind with him.

Life in the village goes back to a little good old classic days. Blasting “Jacky Cheung” on the speakers to bring a little Chinese feel in another land, wishing everyone a Blessed Chinese New Year!

Some things to pray for:

- Pray for continual strength, good health (there is a flu bug going around back in Dili :/) (Iʼve got a 4.5 hrs of lessons straight for my first lessons to 3 classes for me and Luis tomorrow!), grace and love to unite us (the bunch of Indonesian missionaries and a local here), as we go about continue serving the community through the English and Children Programs.

- Pray for the remaining time in Liquicia, though a short one, to be a time where people will be able to catch a glimpse or experience His love for the people and children here.

- Pray for less power outages, it can be quite disabling living without lights and electricity due to the long periods of outages or the frequency of it.

Thank yous and with love, Joy Joy

PS: The title suppose to be in Chinese, didn't appear.

Greetings and a Happy 2012, with the start of another year, I should start the updates again, after December 2011 came in a jiffy and I was on my way to Liquicia on Boxing Day.

December had tons of visitors, with teams from both Kum Yan Methodist and COOS and with my sister, appearing as special guest of a speech judge and a prize presenter to the coloring contest, Shih Yang as the guest photographer for the kids graduation ceremony, it was really good to see how everyone contributed and served the kids around the community, regardless of where we were from.

The children had programs focused upon the theme of “I am Special” while the teens had the theme of “Princes and Princesses” for the boys and girls respectively.

The highlights of the program had to be the segment of a reconciliation between the bigger brothers and the younger boys, where there was a time of healing and forgiveness, as our male teachers stood in proxy of the younger kidsʼs older brothers, as they hugged the younger kids.

The younger boys tend to get picked on or treated roughly by their older brothers, and I heard so much stories and testimonies about it, such a wonderful time!

The girls managed to get dressed up as princesses, and a time for them to feel and look good about themselves!







New Yearʼs Eve was spent with a feast at Uncle Kim Chye/Aunty Jennyʼs (yeap, thatʼs him holding the Ketupats), together with the Indonesian missionaries who are working in Liquicia, sharing a meal together and watching Thor projected on a big screen and a great Skype/call sessions I had with my beloveds.








So what am I doing over at Liquicia if some of you are wondering?! Children and teaching English still remains, as I now work with the Liquicia team over here. Interestingly, I finally got a chance to observe, study and use the Cocoon Module that they have developed, to teach English at an introductory level, since Iʼm now teaching the Indonesian Missionaries with the module too. It does make me wonder from time to time, how on earth did I pick up my English, that learning it and trying to now teach the concepts of it is another ball game altogether - but all is good :)

Will update more with pictures of how Liquicia looks like and some of the cute

Meanwhile, prayer pointers continues!

- Please do pray for continued good health and good rest (yes, again! the dogs/chickens are quite something here!) I have just recovered from another bout of fever/flu again!

- Grace, favor and wisdom as I work with the Indonesian Missionaries that are here, as we share our lives, teach, learn and work together, pray for a spirit of love, humility and unity to bind us altogether, even though Iʼm here for just a month!

- Pray for the children and people of the community, that as they come into contact with the team, that they will experience His love and see a transformation take place in Liquicia

- Will be teaching English to the Liquicia youths soon, pray for good bilingualism (Tetun- English, English-Tetun) and a good time together!

That will it for now, thank you for praying! Loves,
Joy Joy

Another week, and this week has been seeing the rains more often - the rainy seasons are in and you get the occasional waddling through muddy, murky waters that fills your slippers as you make your way around. It also means extended time for story telling after kids club since the kids hang around as they wait for the rain to clear up a little, before heading back home!

There is always something magical about story telling and a big book, which seems to gather all the kidsʼ attention at a time, who are ever so eager to know what happens when the next page comes.

We had a coloring competition for the kids too - “My Timor, My future” was the theme, to let them know of the possibilities of having tall skyscrapers, and city looking buildings, that they know exists not in their nation, that Teacher LS was explaining, they could just possibly be able to see it in their lifetimes if they believe and work hard towards developing this nation together.

So they colored to the city looking picture I drew a couple of weeks back, and it was amusing how all of them took much time and effort to do up the picture, since they rarely do, with regards to coloring on the worksheets they work on before the kids club lessons begin. Perhaps the word, “competition” made them serious about their coloring and I still havenʼt have a clue yet, as to how to pick the winners yet, since they all look so nice.

While I was working on the storyboards of Siko and Bobo one of the days, this young boy came up to me, as many of them has seen me draw and stood there and just wowed at what they saw and said how nice it looked. He browsed through the entire drawings I had and he asked if he could have a piece of paper and a pencil, and he picked the picture that he liked most, and decided to start tracing the picture out.

It took me by surprise, because no one has ever asked and done what he did, but what was more surprising, was the picture he chose to replicate! It definitely wasnʼt one that I would choose, I mean I thought I had much more interesting and better looking pictures around, but he chose the one that I thought was actually the “ugliest” and the one that I was probably the least confident about.

So he drew the picture of Siko growing fat, and found a marker later, to trace it out, to look just like the one I drew. It was encouraging to watch him draw, that at times, the best way to learn, is simply through modeling after something that is of your interest. I started drawing too, through modeling what I see from a picture/book, and tried to replicate it as best as I could!

It is always humbling to have someone replicate something that you drew, regardless if the person was just a kid, but the entire incident made me redefine again what beauty meant and that it is always different to the eyes of the beholder.The picture that I thought was ugly was pretty in his and it felt like a God moment - to realize and to look at things, through His lenses and not mine and the importance and roles of models/modeling.

I took a hand at trying out, how to cut your own hair too, ever since I heard Francs doing it, I have been toying with the idea and since it will be the only chance to try it here and should the experiment fail, Iʼm away from home, no one would know right! It turned out alright, and it was actually real fun doing it.

This is my favorite baby from church - called Judah, who is a friendly baby that lets you carry him and smiles at you every time you make him happy enough :) Naza is in the picture, because she always catches me with the kids that I keep going “so cute” and she will go, “take picture!”.

She has been attending church with us more often lately. Since most of the people here come from a Catholic background, we donʼt go on insisting that they have to attend the Protestant church but we focus on studying the bible together, that draws us together, in regards to the teachers that we disciple.

Often, the gradual transition and transformation happens, when they become convicted enough by God, they make the switch to attend the Protestant church more regularly. All these doesnʼt go on easy, because of the persecution, verbal accusations that they receive at times from their own family, friends or just the community that they live in.

Things to pray for:

- Pray for Naza as she embarks on this journey of faith, as she digs deeper into seeking more of Him. She is down with Guardia (a stomach parasite) right now and pray for healing to be upon her

- Pray for the entire team and the local teachers too, for good rest every night and good health and for us all, to be focused upon Him as we share our lives and journey together. I believe God is moving among the local teachers, each in His special ways individually, pray that they will draw closer to Him as He draws closer to them.

- 2 teams will be coming in December, one from COOS and another from Kum Yan
Methodist, pray that God will use them in a mighty and powerful manner, that the
message of “I am Special”, will be brought to the children, that the kids will know that they are His precious sons and daughters. Pray that the team themselves will experience God in a whole new ways and be touched by Him :)

- My mom and sis who are visiting - I am actually really apprehensive about my mom! Pray that God will grant them the grace that the trip will a great one, to be able to view the
work here as not as hardships, but a focus unto the beauty of what God is doing in the midst of the people and in this nation. Pray that both of them will experience God in a whole new manner and a touch from Him and to know of His love for them.

- Cocoon as they journey on as an NGO (yes thanksgiving to God for a smooth and fast process of registering), that we will be open to any new ways of doing things/ programmes (eg. Soccer league for the kids?) that is upon Godʼs heart. Pray for His wisdom and revelation to be poured forth.
Alrightys, that shall be it for now! Thank you for praying, keep it coming! Loves,
Joy Joy

This week flew by really quickly! Monday was a public holiday over at Timor (yes, they do have a lot more PHs during the month of November!), and so, LS, Dawn and I decided to head down to a cafe that is set up by 2 Brazilian missionaries, to train women who were abused, so they will still be able to have a vocation. We spent the remaining time just talking about the programs, planning for the coming December, where there will be 2 teams coming both from COOS and from Kum Yan Methodist, which to me felt weird, planning from the receiving end, the overview of the programs, which is going to be focused on purity, valuing oneself for the girls and to make right decisions for the boys.

Before the build up to the weekends which, was a staff retreat for the teachers, Siko was in the making, and making preparations for a short sharing on worship.

The retreat was focused on the topic of purity and the gender roles of men and women, which in this culture, the women often end up being less valued than the way they should be.

It was a nightʼs stay at Beachside Hotel (which was started up by an Australian couple, great, clean place and bunks at USD$20/head) if you intend to come to Dili, and it is by the seaside, with a nice cafe by the beach ;)

Perhaps it has been some time since I saw nice rooms, even this simple room feels like such a luxury, that one of the teachers said, “one day, my dream is to have a room like this”, and it made me wonder how we Singaporeans do not think much of the rooms we have!

I really love this ice breaking game that we did, which was to write our names on a piece of paper, and then have it stuck on our backs, and we go around, writing affirming words on one otherʼs back. I received words like “courageous, youʼre a good girl, good heart, God loves you and those caps word spells, “MUST SPEAK TETUN”, haha. I tend to speak English with these teachers! It is the students that I end up speaking most of my Tetun to, and my Tetun teacher.

The retreat was amazing, just by the way how God moved and worked among us, as we shared from our pasts, our date/relationship stories, to our confessions, that there was this openness to share with one another, that the bonds we had with one another, was not merely constrained to a cordial work or friends relationship, but one that geared towards a family oriented relationship - one that valued, cared and loved one another enough, to journey with one another. I felt that there was a shift in the way, how both genders viewed one another, how we could value one another and treat one another better, and hopefully, be close enough to one another, to form accountability partners, to help look out for one another.

This was the view I had, as I waited for my Bakso, sitting with my legs dangling off from a wall, singing on the guitar to the greatest Lover on earth, made me feel very blessed, happy and thankful, of just being able to do my favorite thing at the moment as the sun was setting - what a beautiful and rare sight! (how many sunsets do I get to sing to Him?!)

Sometimes, we are just too busy to realize the simplest things in life that can bring us so much joy, like a bowl of Bakso! It is the best I had, since I have been here. It has an added egg and fried tofu on it, LS gladly allowed me to have a tofu in there regardless how much it cost (USD$0.25), so I was a happy kid!

For a complete experience of eating Bakso, it has to be bought from a dude who sells it on a bike, (yes, his entire stall is attached on a motorbike, and it is piping hot).As you wait for your turn (the bowls are reused, just donʼt think about how the washing goes about), find a spot, squat and eat it- just like how it is done here, soupy food is always comfort and happy food.

Li Shan led worship on Sunday, during service and I played the guitar (bye chord sheets!), and it was just great worshipping with the voices of the congregation to a guitar, realizing that our voices indeed is the greatest instrument that God has given to us all.

I wished I had Uncle Tony around to borrow a pick from (I would always find him, heʼs came from a special pick wallet!), I completely forgot about it and since I rarely used it here, because no one uses it here and the guitar couldnʼt be plugged in or mic-ed up - sure in the midst of worshipping, the fingers felt fine until I was resting and wondering why does my right fingers hurt so much - it actually bled and I never realized it the entire time. I suppose I finally understood now, how the harpists feels and the thought of it all that it was gross and extreme?

I suppose, there is always something to give thanks for :)

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus for you”
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Praying without ceasing?
- Cocoon has completed the process of being registered as an NGO, godspeed and with much favor, thank you Jesus!

- We all to be well rested and in good health, as we prepare for the teams and people who are coming in two weeks time! Since God never does anything without a purpose, pray for His will to be done and for the kids (and to any divine meetup/appointment/person) to experience and know of His love and for the teams to experience Him in the ways they have not encountered Him yet. (yeap, His heavenly will on earth, as it is in heaven!)

Thank you and with much love,
Joy Joy

This week has been a little different, since we had 2 public holidays during the week, All Souls and All Saints Day and we decided to do things differently, by taking time off to clear out the 4 rooms we have at the back of the library. It was incredibly filthy and filled with cockroaches running around, which I was spared from, as I had language lessons.

We had lunch altogether and then proceeded to weed out the area with the student teachers, so we could enlarge the drains to prepare for the incoming wet and rainy season. It was quite some back breaking work to realize Iʼm not getting any younger but still nonetheless fun and to realize how hardy those weeds were!

A sink fell on Monday, apparently for no reason and thankfully, we didnʼt have any casualties even though there was a kid inside, moments to give praises and thanks to Jesus for!

Apart from that, we celebrated the birthdays of those born in the month of October, that saw one of the younger students, Bobo praying for Francs, which was quite a sight to behold :)

We played the blanket game too with the kids, which was really fun where the teachers themselves, ended up playing and screaming at each otherʼs name, which really has been building up the bonds and relationships among one another, eating, working and sharing faith together, good stuff!

With things being a little different most of the week, I thought I tried something different from a typical day of cooking, and tried to have some creativity with food too and it turned out somewhat Mediterranean, perhaps with the ingredients used, of long beans, tomatoes and fish and onions, it was gone quick too.

One thing that I have learnt over here, is often to throw away the “old” ways of doing things and to embrace the “new”, to forget about chord sheets when Iʼm worshipping and the recipes when Iʼm cooking, and to learn the art of redoing things either by the work of a vague memory and by refining it by doing it till you get it right, which has been fun in all ways, to realize how I have been limiting myself, not wanting to try new calibrations that at times, forbids me from realizing some pleasant and nice surprises, like this fishy dish:)


The weekend was spent, holding football friendlies with the youths of the Nazarene Church, because of the sheer number of kids who turned up, which was like most of the kids in town, we needed 2 sessions :) There is something about boys and soccer and it is a worldwide phenomenon! They came all decked out in their gears, jerseys and boots.

Just when I thought the “song tiao” was the coolest and funnest transport, come to Dili, and try this pick up that transported about 40+ kids off to the nearby Dili Institute of Technology! Of course the pickup here doesnʼt have as much pick up as the song tiaos, but it was crazy!

Sundayʼs match turned up wet and soggy and all it took was perhaps 30 minutes to an hours of rain to turn the pitch into some mud land! It floods here easily once the rain pours and decides not to stop and this was the result of a couple of hours of rain (the importance of drainage systems!)Yeah, where is the pitch? It is to the left of the tree where there is an entire mass of water and because of the lightning, we had to halt the game and head into shelter, which most of the time was spent feeding them water and with Tiger Biscuits (It is energy biscuits for a reason!)

In all, it is one of those “same same, but different”, another week but one of those week that seems similar, but yet so different (I wonder if that made sense), Iʼll end off with a shot with my beloved, special boy that I always end up smiling at secretly, when I am observing him, I manage to take a self- shot with him - Atito!

Keep the prayers coming :)

-Weʼre thinking or not to proceed on, to take this soccer friendlies up to another notch, where the word of God is infused into the friendlies. We are not too sure about it, so pray for wisdom how this may come about.
-Students/Teachers/Kids: Pray as you are led, Iʼm sure God is doing something in the lives of all of them.

Loves,
Joy Joy

I created this with the fridge magnets that was left unused with the selection of words that I had left - It is SLʼs, and yes! I myself am very amused by these fridge magnets that I think I would love to get them too, when I am back. SL herself is quite a wordsmith, so I thought I made an attempt on poetry, on the people I spend so much time with, and the very reason that brought me here to spend time with them - Children and what I thought of them :) (probably inspired by my own childhood, because I love to play house, fall down ever so often and have this purple/yellow solution applied on the scabs off my elbows and knees, ask the strangest questions of whys and whens and if I could company my sis every time she goes out!)

These very special beings is as to what Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them for to such belongs the kingdom of God”. (Luke 18:16). I thought I should spend this update focusing on them and how special they are, and as if it wasnʼt enough, I was reading “The Shack” and one of the side quotes was italicized - “The soul is being healed by being with children”.

Children here at times take a different concept as to what I am often used to, contrary to what I thought how they should be protected, treated and loved. At times, because of the sheer number of children that the parents have, who are often too busy or overwhelmed by life in itself, tend to leave their children on their own. This will include that the children themselves will have to take note when are the days for kids club, or the teachers (ourselves) will have to go reminding the kids to go for their showers and then head to the library for kids club. Yes, this will mean that the kids shower and dress themselves with the aid of probably their older siblings at most.

Back at home, I tend to hear the many stories of how our parents goes on nagging if we have done our homework, showered, eaten, how was school, what did we do or eat the entire day, and it suddenly dawned on me that that nagging itself is love and how we tend to complain about how our parents should be giving us a break eh? Bless our parents who does such a great job :)

With so much time spent watching and being with children, it is hard to not fall deeper in love with them and how they have the beauty of going past and through your defenses, without you even realizing it and soon enough, you canʼt help but love them more than enough, regardless of how naughty they are, how they often end up smacking or beating each other, but still love them ever the same and I was strucked by this particular thought one day - “can you ever imagine how much more our Father in Heaven loves us all?”

A kid whom I deemed as “the bully” has somewhat won my heart, called Akoli and he is on the naughtier side. I havenʼt yet found anyone who has refuted my theory, that the naughtier kids are often the smarter kids around, that the teachers will have to discover the one thing they are good at if they may not be that academically inclined, iʼm sure they are gifted at some other areas!

It is magical when small moments like these happen, without you realizing, how he came up to me while we were walking to the library and how he placed his hands unto mine, and loves to ask “what is my name” in English and what is it that I am holding, whoʼs is it, that reveals the heart and the nature of kids, that we are all created, to be good and pure.

The older kids did what the younger kids did last week - making their promises of helping one another on the pledge card, love the drawings and colors :)

I have been massively drawing this week, perhaps trying to get the pictures of what Timor will be like in 2020, before the public holidays sets in next week!




I hope the drawings help the kids to gather ideas and perspectives that they will dream, or in that sense to think about what they will like to have for themselves in the future. I donʼt think I have drawn any architecture/rooms on a basis like that but I suppose, to every thing that has their first time, it was enjoyable, I have always wanted to draw my own made- belief city landscape in which I finally did!



With children, there must be games, so here is a game we came up together to get the kids to learn how to help one another, similar to the pass the chair game, but they are stepping on egg trays and to make it a little harder for these little ones, just place 2-3 kids on a tray! It was so funny and fun to watch them play.

Apart from these little joys that keeps me, I have big obvious joys that are displayed wide across the skies, as though God is telling and speaking to me in His ways and through His creation of colors, timing and light (sounds like photography?), the entire sky was purple as I walked towards home from the library, I stood staring at the skies that was one of those special moments, and gone the next moment I was home, it was dark. It was one of those moment if you missed it, or was too caught up with something, you probably wonʼt get to see it and the typical me, was secretly excited and grinning from ear to ear - happy of course!

There will be 2 public holidays in the coming week - The All Souls and All Saints Day on Tuesday and Wednesday, and we will likely have a day of rest on Tuesday and have a clean up, fellowship/bible study/worship/room dedication and a barbecue dinner on Wednesday, as we take over the 4 rooms at the back of the library, and extend our facilities and Saturday will be soccer day, where the kids will be involved in some friendlies around.

Do pray for:

- The rooms that serves as a form of extension, for cleansing and for wisdom as to what to do with the rooms and how to decorate/furnish the rooms

- No injuries or fights, as the kids go on their soccer day on Saturday and for good weather

- Students/Teachers/Kids: It is the same request week in and out, haha and it still is. Pray as you get led then, Iʼm sure God is doing something in the lives of all of them.

- Me: I have just recovered from a bout of stomachaches that leaves me in a mix of a bad/ weak stomach and the want to puke, took time off to rest but pray for full recovery (it has been 2 days) and I hope it will all be cleared up and good!

- The teamʼs health: Pray that we will all be kept in a clear and good bout of health, NO STOMACHACHES (urgh), as the team have a “different week” with the clean ups and barbecue, begins preparation/planning for December (we have 2 teams, my mom and sis and Shih Yang!) and that me and another one team mate will be making a border run in mid/end November - good and great health will be welcomed!

- Pray for good rest too during the nights, for deep, restful, undisturbed rest for us all too :) As the Lord leads, thanks for the prayers and keep them coming,
Loves, Joy Joy