Sound of Silence

I don't really have a title watsoeva but this is basically wat i went thru d last 2 weeks o so...d 1st is me, d 2nd part is when God came into d picture...



Engulfed by total silence I didn't know what to say…

Jotting my thoughts down on paper was totally outta the question…

As though it's gonna help translate what's exactly been piling up in the core of my dented heart...

If it could be a color, pitch black would have well painted my disturbed mind…

Saving precious words for deep conversations seemed to be a valid excuse for the prolonged silence...

The silence I befriended and grew fond of…

Who would have thought the lowest decibel could be far greater in volume than the sound of a roaring thunder?

Unexpected occurrence…you left me baffled…

Silence…

Uninvited yet persistently it came, breaking the silence…

As though written in the air I heard every word whispered…

Tearing the separating veil this gentle voice reached for my reshaped heart…

A tone so calm coated in shades of the bluest deep ocean…

Words of comfort and hope it bestowed upon me without restraint…

None of which came cheap but I got 'em for free…

So real were they silence was kept at bay, waiting to just fade away…

Who would have thought silence could effortlessly be erased simply by letting the voice speak?

Predictably unusual…I'm mystified…

You broke the ice…

Cuz1am

Philippines Tour Day 11

Malaysia's Independence

The independence of Malaysia is different from much of the independence of other countries. What makes it so different? It is a peaceful independence achieved by holding talks with the British. No other country has ever done that before Malaysia. Addtionally, the Malaysian independence was realised by three people with different culture and religion. It is amazing how independence was gained that way. On the glorious day of 31 August 1957, Allahyarham Tunku Abdul Rahman proudly declared the independence of Malaya (now Malaysia) by shouting out "Merdeka" seven times at the Merdeka Stadium.

1a.m. is proud to be Malaysians and we believe that God has great plans for our nation. Please pray for us as we declare our 51st independence day.

Please go to our 1a.m youtube website to view our song “Malaysia Shout Your Praise” and you can download the song for free also at our website at www.1am.com.my .



God bless

1a.m. team

Day 9 and 10

Date : 9 May

Day : Wednesday

Event : We got up, had our breakfast. There we met 3 Singaporean guys who had just finished their NS training. They went skydiving and showed us the pictures. It sounds exciting but for me, it was too expensive. Everything is pretty expensive in NZ. All the fun stuff, was way out of our budget.

After breakfast, we went for a walk around town. It was a nice day and a great souvenir shop but was warned by Kel not to carry too much stuff.

We wanted to go to Subway but the offer was only for dinner so we walked back to the hostel for Maggi Mee. Praise the Lord for creating that! ;p

Today was “free and easy” day. We were given the freedom to do what we wanted. So we split into 2 groups.

1st group : PC, Kel, Charlene and TJ. They went hiking and had a toboggan ride. They had a fun and exciting time, ended up with aches and cramps.

2nd group: Dan, Neil and Cuz. They went walking. Lisa, on the other hand, stayed in to catch up on writing the blog. The weather wasn’t that nice, it rain.

Fact : We discovered that we all have different ideas and different interests.

Date : 10 May

Day : Thursday

Event : Morning - check out from the bed & breakfast and leave for the airport. We had to all go to the airport and then return the cars to the car rental company. It was all pretty organized.

At the airport, PC shared a story a from a Max Lucado book and about understanding one another. She then suggested that we all write notes of appreciation and of encouragement to one another. It was good, to promote unity. We all need to be in the right spirit and the right frame of mind if we are to be strong together. We need to be united in the spirit and heart.

Check in point : we always seem to have some form of challenge or other when it comes to this. It’s interesting that somehow or other, God pulls us through. We didn’t have to pay for excess weight. It’s also always very interesting to note that Daniel is always the one that has a bit of a snag(?) He had to go back to the check in point even after passing customs to check in his hand carry luggage. And it always seems that PC has to talk to the authorities to explain our situation. Thank God for leaders! ;p

God Moment: God is always looking out for us. We are so blessed. Every time we step out, even though we face challenges, God pulls through every time. Even in the instance of the luggage, the authorities here are pretty strict. They would charge $5 per kilo so we were quite worried because 2 of our bags were over the limit. But we are so grateful that God gave us safe passage and smooth travel.

Arrival in Auckland!

Alfred and Kelly came to the airport to pick us up. We were so very, very happy to see familiar faces. It’s great to have family wherever you go. ;p

We had to go get some food and stock up before we go to Alf’s home. Five, big guys to feed is no easy task. We went to Alf’s place and caught up, with our e-mails! It was quite funny to see 3 laptops hooked up on the dining table at the same time!

R & R : That night, we had dinner and fellowshipped with Ken and Millie. It was a surprise for us as we had met Millie at Christchurch on the day of the dedication of the new church. It was nice to see another familiar face. We chatted a bit and caught up. We had lamb, mushroom chicken and hell’s pizza. We then talked about the people and how they were like here; the culture, the style of worship. It’s very Israel Houghton here.

PC and Lisa had to stay at Pastor John’s place. It was a great place. .

Day 5

Date : 5 May 2007

Day : Saturday

Event : Prayer Conference by Pastor Bob Perry

God is taking back the music world by raising more and more Godly musicians. IHOP – Pastor Mike Bickle’s church.

Word : Acts 13:22

Interesting fact : Chris Tomlin’s songs are the most popular songs and most sung in the US.

1. Worship should be vertical – praise the name of the Lord, pray and sing the Psalms and scriptures. It’s not all about the horizontal – what we ask for, what we need, our petitions. The Cross’ vertical line is longer than the horizontal line. ;p We need to give worship and prayers more towards God then we will see God doing His miracles, salvation etc.

God is drawing His people into intimacy with Him; to grow to know Him more, and in knowing Him more, there’s power.

Event : We showed the community video *sigh* there were technical glitches again. However, we were all in good spirits. We wanted to convey the message that there are people out there, that need God’s love and we need to remember them.

During the worship, people were encountering God, getting touched and healed by the Father’s Hands. The Lord wanted to restore the people to Him; He wanted to heal them and their relationships. People were responding.

Lunch : We went to a Chinese Restaurant with Paul and his wife Tina, who’s a great cook. She makes a mean lasagna! Yum! But we were very blessed by the Filipinos that are there. They’re so warm.

Fun : We went to the city and visited a church, the landmark of Christchurch. The church is very historical, very old and pretty. There, in the middle of the city, you can see the people. We also visited a souvenir shop. Shopping, yay! ;p

Later we went to Ray and Gloria’s place to crash. We got to sleep! Yay! They guys chilled. Then it was time to get to church. We were to meet Pastor Bob Perry at his request. We didn’t know why but we went. PC knew him from long ago, though.

What a great time we had talking to him. we learnt so much just from that chat. We learnt that :-

1. when we obey God, others around us may not understand. He shared about what god wanted him to do and yet people around him did not see or agree.
2. We are pioneering a powerful worship movement – what we’ve done; coming out with an album, going to nations, etc. isn’t heard of in the Every Nation movement.
3. It’s very encouraging to have almost a whole band going full time – many can’t do what we do due to many things for e.g. support financially, support from the leaders, etc. We are so very, very blessed!
4. That prayer & worship is not a new thing but has been done since the old testament. That this is the end time generation, where in the book of revelation the waves of prayer and worship is the wave that we are going to see God move in these last days.

Later after service that night, we were again invited to Jody’s home for Pizza and dinner. We played games and fellowshipped. Jody’s parents are also pretty great. Her dad is a prison warden. We had a great time. For the games (Peckock! Peckock!), the Malaysians won – ahem! ;p

Day 3 and 4

Date : 3 May

Day : Thursday

Event : Morning Devotion together. The band prayed and shared what they heard from God. It’s amazing to see that all the Words that came were related and close. There’s a “new thing” that God wants to do in NZ and it’s going to be something great. God will give “new zeal”, “new life”. Word was Isaiah 42 and 51

Event : Going to UCSA to invite the students to the concert. It’s a bit scary and intimidating at first. But we’re doing this for a cause – this is mission. ;p

We were amazed to learn that all our food was so very well organized. The Kiwis are very organized people. They had everyone scheduled to cook food for us so that we don’t starve. I’m very thankful for that! ;p

They would come to church and lay out a spread for us each mealtime. We are so very blessed. We have home-cooked Kiwi food!

Band Dynamics workshop at night – didn’t go very well

It started late. There was time limitation. We were not organized. Some of us dragged on, some were too short. Conclusion : we needed to be more prepared.

We also began to learn that the Kiwis are very particular about time. No more “Malaysian timing”. Punctuality is good! ;p

Date : 4 May 2007

Day : Friday

Event : Morning Devotion together – PC shared about the prostitute and her attitude of worship. It was a reminder to all of us to have the right attitude/the right posture of worship. We should always remember that God knows our thoughts, our hearts, our intentions; He knows ALL. Even though what we way may not be what we feel inside. In short, we humans can be so deceptive.

Lisa’s personal thoughts: We learn that humility should always be our posture. We should always remember that every time we sing our songs and as we live our lives, we should practice it. It shouldn’t be just a form and worship should always be fresh – KEEP IT REAL!!!

Kel shared again on how God is going to move in this nation; how He’s going to bless New Zealand.

Event : Prayer Conference led by Pastor Bob Perry

Word : Isaiah 61 (sound familiar, guys? ;p)

Interesting fact : Worship and prayer is the next wave of the prayer movement. People nowadays want to have more, they want to know God in a greater measure. This is the cry of this generation! Prayer is also moving by music. David has done it.

Word : Knowing God Revelation 4 & 5 ( doesn’t that sound familiar? That’s the title of our last album) ;p

We ministered to the people with “My Father” leading them to encounter God, the Father. Though the people here are used to the R& B/Israel Houghton style, we feel that God really moved in the midst of the people. He had already begun to do a great work in the people. Many were touched. We also did My God Is So Big and Secret Place.

R & R : Jody took us to Hadley’s Park. That is a very beautiful and scenic park located in the city of Christchurch. It was very nice. We saw a lot of ducks and the little streams are so clean!

We then went to Jody’s home. It is very beautifully and artistically decorated. We got to meet Jade, who is a great girl, a worship leader with a great voice. Unfortunately, she’s got the flu. We also met Alicia, the cute and perky dancer. It’s was like a Girl’s afternoon out, away from the guys. That was nice. ;p

Fun : We went up to a hill, by the sea. The view was breathtaking. We prayed for Christchurch. We took pictures and then it was time to get back to church.

We went back to church later to attend the night conference

Day 1 and 2

Tuesday May 1st

Event:

Departure from church – PC was late! Rushed to the airport. Praise God we reached in time – SQ’s pretty strict…weight – always a problem. Uh-oh 5 kg overweight! Had to transfer a few thing from check-in luggage to hand-carry. Each extra kg is worth RM100?! We were a bit discouraged.

James and I prayed.

Word:

“Don’t let these events dampen your spirits”

Fun:

Charlene and Cuzario were the smallest – they sat at the back and were both squeezing theselves all the way to the airport. They didn’t say a word till they reached KLIA. When they arrived, they said, “ We survived” =)

it’s just the beginning – we should persevere to see what God has in store for us.

Event:

Transit in Singapore. Hung around the lounge in Changi. Had a cup of coffee and muffins – yum! Wrote the notes.

Wednesday May 2nd

Event:

Arrival at Christchurch. Wasn’t as cold as we thought it would be. Met by Paul, Chris (Pastor’s son), took us from the airport straight to the church. Met Pastor Bernhard and Pastor John. It’s a new church building. =)

The nation’s population 4 million ~ only 4% Christians (and probably not even active) ~ a great mission field. The impression we get is that it’s very “hard ground”. Relationship take a long time to build…it takes a long time to reach the lost. People are very laid back as well – apathetic, passive.

Met Jody, briefing on how we promote the concert, brainstorming via a survey. Going to the university campus (Canterbury) nearby.

Word:

It’s time for a breakthrough – Isaiah 13.

Fun:

Tea is equivalent to dinner time! Interesting…we had lunch then all of us slept – we were knocked out! Fish & chips – very very yummy and cheap! But not the healthiest.

Event:

Our 1st workshop – led by PC (on worship) and Dan (on sound). The song used – “My Father”. Presence of God was there – PC taught about the awesome power of the POG and how miracles happen through that; how we need to constantly seek God/ turn our face to Him. Kel + PC ministered on God’s love and God as the Father. Felt that God wanted to encourage and restore those that are far away – to restore lost relationship that, He wanted to shower His love.

Word:

Exod 29:42-46

Day 8

Day 8

It's time to go home to beautiful sunny Malaysia. We had only 2 ½ hours to do our shopping for gifts though we left in the morning as the traffic took us a while to move around.

Pastor Rouell just came back from Phillipines early in the morning that day but came to see us off at 4pm.He mentioned he heard so many great report from his pastors and the church members that they were all really bless by our ministry. He then drove us to the airport and while in the van, he shared with Kel that the weather should not be as good as it should during this time of the month. It should be scourging hot and the wind should be blowing hot air.

That was when we realise God did another miracle for us, He gave us a beautiful weather, He showered His rain down twice in that week we were there and we believe that the Holy Spirit ministered to the people of U.A.E. that week.

We are so bless by the people in U.A.E. The Pastors and the people there are all servants of God always ready to bless us. If you are reading this all you people of U.A.E. ... YOU GUYS ROCK!!! We thank the Lord for you all and we are so bless to have known our Every Nation family in U.A.E. Keep the flame burning hotter than the heat over there

Day 6

Day 6

We were given a tour of a beautiful hotel called the Madinet Jumeirah. It is built by the sea and the waterways are open i.e. the seawater flows into the waterways built in the hotel,felt like we were in Venice. It was an exotic and beautiful place, very romantic, ha ha! It's a famous spot. The architecture is beautiful. It looks like a Morroccon palace.

After the tour, it was time for us to have some fun! We went to the Wild Wadi.It was right next to the Burj Hotel (rated 7 star). It was fun for the guys. We played together. We were also blessed to know that one of the church members, Dong worked there so he could get us in for only dhl15 (normal price dhl150). We were so blessed.

During the drive to the malls and wid wadi, Pastor Aljay shared with us how inspired the worship team was. The fact that Daniel only 20 years old, TJ going 21, Cuz and Neil in their early 20's took the step of faith and showed what God can do with the talent God has given them, inspired many of their musicians who may be much more talented than us yet we were in faith to show that God can use us. What more with them who has greater talent and yet not use it for the glory of God.

He also mention that many people were SOLD OUT through the worship and preaching messages to know that they have a greater calling in Dubai not just their carrier but a purpose to reach out to the nation of U.A.E. We thank the Lord that God used us to inspire and challenge the people.

Then we went to one of the malls to have a look around. In that mall, there was the skiing place as well as a lot of shops.

Day 5

Day 5

We got up late today because we had such a late night on Friday. But this time, before we had lunch with the leaders, we got together. PC wanted us to take some time together to think, meditate on what we can be thankful for, and what God has taught or shown us during this trip. It was evident that God impacted each and every one of us. It's so profound and yet life-changing. Each shared 1 or 2 things that God has taught us, plus things that we are thankful for. I personally was so blessed!

Suddenly someone came in to announce that our chicken was ready. The announcer came in the form of Pastor Rouelle's son. We were also blessed with a giant pot of beef briyani and barbecued chicken!!!

After that, we prayed and got ready and headed out to the DECC Maranantha Hall. But before we did that, we went to the shopping mall near the DECC. It was very beautifully designed. The name of the mall was... We went to Starbucks to kill time and then we went to the DECC to prepare for the concert.

The hall is great, very big and spacious. Apparently Matt Redman did a concert in the same hall. We were expecting about 500-600 people.

By this time, our Sold Out cd's were all sold out! Our t-shirts as well. We're so blessed. We're so amazed.

The worship concert was supposed to start at 8.30 pm but we waited till 9pm to start. In the beginning, we didn't see that many people but towards the later part of the night, the hall filled up. It was fantastic.

Our line up this time was fewer songs:-

The Anthem

Freedom

Singing & Living

My Father

Breathe

All I Wanna Do

Blessed Draw

My God Is So Big

Always In My Heart (community video)

PC exaltation

Sold Out

PC exaltation

Lift The Name of Jesus

Dive In

The Presence of God was evident. Even from the start.

PC then gave a word of exaltation. It was about encouraging people to take little steps of faith wherever they were; she gave illustrations on David, as he was just doing his chore and to deliver food to his brothers in the battlefield and instead he became a hero because he was ready to move and to act in faith. The people were ministered by the Spirit. We felt that God told them that they can do it.

We were amazed at what God did at the concert. We could feel His presence and we found that we were also touched by His Spirit. We were doing our last encore which was " Dive In". The people yelled for more so we did "Freedom" again. In the middle of the song, Pastor Cathryn dragged Daniel to the front of the stage and he had no choice but to do a solo. He was in the flow of the Spirit. Then it was Cuzario's turn; as he beat the drums, you could tell that there was an anointing. Last but not least, was Tj! He seemed a little shocked at first but the Spirit took over and he belted out an amazing instrumental unto the Lord.It was unbelievable as they had never soloed in a concert before! All of them were amazed by how God used them.

Again, after everytime we do P&W, we prayed and gave thanks to our Lord for all that He's done and thankful that He's chosen us as His vessels. All Glory to God!!!

The concerts & workshop was finally over! It was a spiritual experience for all of us.

Day 3

Day 3

Today, we had Praise and Worship at Holy Trinity in Dubai and then the workshop later on at night.

We were given time to rest, we got up and did our devotion together. We were all asked to pray and meditate about what God wants to do and what God was saying to us personally, to share what was one thing or some things that we are grateful to God for. We were all expressing our thanks to the Lord and it was refreshing to always remember that.

During our devotion Kel shared that he felt that God wanted to heal the dry bones (Ezekiel 37) of the Christians in Dubai. He asked the Lord for a sign to confirm whether it's really from the Lord. In the morning, it rained and we all thought that it's normal since we often get rain in Malaysia. But we later found out that some people who have lived 5 years there only experience rain twice. We knew then that was a sign from the Lord that he wants to heal the dry bones. We also recalled the prophetic word that Pastor Mar prophesied that God is pouring His presence down on U.A.E. We were excited to see how God is moving.

During this time, Pastor Mary joined us and told us that did we know that there in our conccert 4 people came to accept Jesus as their savior. We thank the Lord truly " worship brings change". We did not even make a salvation call but because of the power and presence of God through worship that people can't help but know that He is truly a living God.That was our greatest desire in our worship to see people save and delivered.

The next thing, we went downtown for lunch at a local Filipino restaurant. It was interesting for a lot of us as that was the first time. We ate a lot and then returned to the Villa to get ready to get ready for Praise and Worship in Holy Trinity at 4.30 pm.

It was quite amazing to see the people in Dubai do their set up. Holy Trinity, like St Martin's is a compound that is the assigned place of worship. There were quite a number of churches in the same place. It's pretty amazing. Each church comes into a hall, at their scheduled time, take 15 minutes to set up their equipment, instruments, etc. and be ready to start their services. Service ends after 1 hour and a half and then they pack up their things in 15 minutes and leave so that the next church is able to come in and use the hall. It's something that makes us so grateful to God that we don't have to do this. They have such limited time. We are so blessed!

The line up for this service was :- Take It All, Dive in, Breathe, Cause I & I Lift the name of Jesus

Kel led worship and the service starts at 4.30 pm and finishes at 6pm. We then had to rush back to the Villa to get ready for Band Dynamics and Worship Leading for the Dubai P&W Teams.They call it the "WAP" teams.PC was left to preach the Word. She preached on Sold Out.Many of the people there gave their feedback that they were ministered and convicted by the message.

We had some technical glitches at Holy Trinity. The keyboard was set on "transposed" and so the whole time, we were in the wrong key and weren't able to do our best. Kel didn't anticipate. That taught us something. So straight after, we had to get back to the villa but due to the traffic, we got back at almost 8 pm to the Villa. This was for Band Dynamics and Worship Leading Workshop that was supposed to start at 8.30pm. We had to wait for the equipment, setting up, etc.. and we also had to wait for the people to get to the Villa after work. Many people finish work late plus the traffic doesn't help. We finally started our workshops by about 10 pm. We did the same as for Sharjah, except that this time, we had more time to finish everything as we paced ourselves better. By the time we finished, it was about 12.30 am. That was 4.30 am Malaysian time.

We were so bushed!!!But one thing, I'm very proud of us, is that we were all in great spirit and were united.