CtYF NTM 5 - KING's Birthday!

5 December, the birthday of Thai King, also celebrated as Father's Day in Thailand, plus public holiday for whole nation. This was also the day that the 3 youths would be joining us after all.

We woke up later than usual, at about 7.30am, did QT and breakfast. Eld Boon did the 3rd and the last day of Leadership training thingy while the YFers conducted an English Lesson for the BDC kids. Heard they had much fun learning some English words, like body parts.

I was busy preparing and sorting out the clues for treasure hunt (to be played in the afternoon during Indoor Games), with the intermittent help of Joanne (who had to be called to help in English Lessons for very short periods). Popeye helped me to get colour papers from the shop outside after my miserably-failed attempt to communicate with the lady in the shop. I needed one colour code for each group and i believed there were 6 in total. There were 5 photo clues and 2 written clues for each group. Written clues were a Bible Verse & the other lyrics of a common hymn in the lahu hymnal. We sought the advice of Warunee if we should put words like "look for this verse or song" in the clue itself or just write the words and let them figure out what it was all about. All of us concluded that most people would get the hint if they read a short portion of verse or lyrics and head straight to the bible or hymnal. And so, Warunee helped to write the verses and lyrics and we wrapped all the clues nicely in clear plastic bags.

Here are some of the photos taken and used as clues (all of which i could not tell where it was) :(

Billy, the interpreter for Eld Boon in the leadership thingy, came over during break and looked thro all the photos. Oh man... he could tell the origin of every single one of them.... hmmm.... so perhaps the photo clues might not be too hard after all.

During lunch, Joanne & I sneaked into the main worship hall to place the clues in 6 random bibles and hymnals belonging to the BDC kids. After lunch the indoor games began. We had to keep all the BDC children plus our CtYFers in the main worship hall so that we could stick the remaining clues. Xiao Fen, the games master, got them to play some action games while we set to work.

We joined the rest in the worship hall subsequently and participated in the game of getting to know one another's names. Sitting in a circle, the first person (randomly picked) started off saying his/her name. The next one to the right would repeat this person's name and his/her own. It carried on until it reached the last person. This was played 3-4 times with different person starting. It was a challenge to remember the names and even more challenging to remember them in unfamiliar thai words. Incidentally, i remembered Robert (in CHOL) naming his children with a Biblical name and some of them had names after us, like Boaz, Amoz, Rachel, Sarah, Isaac, etc. One thing is for sure, he didnt name his children after Shing, who took to this temporary one-time off name of FRESH...hahahha...coined after his chinese name of Shing Shyan, which could be read as 新鲜! This name came about because the Thai kids had difficulty remembering our chinese names and now i have difficulty remembering their thai names....lol! Maybe it was just the aging me, the CtYFers seemed proficient in this and they could identify the BDC kids at one glance, even those who are twins. Amazing!

We were then led to the outdoor compound to play this picture and memory game. Each group lined in single file with one representative to run out at the count of start.

He/she would have to run round a chair 5 times which was placed in the middle of the stretch.

Before one could regain his/her composure, had to run to the games master to look intently at a drawn picture. Remember the details as much as one could, run back to the group and start drawing on a blank piece of paper.

Meanwhile, the 2nd person of that group would repeat this and come back with whatever details he/she could remember and help to complete the picture. Everyone had to go one time and thereafter the group could send anyone with a supposedly photographic memory to try to complete the game fast. This person could go as many times as he/she needed. For my group, JS went the most and he was very sporty too. All in all, there were about 3 pictures being played but we only had to memorize one at a time. Under the hot afternoon sun, brain juices plus feet and hands were put to great use that day :)

Judges & bystanders!

Final entries!

Treasure hunt was next!!! Popeye explaining the rules and details and off they went to hunt!!!

Sigh.....during the preparation in the morning, Joanne & I went thro the clues step by step to ensure we didnt mix up but alas, guess i made a mistake for one group, who during the game supposedly to move from 5th clue to 6th, went straight to obtain the final 8th clue, which was a piece of paper congratulating them and with a hint to find the game master to end the game... :(

And quite a number of them didnt know how to proceed when they got the Bible verse or Lyrics clue. I had to prompt them. And it seemed that while searching thro bibles and hymnals, the objects were handled in a rough way and perhaps some pages were torn off too. Oh man... this wasnt what i had foresaw....blah....a mistake learned.

Thank God most of them enjoyed... esp BDC kids coz it was their first at treasure hunting :)

2nd night Youth seminar went on smoothly with the creation video being shown. I slipped out half way to go to airport with Warunee to fetch the 3 youths. Before i left, instructed JH to see to the Father's Day celebration. I reckoned i wouldnt be back in time for that. Warunee had gotten a 4kg cake to be made before hand (a shop in town) for celebration and giving thanks after the seminar. it would also include all the fathers present that night.

Upon our return, was told there were some hiccups. Firstly, she left slightly b4 the end of seminar to get the cake ready and to lite it up. But she couldnt locate lighter or candles. And then when she returned to tell all to come, no one kept the people in the hall and everyone was dismissed and did their own thing. And so they had to re-gather all at the tent area, sang, prayed and ate up the cake. Heard from Shingy that it looked very nice but didnt taste as nice tho. Hmmm, i have no pics to show the cake nor the celebration. Wondering why no one took photos then.... perhaps all too hungry.

We had our final Cantata practice after that, despite tired bodies. It was necessary as the next day would be the Sports Day followed by the Gospel prog in the night. We worked till 11pm and Jamesy and Shingy had much work to do to coordinate and sing together, as in pronouncing it. Nevermind the blunder of Shing copying wrongly for James and both versions different....hmmmm.... Isaac & JJ had to work out their high parts and the ending too. The PA system didnt work too well that night coz we plugged into a faulty channel. That night, i prayed that the PA would not fail us during the actual programme as we had no live instrumentalist but only an audio CD for accompaniment. Couldnt remember what i dreamed that night but i guess it werent a nightmare or else i would have remembered and jotted down.

Oh yes!!!! I did have a nightmare but not in dreams. Oh man, guess i drank too much water and had to go to toilet in the middle of the night. I woke up and almost screamed my head off....why because i thought SCREAM character was just beside me and going to knife me up into pieces. When i looked clearly, it was just the rope of hanging towels and shirts and pants that somehow from where i slept angle, resembled a human figure with hood over the head. Thank God i didnt scream but blinked my eyes to see one more time. Haha.. i gave myself a scare tho. And why would there even be a SCREAM character for me to think of.....Strange..i didnt handle the knife to cut cake earlier on.........hmmmm....

CtYF NTM 4 - Beginning of "Plague" ???

Rise and Shine at 4.30am and Morning Devotion at 5am......2nd day and we made it! James continued on to Psalm 64 exhorting us to follow David's example of prayer and joy in the midst of his enemies.

At 6am, a few of us went back to take a short nap and i concluded on this morning that it didnt work for me. I woke up feeling more giddy and sense of being unwell.... as in not being alert and of sound mind :( Shall not do it again for next morning D.

Breakfast was my usual 2 slices of bread and yummy yummy soup!!!! Mmmmm....hot soup cooked by aunty Leah never tasted so lovely, tasty and warm.

Eld Boon continued with the Leadership training while the rest of the YFers went back to fence making and the deco team set to work with the stuff we bought the day before. Joanne was the i/c and their team had planned to put up a star, 3 wise men and silhouette of Jerusalem buildings set in a starry night. Empty boxes from Warunee and the shop next door to BDC were being wrapped up as presents placed at the edge of the stage to spice it up.

Sis Boon Choo from Truth arrived the night before and she helped with the deco.

James used the white rope and spend hours making this....beautiful right?

Here's the completed look of the stage deco:

WHere were the fence-making team and how was their progress? They were so fast and efficient that all the bamboos previously purchased by uncle Chalo were all used up and had to wait for fresh purchase and supply :)

We had our Cantata practice in the afternoon without the 3 boys who were scheduled to come on 5 Dec. Isaac was to sing together with JJ The Holy Night song and he needed JJ to sing the high notes and parts....and so i believe he prayed real hard for JJ & the other 2 boys to make it. Initially it appeared as they would not be able to come due to the airport siege, but we were told airport would be opened in time for King's Birthday (5 Dec) and so the rest is history. They made it!! (read more of this in previous blog for details). James & Shing did a duet together, Jia Hui & Eld Boon did a solo each.

At 4pm sharp, the bell rang and YFers gleaned with joy..... Volleyball time. I continued to work with James and Shing for a while before they went off to play. Thereafter i recorded the voices of some girls in BDC and Billy. This was for the Cantata narration and story in Lahu.

Eld Boon was feeling very full that night.... how not to after eating so many goreng pisang in the day and so he skipped his dinner. The rest of us ate our meal albeit an early one at 5.50pm. The 1st caroling session were to start at 7pm and we had to be ready by then. BUT I had not gotten a shower yet. Argh..... and the girls went crazy over the styling of hair style. Well actually it was Joanne who started it, as in she asked me to tie her hair. I did the 2 french pleats thingy and so it was suggested CtYF girls go in pleats for the night. I had only 1 pair of hands and time was running out....managed to do for Simone and Jia Hui....hmmm cant remember if i did for Xiao Fen and Jolene... oh man, my memory is really bad. The girls were enthusiastic about this idea and so they decided and requested that i do the same thing for them in the next caroling session and this time, for all of them!

Then Sheryl told me she felt unwell. i tested her temperature. It was 38 and since she brought her own fever medicine, i didnt have to dispense my supply. I remember vividly last year Hilda was the one who fell ill on caroling night and aunty Leah or some lady stayed with her in BDC while the rest went caroling. Looking at the stuff i had to prepare, especially for the next day treasure hunt (got to print out photos of the compound as clues), decided to stay back with Sheryl and let the adult ladies in BDC participate in caroling.

Waved good bye to everyone, checked that Sheryl was fast asleep, and finally i went for a quiet hot bath. It would be a long night as they had about 100 homes to cover (not sure if they did complete it) and so i had plenty of time to print out the photos in colour prints... thanks to Amy whose trusty Canon photo printer was on loan to me. Set to work immediately after the bath, carefully taking out the printer and couldnt wait to print. Alas, the photo paper was not in the box... they were purchased by Hong Kim before we left and he has handed to Jia Hui (JH). How hard can it be for me to search the girls' dorm, right? I did. Looked around her bag, under her bag and then all over the floor.....erh the dorm was super messy.... I COULDNT FIND IT. Oh boy, i really didnt want to waste the night away. Called Warunee, Billy and then Eld Boon... all no answer. Send a message too and all i could do then was to wait. I felt restless and hopeless.... blaming myself for not remembering the papers werent in the box (Amy has specifically told me to get the supply). SIGH.....there was nothing i could do except to wait for response from them. Took out my bible to read.

Nearly 45 mins after, Warunee returned my call and i asked to speak with JH and she told me it was in the dorm!!! HUH? WHere? Oh boy, tucked neatly at one corner on the only table in the room was the plastic bag of photo paper. Why didnt i see it earlier??? I really searched....blah....must have been too anxious to want to finish and so eyes were blinded. Thankfully, i loaded the papers and attached the camera to the printer. Made my selection of clues from the photos shot by Xiao Fen and Joanne earlier on in the day. Some i couldnt even made head or tail out of it and so decided not to print all but about 60-70% of it.

At 10.30pm, i felt like sleeping but i told myself i got to wait for their return. Guess i was too tired and started to doze off, only to be awaken at 11.50pm or so by the noise of vehicle and humans. I woke up to open the dorm's door for the girls to come in (it was latched from the inside). They were so happy, faces beaming with joy.... it must have been fun for them all, esp Jolene being her first time. Besides bubbling with so many stories to tell, they were hungry too.... and so permission granted to eat instant noodles and then retire to bed. Did i eat? Nah.... i went back to sleep. And it was amazing that i didnt hear the girls coming back from supper, neither the sound they produced while getting ready to sleep and the little talk they always had! Was it the weather or what...i slept thro all the noise.....hmmmm...perhaps credit should be given to the girls who were considerate and much care taken to make minimal noise??? I dont know and will never know but i do know my sleep pattern changed in BDC and i was thankful to God for the blessings of sweet slumber :)

What else happened today? I was told by the girls (a few days later) that an incident happened in our dorm. EEW... i was so glad i didnt know it that day or night. One of Eld Chalo's cat slipped into our dorm....wait... something very harmless and common.... yah.... but she PUKED!!!! Oh man, it must have been hideous and sickening with the cat's vomit. Xiao Fen, the one who let the cat into the dorm, cleaned up the mess and shooed it out. She must have done a fantastic job in the cleaning up coz i didnt smell a thing that night.... hahaha.....

Hmmmm.....VOMITING.....was the new plague that hit CtYF.....stay tuned for more to come.

CtYF NTM 3 - 2nd Day

3 December - we had an early start....5am Morning Devotion. James expounded on Psalm 63 urging us to seek God and seek the power of God. Looking at my scribbled notes in the NTM booklet (words slanted to one side and awfully hard to decipher....reminded me of that SUPER cold cold morning........I couldnt even hold the pen properly because i was wearing my leather gloves!!!! In fact, it was already cold the night before, as in when we were having the introduction and shoes & bags giving time. Warunee did tell me the temp taken this morning was about 9 degree.....bbbrrrrrrr.....

We were zombies after the morning D (6am to be exact). BDC kids went to perform their daily chores and erh....i, plus some of the girls and guys, went back to sleep. I was amazed i could doze off coz historically speaking, it was not in my genetic code to re-sleep in the day. Maybe the weather has a part to play. Anyhow, i slept lightly, not that kind of deep sound sleep i see in the girls and boys and of course in my own family. With the BDC kids doing chores, eating breakfast and washing plates just outside girls' dorm, it was hard for me to be in an uninterrupted dreamland. Nevertheless, thank God for the short nap.

8am was breakfast time and it was great with toasted bread in a winter morn. Warunee's mom cooked fantastic porridge for us and i took a little to try. Everyone was like "you must try", "it is very nice" and "yummy"..... but i couldnt take much coz i needed my two slices of bread, spread with Chiang Rai butter....so salty....hmmm..... I quickly keyed into my hp the very important items for my shopping list later:

KAYA
BUTTER (no salt type)

NUTELLA (for the YFers)
PEANUT BUTTER

Leadership training session kicked-start at 9am with Billy translating for Eld Boon. Warunee took us (Deco team girls and myself) to town to get the deco & food items. I had a lot of stuff to buy, as in food items. Very very essential would be INSTANT NOODLES!!! Supper for our Tengah folks...and bananas to clear our system.....a MUST HAVE.....but little did we know that some of our boys did not need bananas after all.....they purged on their own, starting from Shingy right after Cantata night :)

And so we purchased the deco and stationery stuff at the ONE and ONLY stationery shop in Chiang Rai town and proceeded to Big C to buy the food items. While shopping for James' slippers (couldnt remember if he forgot to bring or his old pair broke), the girls went crazy over photo taking and my trusty N95 was put to test.

Then they turned fanatical when we passed the toys section. Dont believe? Look!!!

"Oohhhhh..... sooooo...... cute.......sooooo......big.......and.........cuddly.........." went the 4 girls. Hmmmm.....honestly, i wanted to hug one too......hahahahahahha......

Look at one of the bears i have.......cute right???? Damsel bear in distress....

Alright, when we finally gotten all our stuff (including plastic bags for treasure hunt) and cloth to deco stage which was at another market area, it was over 1pm and oh boy, famished and food were the only words that we talked about as we returned.

Food was kept aside for us and it never tasted so nice. Thai chicken rice and nevermind if it wasnt presented well... it was delicious alright.

We had skit preparation after lunch and here are some pics to tell the story.

Hahahaha.....what happened Abel? Good conscience got snuffed by evil conscience???

Something happened during the skit prep. Ji Sheng (JS) broke the 2nd thingy in our trip. We were all sitting on the bamboo stage and discussing about the plot when suddenly i heard a CRACK sound. Turned to see and saw JS looking ever so guilty. He was also clueless. He got off where he was sitting and off the stage. Bending down to inspect, he found the answer.....one of the bamboo below him broke.....i would not even speculate if it was ever his weight...LOLS!

This is the underside of the stage and right smack inside was the broken bamboo.... maybe not visible from this angle. Kian Hwee and I were trying not to laugh out loud as JS struggled to keep a straight face. The rest of them continued in the discussion, oblivious to what was happening at our end. Soon we were unable to contain and burst out laughing and the whole group heard the story. More went to inspect the damage. With the ahem... expertise of our youths, the stage was declared safe and structure deemed stable. And so we proceeded with the practice.

At 4pm, it was Ring the Bell and Recreation time! Super happy for all the young people.

Even Eld Boon swung into action!




Sigh.... i didnt play and right now i couldnt recall what i did during this time..... oh yes, i was busy doing the accounts and sorting receipts and then had a bath. Think i was the last to bathe that day even though i didnt play.....hmmmmm

After dinner we had the first night of Youth Seminar. It was on Biblical Separation. Warunee interpreted for Eld Boon. Norman was the chairman of the night.

"Who wants to separate?" ME..... heeeeheeee..... no lah, i dont know what they were doing in this pic. Any other caption???

And so the YFers presented the short skit on a guy named PING PONG. He was a Christian and he chose the wrong company of friends.

Changing of wardrobe for the lead character..... PING PONG.... aka sean lee.

Thank God for the turnout that night, together with the leaders and pastors who attended the day seminar. We had a short debrief and prayer thereafter and retire to bed by 10 odd, not forgetting instant noodle supper.

Oh no, i forgot to mention the one very very significant thing that happened today..... FENCE MAKING! Our boys and some girls sweated out in the morning and they did a fantastic job, so much so that unc Chalo commented he was pleasantly surprised at the speed it went and the area that was fenced up at the end of it. Pics to savour..... :)

Inspection time by Unc Chalo.......with a banana in hand???? hhahahahahaahhaaha.......

Hmmm, our people worked very hard and a lot of them had cuts and bruises and aches and pain. Many of them never worked or laboured this way in their entire life.... and so it was their first and a memorable one indeed. Guess everyone slept very well that night after expanding their energy in the day........ zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..................

JUST posted the 1st Night & Day post on NTM.....pls scroll down before this Man & Woman entry :)