Lucy Wong

As mentioned in my previous post on ALC,  I was blown away by the time of prophecy where words of life and encouragement were poured into all of our hearts. Attached below is my prophesy which I have been listening to over and over again today, and the more I listen to it the more confident I am of God’s presence with me as God confirmed through the prophesy that He has heard my prayers and has seen my heart. I for some reason always thought that the burdens upon my heart were naive and immature, but for some reason God decided to take it seriously and is firming His call in my heart more and more. I’ve always felt fearful of proclaiming out by faith the burdens, dreams and visions that God has placed in my heart- but through the word of prophecy spoken out in the presence of my brothers and sisters, God used it to kick me out of my fearful little hole, and so now I’m accountable to many. I’ve posted the prophesy up here so that you all who read my blog can also keep me accountable. There’s no turning back now. Praise God for bringing these things out in the open for me

Ever since high school, I guess I’ve always known that God wanted to use me to reach the broken and especially those in extreme circumstances. Over the years, God has made that call more and more apparent as I’ve crossed paths with certain individuals in challenging circumstances, and through these experiences God has broken my heart more and more. For those who have followed on with my blog since last year, you would have read a poem that I wrote called Children in my Heart. I wrote it in response to a dream that I had of topless dark skinned Children dressed in red cloth living in some poverty stricken place in a hut made out of straw. I saw myself helping these kids and I still remember vividly how they looked, but I still have no clue where they might be from. Ever since then, God has continued to stir this burden in my heart for people, kids in particular, in extreme circumstances. Here’s the poem that I wrote a year ago:

Children in my heart (2007) 

I see you in my dreams My heart sinks at the sight of you, I’ve heard of you through prophecyBut I don’t know where to find you

I have read about you in magazinesI have searched for you in books,I have seen you on televisionI know exactly how you look 

I am striving to make my way to youPraying for the most strategic positionA place that is close to youTo reach you in your helpless condition 

Where are you my mystery child?Burden of my heartI promise I will find youBut I don’t know where to start 

I carry with me good newsGood news which will heal and restoreDo not fret about your brokennessFor your Saviour is knocking at the door 

Although I do not know you,I will recognise your faceFor Jesus is sending me to youBy His love and grace 

You will no longer be disadvantaged You will no longer be enslavedFor Jesus is sending me to youand in Him you will be saved  

Mystery child, how I long to meet youAnd How I long to know where you areWait for me for I am definitely comingI promise I am not far

Mystery child, your Saviour is making a way
Wait for me; I’ll bring Him to you… everything will be okay

I’m in awe of what God is doing, and of how He brings all the puzzle pieces together. I’m still uncertain as to how, when and by what means that God will make these things happen, and I wonder how God will ever use someone like me who can be so selfish and so full of wickedness; however more and more God is running me into situations which are breaking my heart more and more and He’s teaching me bit by bit to identify with His love and compassion. These past few months while working at Macgregor, I’ve encountered a few kids in some challenging situations. I met a girl who approached me about being physically abused at home and she showed me the marks on her neck to prove that she had been beaten and strangled. This wrecked me to bits; I wouldn’t have been able to tell that she was struggling with this! She told me with such matter-of-factness and without emotion, I didn’t know how to respond! I felt so helpless as a teacher- all I could do was report it to the guidance counsellor and that was it! I praise God that they are providing support for her now but still… I felt so helpless and so wanted to do something but I couldn’t. As strange as it sounds though, I knew that God was doing something; He was working on enlarging my heart for this unique niche of people. 

The scripture that Chris spoke was spot on for me in Psalm 27 as I had been fearing what the call of God over my life may mean for me personally. What does it mean for me and my family, my relationships, my comfort and my safety??? What kind of people will I end up running into and will that be risky for my own life? Psalm 27 brought a lot of assurance to me that God is with me, and that He has seen and heard the troubles of my heart. I thank God so much for His word, it was certainly much much needed.

I’m excited about what’s up ahead. More than just the fulfilling the call, I’m looking forward to the journey of identifying more and more with God’s heart, and being able to draw nearer and nearer to Him through out the process. What a privilege it is to be entrusted with such secrets of His heart!!!! I’m honoured and pray that God would mould and shape me however He wishes in order to shoulder His plans to the end.

Wow, what an awesome holiday these past 2 weeks have been! They have flown by too quickly! *Sigh*
I really thank God for the many words of life that He spoke into my heart over this break, and also for the many lives changed! It was indeed a fruitful holiday and God fully capitalised on the opportunity to do something fresh in people’s hearts. Praise God for His wonderful grace and for privileging us with the opportunity to know Him more and more.

Below are a few snapshots of what I got up to on the holidays. I think much more can be said in a photo so here goes

ALC 2008

A life transforming time for all of us no doubt! Refer to my ALC blog entry for more on this!

SPRING CLEANING!

One of my major holiday projects was to spring clean and organise my room, which I found extremely therapeutic As you can see in the photo, that was the beginning of a work in progress. This may sound weird but I have been craving a good spring clean of my room- so now every section- and I mean EVERY section and corner is now sorted and placed in order. I now have categorised tags on boxes and folders so I know where things are, and I have thrown out a whole pile of clothes. It feels so good to now have everything in order.  Yes, I am your typical choleric/melancholic. I like structure and order. I also spend time sorting out files on my computer so now everything is much more accessible, thank GOD!

DANCE COSTUMES

My other bizarre holiday project was to dye costumes for Macgregor SHS’s upcoming dance concert, DanceOdyssey. The clothes were mean to be maroon but unfortunately turned out a strange grape colour. hahahahahahahha… Oh well- it’s for a contemporary performance so anything goes! Oh yes and my hands were stained purple/pink for a few days. I tried telling people that it was from rescuing a family in a burning house, but yes, ho ho my jokes aren’t funny.

Another one of my very important goals for the holidays was to really spend time with people. I had such a great time catching up with friends, and spending time with the girls that I love most.

One of these wonderful girls was Lauranne, who I unfortunately didn’t get a photo with at our hang out but here’s one of us at Church Anniversary. Lauranne slept over my place and together we watched a movie called Shawshank Redemption, which although was awesome, we only rated a 3 out of 5 (Sorry Ricky). I was so blessed by the meaningful heart to heart sharings that I had with this little dynamite of a women and cherish every shared God moment that we had together. We did quiet time together the next morning and prayed together for things that were a burden on our hearts. I really thank God so much for blessing me with not just a wonderful sheep, but an incredible friend who I absolutely love doing life with. After that, Lauranne came along with me to school (yes school) where I did some planning and Lauranne studied for biology. Although we didn’t talk for hours and sat at separate desks doing our own work, it was so great to just be there together. In a way it helped me to keep on task too hehe. So thank YOU lauranne! I LOVE YOU HEAPS!!! Thanks for spending that time with me- I value it heaps

I also had the opportunity to catch up with this spunky chick! (Yes again I don’t have a photo of our us at our hang out- sorry!) but here’s again a photo of us at Anniversary getting ready for the dance performance. These holidays, Liz and I have spent a lot of time working together on the performance for Anniversary, and I have been so blessed by her incredibly sweet spirit! Working together with her humbles me many times as I’m reminded once again of the kind of heart and attitude that God is looking for in His leaders. I learn so much from Liz about willingness to serve God in whatever way is needed- thanks so much Liz for being the sweet spirited person that you are. Love and value you heaps! 

 
I also had the opportunity to catch up with this beautiful war horn hehehehe. (Doesn’t sound too nice when you say it like that does it? hehe) I had a really meaningful catch up with Bec in the car after our hang out, and I have to say that it was a moment that I will cherish forever. I was so blown away by Bec’s massive heart for God and for His kingdom, and also by her desire to simply obey God in whatever way is needed. At first I felt like I had to rush home after our hang out, and our chat in the car lasted longer than I had planned, but I thank God that I didn’t leave because God did something in that car during that very meaningful conversation. It was a God moment that I’ll never forget. Thanks Bec for being such in inspiration to me! Your life speaks volumes of God’s great love for people.
I also got to spend time with a bunch of incredible young women of God! Man, every time I caught up with these girls I overheard conversations about how they were going to invite their friends to church, and of them encouraging one another to invite each other’s friends or to start lunch time groups in their schools! What an awesome God honouring community! THIS is what God desires in the fellowship of His house; not just good company and lots of fun, but GOD Honouring relationships that build one another up in His ways. I am so inspired by you girls and thank you all so much for bringing such freshness in my own walk with God! 
 
(hopefully no one was watching us on the other side of this window. haha)

 
(Hehe, asian tourists)

IGNITE & VOLTAGE COMBINED

And finally, here is us— Ignite + Voltage, experiencing a glimpse of a High School Service. I believe God stirred something new in the hearts of every young person, and is preparing every one of them to catch the massive flood of waves that He is going to pour into His church. God is doing something amongst the high school group! He’s raising up spiritual giants to shoulder what He wants to bring about. I was in awe as I witnessed young lives lifting up their hands in surrender to God. This generation is going to do great things and are going to be unstoppable!!!!!
POWERLINES

And last but not least (A photo that I stole from Lauranne’s blog :)) here’s a photo of our first “Powerlines” meeting for all those who have been leading a lunch time group in their schools. Man, God is doing something!!!!!! We chose the name powerlines because it represents the sending out of “Voltage” or “God’s presence”  to our schools. Can’t wait to see what God will bring about through these young leaders!!

Overall, an incredibly refreshing holiday. I remember at the beginning of the holidays I asked God for life change, to do a new work in my heart and in the hearts of His church and He did it and is continuing to do it. Thank God so much for such a fruitful and productive break! Can’t wait for what’s up ahead!

Praise God for an awesome Anniversary as we celebrated 15 years of God’s goodness over our church! Indeed it was so incredible to be reminded once again of God’s great plans for His church, and to see how God has brought His church from glory to glory. I’m in awe of what God is doing, and I feel such a great sense of responsibility to prepare myself so that I can be ready to catch the wave that God is pouring into His church. We’re part of something huge guys! What a privilege it is to partner with God in His great plans!

Below is a clip of our opening dance item for Anniversary. Praise God for helping us put everything together as always. I really felt His presence with us, helping us through from beginning to end. On the night I had a lot of people come up to me saying, “Well done Lucy, all that hard work must have paid off. Great stuff!”- but honestly, all credit goes to the team- it’s not the choreographer that makes the dance look good, but it’s the spirit of the people in the team, which I am so, so grateful for! Every dancer gave 1000%, and I’m not exaggerating in saying so. Every one of them showed top quality commitment, excellence & dedication. It’s the dancERS that make the dance look good. I have to also thank Rebecca and Elizabeth for their awesome choreography and great leadership over the team as well! I’m so blessed to be working together with not just two awesome choreographers, but two awesome women of God with such incredibly sweet spirits. It’s always the spirit of people that determine the quality of the progress and the final product, so I thank God so, so much for this incredible team of choreographers and dancers! THANK YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some pics of us at our full dress rehearsal

God’s definitely doing an incredible work in the worship, arts and media ministries as well (WAM). It’s been amazing to see the church stepping up year after year in the quality of productions. I believe that the quality of the final products of our worship and performances is all due to the quality of the people rising up within the teams. I can definitely testify that God strengthens and equips His people as our hearts and lives are right before Him. It’s in that place where God blesses His church, and anoints them to do great things for Him.  Praise God for a memorable night!

Here are some kittens that Tina has been baby sitting at her house in Laidley for the past week. Her housemate apparently found them after they were abandoned by their stray cat mother. SO CUTE!!!! How could anyone abandon them!!!!

Doesn’t your heart just melt when the kitten meows!!!!??!!!! AWWWW!!!

And this is Mimi the cat. Mimi doesn’t seem to quite meow… more like squeak. hehehe 

I had a good chat with my mum today over dinner and asked how Granddad was going back in hishometown in Toronto. For those who don’t know, mum’s dad is the last grandparent that I haveleft and although he is 95 years old, he is amazingly fit and walks everywhere, and I meanEVERYWHERE! I was quite burdened though when I heard of how he is coping with this currentstage of life that he’s in. Grandma passed away in 2005 and ever since then Granddad has beenliving in a Nursing home. Although the nursing home is extremely luxurious with countlessactivities for the elderly to get involved in, mum shared about how displeased granddad is withhaving to be taken cared of by non family members. Granddad being quite traditional has always believed in being taken cared of by his own kids in the later stages of life- growing old in the home of his own kids,  rather then living his last days in a foreign home. Mum described granddad as bitter and unhappy as he’s had to confront the reality of his limitations in age. Recently he has been forgetting things and has been struggling to keep up with the activity schedules of the nursing home, and being around other elderly people with sicknesses and pains has no doubt increased the fear and anxiety in his heart as it reminds him more of what’s up ahead for his own life.  

My heart broke when mum told me all this- and I just so wanted to be there with him. I felt such asense of urgency in my heart as I had only just realised tonight that granddad was 95 years old,and he is yet to know Jesus as his personal Lord and Saviour.  I thought to myself, “When and howGod? He’s so far away from me, how can I reach him?”  All I could do was pray and earnestly askGod to make a way.

As I was driving after dinner, I cried and pleaded before God to have mercy on Granddad and to make a way for him to be saved, and as I began to pray God reminded me of His sovereignty and heart for His people. I was also reminded of a scripture in Genesis where God saves Abraham’s nephew Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. I love what it says here:

Genesis 19:29²⁹ So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lotout of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. 

God spared Lot’s life because He remembered Abraham; He remembered Abraham’s prayer for Lot, and saved Lot because of Abraham’s faithfulness not just to Lot but more importantly to God. I felt a great sense of peace as God reminded me of His character and of the good God that He is- that He does not desire to see anyone perish.

I so want to see my whole family saved. Many times I look at my current situation and think, how will it ever happen, how could God use me, the youngest and lease eloquent in Chinese, to reach my family? But once again I’m reminded by the Holy Spirit that it’s got nothing to do with my lack, but it’s got everything to do with God’s power, sovereignty and my faithfulness to Him and His heart.  

Continuing to pray for my family and especially granddad during this time

Torch showed us this awesomely hilarious clip at this weekend’s Leader’s Conference about team work. Check out- learn lots and have a good laugh!

Just thought I should pen down while it’s still fresh in my mind some stuff about this weekend’s incredible leadership conference. Man oh man, God moved! God moved in our hearts and brought every young leader on board with His plan and vision for the church. This weekend was filled with much surrendering of our wills, emptying ourselves out of everything that is us and allowing God to truly lead us. This is His church, and we are merely His hands and feet. What an honour it is to be part of His plans!

                                                       On Saturday, the Ablaze leaders & champs were given the wonderful opportunity to unite in heart together with the Morning Service Leaders & leaders in training. It was such an honour to be able to rub shoulders with great men and women who sincerely want nothing but to just to live for God and to seek His agenda. We were blessed with the opportunity to hear from various leaders from Morning service share about the burdens and visions that God has laid upon their hearts…and I have to say that we have the best leaders in our church, not just in Ablaze but across all services. I was totally blown away by how wonderfully God has orchestrated the burdens in His leader’s hearts such that they would all move in time together with God’s rhythm and beat, and I believe God is stirring and is going to stir His church to move in time with His rhythm more and more.

                                  On Sunday, the Ablaze Leaders & leaders in training got together, and the morning began not just with an awesome breakfast!!! (Thanks Amy and Susie and all you wonderful future mums and pastor’s wives who cooked and prepared! J) The morning also began with an incredible move of the Holy Spirit as words of prophecy were spoken through 3 of our key leaders in Ablaze (Chris, Lisa Toh and Nick). I was in awe of God’s incredible plan for Ablaze as words of life, truth and hope were spoken into the lives of each leader & champ. God has got incredible things install for Ablaze- and I know it because He’s rising up Spiritual Giants in our very midst! I do NOT believe that God rises up Spiritual Giants for no apparent reason, but I believe that God rises up Spiritual Giants for the purpose of shouldering the weight of His great plans for His church. I believe that we have some incredible champs in our midst, young men and women who may not know a great lot yet, or who may not have a great lot experience yet, but that simply want to surrender their lives, to walk with a pleasing, sweet spirit before their God and to carry out His plans faithfully.  More than anything else, I really believe God is looking for this kind of people to shoulder His plans for His church- Men and women humbly surrendered, emptied out of everything that they are and everything that they want and hungry to serve God’s heart. I thank God so much for the people that He is rising up- people with a Joshua Spirit, who will without a doubt lead God’s people into the promised land- AMEN!

                                  Other than that, I was so blessed to hear from each champ and leader share from their heart about the ONE THING that is so important to them. From each person’s sharing, it was evident that God has been in the background, orchestrating our hearts to move together in one mighty God song. I was blown away by each person’s desire to seek His Kingdom and His righteousness, and I realised without a doubt that God is in the process of strengthening the foundations of His church to prepare us as a mighty launching pad for His great plans.

                                     GREAT THINGS ARE UP AHEAD GUYS, I KNOW IT!!!!! Expect great things to come and prepare yourselves; not just in your talents, skills and abilities, but prepare yourself in your hearts!  Surrender yourself to Him and seek His face ever so desperately!

Isaiah 54:2

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. 

It has been such a blessing being part of high school ministry as I have been privileged with countless opportunities to witness young men and women living in simple obedience to God. Truly, being around the youngens has taught me so, so much about being uncomplicated in my faith, and about never being “too old” or “too mature” for God. I never want to be in a position where I am so “mature” to the point where I can no longer do something undignified in obedience to the Lord. I never want to be so “smart” or so “responsible” to the point where I over Analise God and miss out on what He wants me to do. I want to be totally uncomplicated, obedient, teachable, willing to learn from anyone who God chooses to teach me through whether younger, a peer or someone older! I want to be moldable, changeable, movable… I don’t want to be so “mature” to the point where I miss out on what God is doing!

I have truly been so inspired by the response of the high schoolers in their simple desire to know God more and to serve Him. Every Friday night at service, I am blown away by the mass of responses at altar call from the younger ones- it’s no wonder God is throwing in a huge wave of revival!! I believe that in many ways, these guys are also some of the wisest people in our church because of their desire to know nothing else but God’s heart and plans. Stripped away of their own agenda and surrendered whole-heartedly to God; and humbly aligning their desisions in line with the heart beat of God.
It says in Jeremiah 9:23-24
“This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD”

I pray that all of us would simply pursuit after knowing God and His heart more, and to obey Him. Let our faith be uncomplicated! If we need to humble ourselves to know Him more, humble ourselves! If we need to repent, to change, to learn, to move…than do all of this in honour of Almighty God! I never want to grow “old” & stale- let’s continue to grow more & more fervently in our faith!

Thanks IGVO for being my greatest example in having child like faith. I’ve learnt so much from every one of you!

Praise God for an awesome i-life organised by our fabtasious i-life team- Wes, Nick Cheang, Rebecca Lay & Dom Rozells.
We have also been so blessed by Tiffany’s incredible creativity as she designed our i-life invite.
Tiffany’s invite design

Unfortunately…yes that’s right– unfortunately the boys won
But thank God so much for the incredible turn out of 41 people with at least 25+ as new visitors or re visiting new visitors.

The group that SHOULD have won

 
And the group that apparently won. I personally think the scores were rigged

Oh yes and here’s a glimpse of the shaving cream fight that broke out at the end. One of the games involved the use of shaving cream. Some how I just knew that it was going to be put to different use later– my predictions were correct.

I am so, so inspired by the sincere and zealous spirit of the V10ers who eagerly invited all their friends to i-life. Seriously, there’s something so special about this age group- they’re unstoppable! Followed by every bit of conviction and ounce of desire to serve God comes a simple response of faith put into action. I’m so excited knowing that these guys are the leaders of our future!
Do please pray for every person who visited- that they would not just come along for fun events but that they would get connected with God! Our win is not big turn outs for i-life, but our win is when souls are saved and walking in an intimate relationship with our almighty God! Do please pray for us!  PRAISE GOD FOR WHAT HE’S DOING!