YAF of OBMBC - Welcome to Our Blog: June 2009

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Nway Nway's Graduation

Wassup, readers? Mingalaba. :)

The highlight of this week is definitely Nway Nway's graduation. I'll keep it short and sweet, okay?

Very tiring.
Very busy.
Very hungry.
Very many people.
Very big celebration.
Very happy.

Very thank God. :)))

This is actually Nway Nway's special day and it could very well be her personal celebration with her close family and friends. But she always take any opportunity to host and create an environment for EVERYONE to gather and fellowship.

She opened her house to welcome us.
Her family spent a lot of time cooking and preparing for us.
Best of all, they turned on their air con for us HAHAHA
(Hey, the heat was not even funny, okay.)

Enough. Picture time.

^The after party at Aw Lay's house.

Too much food
Too many people
Young and old
Mote Hin Gar (super super good, cooked by Aw & Nway's mom)
Gazillion BBQ - ribs, oysters, chicken wings, beef satay, tongue (the best), fish, corn, meatballs......... ETC!

I'm still full from yesterday! :D

All in all, congratulations to Nway Nway and it was a great time of bonding and fellowship.

I'll be blogging another post about today's YAF's meeting in a bit. It was so fun, we laughed till our stomachs hurt so much.

Father, we pray to be united as brothers and sisters. Please bless us and teach us to grow and be patient with one another, filling in the gaps with our strengths and weaknesses. When one of us falls, let the other one sustain us. Let us not just contain this joy and salvation for ourselves... but because You have given us this amazing love, it overflows and goes out into the world. Even if no one is there to applaud our good works, we just want to walk in Your ways because it is the only truth that brings real joy.... and we bless Your Name...

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Encouragement from our Pastor

Keep up good work

Hi YAFers

I am glad that you all are doing great job in your daily life and church ministry. I've seen recently your blog and saw improvements. Not just blog but your maturity and personal commitment to the body of Christ. It is a time to revive among young adults for His purposes. Keep up with the Spirit and quench not. Keep up your selfless effort for our Lord whether anyone is clapping for you or not. Remember one little fire can start much fire. Keep up with each other in patient and enduring the disappointments. Each of us are responsible for one another. No one should be left out alone in the wild world. Uphold the week and support the strong one. We are the ambassadors for Christ. Praying for you all.

Please update me with the rest of you whom I do not have their email addresses.

Blessings!

Saya

YAF's First Service Up There...

Up there... where? Haha... we need to name our new place. Ideas, anybody? I mean, we have the chapel, sanctuary, gym, conference room, etc. Calling it the third floor is not cool. -_-

So after the cleaning madness on Saturday, we had our first YAF service at our new place... RIGHT AFTER our 3 hours of Sunday service which was... RIGHT AFTER our morning bible study.. which was RIGHT AFTER the praise & worship rehearsal in my case!!!

Talk about being on fire.... I literally burned out when I got home. ZZZZZZZZZZZ

Saya Lone Wah preached a stabbing message about Christ but the constant outburts of laughter from his quirky preaching style embedded with such relevant examples from our actual lives kept the meeting lively and broke the monotony. Hopefully, future YAF meetings can be spontaneous, fun, and just .. young!!! In no way will we downplay the importance of our salvation but we want to be creative and provide a comfortable atmosphere for young adults to be themselves and open up their hearts.

Oh yes it was TMZ's birthday so we also sang him a bday song! Previously he had treated THE ENTIRE bunch of us to indian buffet dinner at Bombay! Happy Birthday, bro! And thank you!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

YAF Now Has A Place

If you been reading my posts diligently, you must have seen me spazzing over this new place YAF has just gotten!!! WOOHOO!!! Check it out! I'm delivering pictures as promised!!!

Above all things, (happy father's day) but thanks be to OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN for providing us with things we couldn't even imagine at first. This place is like a gift from heaven...

We are growing so big and so fast (I didn't even notice!) that we really need a place to fellowship, worship and study the bible... now we do!

Excuse my jillion exclamation marks but I'm so emo now! So many of us showed up to clean and prep the place. It's wonderful. T_T

See for yourselves. I'm very tired now. :P

^Lu Aung <3

^Kwee Kwee, Myo, Emily, TMZ, Naing Kee, Kelly, Lu Aung

^Tang (new friend), Ngwar Wu, Tang Naung, TMZ, Lia Lian

^Sang Lian, Mang Pi, Naing Kee, Toe Toe, Tang, TMZ, etc! LOL can't see!

^Ashlee, Emily, Bay Bay (Nway Nway)

^Christian & Amanda (siblings)

^Danielle (Juniors' President)

(Even our juniors showed up! Aren't they adorable!!!??? They're so cute. Love them. <333)

^Ngwar Wu, Naing Kee, Toe Toe

^TMZ, Sang Lian... It was TMZ's birthday so he treated ALL OF US (O_O;) dinner at bombay, indian buffet, after the cleaning!

^Sang Lian.. he was cleaning that thing... forever.

^Almost at the end... end results, haha...

^Naing Kee & Tang... carrying chairs that we're not going to use to the attic upstairs

^Kelly... YAF president. She was sick for a long time... but came!

Susan & Aw Lay :)

^Emily, Susan, Bay Bay, Kelly

They laughing about something... I was totally left out.

^Good job, Naing Kee and Mang Pi!

^Toe Toe, the kalay bo, hahahaha...

^Mang Pi & Lia Lian... our precious praise & worship team members..

^Kelly & Myo showing some love

^DONE!!!

I'm sorry the pictures are all over the place. BUT BONUS! SUMMARY VIDEO! butwatwatwa

GOD BLESS!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Naing Kee's Birthday & Updates

This is one week overdue; forgive me. :D

But did you all even know it was Naing Kee's birthday last Friday!!!??? Hmmmm... surprise surprise~~~

We celebrated for him during last Friday's prayer meeting! Yay~

Just want to take this opportunity to testify what a great blessing this brother is to us.

He is a great addition to YAF and in many ways he gives me strength and encouragement. At first, I thought he's just another visitor but he actually stayed. Experiencing his faith in God together is an edification to myself.

Let's keep going from strength to strength.... :)

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And also to share a little bit about THIS WEEK's prayer meeting, which was only a couple of hours ago, was FANTASTIC. It just keeps getting better.

I'm happiest when my spiritual needs (?) are met. Well, I don't know what else to call it. I had burning questions from just this week alone, reserved for when I meet Saya Lone Wah and Sayama Aye Thaw, and the elders really guided me today and I was super blessed. We shared much laughter and learned so many things today.

Going to bible college,
warnings about misguided doctrines,
to be led by the Holy Spirit,
the truth about Jesus's 2nd coming,
Kaya refugees/new arrivals,
ETC!

Of course, we prayed for many things as well and I felt satisfied.

Concord's search for a new church,
Saya Myo Sett (?) wife's liver cancer,
Karen Fellowship,
Kaya new comers,
Ko Lawrence's hand surgery,
Upcoming BCANA Youth/Young Adult Meeting,
ETC!

Between Sunday and Friday is only five days but I feel like it's forever. I can't wait to get to church and be around my brothers and sisters. Enduring temptations and testings through the week is really tough when I'm by myself. But when I see them, I feel like I can conquer everything. Haha... Especially when I learn the truth in God's word, I am fully recharged and ready for the next battle.

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And also another unofficial announcement BUT WE ARE FINALLY GETTING OUR OWN LITTLE PLACE WOOHOOOOO~~~~!!! Excuse me but I can't contain the excitement. We're gonna meet tomorrow, Saturday, 4p.m. to clean it up. It's the abandoned and the quite-scary-3rd-floor of the church. LOL!!! Sorry, but it's super eerie!

Haha.. NO! By the grace of God, we shall transform it to be a place burning with God's passion, presence, love and power for the Young Adults and even our juniors.

There's already a piano there.. TN has brought in his drum sets... so we're gonna make it a place of worship, fellowship, and all the other goodship! ^__^

I have to sleep.... need energy for tomorrow. PRAISE GOD! BECAUSE HE IS GOOOOOD!

Story Box

The Big Rocks
One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high powered over achievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz."
Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.
When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"
Everyone in the class said, "Yes."
Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"
By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered.
"Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"
"No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good."
Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!"
"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."
What are the 'big rocks' in your life?
Your relatinship with God?
Your husband or wife?
Your children?
Your loved ones?
Your health?
Your education?
Your dreams?
A worthy cause?
Teaching or mentoring others?
Doing things that you love?
Time for yourself?
Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. If you sweat the little stuff (the gravel, the sand) then you'll fill your life with little things you worry about that don't really matter, and you'll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff (the big rocks).
So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the "big rocks" in my life? Then, put those in your jar first.
Matthew 6:33
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

ARE YOU 'THE CRACKED POT' ?? .
A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you." "Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?" "I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts,"   the pot said. The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path." Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house." Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father's table. In God's great economy, nothing goes to waste. So as we seek ways to minister together, and as God calls you to the tasks He has appointed for you, don't be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and allow Him to take advantage of them, and you, too, can be the cause of beauty in His pathway. Go out boldly, knowing that in our weakness we find His strength, and that "In Him every one of God's promises is a Yes."

PimpMyProfile

DID GOD CREATE EVIL?
At a certain university, there was a professor with a reputation for being tough on Christians. At the first class every semester, he asked if anyone was a Christian and proceeded to degrade them and to mock their statement of faith.
One semester, he asked the question and a young man raised his hand when asked if anyone was a Christian. The professor asked, "Did God make everything, young man?"
He replied, "Yes sir He did!"
The professor responded, "If God made everything, then He made evil." The student didn't have a response and the professor was happy to have once again proved the Christian faith to be a myth.
Then another man raised his hand and asked, "May I ask you something, sir?"
"Yes, you may," responded the professor.
The young man stood up and said "Sir, is there such thing as cold?"
"Of course there is, what kind of question is that? Haven't you ever been cold?"
The young man replied, "Actually, sir, cold doesn't exist. What we consider to be cold is really an absence of heat. Absolute zero is when there is absolutely no heat, but cold does not really exist. We have only created that term to describe how we feel when heat is not there."
The young man continued, "Sir, is there such a thing as dark?"
Once again, the professor responded, "Of course there is."
And once again, the student replied, "Actually, sir, darkness does not exist. Darkness is really only the absence of light. Darkness is only a term man developed to describe what happens when there is no light present."
Finally, the young man asked, "Sir, is there such thing as evil?"
The professor responded, "Of course. We have rapes, murders, and violence everywhere in the world, those things are evil."
The student replied, "Actually, sir, evil does not exist. Evil is simply the absence of God. Evil is a term man developed to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. It isn't like truth, or love, which exist as virtues like heat or light. Evil is simply the state where God is not present, like cold without heat or darkness without light."
The professor had nothing to say............

Does God Still Speak?

A young man had been to Wednesday night Bible Study. The Pastor had shared about listening to God and obeying the Lord's voice. The young man couldn't help but wonder, "Does God still speak to people?" After service he went out with some friends for coffee and pie and they discussed the message.
Several different ones talked about how God had led them in different ways.
It was about ten o'clock when the young man started driving home. Sitting in his car, he just began to pray, "God.. If you still speak to people, speak to me. I will listen. I will do my best to obey."
As he drove down the main street of his town, he had the strangest thought, to stop and buy a gallon of milk.
He shook his head and said out loud, "God is that you?" He didn't get a reply and started on toward home.
But again, the thought, buy a gallon of milk. The young man thought about Samuel and how he didn't recognize the voice of God, and how little Samuel ran to Eli.
"Okay, God, in case that is you, I will buy the milk." It didn't seem like too hard a test of obedience. He could always use the milk.
He stopped and purchased the gallon of milk and started off toward home. As he passed Seventh Street, he again felt the urge, "Turn down that street."
"This is crazy," he thought and drove on past the intersection. Again, he felt that he should turn down Seventh Street.
At the next intersection, he turned back and headed down Seventh. Half jokingly, he said out loud, "Okay, God, I will." He drove several blocks, when suddenly, he felt like he should stop. He pulled over to the curb and looked around. He was in semi-commercial area of town.
It wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst of neighborhoods either. The businesses were closed and most of the houses looked dark like the people were already in bed.
Again, he sensed something, "Go and give the milk to the people in the house across the street."
The young man looked at the house. It was dark and it looked like the people were either gone or they were already asleep. He started to open the door and then sat back in the car seat. "Lord, this is insane. Those people are asleep and if I wake them up, they are going to be mad and I will look stupid." Again, he felt like he should go and give the milk.
Finally, he opened the door, "Okay God, if this is you, I will go to the door and I will give them the milk.
If you want me to look like a crazy person, okay. I want to be obedient.
I guess that will count for something, but if they don't answer right away, I am out of here."
He walked across the street and rang the bell. He could hear some noise inside.
A man's voice yelled out, "Who is it? What do you want?" Then the door opened before the young man could get away. The man was standing there in his jeans and T-shirt. He looked like he just got out of bed.
He had a strange look on his face and he didn't seem too happy to have some stranger standing on his doorstep. "What is it?" The young man thrust out the gallon of milk,
"Here, I brought this to you."
The man took the milk and rushed down a hall way speaking loudly in Spanish.
Then from down the hall came a woman carrying the milk toward the kitchen.
The man was following her holding a baby. The baby was crying. The man had tears streaming down his face. The man began speaking and half crying,
"We were just praying. We had some big bills this month and we ran out of money. We didn't have any milk for our baby. I was just praying and asking God to show me how to get some milk.
"His wife in the kitchen yelled out, "I ask him to send an Angel with some. Are you an Angel?"
The young man reached into his wallet and pulled out all the money he had on him and put it in the man's hand. He turned and walked back toward his car and the tears were streaming down his face. He knew that God still answers prayers.

       A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his pastor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace and waited.
       The pastor made himself comfortable but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the play of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent.
        The host watched all this in quiet fascination. As the one lone ember's flame diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and "dead as a doornail."
        Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. Just before the pastor was ready to leave, he picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.
        As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said,
"Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."

John 3:16
In the city of Chicago, one cold, dark night, a blizzard was setting in. A little boy was selling newspapers on the corner, the people were in and out of the cold. The little boy was so cold that he wasn't trying to sell many papers.

He walked up to a policeman and said, "Mister, you wouldn't happen to know where a poor boy could find a warm place to sleep tonight would you? You see, I sleep in a box up around the corner there and down the alley and it's awful cold in there for tonight. Sure would be nice to have a warm place to stay,"

The policeman looked down at the little boy and said, "you go down the street to that big white house and you knock on the door. When they come out the door you just say John 3:16, and they will let you in."

So he did. He walked up the steps and knocked on the door, and a lady answered. He looked up and said, "John 3:16." The lady said, "Come on in, Son." She took him in and she sat him down in a split bottom rocker in front of a great big old fireplace, and she went off. The boy sat there for a while and thought to himself: John 3:16....I don't understand it, but it sure makes a cold boy warm.

Later she came back and asked him "Are you hungry?" He said, "Well, just a little. I haven't eaten in a couple of days, and I guess I could stand a little bit of food," The lady took him in the kitchen and sat him down to a table full of wonderful food. He ate and ate until he couldn't eat any more. Then he thought to himself: John 3:16... Boy, I sure don't understand it but it sure makes a hungry boy full.

She took him upstairs to a bathroom to a huge bathtub filled with warm water, and he sat there and soaked for a while. As he soaked, he thought to himself: John 3:16... I sure don't understand it, but it sure makes a dirty boy clean. You know, I've not had a bath, a real bath, in my whole life. The only bath I ever had was when I stood in front of that big old fire hydrant as they flushed it out.

The lady came in and got him. She took him to a room, tucked him into a big old feather bed, pulled the covers up around his neck, kissed him goodnight and turned out the lights. As he lay in the darkness and looked out the window at the snow coming down on that cold night, he thought to himself: John 3:16... I don't understand it but it sure makes a tired boy rested.

The next morning the lady came back up and took him down again to that same big table full of food. After he ate, she took him back to that same big old split bottom rocker in front of the fireplace and picked up a big old Bible. She sat down in front of him and looked into his young face.

"Do you understand John 3:16?" she asked gently.

He replied, "No, Ma'am, I don't. The first time I ever heard it was last night when the policeman told me to use it," She opened the Bible to John 3:16 and began to explain to him about Jesus. Right there, in front of that big old fireplace, he gave his heart and life to Jesus. He sat there and thought: John 3:16. .. .. I don't understand it, but it sure makes a lost boy feel safe.

You know, I have to confess I don't understand it either, how God was willing to send His Son to die for me, and how Jesus would agree to do such a thing. I don't understand the agony of the Father and every angel in heaven as they watched Jesus suffer and die. I don't understand the intense love for ME that kept Jesus on the cross till the end. I don't understand it, but it sure does make life worth living.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

YAF of OBMBC - Welcome to Our Blog

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Nway Nway's Graduation

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Encouragement from our Pastor

YAF's First Service Up There...

Sunday, June 21, 2009

YAF Now Has A Place

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Naing Kee's Birthday & Updates

Daily Bible Scripture

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