I want to be like David!

How good it is to be able to give thanks to the Lord indeed! (: And I’ve got lots to be thankful about (:

That's us and the team at the airport sending part of the team off!

These couple of weeks we’ve also went up to a village in Los Palos called Luro where the Hawaiian team from First Assemblies of God have been living for a year over or so. They had a short-term youth team that came so we went up for a time of fellowship. Living there is completely different from living here in Dili! First of all, the weather is COLD :D I love it! And of the nights we walked to this big field to see the stars (: And the stars just completely covered the night sky, twinkling gently and almost softly, and then I saw a shooting star! (: It was such a beautiful night and we sang songs under the stars! (I would have sprawled on the ground if I could see what was on the ground haha) Also, the kids in the village are so friendly and so curious to find out everything about you! In the early mornings, we would devotions with the rest and we would all just gather in the living room worshipping, sharing and praying. The kids would just stand by the door, watching us (: The team there is doing an amazing job! Extending the Kingdom of God right here in Timor (: Very encouraging to see the work they have been doing!

It’s been awhile since we’ve started classes at Lahane and we have been praying for contacts to come out of the classes. We talk about the Bible and about Jesus in class already and so far it’s been very well received (: Really thank God for that! And yesterday in service, I really felt impressed to ask one of the girls in my class if I can teach her the Bible so then after that I went and asked her. She was really excited and happy! She said she would love to! (: I was extremely happy, and even more so when she told me that she is now also attending classes at World Vision! God is just putting her in places where she will be able to know Him, beautiful orchestrated by God (: So this Saturday, I am going to start with our VFC Discipling Foundations Notes and start teaching her the Word of God. God’s Word has power that I believe one day will open her eyes to see the truth and accept Jesus into her heart. Really would ask that you guys pray with me about her, that God will continue to open her heart and eyes to see the truth and that there will not be opposition. Her name is Laurentina and she is the same age as me (: There is also another girl that I have yet to ask and her name is Ime, please also pray with me for her salvation (: Oh guys, I really wish I could show you pictures, maybe another time I’ll just add them on here so check back (:

God has really been challenging me with the life of David and through this book called "In the Meantime" by Rob Brendle. It talks about why God liked David so much and how he waited to develop into his calling. And it talks about the reason why God liked David so much, because - "day after day, year after year, tirelessly, reliably, relentlessly, David sought the presence of the Lord." WOW, I LOVE THAT! (: It was like David was so seriously hungry for ANYTHING God all the time! Other young men were probably out horse racing, or seeing who could herd their sheeps the fastest or checking out the girls in the next pasture but not David, David was insane about God! Constantly hungering and longing for His presence, WOW :D I want people to speak about my life like, " Oh Gladys! I know her because she just cannot seem to pry herself away from seeking the presence of God or just being in His presence!" :D

My prayer is that you would seek God out the way David did, that insanity of craving for God 24/7 :D Only in that will you find real joy, peace and contentment for your life (: Really, you won't regret, look where David landed up :D

Love you guys and miss all of you so much (:

Updateddd

Hey all!

Some pictures (:

That's my fav girl in red, Lila, who is a major tomboy! She's super cute! (:

Global Day of Prayer in Timor! (:

Ps John Tan preaching and Sergio from our Tetum service translating.

This is Francisco, and this is the family we helped set the chicken coop up with! (: There it is behind him! (:

Still at Francisco's house checking out on the map where Tonga is! (:

It's been quite amazing these past month as we've finally started our English classes in Lahane!! I'm teaching those 20 years old and above who have little knowledge of English and just this past week, we started our first 2 lessons! (: Wow, it was a real challenge because of my still extremely rocky Tetum!! But God has been so good to bring these people to the class and when I speak about Jesus, they are really accepting of it (: So keep praying for more ideas and open doors for the class k! (

This is registration for the class (:

More to thank God for is that last tues, we were on our way to Prayer Meeting and so we took a cab right outside our place. The cab driver asked if we were from Korea, so i said nope, Singapore. And he said, "So you know Sis Lucy?" We were like, "YOU KNOW SIS LUCY?!?!" (Who, btw, is one of the missionaries in another district in Timor ha) So we started talking and he said he went for her English classes there and then we invited him to church! Upon arriving at church, we tell the rest excitedly about what just happened and guess what! Jen (Saula's fiancee) said she ALSO met this guy on the cab who knew Sis Lucy!! Well, either Sis Lucy is so popular here in Timor ORRRRRR it's the same guy!!! :D Haha so coincidental! (: Must have been a divine appointment!!

On top of that, we were in the universities evangelizing last week and we were quite tired of approaching people so we just decided to stand around for abit. Then a guy approaches us and starts talking. And as we talk we find out he knows Sis Lily!!! (Who, btw, is another one of our missionaries in ANOTHER district!) This guy used to help them with translations and so we also got his contact and invited him to church (: How amazing is that! Almost like how God just put these people in our way to follow up with the seeds that have already been planted! (: Indeed God WILL complete the good work He has started in these lives back in the districts! He didn't forget them! (:

Last wednesday, we made a trip up to the mountains in a place called Letefoho. We were there to meet one of VFC Dili's very own missionaries called Grace who is currently living up there on her own. So we went there to spend the day with her and see how she's doing (: She is doing an amazing job up there alone (: It is a beautiful place, very cold but so beautiful (: More pictures below! I was really encouraged by her strength, as a missionary to live alone is VERY difficult I can tell you that. But her spirit and love to do the work of God was really encouraging (: Such tenacity to carry on with passion the work of God all by herself was a real encouragement to me! Thank God for such amazing people like that (:

Beautiful scenery!

A Church on the hill

Looks like where Jesus died on the cross at Golgotha

This is Grace with her dog called Ah Lian HAHA

That's us taking in the scenery with a picture! :D

That's a cute kid in Letefoho! (:

Love and miss you guys! (: God bless!

I AM A MISSIONARY!

My word, 3 months just flew past so quickly! Sorry I’ve not had a chance much to update because I don’t really get a lot of time on the Internet and my blogger was down for a long time here. I'm now at a $1/hr Internet Cafe so i'm so happy!! HEE :D So updates! Now our territory has expanded to not just Lahane (where the church is planned to be planted at) and Maubara, but it’s to the youths in Dili too! (: It’s exciting, as we’ve already entered the universities here planning to start English Corners to help the students improve their command of the language and for us to interact with them. In Lahane, English classes for all ages will be commencing very soon! What’s cool is that we are helping set up chicken coops for families in Maubara to start with! (: Pictures soon! Okay, only the boys are helping to build ha. I also teach this lady called Magarita and her sister English there. Magarita is one of the leaders of a small church there so being able to teach her how to say “Jezuz hadomi hau”(Jesus loves me) and to sing “Hau Hadomi Nai” (I Love You Lord) in English has been really awesome! [I'll upload the pictures another time!] Here are some others of the kids at the Lahane Kindergarten! -

I know I looked like I kidnapped him to take the picture with me, but I didn’t! Haha, I drew his face!! Maybe he didn’t like it :(

This is Lufia, it was face painting day! (: Beautiful girl (:

Rodrigo & Nilton coloring! They are the cutest!! (:

Super excited to see what’s going to take place in the months to come because I seriously believe there is going to be a shift in the spiritual atmosphere here. In 6 months, I truly believe Timor will be transformed by the love of God in a way we have not seen in the years before! (:

Furthermore, one of the Brazilian pastors here will be kicking off crusades in all the districts our VFC missionaries in Timor. IMAGINE THAT!! That is just revolutionary for VFC works here because I think there has been a lot of hesitation in speaking out about Jesus due to the perceived religious sensitivity. Sometimes even fear of what may happen if we move from hiding behind the NGO cover to coming out as people of Jesus Christ spreading the gospel. Of course, we still have to be wise because Catholicism is very strong here. But with these crusades that will take place all over Timor, things are definitely going to change! The name of Jesus will be heard in every corner of Timor as it should be and we will see a breakthrough in our VFC works here! (: It is an exciting time to be in in Timor!! So please keep us in your prayers as persecution is inevitable but beyond that, we want to see multitudes of souls entering the Kingdom! (:

You guys who’ve known me for long would know my utmost desire to be sent into the mission field since a thousand years ago heh. And when I finally got a “Go!” from God and my family, my mind almost couldn’t comprehend the reality of it happening! Those even closer to me would know how I really struggled the first month here spiritually, emotionally and even physically. I kept thinking, “God, ARE YOU SURE YOU SENT ME HERE?? Are you sure I’ve been called to the mission field? Because I’m not feeling the way I thought I would be in the first country I’ve been sent to!” But of course, silly me! God is NEVER wrong! However, that didn’t take away the immense difficulty that I struggled with the first month here. All I thought of was going home. But now, I see God’s hand upon my life and how victoriously He brought me out of that terrible time. Today, I feel like I’ve been living here for YEARS and I’m getting so accustomed to being in Timor (: I love every moment of it! I just think about how amazing it is that I AM A MISSIONARY. I can actually say that now! It’s something that you’ve waited basically all your life for and when you finally do it, it’s really quite insane. Now that I’m on the ground, I see first hand God’s heart for the nations. Especially God’s heart for Timor Leste and her people! I’m so grateful to be a part of God’s plan for this nation! I think what excites me more is that I know it’s just the beginning of the things to come in my life (: I’ll be 21 in November and there truly is no other better way to spend my 21^st year given to the Lord in His will, doing something I’ve dreamt of for a long time (: WOW, I am just in awe of how God orchestrated the whole chain of events to this day (: Just yesterday, we were at Bethany Church in Dili for Timor's Global Day of Prayer. Yes, Timor also has GDOP! (: And at one point they called out all the Pastors and Missionaries to come forward and hold hands in a circle. There was a whole bunch of people who walked down and formed the circle. It was amazing as we started interceding for the nation and I just felt such a strong presence of God there (: Truly, this is a year of change for Timor spiritually, I know it! You can just feel it in the atmosphere you know (: And even as I was looking across the circle, I looked like I was the youngest standing there and I was so overwhelmed. God used me. ME!! I won't deny that being so young sometimes makes me feel a little less adequate but standing there, I was just so amazed that God used me for the furtherance of His kingdom here in Timor!! God is so faithful and God is truly so good, there is no other God that I would rather serve! [More pictures next time!!]

I live for all my days, to put a smile on Your face (:

FINALLY :D

I know, it's been like what, one month and two weeks since I've blogged. Ha that's because I couldnt access this!! But here it is (:

God has been so good and so merciful to me (: Admittedly, it was the most difficult having to come here the first 2-3 weeks. Really missed my family and just everything back home SO MUCH. It was a huge culture shock for me in many ways - slept with only the fan, used buckets to scoop from a tank to bathe and no flushing system. Ha, yes it does sound like a typical Singaporean complaining in a 3rd world nation. But these were real challenges I faced, on top of the EXTREME heat. Plus, I got sick in the second week which completely did not help AT ALL :( Thought I had malaria or sth which kinda scared me and made me wish I was at home.

BUT, we do serve a faithful and merciful God (: Really could have carried my bad perspective of wishing to come home constantly but God pulled me right of it. I still miss home, church, ministry, the food and SO MUCH MORE! But I starting to love Timor and getting used to living in Timor, it does feel like home alot more now! Thank you for all your love and prayers (: You have no idea how much I think of you guys back home and just being in the company of you guys (: MISS YOU ALL MUCH!

Alot ALOT has happened since I've came here! I've met the most amazing people who have selflessly given their lives to the mission field from Brazil to Hawaii to Singaporeans (of course) to TONGA (saula :p) to Korea to even the local Timorese! Been greatly encouraged by how they've given their lives in such a manner to the Lord and the passion they have! Sometimes I think wow, being in the mission field is crazy, but the things they do here for the Lord is EVEN crazier! Really been so blessed to have met them (will put pictures up when I can (: )

As a team, we will be planting a church right here in Dili in a subdistrict called Lahane where we already have a kindergarten (: Honestly, it's scary but I believe if the Lord has called us here for such a time as this, He will allow His work to be accomplished here. Missions is really a whole new level to what I used to do in Singapore, but through that, my faith and my trust in the Lord has really been tested. And I thank God for that! I am really excited to see what God is going to do more in the months to come :D

Sorry guys, had to rush this out abit cos I have to leave already! Will keep trying to blog more!

You guys are in my prayers and i miss you guys so much!! :D

In His phenomenal love,
Gladys (:

THIS IS IT.

oh my word, it is seriously overwhelming.