Sanctuary Service Retreat :-)

Happy Birthday to Tracy Tan and Kelvin Lim YY


Today I went for some Sanctuary Service retreat, held at YWCA Fort Canning. The programme started at 9 am, and ended at 5.30 pm. It was great fun, I must say! :-)


Firstly the key objectives of the retreat are...

1. To align with the vision and mission of the Worship & Music Ministry.
2. To be broken before God.
3. To connect with one another

And the vision of the programme: to worship in truth, leading people to encounter God, transforming lives to His glory.

0900 to 0930 hrs- to start off the programme, we played some ice-breaker... we went around to ask people for "autographs" on certain categories such as "celebrates birthday this month", "must have cup of coffee in the day", "cannot live without SMS", "gives to blood bank before", and so on.

0930 to 1000 hrs- after that, it was devotion time... we read the scripture passage of Acts 2:1-4, which speaks about the Apostles being filled with the Holy Spirit. Then we entered into a time of worship, singing a few hymns of praise, and also prayed to God for forgiveness on times when we have taken His calling lightly, have not learnt to be led by Him, have followed the ways of the world, and not loving Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.


1000 to 1130 hrs- for the sermon, Rev. Peter Koh preached the Word on unity in the body of Christ, according to Ephesians 4:4. He emphasized on the importance of humility, gentleness and patience in our lives. He also talked about how God, like a potter, molds us from lumps of clay into masterpieces in spite of the various obstacles we go through during the 'process'.


1130 to 1300 hrs- following a prayer of dedication, it was lunch time! This was what I had for lunch... I guess it's too much. After one serving, I had some cakes for dessert. :-)

1300 to 1430 hrs- we then played some team-building game, being split into 4 groups and required to re-enact the happenings of Exodus 14:1-30, which is Moses leading the Israelites across the Red Sea, with King Ramesses and the Egyptians hot on their heels. Team 1 did the first part of verses 1 to 14, whereas Team 2 acted out verses 15 to 30. Teams 3 and 4 likewise did the same. Teams 1 and 2 won despite the many hiccups that happened during the act. All teams were awarded with bags of tidbits.

1430 to 1600 hrs- then came a session of Cross Team Dialogue, where the groups of Worhip Leaders, Holy Communion Stewards, Musicians, Projection Crew, Ushers, Floral and Holy Communion helpers shared their views on certain concerns, and provided some tips on improvement.

1600 to 1730 hrs- teabreak was just as worthwhile... got sandwiches, chicken wings and curry puffs. The representatives for each group hgihlighted some points on what they had shared during the discussions, and then we ended off with a closing prayer plus an Affirmation. After finishing up on Evaluation forms, we went our separate ways.

I followed Ralph back to church in his van along with 5 more guys... going past Little India (filled with Deepavali decorations) and past Woodleigh, where a forest lay in place of where an old Muslim and Christian cemetry once laid. It was at the church carpark that we split up, and one of the guys gave me a lift back home. And I had dinner at home... it was a worthwhile event I went for! Praise God from whom all blessings flow... :-)

Oh, and yesterday I didn't see JC Sum or Ning anywhere at Central... I did however watch some traditional dance segment narrating the story of how Sang Nila Utama came to discover the island known as Temasek and rename it Singapura, after an encounter with a lion (portrayed by a white Chinese lion?!?).