this entry will wholly be about my first missions training last sunday and this is dedicated to my dearest evening bra since she wants this entry so much for i don't know what reason. anyway, i'm planning to go really in detail cos i'm going to put this as part of my missions journal as well.
i met cheryl and samantha at pasir ris mrt at 12.40pm. the three of us arrived there so early that even i was so proud of myself being so early. so we took the train all the way to clementi and before that we prepared ourselves by checking how long the trip will take. catch this.
THE TRAIN RIDE FROM PASIR RIS TO CLEMENTI TAKES 48 MINUTES!
so the three of us was obviously groaning away but at least we got seats for ourselves and we sat right opposite the map for the stations so that we can keep track of how long more the jouney would take. alogn the way, we got to know each other much better and soon we were laughing our heads off at tiny stuff each said. and we got so millions of phone calls from the other mission trippers and we were kept so busy by all these. after raffles place i suddenly had this terrible ache in my stomach and it was still quite a long way before we reached clementi so i was praying really hard that my ache would stop but it came and go and that irritated me alot.
then lau called me and asked me to count the stops from bishan to clementi. then there was this couple right in front of me and they were blocking my veiw from the map. so i tried to hint to them to move away by moving my head from right to left as if i was trying to look past them to the map since there was so much space right beside them on their left and right. but the thing's that they just kept staring at me like i was so big clown and so i gave up. lau decided to cab to the church after that.
as soon as we arrived at clementi station i rushed to the toilet and met jason on the way. then after that i went back to meet the rest. cheryl said to go to the bus stop at macdonald's to wait for pj and so we did. then pj called and this was our phone conversation.
PJ: hi amanda. where are all of you?
ME: oh. we're at the bus stop already. waiting for you.
PJ: huh? i'm here already. but i don't see you!
PJ and ME: ahhh!!!
and so the both of us concluded that the three of us were at the wrong bus stops so we had to cross over again and we were like so embarrassed.
then we finally saw pj and the other guys and we squeezed like crazy in pj's car with people sitting on top of each other. haha. but the car ride was still fun anyway. pj declared that jason was going to be her main blur target for the mission trip since joey was her last one during her last trip. but we all think that joey's far more blur than jason. haha. then during the car ride pj was so funny saying that we'll soon pass the best school ever which is ngee ann poly. why? cos that was the poly that she was from. GOSH! then lau called and told me in a very scared voice that she arrived at the church already and she didn't know what to do cos she was the only one there and that she was waiting alone at the gate and that made me laugh so much and i just told her to continue waiting at the gate. haha.
and so we finally reached the church and saw nicol and lau waiting oh so pathetically at the front gate of the church. all of us had to practically crawl out of pj's car since we were all in such weird positions.
and poor nicol really looked pathetic as she told us the story of how she had kayaked 12hours straight (and i had thought that 9hours kayaking at obs was too much) and all the sat water splashing into her eyes hasd made her eyes swollen and so much smaller. me and pj thought that she had cried the night before or something. poor nicol :(
okay. so all of us looked really lost in this alien church and there wasn't really anyone who directed us around and stuff so we just managed to find our way into the room that we were supposed to go. then we waited outside for the rest of the team to arrive and we went in directed by screaming ushers to a packed room with this big divider in front. we got seats for ourselves and we found the huge divider right in front of us. then the 12 of us started telling intellectual jokes (lemuel in particular) and lemuel and lau had to dive themselves into an intellectual argument about whether the survey we had been given was a study or a survey which was a really dumb but intellectual topic. and being a kind soul in my nature i had to break their argument and randolf told all of us to start counting the number of dots on the wall divider cos the church might be asking us to cultivate patience or something while making us wait so long and that sent all of us laughing our heads off. oh, and the best thing that day was that i realised that i didn't have to take the flu jab cos i already took it in june! HAHAHA! lau's just so envious of me now.
finally! the training officially started. it was more of an ice breaker session actually. and me and lau were so amazed by the youths in the church cos their style's totally different from megalife. when the church prays, all the youths go "yes Lord! amen!" etc. in one voice which is really so cool and the whole atmosphere of faith just builds up. and we were separated into various teams and we were amazed that the group leaders' were all of very young ages like 15 and 16 and all which is really cool. but the problem was that the 12 of us us were divided into so many groups very weirdly and it gave all of us a big shock of our lives cos some of us were even going to totally different provinces and stuff. but pj went to speak to the pastor and all was quite settled and once again it was miscommunication stuff.
then we broke into our various groups and i was with cheryl and lau while the rest were people from youth impact (YI). my group was cool just that the people were a little on the quiet side but the funny thing was that though the three of us looked so much older than the oldest there (okay, maybe only me.) we were the youngest! so we were like the babies of the team. haha. and me and lau began to panic cos we thought that there won't be guys in our group to catch insects for us but thankfully there was two. haha. the team bonding was good and we got to know each other better.
and here comes the joke of the day as declared by pj. after our bonding session we came together once again to close in prayer and end of the session. before all of us settled down, lau told the girls that her THING had suddenly come and that she didn't have a AHEM. so all the girls went crazy searching for AHEM for her. pj even went to ask her firends in YI and all. then i went with lau to the toilet and she realised that her THING actually didn't come. we went back to tell the rest and we were relieved but laughing away, especially pj. haha.
then after the whole session ended pastor daniel (i think that's his name) was talking to pj about some stuff. then us, being girls stood at a corner grinning and gossipping about how the both of them were a good match especially since he was holding this pink rose in his hands. then we all decided to raise our eyebrows at pj when she walk towards us to tease her a little. pj obviously knew what was in our minds so she explained that pastor daniel's ALREADY MARRIED WITH TWO KIDS and our hearts sank cos we thought that their heights matched perfectly. then pj told us that this young girl gave pastor daniel the flower which was on his hands and he was like so embarrassed and all cos it was quite weird for her to do that. and she asked us if we remember pastor daniel coming to our church to preach before and that was when i realised yes! that's why he looked so familiar.
after that the 12 of us aka the 12 spies by pj decided to go to holland V for dinner together. then pj called for all the girls to squeeze in her car while all the guys take the bus there. and the guys were complaining of us being sexist and all. so the girls obviously reached first so we went to visit the PARTY shop which nicol and cordelia were so enthusiastic about.
Great is the Lord, God Almighty!
