What We HadLaughter (includes rolling on the floor)
Birthdays Celebration
Singing (from serious to nonsensical)
Tears (gallons of it)
Fun
Delicious Food (Indian, Malay, Chinese, Western)
Prayers
Presents (for everyone)
Thanksgiving Speeches (by all to all)
Photo-taking (lots of it)
Guitar-playing (volume adapted to suit 3am playing)
Video-watching
Notes & Cards
Cakes (ice-cream & cheese)
(how can I forget) Duckie Softtoy (likeable to both gals & guys)
How Can I Describe ItAwesome. Unforgettable. Touching. Loving. Funny. Memorable. Team 15.
Team 15's Appreciation Night in full...Pre-eventDuring the day, Mal & Jas were telling me how "nervous" they were for the night. I am too. The whole day I was singing "Friends are Friends Forever". I was feeling very unsettled in my heart. I was in anticipation for the night yet feeling very apprehensive. I hate to be reminded about parting.
9pmI arrived at Eunice's place with Faith. Throughout our journey there, Faith kept assuring me and making sure that I wasn't already crying before time. To think Malvin also called me earlier (knowing that I was alone at West Mall) to make sure that I wasn't alone crying at some corner. (hahaha!!)
Sam & Saral were rolling some dough. They said it's "puri". Don't know what it is. Altona was frying chicken wings in the kitchen. Satay & some chicken is on the table. Eunice then went on to cook her Hokkien Mee while we helped her to taste it. I guess our help weren't needed as no matter what we suggested she should add, PEPPER is the only thing she kept adding. (So now I know...PEPPER is the key to Eunice's yummy food.)
Altona was busy setting the table, then writing our names on each of the plastic cups. Then took out the chairs and arranged them round the table. Sam took out the chicken curry that Saral had prepared at home while Saral took over the stove to fry the "puri". The flat dough that they were rolling can expand!! How cool.
10.15pmWe laid out all the food on the table. WOW. Satay, Chicken curry, Puri, Hokkien mee, Chicken wings, Stir-fry chicken. I said grace and we started eating!! SO YUMMY!!!!!!!! (still drooling now thinking of it)
10.30pmAl fetched Jas from MRT. We locked the door and continued with our food ignoring them. While they were trying to knock on the door, Sam imitated a dog's bark!! It was so real even we in the house got a fright! (where did the dog come from?) Our Rose Syrup arrived with Jas & Al got busy preparing the drinks. He made it so sweet!! Because according to him,...."Indonesians like sweet things." (haha!) Jas joined in our feasting and after some time, Kunming & Kelvin arrived.
11.45pm
Waiting for the last group of T15-ians to arrive. We were fellowshipping in Eunice's study room (dunno what room is that so I named it myself). Al & Kel were lying on the floor with "duckie" and we went into the topic of potential life partners. We suggested some names to everyone - ***, ***, ***,... (oh..the names are omitted because of confidentiality. hahaha!) Michelle said they were downstairs. But they took like 15 minutes to come up.
12.15am (27 Nov)Finally, Dorothy, Tony, Michelle, Malvin & Alex arrived!!! First things first. Feed them. Eunice, Saral, Kel, Kun, myself,....all got busy heating up the curry, frying more puri, scooping the Hokkien Mee, pouring the drinks for our VIPs (VIPs usu arrive last. haha!).12.30am"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Malvin, Jasmine, Eunice,..." We celebrated the January & December babies birthday with a nicey nice cheesecake bought by Tony. (even though until now, it is still lying intact in Eunice's fridge. Program for the night was too packed, no time to cut. Hahaha!) Malvin wished to set up an education centre (liken CHEC) in M'sia one day; Eunice wished to do well in her acting career; Jasmine wished to do Biz in SMU and eventually shine in the marketplace. YOU GO GUYS/GALS! I BELIEVE IN YOU! After presenting them with their gifts, we moved on to the next part of the program.
(From this point forth...I lost track of time...)
Cindy's "preaching"...I was trying to prepare this message earlier but the playful guys kept distracting me. Anyway it was just more of a thanksgiving speech dedicated to team 15. I thanked them in helping me B.E. who I am today. (Quoting Malvin..)
"BE, B-E,...B stands for Believe" (hahaha!)
I thank them for believing in me the past 10 months. In always going the extra mile to make things happen. Be it praying early in the morning, or late at night; manpower at the warehouse or SPO, doing admin or helping at sports event during Emerge; outing in town, overnight at airport or even all the way to JB; setting chairs in 5 mins, breakfast at 8am,...whatever requests I make, they will carry the words and make it into a reality. THANKS GUYS! YOU ALL ARE AWESOME!
(Quoting Malvin again) "B-E, E stands for Enduring"
I thank them for enduring this race in SOT. I know that all of them went through a very challenging year, area of finances, career, ministry, family, relationships, personal life,...all of them have a story to tell. So I took the chance to mention to each of them the tough periods they went through this year and how their determination and courage to carry on has encouraged me and inspired me. They are all champions in their own right!
Finally, I took the opportunity to serve this great team of people. A leader should be the servant of all. But for this whole year they have been serving me and crowning me as "queen", "boss", "majesty"...now, it's my time to do what Jesus did to serve His disciples. While washing their feet, I prayed for a word of encouragement to share with each and every one of them. The moment was tremendous. Magnificent. I feel so honoured being able to do that. I think it was such a glorious time.
Once again, they let me feel like a 'queen'. Sam and Saral, being the eldest in the group, washed my feet. God, I feel so humbled. So, so, so humbled. I thank God from the bottom of my heart for giving me this privilege.
It only takes a spark...to get a fire going...The team gathered back into a circle and got me to sit on a cushion in the middle. Facing Faith, she started lighting up the candle in her hands and started sharing with me how I have impacted her life. One by one, Alex, Kun, Dorothy, Jas, Mich, Saral, Sam, Mal, Kel, Tony, Al, Eunice lit up the candle in their hands as I turned one full round and they took turns to share what I have done in their lives. I was so touched as each of them shared. I did not realize how their lives had changed since they entered SOT. I thank God that the team could inspire one another so much that they all moved up another level in their lives. I thank God that I could leave a footprint in their lives."God, I thank You for using me in such a great manner. To impact men and women who will one day have their own big ministry. Thank You for moving through me to touch them. I am amazed at what You can do through a simple person like me. Thank You for choosing me. I am truly humbled in Your great love."
In appreciation of each otherAfter I lit up my own candle to symbolize how they have lit up my life, in the beauty of the candlelight, we rounded up with the song "Friends are Friends Forever". (I have to say....we were out of tune...haha!) So we gave up singing and went around to give hugs to one another, at the same time everyone took turns to tell one another how each one has impacted their lives. It was a beautiful sight. As we shared, one-to-one, smiles started to show on everyone's faces. An atmosphere of God's love and joy filled the whole place.Watching video trailerWe gathered back together and proceeded to (what I called earlier) Eunice's study room. I was ushered into the room with a "pillow blindfold"...(not really helpful so I corporated by closing my eyes). They sat me down on a chair in front of a computer and when they took down the "pillow blindfold", Jasmine is speaking on the screen!! A video trailer for me!! So sweeeeeeeeeet!! I just knew something was up their sleeves when each time I tried to enter the room, someone will shout, "oh CINDY! You are going into the room ah?"..... Anyway, the video is so cool!!! With a super funny intro...a whole flashback trail of the photos of everything the team had done together this year, speech from each team member (with their 'title' on a title bar) and the Arise & Build song!!!! TONY!! The video is simply (forgive me for my limited vocab) AWESOME!! The video is PRICELESS.Christmas time?
We went back into the living room and now it's Malvin's turn to speak. (It seems each one came with an agenda in mind) He gave each and everyone of us a keychain with our names nicely engraved on it!!!! It is so beautiful!! We have decided to all attach it to our SOT tags! (my tag is getting heavier & heavier.....) Then he took out this BIG stack of placards to give us! Each one has 6 photos (different for everyone) which we had taken this year with a personal note from him. IT'S SO SWEET of him!!!! The photos are beautiful.
A tiny bit of the beautiful memories we shared.. Then beefore we could move on, Michelle shouted, "WAIT!! I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU ALL TOO!" .....Christmas came before time? Why is everyone giving gifts??!! (but of course..who minds receiving? Haha...) She gave each gal a BIG packet of marshmellow & each guy an inspirational poster with a personalized letter to each of us......I already dunno what else to say to praise my dearest teammates...Praying...praying...PrayingThe team members then laid hands on me and some of them toook turns to pray for me. I feel so blessed. It feels like 13 great and power men & women laying hands on me. I tell myself, I must really go all the way and lay down my life to do mighty things for God. For God's glory and for each and everyone of them. I am committed to them.We then laid hands and prayed for the 5 international students. In turn, they also laid hands on us and each took turns to pray for us. I really believe great ministries are getting birthed forth.
Cleaning up time!Programs over. Fellowship has just begun. Eunice made a really delicious ice-cream cake for us!! It's SO YUM YUM!!!!!!!!! The ice-cream, nuts, cake...............*drool* We each took a piece & after the dessert it's cleaning up time! Everyone just got busy packing the mess, rearranging the furniture, sweeping then mopping the floor, clearing the rubbish...and special mention, KUNMING DID ALL THE DISHES! *applause*(finally looked at our watches again...4.30am!!!???)
R & RIt's amazing how everyone looked so energetic and excited at this time. We sat together to sing some songs that Kunming wrote on the spot...then we took turns to add in lyrics...like "Tony, we love you,...", "All the guys are so handsome...", "Girls so sweet and pretty...", even "wooooooooo...." also considered as a line....*dotz* Dorothy was laughing to much she was rolling around on the floor. (This is the Dorothy I know!) It didn't take long when tiredness started to set in and one by one we each concussed on the sofa, chair, every nook and corner became our 'King Koil mattress' because the moment we take an eye blink, it seems the eyelids are too heavy to lift.
Finally the last few survivors, Dorothy, Michelle, Mal & Tony, who are busy taking pictures of people falling asleep in weird places, initiated the departure. So one by one we packed up and left in Mich's car, Kun's car and Al's car.
This appreciation night is such a memorable event in my heart. Team 15, you guys left such a deep impact in my life. You guys helped shape me into who I am today. I REALLY THANK GOD FOR EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU.
I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
(man...I took more than 2 hours to blog this...but worth it lah..must keep this memory...)