Following the Lord
Today, October 5th, I was teamed up with Brother Gerard. I was excited to see how the Lord would lead us and to learn more about the art of PE. We initially set out to visit Mr. S, whom Sister J and I had met last Saturday. However, when we arrived, his shop was closed. As we continued, we passed by the two famous banana pie shops, both with long queues. We noticed a family who had bought pies from both shops to compare, inspired by the Banana Pie Feud episode on CNA Insider. Brother Gerard struck up a conversation with them, starting with pies, moving on to careers, and eventually sharing what he felt the Lord wanted to say – extending His love and blessings. They welcomed our prayers, and we could see that they were deeply touched by the Lord. Next, we visited Peter’s Place, where Brother Gerard bought some snacks. This opened a brief opportunity to chat with the boss. A seed was sown, and we trust that we will return to water it soon. On level 1, we spotted a shop with no signboard. A lady was busy baking, and then a man, Mr. A, entered with his two children. Even though we had just passed by the shop, we felt led to turn back and see what they were selling—empanadas! Mr. A wore a FC Barcelona cap, and football quickly became a topic between Brother Gerard and him. They both had connections to St. Patrick’s School and shared common friends. A friendship was forged, and the ground was prepared for future encounters where the seeds could be watered. I was amazed by how God orchestrated this meeting. At level 2, we came across a unit where Ms. E and her helper were busy preparing products for a pop-up booth at Takashimaya. Brother Gerard approached Ms. E, and after a brief chat, he shared with her the words he felt God wanted to release over her situation. He conveyed that God was standing with her during this time, offering His protection. Ms. E expressed how much comfort and encouragement this brought her as a child of God (Isaiah 50:4). We prayed for God’s favor and protection over her, her family, and her business. As we moved to another part of the building, Brother Gerard asked me, “What did you feel?” I knew he was referring to a shop we had passed, which had a large picture of an idol on the window and sold amulets. I responded, “Eerie.” There was a strong sense of evil that seemed to say, “Don’t mess with me.” We prayed in the Spirit, covering ourselves with the precious blood of Jesus. I thanked God for His constant protection, knowing that the One who is in us is greater than the one in the world. On our way back to church, Brother Gerard shared how he and his wife began their journey of practicing and following the voice of God. Although we didn’t have time to finish the conversation, I look forward to hearing the rest of his testimony the next time we go out on the streets.
Sharing God’s Love
Today was my first PE Aspirants activity and I was blessed to be partnered with sister J. After having a time of prayers to commit our adventure to the Lord, we moved out to reconnect with some of the people she met previously, Mr. L at a furniture shop, Ms. T, her ex-student’s mom at a spectacle shop, Mr. C at aquarium shop and sister J at her eating house. I learnt much from her friendly and spirit-led ways of conversations with them and often offering prayers and blessings to spread the love of God. While we on our way to look for Mr. R who owns a curtain shop, we passed by an antique shop and J’s eyes were captured by poster with frame printed with Bible verse Rev 3:20. That created a God given opportunity to chat with the boss Mr. S. He moved to K.S. Centre 12 years ago from Balestier and complained that no business in this area. He ever tried selling online but no genuine buyers so he stopped. When he was asked whether he is a Christian as his shop carries some Christianity items, he had much comments on Christianity, such as the Church next door is so rich to buy building and shop units, paying full time staff, and some Christians threw away ancestor tablets and not having the value of filial piety, calling dragon the Lucifer but dragon is a positive element in Chinese tradition, and pastor who misused church fund and went to jail, etc. He has Christian friends but he does not want to comment much. We listened most of the time and once awhile we offered some of our views but we did not want to sound over defensive. At the end we offered to say a prayer to bless him and his business and he accepted it. We believed God touched him with His presence. He invited us back to his shop when we are free. Our last stop was at sister J’s eating house to have cup of Vietnamese coffee before returning to base. We thank God for these opportunities for being able to bring his love and presence to these precious people that we met. We believe that as we remember them in our prayers, God will answer our prayers and produce harvests in due seasons.