Family Seminar

Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church has a committee called the Family Support Ministry (FSM).  One of the ongoing projects of FSM right now is the showing of videos on Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp, followed by discussions on the videos.  The Family Support Ministry also sponsors an annual family seminar.  This year's seminar was held this past Saturday, July 27.  The topic chosen was "Growing Together in Faith as Husbands and Wives."  There was a speech, followed by discussion groups and then a question and answer session.  During all these things there were activities for the children. The evening concluded with dinner together.  Here are some pictures of the event:

A very nice introduction to the topic by Samuel Wee, 

a member of the Family Support Ministry

The speech

Preparing for a discussion group

The older kids' activity room

The younger kids with Daisy Lim

 

Dinner

May God bless the marriages of His people and give good spiritual growth to husbands and wives!

Lau Pa Sat

While my parents were here, a family from church took us to Lau Pa Sat for dinner one evening. Lau Pa Sat is located in the business district of Singapore.  There is a huge hawker center (outdoor food court) there, serving food all day.  But at 7:00 p.m. the food choices and eating area become much larger.  A stretch of road is closed to cars and very quickly set up with a few more food/drink stalls and many, many tables for people to eat at.  We were there before 7:00 and could see all the action as the street was transformed. By the time we left, the street was packed with people eating dinner.

Our family with my parents before dinner

 

The area surrounding Lau Pa Sat

Before 7:00 p.m.--Just another Singapore road

After 7:00 p.m.--A policeman has now blocked the street, and preparations are underway to turn it into a busy eating area!

 

One of the most popular foods served there was satay.  There were a number of places selling satay, and people trying to get us to buy from their stall!  Satay is pork, beef, chicken, or mutton served on sticks with a peanut sauce to go with it, and often served with rice inside banana leaves.

Grilling satay--looks like a very hot job!

Here's another food we tried.  Any guesses as to what it is?

Barbequed stingray!! 

(covered with chili sauce, which is used in great abundance in Singapore!)

We had a good evening at Lau Pa Sat.  It was an enjoyable new cultural experience for us.

A Fishing Village in Malaysia

My parents (Rev. & Nancy Key) are here for a visit for three and a half weeks.  We've been having a very busy but wonderful time.  The first Monday they were here (July 1), a family from church took us into Malaysia for the day.  Our first stop was the fishing village of Kukup.

Street in Kukup

The fishermen and their families live in homes built over the edge of the sea.  When we were there, the tide was out, and only mud and trash was left behind.

Chicken coops alongside one of the houses

Although the outside area was very dirty, the doors to most homes were open, and we could see that the insides were spotlessly clean.  The other striking thing about the homes was that all of them had idols inside--idols of the Chinese religions.  There were also a couple of small temples just in the neighborhood that we were in.

 

A structure for burning incense, right outside one of the temples

What follows are three pictures of a new house going up along the sea in Kukup.

 

I took this picture just for all you builders back in the States!

Closer-up view--big tree branches holding things in place

How safe does that stairway look?

The people who live in these homes use bikes and motorcycles to get around.  You can see in the following picture the sidewalks we were walking on.  A few times we had to stand off to the side to let motorcycles past.

Bikes and motorcycles parked in front of the largest home we saw

Finally, here are some more random pictures of the neighborhood and of the fishing area:

 

Church Camp: A Week of Godly Fellowship

CERC's annual church camp, held this year from June 17-20, is the highlight of the year for the congregation. The theme of this year's camp was "Growing in Godliness," and was developed in four speeches.  We saw how godliness must be an all-consuming goal, and how it is fueled by God's Word, strengthened through prayer, and served through godly fellowship.  There was a lot of time spent with God's Word and in godly fellowship throughout the week.

(Thanks to Daniel and Yang Zhi for some of the pictures on this blog.  I have to give credit where credit is due!)

 

After each speech there were discussion groups (above picture).  During the discussion groups, there were classes and crafts for the kids. 

There were also group games for three hours on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons.

One of the games was writing a song that included a line about 

every person in your group, then singing that song.

There was also time for fellowship over meals.

Nichelle Wong and Jessica

And we got to see the Americanizing of Singaporeans. ;-)

Two Michigan fans

My husband, Eric, and a couple of the youth that just visited the U.S. introduced the game of baseball to other members of the church during free time one afternoon.

Ticket to Ride has become a favorite game among the youth here.

The large group that attended this year's camp

We enjoyed our first church camp here and had a blessed week of fellowship with these brothers and sisters in Christ.