Recent Church Life

There have been a few different church-related happenings since we arrived back in Singapore.  First was the installation of officebearers on August 9.  Because CERC practices the laying on of hands for new officebearers and only our deacons were first-time officebearers, Elder Lee Kong Wee stood first to answer the questions in the installation form, and the deacons were installed after Elder Lee had signed the Formula of Subscription.

Elder Lee standing for the questions in the form

Signing the Formula of Subscription

New deacons answering the questions in the form

Paul Liu

Cornelius Boon

Tonight we had another "Follow-Up Dinner with Pastor," arranged a few times a year by the committee in charge of following up with visitors to our services.  These dinners are held at our house with our family, several members of CERC, and some of the visitors.

Jemima, on the end of the couch, and Jia Chin, the young man

pictured, have both been attending CERC for about a year.

Exhortation on Isaiah 43:1-5

Group photo

The Bible study groups had their photos taken the Sunday after we returned to Singapore from our furlough.  The following picture is the group that meets at my house on the first and third Wednesdays of each month to study the women of the Bible.

And a couple of random pictures...

Jason and Jael working with their Sunday School 

teacher, Elena, on a project after their weekly lesson

Jael and Jason during Sunday lunch between services

National Day Hike

August 9 is Singapore's National Day.  Because of the public holiday, this year we had a church outing, a hike at Macritchie Reservoir.

We opened with an exhortation and singing, led by Cornelius Boon.

During the first part of our hike we all stayed together and went to the tomb of Lim Bo Seng, a World War II hero in the fight against the Japanese.

Jonah giving us the history of Lim Bo Seng

From there we split into two groups based on how far we wanted to hike.

The group leaders, Yoon Chuan and Jonah

Elijah and Jason

Jessica and Nichelle 

Beautiful plants along the path

We ended with lunch together.

Gathering for prayer before the meal

Jason and Elias eating lunch together

For those in the U.S. who told me you like pictures of the food!

This is nasi lemak.  This picture includes a fried chicken wing; white rice

cooked in coconut milk and water; otah (fish mixed with chilli paste)

served on a banana leaf; a cucumber slice; a fish cake; a packet

of peanuts and anchovies; and a packet of chilli sauce.

(Thanks to Yoon Chuan for the description!)

Adorable Naomi Liu

BRF Conference (2)

The BRF Conference included two planned day trips and a lot of free time.  The first day trip was to Hillsborough Castle and the surrounding town.  Hillsborough Castle is where the British royalty stays when they visit Northern Ireland.

In the formal dining room, where Eleanor Roosevelt was hosted during World War II

(We were encouraged to sit down at the table.  It was amazing to me how 

open everything was to the public both inside the castle and around the grounds.)

The throne room

The grounds

We also spent some time in the town of Hillsborough.

 

This cemetery had gravestones from at least the 1800s 

(we think one said 1700-something) all the way until today.

Another day we went to the site of the Battle of the Boyne and also to Trim Castle and the town of Trim.

This house was built on the site of the battle and has

a cannonball from the battle right above the doorway. 

Where Prince William of Orange met King James II in battle in 1690

The town of Trim

Trim Castle (built in the 1100s)

Some of the group having fun on the castle steps

Guided tour of the castle

At the top of the castle

In the town

Walking around Trim, with the castle in the distance

During several of the days we had free time, and people all went different directions to do activities around the area.  Our family went one afternoon to Dundrum Castle, which was built in 1180.

The keep

Inside the keep

My mother-in-law and Beth Buchanan at the top of the keep

Eric with two of the Buchanan boys

We also spent a bit of time in the nearby town of Newcastle.

Enjoying ice cream and the beautiful view!

(The Irish Sea was right beyond that hill.)

There were also things to do right on or near the castle grounds.  These included an arboretum and one of the largest hedge mazes in the world.

My parents-in-law in the arboretum

Sequoia trees

At the hedge maze--This is probably less than a

quarter of the whole thing.  There were 3.5 km of trails.

View from a bridge in the maze

Look at the scenery beyond the maze!

We encourage anyone who is able to, to go to the next BRF Conference!  Plans are for it to be held in South Wales from July 21-28, 2018.  Keep your eyes out for more details coming over the next year!