I’ve left this space empty for far too long! So much has taken place I’ve got a backlog of stories to spill and a bag of upcoming projects to unravel. Life has been exciting, revealing and nothing short of a thrilling roller coaster ride. God has been real and He has been good. A sneak peak of what’s to come on this blog:

India: Travel tales & wild rides
Philippines: A year end escape to mountain tops and sunbathed seas
Iwahig Prison & Penal Farm: Where ‘free’ prisoners roam
Life @ 29 (A reflection of what has and what is to come)
Lots of book reviews…! (Yes I’ve been doing a lot more reading these days)

Will be back with full stories. Stay tuned!

Last month’s Project Gift went to the Pastor & people in Cambodia whom we personally visited for the 2nd time. I will write separate post about the amazing things happening in Cambodia and how far a few dollars can stretch in making an impact in the lives of people.

This month having been bombarded with news about Japan since the tsunami hit last week, and just this morning about another earthquake in Myanmar, we have been incredibly moved by the massive death toll and destruction that’s gripping our earth, particularly in Japan at this very moment. Having the opportunity to be in Aceh in 2006, two months after the Tsunami hit we caught a glimpse of how natural disaster can instantaneously turn a calm village into devastating bedrock of calamity. And regardless of how much we read, listen and watch on TV – only those on ground will ever understand what it means to have the world in one day and nothing the following day.

We will continue to pray and believe that God is in the midst of all this because

“God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.” Psalm 9:18.

And to put action to prayer is to do something! In John 4, Jesus talked about true worshipers worshiping in spirit and in truth. True worship stems from doing. The Bible also records a scripture from James that true religion comes from doing.

This month’s Project Gift goes to Japan via Do Something Now. Do Something Now is a movement by Passion, a ministry known for their worship and music. Worship is more than just music or good music. Worship is more than just notes and singing in the right tune. Worship is more than just recording labels. Worship is also about doing something unto the Father, our Heavenly Father.

Let’s put action to prayer… do something now!

Treasure throve of all things mystical – that is Ubud. I was initially skeptical about visiting Ubud as I’m not a fan of competing with throngs of tourists, especially when I’m on a holiday. But Ubud proved me wrong, despite the busy traffic at certain times of the day and the never ending shops along the Main Street, Monkey Forest road, Hanoman Street, and Dewi Sita Street are the hidden back lanes that lead to vast green paddy fields that make a ready escape.

This little town holds dear to its traditions and so I observed. One afternoon we biked around and found ourselves stuck in traffic of people along Monkey Forest road. A good long line of nearly 1km of cars, bikes and people were sardine on the streets in gridlock. We waited patiently for it to pass and found out that a funeral procession was taking place. Family and friends of the deceased were walking the final march into Monkey Forest for the burial. Evidently, despite Ubud being a tourist hotspot, locals still went about their necessary traditions – even if it means causing a mad traffic jam.

Laid back as it is, I found old and young men sitting together with their fighter chickens chatting the afternoon away. While their wives watch over the children, men gather in the way they know best, chats and cock fights.

Religion also defines their culture, steep in religious beliefs, offerings are presented to their gods daily and scents of burning incense lingers in the air. Good luck charms are places at shops entrances, walkways and byways.

And in the midst of all this authenticity are hotels, cozy cafes, massage spas, cooking schools, clothing shops and art galleries polka dotted along uneven pathways. It is a mix of pleasant chaos where every Balinese supports one another to get an extra buck or two from the foreigner. Yours truly.

In light of this coming Christmas, we have pledge to do something different for the next 12 months, culminating at Christmas 2011. The season and essence of Christmas have always been about giving. Shopping for perfect presents, inviting guests for Christmas dinners, sharing Christmas tunes in carols and the list goes on.

But the core of it all is this – God gave his one and only Son, so that we have life, and life abundantly. And it is in His giving that we find meaning in our day-to-day life.

So this Christmas we’re climbing out of our comfort zone by stretching the season of giving far beyond December into the other 12 months of the year. We’re hoping to enlarge our giving for the reason that God gave and our life has been abundant thus far (not necessarily always in the form of material goods or money, but always… always far above what money cannot buy – love, joy, peace…)
That said, we have decided to launch our own personal project called ‘The Gift’. Every month we will make a donation to a cause and will feature them on our blog. The causes that we plan to support can range from healthcare, education, sanitation to anti-human trafficking. We will dedicate a feature in our blogs for these causes in hope that it will challenge and inspire our friends and blog readers to find out more about real-issues that surround us and hopefully to extend some help too.

Our very unprecedented feature this December are the Invisible Children. This organisation seeks to end human trafficking in the nature of child soldiers in East Africa, by using media, film and social activations – to educate and ‘promote’ the action across the world. The war in East Africa has been touted the longest, and Invisible Children seek to inspire and at the same time, empower people and nations, to stand up and call for change.

Aside from rallying the cause, Invisible Children works on building and rebuilding schools, providing books and a sound education, assisting in water and sanitation and also creating a sustainable long term training program for young Ugandians to have a better life in the future.

You can read more about the war and its history here, but it is also translated in the movie they filmed in 2003 called, Invisible Children: The Rough Cut. You can purchase the movie on their website, or if you are close proximity with us, feel free to borrow.

To be more aware, read more about their story here, and you can browse their website which is loaded with much in depth information. Support the kids in their Bracelet Campaign, the Legacy Scholarship Program, or many other programs listed on their website.

Invisible Children biggest achievement would be their ‘We Want Obama’ campaign that ran for a few months this year which resulted in having the President of the United States, inviting them to the Oval Office and passing a bill against the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act into law.

I have stumbled upon many quotes on life – many mesmerizing at the fact that life is too short to waste, musings of a beautiful life and reflections of how unexpected life’s journey can unfold. And I have recently pondered on thought of aging gracefully even as we celebrated my grandmother’s 90th birthday.

What a privilege and blessing it is to live ninety decades of life to witnesses marriages, births, graduations, celebrations, umpteen birthdays and a throng of other family gatherings. And on hindsight, this privilege is also tainted with bitter sweet memories played out at funerals, farewells and hardship.

Grandma whom I fondly call ‘Mama’ has played a significant role in my life – sowing seeds of endurance, perseverance, passion and love since I was a little girl. She vividly remembers the nightmarish days of World War 2 when she was working as a midwife travelling from village to village delivering babies. She recounts the ghoulish escape routes she took in order to stay clear of Japanese invaders. That day of sheer determination and passion in carrying out her mission as a midwife gives me the drive to live for what I believe in.

She grimly speaks of how poverty nearly robbed her of her dream to study – but a miracle happened when someone sponsored her to continue her studies in midwifery. As a child, her pursuit for knowledge gave me the rise to never stop attaining knowledge, even if I had it much easier these days (with extra to spare, google university at my finger tips and a sea of books to choose from).

Above all, it was Mama’s generosity that touched my heart the most. In her adulthood, she married my grandfather – ‘Yeh Yeh’ who was a principal of a school. They got along pretty well and soon earned a little more to afford a helper in the house to help with the children. Mama never mistreated the helpers, instead most of them ended up working with her for more than 10 years.

During family gatherings as a child, I would be introduced to aunty so-and-so and uncle so-and-so. When asked how we are related to them, my parents would often sit me down for a story or two about how Mama used to take in poor neighbours and friends and raised them up by helping with their school fees, medical bills and basic supplies. And that’s how we are related – Mama made them part of her family… our family.

How at 90 years old, she’s unable to walk due to a fall about a year and a half ago, her memory is fading and she is a lot less active. A year and a half ago, I was worried we might lose her – but she braved through another operation at 89! Such a fighter… Her eyes still lights up whenever I visit her at my parents’ home. She eagerly waits for our weekly visits and constantly asks when our next visits will be.

Her greatest strength has been God and her daily conversations with Him. Prayer her lifeline and it has been our family’s lifeline too… Through prayer she has sown eternal gifts that no money or wealth can buy. Through prayer, she has built a foundation in our home that’s unshakable and unmovable.

Photos taken by Joshua Chan