The
Alpha Weekend was certainly an event that created an impact in people’s life.
Not only did it change the lives of the many people who went, lessons were also
learnt.
After
a short prayer in church, we boarded the bus and headed to Malaysia. We were all
relieved, as there wasn’t any jam along the causeway. After clearing the
Malaysian customs, Anthony boarded the bus to put his laptop and went down again
to guide the participants of the Alpha Course up to the bus.
An Indian man dressed like a tourist guide walked up the bus and headed
straight to the centre of the bus and sat down. At first I thought that the
tourist guide just sat down wherever he wanted as his job was just to accompany
us to the resort. A few moments later, he got out of the seat and alighted the
bus saying that he boarded the wrong bus. Little did it dawn on me that he was a
professional thief! Anthony discovered that his laptop bag had been swooped.
Upon examination, the bag that the thief had left contained a 1.5liter bottle
filled with water just to give it the weight. Oh how smart of the thief.
All
of us panicked. Some prayed. Some went looking for the Indian guy. Some went up
other coaches to check if Anthony had accidentally placed the bag in another
coach. I was thinking on how I could actually miss the guy when I was sitting on
the front seat. The Alpha VCD’s were in the bag and the laptop contained all
the information needed for the Alpha Weekend.
We
contacted Lawrence Oliverio who then managed to get in touch with RiverLife
church. They lent their whole stack of Alpha VCD’s to us even though they
didn’t even know who we were. Isn’t that amazing? And Lawrence took the
trouble to drive all the way down to Tanjung Puteri to pass us the stack of
VCD’s.
Meanwhile,
over at Tanjung Puteri itself, everyone was having their welcome tea. I was
setting up my own notebook that I brought along, for the first session of the
worship and video. I wasn’t able to open the file! All the files for the
weekend were corrupted. I was totally astonished! But, Richard managed to get a
backup for me and we proceeded with worship. Thereafter, Elder Woon Chin Teng
spoke in place of the stolen VCD’s.
While
we were enjoying the sumptuous spread of lunch, Lawrence arrived to pass us the
stack of VCD’s. What a relief. We were all glad that we would be able to
continue our weekend as planned. We prayed that nothing would now hinder us from
bringing all of us a step closer to Him.
Saturday
afternoon was a time where everyone had their own free time. Families spent time
building bonds with each other and I believed everyone already had themselves
relaxed and their minds away from work. Isn’t that good as everyone would be
able to concentrate only on God
We
had a fabulous dinner and the 2nd part of worship as well as the
Alpha Video. The participants were divided into 2 groups for the discussions. A
separate children’s program was also planned and they had lots of fun doing
their artwork.
The
day came to an end and Sabbath came as immediate as Saturday ended. Sunday
service was the same, just that it was Jingle leading and playing the piano with
a backup singer. What a spirit-filled worship everyone had.
The
weekend came to a close. Everyone must be tired by then.
2
ladies and 1 guy accepted the Lord, many others opened significantly and there
were some re-dedications as well over the weekend. Rejoice!
The
Alpha Weekend is a good reminder to all of us that no matter what happens, God
is with us always. Satan shall never out-rule us. And in whatever situation we
may face, Pray before panicking.
Cheers!
MiRaNtZ
(Mirantz
went to Alpha 7 as a videographer on assignment.)
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