Take my Son

Received this story from a friend.

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art. When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, 'Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.'

The young man held out this package. 'I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.' The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. 'Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift.'

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection. On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. 'We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?'

There was silence.

Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, 'We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.'

But the auctioneer persisted. 'Will somebody bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?'

Another voice angrily. 'We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Gogh's, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!'

But still the auctioneer continued. 'The son! The son! Who'll take the son?'

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the long time gardener of the man and his son. 'I'll give $10 for the painting.' Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

'We have $10, who will bid $20?'

'Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters.' The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.

The auctioneer pounded the gavel. 'Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!' A man sitting on the second row shouted, 'Now let's get on with the collection!' The auctioneer laid down his gavel. 'I'm sorry, the auction is over.'

'What about the paintings?'

'I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned... Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.

The man who took the son gets everything!'

God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is: 'The son, the son, who'll take the son?' Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, WHO SO EVER BELIEVETH, SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE....THAT'S LOVE.

Creative Art - Balloon

Terminator !?

No, not Terminator. It's Poodle with Harley Balloonson! If you thought this is a product of some skilled balloonist, or now they are called creative artists, you are badly mistaken! It's made by none other than our very own Siew Yew! After attended the Sunday School training course last month, Siew Yew found a new hobby - making balloons. You can see some of her other products in the pictures here.

The workers of various children ministries (Sunday School, Boys' Brigade and Girls' Brigade) attended a training course last month. We were blessed with the teaching and sharing from Sister Dorothy Tay and Brother Sam Tee (a.k.a. Mr Button). We hope to put to good use the knowledge and skills we have acquired from them. May God bless their ministries and that they will continue to equip others in the service of Christ in children ministries.

Group picture at the end of the class.

4th Miri BB Has a New Blog

As part of the church wide effort to create a blogsite for GMC with links all its ministries, I have created a new blog for 4th Miri Company. Please click on the title of this post to visit the blog. In future, all BB activities will be posted on the new blog.

Happy Birthday Min Waye

Min Waye celebrates her 7th birthday on 7th Feb. She was just a tiny tot when we came to Miri more than 5 years ago. She is now in Standard 1 at Chung Hua Krokop. She is also the class monitor! From the pix you can see how fast she has grown. Happy Birthday to you, Min Waye.

6th birthday.

5th birthday.

4th birthday.
3rd birthday
2nd birthday.

More Photos - Siew Yew's Family

Here are the group/family photos taken on the last day of their trip.

This photo has everyone in it - 25 of us!

Eldest sister & family.

2nd sister & family.3rd sister & family
Father and younger brother & family.

Another younger brother & son.

Siew Yew's father and the grandchildren.

The 4 sisters with their father.

Finally, a short video clip capturing some of the memorable moments.

Chinese New Year in Miri

Siew Yew's family members arrived safely in Miri on the 2nd day of CNY. This has been a long anticipated visit ... in fact we have waited for 5 years for this!! Finally, capitalising on the zero fare promotion from MAS, 20 of them came to Miri to celebrate CNY.

We were worried of the weather because it had been raining for weeks. Most of our program were outdoor, including visiting the famed Niah Cave and Lambir Hills National Park. Going to these places during monsoon season was not really a good idea. We took a wait-and-see attitude .... if the weather was not good then we would scrap the plan. Amazingly we were blessed with fine weather and were able to cover all the planned activities! Praise the Lord for answered prayer!

The gathering was such a blessing. Imagine 25 persons, young and old, squeezing under one roof! There were so much of catching up to do. Some of the children (well .... teenagers to be exact) managed to learn how to cycle during the short stay at our place. Cycling is not something one would pick up in KL, given the safety and security consideration.

After 3 days of fellowship and fun, they left for KL on Friday, leaving behind fond memories.

Group photo at Lambir Hills National Park. Some family members were not in the picture because they decided to trek further to another waterfall. Look how happy Siew Yew was.

Splashing time at the waterfall.
Taman Awam. Notice the sunshine in the picture? It was still raining when we arrived. The sky cleared up and the kids (including some over-aged ones) managed to play at the pool.

Meal time. Praise the Lord for our maid who did most of the cooking.

At Canada Hill.

The Ladies visiting the Grand Old Lady of Miri.

We were pleasantly surprised that the Petroleum Museum was open.

BBQ dinner at our place.

Sharing from Pastor Law after the BBQ dinner.

Min Jed, Min Waye and their cousin, Kit Hoe at the beach.

Taking a boat ride to cross the river to Niah Cave.

Group photo at Niah Cave .... (technically this is Deer Cave, just outside of Niah Cave).

Blessed New Year

Wish everyone a Blessed Chinese New Year!

Today is the first day of Chinese New Year. As in previous years, we decided to stay in Miri to celebrate the new year. After the church service in the morning, we went visiting friends. The first stop was our small group leader's home, Simon and Sally at Piasau Garden. Tien and family went with us. Pastor also showed up later. We also visited Jimmy & Amy, Peter & Margaret, and later in the afternoon Tien and Bee Gin.

We were the 1st visitors to Simon & Sally's place. The keropok was gone in minutes!

Pastor Law and family came later.
Jimmy & Amy's cosy home was our second stop. The hosts treated us with mee shua.The kids enjoying themselves.

Simon & Sally together with Herbert & Mui Foon dropped by our place for a visit.

Later in the evening we had Tien's family and Lucy & kids at our place. We were keeping to the Chinese tradition, visiting one another during this joyous occasion. My girls were happily counting their "ang-pow" money, reminding us when we were their age.

Siew Yew's family members will arrive tomorrow for a 3 days visit. 20 of them in total, and many of them will be visiting Sarawak for the very first time. We have lined up some interesting program for them .... but have to pray that it won't be a wet vacation!