Here’s an ‘exclusive’ interview with a brother who has returned from his churchplanting stint at Equador. His identity has been withheld upon his request.
Regretfully, this is as much (picture above) I can reveal. But I guess he was afraid that his good looks would work against him here. Ha ha ha… (This is my joke)
However, if you do your math and your research, you would be able to know who this brother is. Especially those from Hope Singapore Church =)
May this e-interview bless you by providing useful insights of a global Christian’s life and adventure with God.
1. How long have you spent in Equador? What will you miss?
I’ve been in the field for 3 years and 11 months. I’ll miss the warmth of the church there; not only the church, but the person on the street.
The culture: It’s a culture where it’s normal to spend 3 hours just chatting with a friend. In Singapore, you’re lucky to get even an hour with your friend.
I’m not a very extroverted person, and each time I have to go out with a native of that country, sometimes I get irritated and think, “I could use that time to translate more materials! I need to prepare the sermon for Sunday!”
But the truth is, I’ll miss that.
2. Was it worth it despite having to disrupt your prospective and stable career with Creative? Why?
Firstly, I believe my career in Creative 4 years ago was not ‘prospective’. Perhaps it was stable, but it was not offering any future excitement or improvement for me.
Now, I speak for myself, and surely there are people whose current position in Creative, and whose personality, would prove otherwise. But I always wanted something fun. I always knew I wanted something that would be fun all the way in my career (E.g. in 10 years when I reach a senior position), I would be able to enjoy that senior position, and not long for the ‘good old days’ as a junior, nor think about changing jobs, nor think that everyday is so borrrriiiiing. I admit I get bored very easily. Ok. End of Rant.
It was worth it to forsake that career. If nothing else, you know who you are.
I remember a show called Fight Club, in which Tyler Dryden (played by Brad Pitt) said “How much can you know about yourself, you’ve never been in a fight? I don’t wanna die without any scars. So come on; hit me before I lose my nerve.” (Google is such a fantastic search engine 😀 ).
Now I’m definitely not advocating violence. Read me correctly; its so easy to take this wrongly. So let me rephrase Tyler.
How much can you know about yourself, if you’ve never pit your faith against the devil?
Now again, another caveat: there are many people in church, whose EVERYDAY is a battle of faith against the devil. These men and women know about hardship, loneliness, and the occasional (dare I say it?) anger towards God. And if these people exercise their faith in these situations, they truly know themselves.
But for me, I’ve always had an easy life. I never worried about the really essential things, like food, rent, money. So I stepped into the ring. It’s fine to be punching bags all the time, but the reason you punch bags is to step into the ring with the other guy, to hit and be hit. So I stepped into the ring. So I said to myself, “I’m going to hit him, before I lose my nerve”.
You gotta do some damage to the other side. You won’t get that in Creative.
3. What is the best and most valuable thing you have gained from your churchplanting experience?
Trust in God. To stick to your guns, perseverance. To keep breathing. To keep praying. Ok, ‘best’ and ‘most valuable’ that indicates just one.
I’d say Trust in God.
4. Share with us how this experience has changed you as a person?
One, I learn to embrace stillness. I’ve always been an introverted person, but that doesn’t mean I take advantage of my times alone. I do now.
Two, I learn that people often fail you, but that I’ve frequently fail others too. That I always hurt people and I don’t even know it. Relationships are like playing with dogs: you always end up with scratches everywhere, but you HAVE to do it, its just too fun.
Three, I totally respect those guys who bring us the services every Sunday. You’ve NO IDEA what goes into the entire service experience. And our church there was only 30+ people. Here in Singapore, we’ve more than 500 per service (my own estimate). Imagine the amount of work that goes into that. It’s just an awesome team behind the scenes.
5. So what would you be looking forward to with your return? Any plans for a wife??? Ha ha…
I’m not sure. One day at a time. I’ll need to figure out my future plans first. I wish I knew. It’s kinda strange to have so many life options available after these years.
Suddenly I’m no longer tied down. It’s like stepping out a foreign airport. Everything looks do-able. I can swim in ANY direction. I’m treading water for the moment.
NOTE: Any interested parties who wish to contact him or know him better, please drop me an email which you can obtain from this site. Hee hee…
The Archbishop Rowan Willaims, Head of the 80m Anglican Communion worldwide, provoked outrage when he suggested on February 7th that the adoption of elements of Islamic sharia law in Britain was “unavoidable”. This undermined further his authority in trying to bring unity to the Communion which has been divided over the issue of homosexuality between the liberals and the conservatives in the Communion.
If my memory serves me right, I really gave him hell back then. I came in as a newbie-in-Christ carrying all of my past attitudes, beliefs and habits. And somehow, he managed to take my crap =P 
Andrew: Inside & Insights 