The rain started to pour down when we were at Kota Kinabalu – Tuaran By-Pass.
Isaac likes to drink a lot of water. As a result, when we stopped at Tuaran for lunch, his diapers was overflowing until his clothes were wet.
We had lunch at Lok Khun and ordered the following.
1. Steamed garoupa.
2. Veges
3. ‘Ko Lo Yuk’.
Eventhough I only had my brunch before 11a.m., I was hungry by then and had the whole plate of rice. All the dishes tasted delicious and Alice treated all of us because she said it’s her territory - she was born in Tuaran.
While we waited at the back of the coffee shop for Rebecca to go to the toilet, we saw Tuaran Library and Milimewa Superstore signboard.
Alice told Isaac to smile and this was the result
We did not ask Isaac to smile and this was the result
The rain continued to pour as we went up to the mountain.
Isaac did not want to go to sleep. And since he was only wearing shorts, Alice had to tie his legs up using a bathtowel because he kept on kicking the towel away.
About ten minutes before we arrived at Mount Kinabalu Heritage Resort & Spa (formerly Perkasa Hotel), I received a call from Choo Siow Chin to tell me she was waiting for us near the top of the hotel. The rain was pouring until she could not walk up to the hotel anymore. She was soaked all over.
We arrived at the hotel before 4p.m. and after Andrew alighted Rebecca, Isaac and Alice at the hotel, he drove down to fetch Choo.
Choo and I checked in together and we were allocated to share the room 405. We were given a packet with our T-shirt, retreat booklet, retreat bookmark, two name tags, a pen and some sweets in it. Choo and I talked and rested before dinner.
Taken from Room 405
Taken from Room 405
The first night we had set dinner at the hotel restaurant. The food was ok. Choo and I sat with the retreat speaker Rev. George Ong and his wife Kwee Siew. Mr. Chew Chong Bin and family also shared the same table as us. Conversations surrounded around the difference between Malaysia and Singapore.
The theme of the retreat was People of Destiny.
Mr. Quek Lip Kie was the Camp Commander.
Rev. George Ong is from Singapore and he & his wife have three kids. He is an ordained minister with Assemblies of God and holds a M.Div. from Trinity Thelogical College and a B.A. from the National University of Singapore.
He is author of twelve humour books and throughout the four sessions he shared with us a lot of jokes.
In spite of all the jokes, his sharing was simple and yet profound and was delivered with clarity, conviction and passion.
Sharon Lai led the first Praise and Worship session. All throughout the retreat, Andrew Tai was playing the guitar and Alice Hiew the electric piano.
One the first night, Rev. George shared about the life of Abraham.
As People of Destiny, we are saved not only as sons of God but also to serve Him. We are not only pew warmers but servants of the Most High God.
The Call to Faith Hebrews 11:8
Life for a Christian is full of challenges. We should attempt challenges.
1. A Call from God
It was God's dream to bless the nations. It was not Abraham's dream.
2. A Call to Go
Abraham obeyed and went, eventhough he did not know where he was going.
Go - Focusing on the future.
We should not let the bitterness of the past to move forward.
Faith is probably God showing us only the first step. Faith is on the inside. Always start with action. Faith is acting on the truth of God. Faith takes a lot of risk.
3. A Call of Greatness
Genesis 12:1-3 Abraham would later receive as his inheritance.
The inheritance is a blessing to bless others. Be generous with others.
If you sacrifice, you will not lose it. If you don't sacrifice, you will lose it.
Be a person of destiny, be Abraham.
The call of God is realising His dream in our life.
After the first session, we had group discussion before we had supper. Shirley Chew and Mimi Quek made a lot of cakes to bring up to the mountain with them.
Choo and I went back to our room to have our hot drink. She had chamomile tea while I had Milo. We went to sleep before midnight.
I kept on waking up and going back to sleep all through the night. I was not used to the bed. The weather was cooling. I felt very comfortable.
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