Blessed Emmanuel Day!

Today started with a bang. Well not much of a bang, but there were tears and there was fire. A special day for a special man calls for special effort to come on time to celebrate. Today we celebrated Emmanuel's 18th birthday!

Birthday Boy against the 'blackground' after much hilarious confusion with the lights

Birthday Boy and Friends

Even Emmanuel Day could not pardon us from another intense and fruitful day of learning, and we are grateful to Pastor Roger from ARPC for coming down to teach us about Presbyterianism and the uniqueness of the denomination in which our churches all fall under. The lesson was split into three progressively shorter parts, on our Beliefs, our Practices and our History respectively. From the lesson we each emerged with a more in-depth knowledge about the principles that Presbyterians hold on to, the significance of our practices, and we were able to trace our roots and understand our rich history.

 Listening attentively

As per the wishes of Prince Emmanuel on his birthday, we headed to Subway at SMU for lunch and a time of good fellowship .

L to R: Otniel, Prince, High on Sandwich and Homer

(almost) all dressed in Blue and Green, the favourite colours of Prince E 

We returned to church to continue with the programme for the day. After a short time of worship, Dorothy led us in a time of devotions and she did a great job in sharing and leading the discussion based on Acts 3:1-10. We reflected upon the importance of faith, and believing that we are empowered because of Christ's work in us. (amongst other lessons learnt)

Dorothy attempting to meditate leading devotions

We spent the remainder of the afternoon rehearsing for tomorrow's worship session in our groups until 4pm. 

Emmanuel was not the only person to be surprised today, as we learned that the Cambodia Team would now be heading to Myanmar instead for our trip next week. No shock was too much for anyone to handle, as we quickly adjusted our focus to our new destination, similarly trusting that God will use us in His special way. We ended off with preparation for two trips with our teams.

Random cake-cutting as Emmanuel led the discussion on the skit

 Terence high on cake

The day ended on a sweet note, as most of us left with bits of Emeh's birthday cake in our mouths. Once again, Blessed 18th Birthday Emmanuel! God loves you!

-Keng Gene