Inflight Blog: Leaving my home...

As I am typing this, I am in a flight on the way to Toronto, Canada, where I will continue my further studies as an undergraduate in York University. Communication Studies would be my major throughout my four years study. Most of my fellow graduates of MSA have already started their university terms (kinda feel left out but also happy because I have a longer holiday :P). 

Leaving home is not easy at all... I am currently having mixed feelings of anxiety, excitement, nostalgia, and utter longing for my friends back home. I did not feel the “burden” of leaving until the morning of the day I was leaving. It was Sunday and I was ministering in the Kids on Fire Sunday school in my church. A bit of background: Kids on Fire (or KoF in short) is the first area of ministry in which I volunteered when I was about 10 years old. Back then, I was just working as a front desk registration person. My job was simply write down the children’s names who attend and give them coupons for the Kid’s Store. God gave me that chance to serve in KoF and I stayed faithful throughout the seven years after that. I wouldn’t be able to serve in the church choir nor be a musician if I had not ministered in KoF seven years ago... I decided that my last Sunday before leaving for university should be dedicated to where all my ministry started. I played the bass for both services. At the end of the worship session of the second service, Ms. Istha (wife of Ps. Jahja Gani) called me to the center of the stage to be prayed for. Her son, Joshua, came up the stage and prayed for His blessings to be upon me wherever I go. I was deeply touched... 

After the end of second service, I went up to the Music Hall to ask for the pastors’ blessings to send me off. I met Pastor Frans first. He prayed that I will hold all the moral values I have learned back home to Toronto. He prayed for the anointing of Daniel to be upon me wherever I go. After that, I went to Ps. Jahja, who prayed thanksgiving for putting me in the church to minister. Finally, I went to Ps. Markus who prophesied for me. “It’s true that you might not give your first fruit in the school like your brother and sisters did. The devil will tell you that you are missing out, but that’s a lie. ‘I have a greater plan for you’ says the Lord. I see you as a righteous man in God who stands on the right convictions. You will learn a lot of other ideas and religions, but you would not practice them.” After each prayer from the pastors, I embraced them saying my last goodbye before leaving. 

In the airport, I received several blackberry messages, tweets, and comments from several people wishing me “all the best” in Canada. Some even went through the trouble of typing out a long paragraph. I was deeply touched by their thoughtfulness in writing those long messages before I leave. I read through each one and thanked everyone. After that, I departed for Singapore. 

The next day, I went out with some of my friends (namely Tasha, Leon, and Josiah). My brother and sister (Adelene) tagged along. We went to visit our friend Abraham who is recovering from leukemia. We met the family and spent quite a while catching up with him. At 6, we parted ways. Leon, however, suggested we hang out in Marina Bay Sands’ Sky Garden to take pictures of the nightlife. This idea was quite random, but we went with it anyway. At half past 10, the four of us (excluding my sister and Tasha) arrived in the Sands. We found out that the Sky Garden had just closed half an hour ago. We decided to just take pictures inside the Sands Mall. As Leon and my brother took outdoor pictures of the Fullerton View, Josiah and I had a long talk about things that happened in MSA and things happening in the present. After a while, we both decided to search for Leon and my brother. Apparently, Tasha was already with them while they were taking low-shutter speed shots of themselves. It was quite fun! It’s able to make a figure seem like a specter in the image result. We took quite a while doing so. Around a quarter before 1, we decided to search for a 7/11 store to get some beverages. After a long search, we finally did find one in the mall. We had our drinks and exited the building. We took a long walk on the “Olympic Walk” while heading towards a cab. Leon never ceases to amuse all of us with his random comments and stories. Josiah took a separate cab home. I said my farewell to him. Then, we dropped off Tasha at her dorm. After that, we dropped Leon in his condo. Finally, we reached home at about a quarter past 2 (I have never gone home that late...or that early :P) I went online in Skype and saw Tasha online. I started a chat with her when I saw Leon and Josiah popped up online in Skype too. Then, we had a chat conference. Unfortunately, my internet broke down in the middle of the conversation... I didn’t get the chance to thank them for the awesome night I had. So I only tweeted and status-ed it. They made my last night there memorable. So if y’all are reading this, Tash, Le, and Jos, I wanna thank you SO MUCH for being such awesome friends for taking the time to hang out. =) I’ll miss you all... In fact I do already.........

I took a short nap on the plane earlier. After the inflight meal, I decided to look for something to do... However, the map’s not working and the inflight movies are not that interesting. So I decided to be alone with my thoughts for a minute. It was then that God showed me the blessings He had provided for me ever since childhood. I have a great family who takes care of me. Even now, my parents and sister are in the flight with me to Toronto to help arrange my necessities when we arrive. This is how much they love me =) Second, I had a great church. MSI had been my church ever since it was formed in early 2000s. My pastors cared for the welfare of each member and newcomer. I love my Sunday school ministry and worship ministry. I would definitely miss being in my church ministry... Finally, I have great friends who are thoughtful, random in a fun way, and supportive. I only regret that I did not spend more time with them when I had the chance... When experiencing all this, I almost shed tears. But now that I’m thinking back on all that happened, a cry of desperate longing is raging in my heart...

I learned a lot from my childhood, but I am now moving on to another phase of life. What I did is the past now. Sadly, it is now just a shadow in my memories... But as Switchfoot sings it, “The shadow proves the sunshine.” I believe I will enjoy a lot more things in university life as I move on. My memories of childhood are sweet as it is, but I pray that God would let my latter be sweeter than my past. I’m missing you all back home... I hope I can visit you as soon as I can. 

You all have marked a permanent seal in my memories. I would be sinning if I ever forget all the things you did for me. May God bless you all for the lessons you have taught me and the fun experiences we had together...

Desperately homesick, 

Justin