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My LSS Experience:
Life in the Spirit Seminar (LSS) - is made
compulsory this year, 2008
for the Form 3 students of
upcoming Sacrament of Confirmation. I am one of the Form 3 students,
so my attendance to LSS '08 is compulsory. By the way, my name is
Cindy Chai. I have just joined the Sunday School this year. I am not
baptised yet, so I'm not going to receive the Sacrament of
Confirmation this year. I'll wait until next year, hopefully.
LSS '08 is the first LSS that I've attended. It was held on the 13th,
14th and 15th June, 2008 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). One word to
describe it - AWESOME! You should attend LSS and you can feel the
difference yourself. I never think that LSS could bring such huge
changes in me. Well, I'm a changed person now. LSS indeed had brought
a huge impact in my life.
Father Chin made the LSS compulsory for us. We were all given a
briefing regarding the LSS by our Sunday School teachers. We were all
given the schedule and a list of things to bring and not to bring for
LSS. Before LSS, I was anticipating and feeling excited over it. I
never heard of LSS before and was wondering what LSS actually was.
and went home to pack up for LSS. Then, after dinner, my mum fetched
me to St. Peter Church. There were around 5 Sunday School teachers who
were present - Uncle Michael, Aunty Faith, Uncle Valentine, Uncle
Harry and Uncle John. After registered with Aunty Faith, I put my
belongings in the room and went down to join the others.
The first activity of the LSS kicked off with the praise and worship
lead by the Emmaus Community in the
also conducted the ice-breaking session. Each one of us was to be a
guardian angel for a person. The first talk by Aunty Christina was
"God is Love". I was touched by the stories that Aunty Christina
shared with us like the story of the contact lens. She also did tell
us that Jesus will never force us. He knocks on the door of our heart
and the door can only be opened from the inside. The question to all
is "Will you open the door for Him?" My answer would be, I WILL!
After
the talk, we had supper and then we were given briefing about the
sketches that we were all supposed to present on the 3rd day of LSS.
The sketches were all chosen based on the Bible. A week ago, we were
divided into four groups. I was in Group 2. We were to present the
sketch on Jonah and the Whale in the book of Jonah. My group members
consist of Faith as the leader, Brennan, Gregory, Sean, Catherine,
Leslie, Louis and I. Aunty Faith was to supervise us. After that, we
all went to sleep.
I was unable to sleep at first due to the coldness of the room, but
finally, I dozed off. Night passed and the day came. It was Saturday
morning! I couldn't really remember the titles of all seven talks
altogether but I remember what had been taught to us. The second talk
was on God has a plan for each of us. We were touched by all the
stories shared by the speaker. Indeed, God has a plan for every one of
us here, and what we need to do is to step into God's plan as written
in Jeremiah 29:11. Then, we were showed a video
clip on Father's Love
Letter. Aunty Tina's question to us is will all of us be God's Child
as He wanted to be Our Father? We all then wrote reply letters to God.
I cried eventually when writing the letter, though. And then, it was
said that the letters were private and were going to be burnt. The
third talk was "What is Sin?" Sin is actually disobedience to God and
rebellion against Him. For every sin we commit, we owe a debt to the
demons. After the talks, we were given a short break. The fourth talk
was on Jesus is the Savior and Restorer. Jesus Christ is the only
bridge between Mankind and God. John 14:6 Jesus
answered him, "I am
the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except
by me". The fifth talk was on Sins and the Effects of Sins. Sins could
cause us to separate from God and His love. Through this talk, we
were taught on how to make up for our wrongdoings which could be
done through repentance and reconciliation.
After that, all of us went for Confession with Father Chin while
Chloe, Raphael and I went for Counseling Session. I was counseled by
Aunty Pauline. I shared my problems and I couldn't resist anymore. I
cried. Aunty Pauline comforted me and advised me. I felt very glad
over her advices. Thanks, Aunty Pauline!
The rest of the participants of the LSS went to Counseling after Confession and
then
we were all allowed to go for a shower and dinner. We even managed to
gather together in groups for our sketches the next day. We were all
gathered for praise and worship before the sixth talk on "Inner
Healing" began.
The highlight of the LSS was the inner healing. We were all given a
candle each. We were to think about our sufferings and turn to Jesus
for help. Soon, cries could be heard and I was among those who cried.
Each one of us needed to go on stage to light up our candles and then
talk to Jesus. After that, we would be prayed over by the uncles and
aunties present. When it was my turn to light up my candle, I was
holding on to the crucifix. I prayed. While I was praying, I felt
someone trying to push my hands away from the crucifix. My hands were
slipping slowly. I was annoyed at last and I let go of the crucifix. I
was still kneeling there, but I prayed with my hands closed this time.
When I recalled back on what had happened, I felt very sad because the
moment I let go of my hands, I felt like I lost to Satan's temptation.
After that, I was prayed over. My head
was dizzy, though. I didn't
rest in the Spirit as most of the others did. Due to this, I was
disappointed. Later, we were all praying to receive the gift of
tongues. However, only a few of us received it. After the inner
healing, we all went back to our rooms. Uncle Valentine shared with us
until
hands down or not during inner healing. His answer was no. I was still
puzzled, though. That night, most of us couldn't sleep because we all
really felt like our burdens being lifted up and we felt light. Lights
were off eventually and we all went to sleep.
The next day, we sang "Happy Birthday" Song to Uncle Harry for it was
his birthday before we had our breakfast. We then had the seventh talk
on "Who is the Holy Spirit?" Holy Spirit is the third person of the
Holy Trinity. After that talk, we were given another talk on "Baptism
of the Holy Spirit". The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is definitely not
another baptism. After the talk, we broke off for lunch. The baptism
of the Holy Spirit was conducted when we returned. After that, the
sketches were presented. The judges were the Emmaus Community. We all
had a good laugh for the sketches presented were hilarious.
It was also a way to help us to remember the Word of
God better. After the
sketches, we all got ready for the Sunday Evening Mass.
We all went back to the Parish Centre and gathered in the AVA room.
The guardian angels were discovered. Initially, I was the guardian
angel for Reuben and Alyssa was my
guardian angel.
Before we all headed home, Uncle V gave a few words.
Some of us even managed to grab
hold of each others' contact numbers. We did some cleaning up and then
went home.
I will cherish every moment spent during LSS for it was indeed an
unforgettable experience for me. It had brought such big changes in my
life. I learnt to forgive quickly rather than bearing grudges towards
others. I constantly remember that every sin we commit, we not only
owe a debt to the demons, but also we hurt God. I don't want to hurt
God for I love Him. Jesus is my Savior.
After LSS, I try my best to avoid sins. However,
there are times when I accidentally committed
sins. I felt really sad and I seek forgiveness from God. In a nut
shell, I am a totally changed person now. I feel very light and my
burdens are all lifted up from my shoulders. I turn to God whenever I
met difficulties and constantly thanking Him for what He had done for
me.
Uncle Michael once told me that if you pray, don't
worry anymore
because it sounded like you don't trust Jesus 100%. I wanted to trust
Jesus 100% and after telling Jesus my problems, I don't worry anymore
like I used to be before. My prayers are always answered by God. I am
God's child and He's my Father. I feel very peaceful, secure and happy
in the presence of God. I never want to part away from Him again. No
matter what I do, Jesus is always there with me and guides me.
Philippians 4: 13 I can do anything through
Christ who strengthens me.
There is no one else who is willing to die on the cross for my sins
other than Jesus. Through this, I know that Jesus loves me very much.
As for me... I love JESUS as well.
Keep on going for Jesus, dear brothers and sisters
in Christ! May God bless all of you. Cheers!
Cindy Chai
FFC Form 3