Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Day 2 - Sat 9 Jun 07 (Bintulu)
The next day, we gathered at the hotel lobby after breakfast and headed for Eng Kwang Methodist Church (EKMC) for our rehearsal. At the church, we had to do a little warm up physical exercise led by PP before commencing our practice.
After the rehearsal, we had another sumptuous 8-course Chinese lunch in a different restaurant. Part of the course was a special local vegetable dish stir-fry with belachan. Sarawak is known for its pineapple, pepper, belachan and durian. We got to try all except the durian as it was not in season.
The next item on our itinerary was a visit around Bintulu town and the Methodist Book Centre (MBC). Our purpose for this trip was to raise funds for the upgrading works of the MBC. VOP has embraced this verse in Acts 20:35 ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ and indeed we ourselves have been blessed through this ministry.
After the visit, we returned to our hotel to rest and prepare for our evening concert. We were back at EKMC at 6 pm, had a short rehearsal, had our huge packet dinner and put on our costume for the 7.30 pm concert.
After the rehearsal, we had another sumptuous 8-course Chinese lunch in a different restaurant. Part of the course was a special local vegetable dish stir-fry with belachan. Sarawak is known for its pineapple, pepper, belachan and durian. We got to try all except the durian as it was not in season.
The next item on our itinerary was a visit around Bintulu town and the Methodist Book Centre (MBC). Our purpose for this trip was to raise funds for the upgrading works of the MBC. VOP has embraced this verse in Acts 20:35 ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ and indeed we ourselves have been blessed through this ministry.After the visit, we returned to our hotel to rest and prepare for our evening concert. We were back at EKMC at 6 pm, had a short rehearsal, had our huge packet dinner and put on our costume for the 7.30 pm concert.
Half of the songs that we sang were Chinese songs. Our small ensemble also presented 3 songs to a full house crowd. Amongst the audience were local reporters who took lots of pictures of our performance. We were subsequently featured in a full page article on the local Chinese Newspaper that Monday. Good that the media was there to reach out to those who did not attend the concert. And hopefully we have accomplished our mission to raise enough funds for the MBC.
We enjoyed supper lovingly prepared by the very hospitable church members after the concert. There were home made yam cakes and variety of kuehs. We then returned to the hotel and after changing to our comfortable wear, gathered at a meeting room for our vesper. This time we had a longer session, with the sharing of the night’s performance and our upcoming projects.
We enjoyed supper lovingly prepared by the very hospitable church members after the concert. There were home made yam cakes and variety of kuehs. We then returned to the hotel and after changing to our comfortable wear, gathered at a meeting room for our vesper. This time we had a longer session, with the sharing of the night’s performance and our upcoming projects.
Penseur 12:51 AM