Top 10 Moments of 2005: Number 3

My time at the East Asian Regional Conference held earlier this year at Ciawi-Bogor on the Indonesian island of Java ranks as my number 3 moment in 2005.

It was a week of many firsts. The whole notion of establishing an Asian Christian identity was was utterly alien to me until Bishop Hwa Yung talked about it at the conference's first plenery session. It was also the first time I saw Christians from all over Asia congregating at a single place. It was akin to having a glimpse of heaven.

My fascinating journey of self discovery was extended when Ian and I went on a road trip together with some of his Indonesian friends into the Bogor city centre. No amount of geography or sociology class could have replaced what I saw, smelled, ate and experienced in that solitary afternoon in the city centre. Suddenly, everything I have been studying all my life just came to life.

The whole conference basically dealt with wearing our faith on our sleeves in the world. At the conference, I sensed God somewhat affirming my desire to go into journalism as I spoke to some of the conference speakers from all over Asia. For the first time, I got a sense of how going into the world after graduation is really like going into the spiritual battlefield. And my time in university is really a time of equipping.

Perhaps most unforgettable were the friendships I forged with some Thai people and consolidated with some members of the VCF contingent like Adrian, Sida and Ian. It was quite simply a time where I got pushed onto the next level of awareness.