Peter Shankar

Escapade to Cameron Highlands

2012-01-26T07:13:00.000-08:00

When my darling wife (DW) and I married each other we both knew that were going to have great fun together. We had so many common interest, one of the shared interest was going for holidays. On our first month we had this very interesting conversation about our Love List, then we wrote down 7 non-negotiables we'd hope to keep.

This is something we wrote down for everyday. Everyday we touch, cuddle, kiss, hug, say ‘I Love You’, compliment each other, and laugh.I'll spare you the mushy, mushy details on what else we do... once a week, once a month, quarterly, and once a year but one thing we both enjoy doing is going on romantic escapades, and since the kids were on Chinese New Year holidays with my brother and his DH this past week, we decided to make an impromptu romantic escapade to Cameron Highlands. Yes, we packed our clothes, got our gears together, and drove up to Camerons Highlands.

We had a nice western menu for lunch at Bella's Cafe at Tanah Rata. They had this lovely music playing in the background, and with the nice cool weather , the atmosphere was simply romantic.

We walked-in to several hotels, but the one we really liked was Bala's Chalet. They had this really English styled chalets, and really gorgeous English gardens. They are known for their scones and English tea, and people would drive up to Bala's just to enjoy the tea.

The next morning we drove down to Cameron Valley Tea Plantation for breakfast. Had breakfast overlooking this gorgeous looking tea plantation. The atmosphere was just so idyllic,needless to say we enjoyed the lovely morning.

The tranquil atmosphere and its stunning beauty made the morning very special. Both my DW and I enjoy photography, and so we took lots of beautiful landscape photos. We tried using different apertures, shutter speeds, and lenses. It was just fun doing this together as a couple. My DW is really the pro. She has a photography page where she uploads her photos, and she has some really neat photos taken on this trip . You might want to check her out at http://www.facebook.com/JanetLuisonPhotography

Took these photos with my kit lens i.e. 18-105 mm 1:3.5-5.6G ED. I love the photo with the waterfall in the background. This photo was shot at ISO 800, focal length 58mm, exposure 1/1000 sec at f/5.0.

In the evenings we would spend the time in the English Garden. The beautiful fauna made the garden so idyllic , and we had a really nice strawberry fruit ice-cream in the nice cool weather. The photo with Janet in the background was taken at exposure 1/400 sec at f/5.0, focal length 52mm, and ISO 800.

It was really fun mixing photography and leisure holidays together. I'd love to do this again, together with the kiddos this time.

Member Health: Recruitment

2012-01-20T09:52:00.001-08:00

AGENCY-LEVEL MEMBER-CARE: RECRUITMENT

By: Peter Shankar

They were not just ordinary missionaries but missionaries who had been on the field for many, many years, some highly trained, many had put in years of learning the language and culture as they gained credibility for sharing the gospel in their community (which is sheer hard work). They left home with a DREAM to see the Unreached reached with the gospel but needless to say, many worked under tremendous pressures, tough environments, family pressures, etc and have since left the field. Real people? Do we place enough importance on them?

Despite the availability of Member Care resources and connections, I wonder WHY churches and agencies are not doing enough to care for their missionaries. I wonder WHAT are we not doing right and WHERE have we gone wrong?

Sometimes, it can be challenging to draw the line between the role of the agency and the church. In this series, I would like for us to look at 9 areas of Agency-Level Member-Care -Recruitment, Pre-Field Preparation, On-Field Care, Home Assignment, Re-Entry, Prayer, Conflict Management, Partnerships, Crisis & Contingency Management.

In this issue, we will talk about Recruitment. These are practical, short, straight-to-the-point guidelines that will be helpful for churches and agencies in deploying missionaries into the field.

Recruitment

- Educational background including Missiological training will be an important area to assess before recruiting missionaries for the field. Higher educated workers are usually better retained on the field but this also depends on the nature of ministry e.g. rural worker vs. city worker; tentmakers; etc.

- Assess continuing missions’ development. Things change, strategy change, etc. Workers need to be sent for continuing missions’ education to help missionaries to be effective on the field.

- Engage the Sending Church in the recruitment process. The Sending Church plays an extremely important role in the recruitment process. The leadership of the sending church must be involved in the selection process, assessment, preparation, education, finances, etc to help the agency better facilitate the placement of the worker. Church leaders should be truthful in their assessment of the worker.

- Expectations communicated clearly to missionary candidates – between agency & candidates. Clear communication should be practiced from the very beginning of this new working relationship. The agency must be honest and open about its expectations i.e. spiritual disciplines of the missionary life (from the time of recruitment to being on the field), keeping accountable, reporting structures, achieving goals, etc so the missionary would know what is expected of him/her serving in the mission field. Some things has to be said out in the open from the very onset , and not assumed or silently expected of them.

- The uses of physical & psychological assessments are extremely important in candidate selection. Medical examinations are of utmost importance especially for workers going long-term on the field. Psychological assessments must be a required pre-requisite for anyone wanting to serve on the field. The three main objectives for psychological assessments are:

1. To test if candidates have any symptoms of clinical syndromes and emotional vulnerability

2. Helping agencies to maximize the candidate’s fit on the field

3. To help with further development of the missionary.

- A clear understanding of the big picture (from the time of recruitment till retirement) must be communicated clearly to the candidate & the sending church. The candidates must be clear about the journey of the life of a missionary and have a clear understanding on the timeline of the missionary journey, i.e. from the time of recruitment through the whole process of:

• Hearing the Personal Call of God

• Time of Waiting & Anticipation of Approval

• Pre-Field Preparation (cross-cultural training, support raising, etc)

• “Honeymoon “ Period (Reality Sets in)

• Culture Stress (Clear Vision Regained)

• Ministry on the field (Date of Return Set)

• Anticipation of Return (Date to Return)

• Re-Entry/Culture Stress in Reverse (Active in Ministry)

• Normal Living (A New Beginning)

Source: Cross-cultural Workers Life Time-Line, Page 17 – Serving As Senders, authored by Neal Pirolo, Emmaus Road International, San Diego, US.

- Set-up codes of best practice for missionary recruitment for the church. This would include the candidate expressing a clear calling for mission work, has a clear understanding of the agency’s doctrinal statement and structure for field placement, understands and agrees with the agency’s practices, demonstrates mature Christian character, has the support and endorsement of his/her sending church, has the blessings of the family, meets medical and psychological standards, has ministry experience in local church, including cross-cultural experience.

- The church leadership team must be involved in test of calling. Seek character references. A committed endorsement of the sending church will contribute to the retention of the missionaries on the field. When a church gets involved from the very beginning of the recruitment process, it would seem more likely that the church would feel a greater obligation in supporting the worker in prayer, moral support, finances, logistics, re-entry and communication.

- Recommendation & endorsement of the sending church is extremely important. Agencies must ensure that no missionary candidate goes out to the field without proper recommendation and endorsement from the church.

- Share the importance of pre-field preparation & requirements with the church and the candidate. Ensure the candidate gets proper cross-cultural training, sending structure set in place (member-care, prayer, finances, etc).

- Test for a mature spiritual life. This is not going to be easy to do, coz’ the true test of spiritual maturity can only be known when the going gets tough on the mission field. Nonetheless, the agency would need to discuss this with the church to ensure the church is involved in the process and the church gives a honest evaluation of their candidate.

- Carefully assign the right candidate to the right team. This can only be done once you do an assessment of their personalities and temperaments, and their cultural affiliations. It’s interesting sometimes to know that mono-cultural teams have more challenges as opposed to multi-cultural teams. One of the important factors to consider would be their education background, and their cultural upbringing.

- Policies are well documented & understood. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) should clearly spell out the role of the church, agency and the candidate so everyone will have a clear understanding of each others’ role.

- Provide clear plans & job descriptions to the candidate. Lack of vision, goal, and motivation; occur on the field when missionaries have no clear descriptions of their role and function.

- Inculcate a culture for openness for accountability. This has to be demonstrated to the missionaries as they are being prepared to go out to the field. This has to be taught BEFORE they go out to the field and NOT when they are ON the field.

- Select candidates based on gifts & experience. The more skilled the workers are, the more efficient he/she would be on the field.

Peter Shankar is a Missions Associate of WEA Missions Commission and member of the ETHNE – Member-Care Facilitation Team. Peter can be contacted at shankarpeter@gmail.com

Resources:
Doing Member-Care Well – Edited by Kelly O’Donnel
Serving As Senders – Neal Pirolo
The Reentry Team – Neal Pirolo
Missionary Care – Kelly O’Donnel
Websites-www.globalmembercare.com ; www.mislinks.org;www.worldevangelicals.org/
Too Valuable To Loose – Edited by Bill Taylor
Worth Keeping – Rob & Sarah Hay, Valerie Lim, Detlef Blocher, Jaap Ketelaar

Tiger Woods

2012-01-15T07:48:00.000-08:00

(Found this reflection I wrote back in my old blog in 2007) . Re-posting...

This weekend was a very refreshing one for me.

I had the luxury of reading a scholastic biography of Eldrick Woods, more commonly known as Tiger Woods. His life story has been really inspirational to me. As I was reading his biography, I was reminded of my 2 friends, peer level friends, one living in Malaysia & one in the US that has had an inspiritional impact on my life. I appreciated and admired their charisma, personality and confidence in the way they carried themselves. What inspired me most was that ..they were young & accomplished. AND the plus point was we were good friends. I grew up with one of them. We were classmates. Ran track & field together. Hung around a lot together. Today, they are both accomplished personalites in their field of work. I would be happy if I found out someone thinks the same of me ...accomplished personality.... but I really don't know. Although I have had comments that I am a role model & an accomplished personality in my own respects, I still don't know how to gauge that.

Tiger Woods is just 3 years younger than I am. He was born in 1975. He is young. He grew up in a middle class home in California. Tiger is a genuine example of the American melting pot in action. His mixed ethinicity; African-American, Chinese, Native American, Thai and Caucasion makes him a culturally diverse personality. I admire his father for having the desire in introducing Eldrick to golf at such a young age -10 or 11 months old. What's amazing was Eldrick had his own putter !!! That is simply awesome. What an encouragement to Eldrich. I am challenged, really challenged to be a source of encouragement to my 2 wonderful kids. I want to be their HERO.

Eldrich grew up watching his father play golf. By the time Eldrich was 2 years old, he could chip shots, tee off, and hit putts. At 6 years old, he scored his first hole in one. This was truly a stunning achivement for such a young player. Eldrich joined golf championships at amatuer level & won many times over. He worked hard. Stayed focused. Never gave up. I am amazed... at such a young age he had so much determination, will power and discipline to succeed.

He moved on from amatuer golf to profesional golf. He became profesional at the age of 21. At 21, I was still at Emile Woolf , barely surviving my profesional exams, the Chartered Accountancy exams, said to be one of the top few hardest exams in the world, by British standards.

Eldrick joined the PGA Tour, facing a whole new set of challenges. Failing a few times , and winning a few top level competitions. He kept learning from his mistakes. He practiced hard. Had good coaches. He made the effort . He gave his ALL.

In 1997, Eldrick made it to The Masters Tournament. It is one of the most important profesional golf tournaments in the world. Baseball players dream about going to the World Series, tennis players fantasize about Wimbledon, track & field athletes dream of running at the Olympics. For a golf player, winning The Masters is a dream come true. The Masters always attracts the best players in the world.

In the first round, Eldrick shot a decent 70. This score left him 2 strokes under par, and in fourth place. In the second round, he put together everything he had ever learned and shot a 66, leaving him six under par for the tournament. This was such a powerful round that at the end of the day, he found himself alone in the first place with a 3 stroke lead.

Tiger was clearly on the roll.

In the third round, Eldrick scored a jaw-dropping 65 strokes. He was 9 strokes ahead. It would be almost impposible to catch him now.

In his final round, Eldrick flew through his final round, hitting towering drives and sinking perfe

ct putts. The rest of the field had been left so far behind that they didn't even seem to exist. When it was all over, Eldrick had won by a record breaking twelve strokes.

He raced over to where his father and mother were waiting, and hugged them as hard as he could. It was impossible not to cry at such a moment, and all three of them did. I am stirred in my emotions, nearly tearing, to see such a synergy of love, care & sacrifice the parents bestowed on Eldrick. It was his parents that stood by him, encouraged him, supported him in every sense even when they were financially pressed. Tiger Woods is who he is because of the love Mr & Mrs Woods showed him.

I want to be that kind of father to my lovely kids. They are talented, brilliant, full of charisma, beautiful and the lists goes on ... what more can I ask for. I am passionate in being a role model to Schenker & Samantha. They will be ACCOMPLISHED personalities. This I know !!!

Love to my lovely wife and kids.

Post KAIROS, Worldwide Perspectives, Vision for the Nations - What Next ?

2012-01-09T19:41:00.000-08:00

This is a series of articles on missions mobilization, excerpt of my book on 'Now That I Know Missions, What Next ?' What steps can one take to move forward after learning KAIROS, Worldwide Perspectives and Vision for the Nations ? This is the first of the series, and the first article will touch on the area of Prayer.

With all the life changing convictions, and new learning, where do we go next ? We could be at a crossroad thinking what could I do now to be a part of God’s great plan for His people.

The key to learning more, and getting engaged with God’s heartbeat for the nations is: MISSIONS MOBILIZATION. Without mobilization being the catalyst to engage the church and its congregation for cross-cultural work, the Unreached or Least Reached will still be Least Reached unless and until, we the church take an active engagement with God’s plan for the nations, i.e. to see every tongue, and tribe and nation, worshiping the Lords of Lords, giving Him glory.

What is Missions Mobilization?

Mission mobilization is really about engaging people to get onboard, excited about, and involved in the Great Commission.

Mobilization raises awareness, educates and instills vision and passion. A person is likely exposed to this phase of mobilization when she hears a mission conference speaker. Hopefully she comes away reminded about God’s love and concern for the whole world and senses personal responsibility to join in the task. But she also probably senses a need for more of the “nuts and bolts” of how to apply what she heard to her life.

Mobilization also provides the practical information and guidance people need to transform their mission desire into meaningful involvement. This could involve us to go on a short-term exposure trips, enroll on a missions course, adopt a people group, and even pray faithfully for Unreached Peoples.

There are 7 spheres of influence God can use us, and the steps forward. These spheres of influence also includes access to resources one might find very useful in the mobilization journey.

1.Research & Prayer Mobilization

Ephesians 6:18 says:

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
The key to seeing ALL peoples reached with the gospel lies in prayer mobilization. Today, we have access to prayer resources like never before in history. There are resources we could use to engage ourselves, and churches for praying for reaching the lost.
The resources here is not exclusive to what is listed here, but these would be some of the more common ones used in the missions body:

#1A. Joshua Project – www.joshuaproject.net

Joshua Project is a research initiative seeking to highlight the ethnic people groups of the world with the fewest followers of Christ. Accurate, regularly updated ethnic people group information is critical for understanding and completing the Great Commission. Jesus said in Matthew 24:14 "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come." Jesus directly links His return to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. While no one knows the date or time of His return, we do know that this gospel of the kingdom must be preached to all the nations first. Revelation 5:9 and 7:9-10 show that there will be some from every tribe, tongue, nation and people before the Throne.

(Click the links below to access the site)

Resources
• Audio New Testaments
• Prayer Cards
• Bulletin Inserts
• Regional Booklets
• Peoples in Google Maps
• RSS Feeds
• World Population Clock

Great Commission
• Downloads
• PowerPoints
• Statistics
• Maps
• Books
• Articles
• Videos
• Links

Mobile Apps
• JP Mobile (Peoples)
• JP Languages

Unreached of the Day
• What is it?
• On a Website or Blog
• On Facebook
• By Email
• As a Gadget
• As a Calendar

Prayer
• Why Pray?
• Prayer Cards
• Prayer Resources
• Presentation Ideas
• Ethne Movement
• Skype Prayer Effort

#1B. ETHNE (network for Unreached Peoples for WEA Mission Commission) www.ethne.net

Ethnê is a decentralized movement built on the strength of various global, regional, national and UPG-focused networks. Ethne has 5 major tracks focused on Prayer, Mobilization, Member-care, Church Planting, Ethno Arts & Crisis Response. Resources on prayer can be found here: http://www.ethne.net/prayer/prayer-resources.

#1C. Global Prayer Digest (US Center for World Mission) http://www.globalprayerdigest.org
Global Prayer Digest is the prayer arm of US Center for World Mission, and the website provides daily prayer guide for Unreached People Groups in the world. This would be an excellent resource for anyone i.e. individuals, small groups, congregations, church.

The next few articles will cover Missions Education, Short-Term Exposure, Serving As Senders, Adopt A People, Mobilizers Resources & Online Help/Resources.

Are Missionaries Super Humans ? The Need for Church Missionary Care

2012-01-08T22:13:00.000-08:00

I wish I could say, “YES, missionaries are SUPER HUMANS….like Superman!” In reality, they are not. They are just like any of us - with emotions, mood swings and needs. They enjoy watching movies, collecting stamps, going for holidays, swimming, playing tennis, shopping and everything else that the rest of us “non-missionaries” enjoy.

They are as human as we are. YET, there is a great misconception that exist in our Christian community that MISSIONARIES ARE SUPER HUMANS. Because of this misconception, it has never occurred to many Christians that missionaries need a sound support structure within their local church.

According to Barret’s survey in 1998, annually more than 12,000 missionaries (from the global Catholic and Protestant pool) are lost. One might wonder why missionaries leave the field prematurely, especially from Newer Sending Countries (NSC) like Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Philippines.

Where have we failed? Some of the top reasons for missionary attrition are:
o lack of home support
o poor screening
o lack of a clear call
o inadequate commitment
o disagreement with agency or sending church
o problems with peers
o health problems and children’s issues

Such premature attrition has a spillover effect on their loved ones; impacting thousands of family members and friends in the home or host communities, causing negative repercussions. It is evident that missionaries need love and care—missionary care.

What do we mean by missionary care in the sending or home church context? At its most basic, missionary care means pulling together caring and nurturing church resources so missionaries can serve effectively on the field with the goal of keeping them “healthy” on the field. This would be a holistic care structure, not just caring for their physical health but also caring for their emotional, mental and spiritual health. It is important for us to understand missionaries MUST have a proper care structure within their local church.

Missionaries must not be seen as lone rangers somewhere out there but rather as an extension of teams made up of support systems within the church. This means, people staying at ‘home’ can be the ‘extension of the missionary force, doing simple tasks that will mean a lot to missionaries. Missionary care provides wonderful opportunities for “ordinary” people to become a blessing to the missionaries their church sends overseas.

One of the most important elements of missionary care is the realization that missionary care starts from the recruitment of a missionary candidate to the missionary’s retirement.

4 Main Channels of Care

1. Pre-Field Care includes proper screening, recruitment, family evaluation, orientation, psychological assessment and addressing specific issues.

2. Field-Care includes field orientation, field placement, and field support.

3. Re-Entry Care includes special care provided when missionaries return home for furlough. There must be people available to welcome them and assist with logistics, de-briefing, counseling, and providing basic essentials like housing, transportation and communication tools.

4. Ongoing Support Team Care includes a structured support system that will connect missionaries to resource groups in the area of medical care, counseling, conflict resolution, literature needs, and support groups.

With the proper concept of missionary care, we can then proceed to be the “extension of the missionary force.” A clear understanding and a proper structure will place the right individuals with the right resources and gifts to be a channel of blessing to the missionaries.

8 Areas of Missionary Care

1. Communication
It is known within the missionary community that 80% of missionaries who fail within the first 2 years of serving on the field do so because they lack encouragement. It is a true but sad reality. They leave their home country with zest and passion, ready to ‘conquer’ the land. As time goes by, there seems to be less and less communication. Inevitably, they find themselves battling with discouragement. Without proper communication between the church and the missionary, the missionary effort can slowly decline, resulting in a loss of vision. The missionary and the church share equal responsibility in keeping in touch with one another. However, if the missionary has difficulty communicating due to security issues or a lack of writing skills, a good communicator in the church can take on the role bridging the parties.

2. Prayer
Have you ever considered becoming a prayer missionary? Well, think about it. This is a role anyone can undertake. All work done without prayer is futile. Missionaries need prayer teams praying for them on a regular basis – it’s the shield that keeps the missionary going.

3. Logistics
Logistical support cares for the administrative needs of the missionaries. This may include collecting mail, filing-in income tax forms, collecting rental, paying insurance. It is interesting to know that no one thinks of filling this role. Being released of logistical responsibilities allows the missionary to concentrate on his mission.

4. Finance
Finance is usually seen as the beginning and the end of missions. For some Christians, once they have given some money, they feel they have fulfilled their responsibility toward missions. Real giving is honoring the Lord by giving unto Him so that His name will be glorified. No one can serve effectively on the field without proper financial support.

I remember my wife relating her field experience to me. In her first month on the field in Thailand she “suffered” when her church could not fulfill the pledge to support her on the field. It was a very difficult moment for her, not knowing where her support would come from, not knowing how she could pay her rent and transport, and whether she could even afford to eat. One day, all she had was 50 cents and she was hungry. As she walked, she sought the Lord and prayed that God would provide her with some money to buy lunch. She found 1 dollar on the street and that gave her a decent meal. She had to live on faith alone during that season of her life. God has blessed us that we may be a blessing. It is no secret that churches that give for missions are financially secure churches. The church has the specific role to oversee the finances of the missionary on the field.

5. Encouragement
Encouragement means a lot to missionaries. They love reading letters, receiving news from their home churches, receiving sermon messages and church bulletins. You have no idea how much it means to hear from family and friends. It makes them feel cared for and remembered by the folks back home. Clergy or non-clergy, we ALL need encouragement. I have seen tears falling down the eyes of missionaries when they get little parcels from home with their favorite food, photos or articles of interest. It is amazing how little gestures like these can mean so much to them.

6. Re-Entry Support
Transitioning from the field to their home country can be a major effort. It is like transitioning from winter in Mongolia to the Sahara Desert. It can cause a lot of stress. Firstly, they may feel rather disoriented in their home country. With ongoing changes and development, it is like fitting into a new society. There have been cases where missionaries committed suicide when they returned home because they were unable to adjust to their new environment. It is sad but true. The missionary feels homeless and detached from both cultures because he has changed. A Re-Entry Team can help by taking care of the needs of the returning missionary. The team can help by ensuring that there is proper de-briefing and the availability of counseling. Even a simple gesture like planning a holiday for the returnees or guarding their “space” by ensuring that they have time for themselves and their family means much to the missionaries.

7. Listening Ears
Missionaries are not super humans! Somehow, missionaries are expected to have it “all together.” Missionaries are constantly challenged with stresses from cultural differences, field issues, team problems, language and, communication challenges and other pressures that drain their energy. They need a pair of listening ears that are committed to their well being.

8. Team Champion
The support team can only function well under good leadership. It needs a CHAMPION who is willing to hold the team together. A CHAMPION who is a bridge between the church and the missionary, keeping the church leadership abreast with the missionary’s chronicles. It is apt to say that the missionary’s effectiveness is largely dependent on the structure set in place for caring for the missionaries. YOU can be a blessing to our missionaries.

Reflections:
1. How are you caring for your missionaries? What is your approach?
2. List some of the challenges faced in caring for your missionaries.
3. Identify ways you can work together in setting up a proper missionary care structure for your
missionaries. In what ways can you contribute?

This article was written by Peter Shankar Nambiar. Peter is serving with STAMP, a mission agency focused on Unreached Peoples. Peter is married to Janet Luison. They have 2 children, Jan
Schenker Nambiar & Jan Samantha Nambiar. Peter & Janet are actively involved in missionary care for workers serving in South East Asia. Peter can be contacted at shankarpeter@gmail.com.

Resources
Re-entry: Making the Transition from Missions to Life at Home, Peter Jordan
Missionary re-entry resource web site
Serving as Senders, Neal Pirolo
The Re-entry Team, Caring for Your Returning Missionary, Neal Pirolo

25 Random Things About Me

2012-01-05T19:00:00.000-08:00

1. When I was 6 years old, my parents sent me to a Mandarin speaking kindergarten. I had no idea why! I didn’t understand a word of Mandarin, neither did we speak nor understand the language…so I really struggled in my kindy year. Could neither read nor write Mandarin. The only language I could speak at that time was English. I hated my Chinese teacher b’coz she didn’t care about me and didn’t make any effort in helping me with my studies. I felt like the stupidest person on earth and totally discouraged. I had no idea what my parents were thinking at that time, although they were planning on sending me to a Malay medium school where English & Malay were used as medium of instruction. The irony of this is, later on when I was in Grade 4 and till Grade 6 , I signed up for Mandarin classes in school (as an extra subject) and passed my Mandarin exams (i.e. I could read & write), while my Chinese friends failed theirs although Mandarin was their heart language. Obviously, my Chinese teacher was so proud of me.

2. When I was growing up in the 1980s, I enjoyed watching the sitcom – Facts of Life. I was only, maybe 8 years old ..and I had a crush on Lisa - this long haired beautiful blonde character in the Facts of Life sitcom. I was dreaming that one day I would marry someone as beautiful as Lisa. I am glad I did marry someone as beautiful as Lisa except that Janet is an Asian and not American.

3. When I was 12 (Grade 6), I won the State Championship for Martial Arts in Kuala Lumpur.

4. When I was in Grade 6 – I held a few positions in school. Rare but true – School Prefect, Librarian, Class Monitor, Athletics Captain and represented school in state level competitions in hockey and track & field.

5. When I was 11, I got my first “I LOVE YOU” note. I completely freaked out ! Didn’t know what to do. I studied in an ALL BOYS School …and we had no interaction with girls and we had all boys in the family. The girl was from an ALL GIRLS School and was a year younger than me and had a brother who was studying at my school. I got really nervous and I gave the note to my aunt, and she happened to know her parents and without me knowing, she went straight to her parents and told them about their daughter’s misbehavior. I found out later and felt totally sorry for that girl. AND of course, I was very upset with my aunt !

6. I am very poor at remembering song lyrics, no matter how many times I listen to them. I admire those who do.

7. I love western and Indian cuisine, chocolates and custards.

8. I love doing interior design. I love decorating homes. I love IKEA !!!

9. I thrive on 2 love languages – Physical Touch & Words of Affirmation.

10. I have no fear of people in hierarchy! I would feel comfortable in the presence of a King or Prime Minister. It’s true ! In 2008, I (& Beram) had the privilege of having tea with the Sultan of Kedah and on a separate occasion I (& Janet) had a good conversation with the Chief Minister of Kedah at his office. It was an awesome experience.

11. Having said # 10 – I still get nervous sometimes when I am asked to give a speech or share with groups of people even if they are 20 or 2000. It’s true but you wouldn’t be able to tell!

12. I married someone who is bold (& brave) and beautiful ! Opposites attract, as they say ! I am extremely blessed to have Janet !

13. Janet and I share the same birthday – 5th January ! Amazing !

14. I used to be a perfectionist, but not anymore, maybe still, but not to the extreme anymore.

15. When I was in high school and pre-university – 16, 17, 18, 19 years of age, I ran the 400 meters track & field event in 55.7 seconds, the 800 in 2 minutes 18 seconds, 1500 meters in 4 minutes 16 seconds, 5000 meters in 19 minutes – I almost broke the 30 year old record in school and maybe the State record. Missed by a few seconds! I ran all of these events at State level competitions.

16. I used to be an avid photographer until photography became a very expensive hobby, either that, or I became poorer ;) When I was 16, I won a photography competition - I took a picture of a stream of water in the forest reserve, flowing gracefully . I captured a beautiful photo – I was using a YASHICA camera at that time.

17. I am a poor writer, although I love writing. My perfectionist nature makes it longer for me to write articles, even though I have had a few articles published in magazines and newspapers.

18. In Dec 2002, I travelled 20 hours on land, all the way to Phuket, Thailand and cooked Janet a nice western meal – steak, potato, boiled vegetables, mash potato, and fruit salad for dinner with candle lights and 2 glasses of red wine, on the dining table. We had a romantic dinner – fun, thrilling. We had 2 pieces of American Choc for desert and little did she know , I had quietly hidden the engagement ring in her cake. I was going to propose for her hand in marriage. As we were about to finish dinner, I brought out the cakes out for desert, and it was just then Janet said “I’m all stuffed up, Shanks “ . What a bummer ! I then said, “Let’s share a cake , Dear “. So we shared a cake and she had a few bites and lo, and behold, she saw the ring I quickly knelt down on my knees, and said all the mushy mushy words which I am not going to tell you in here, and asked if she would marry me … The rest is history !!! We now have 2 kids

19. I watched “ My Best Friend’s Wedding” like a million times.!!! I absolutely love Julia Roberts ! When I was walking on the streets of LA, I was hoping I would bump into her. I actually saw the site where the movie was filmed. You remember , in the opening scene, Julia walks into a hotel for crème Brule tasting , I think it was on Rodeo Street – I saw the hotel where the movie was filmed. She was a food critic journalist – I enjoyed her personality in the movie.

20. I love my 2 lovely kids, Schenker and Samantha. They make me laugh, smile, love , scream, test my patience, and heaps more. Having them , made me read a lot of books on Child Development and Parenting. After reading all those books, I realized that parenting is a life long journey and you just have to keep learning and you cannot just find the answers in books !

21. Friends are important part of my life. I thrive on friendships. I cherish moments spent with close friends, although that doesn’t happen often but when that happens, it keeps me going for a long time. Friends have taught me - to give, listen, persevere, receive, share, talk, support , and believe.

22. I like hanging out in quiet malls – Subang Parade, Bangsar Village.

23. I am not a coffee drinker but I like going to Starbucks and Coffee Bean. I love the environment and the drinks, of course. I would usually go for the non-coffee menu. I love the sandwiches in Coffee Bean. Starbuck’s tagline intrigues me – “CREATE COMMUNITY. MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN SOMEONE’S DAY”. It’s interesting to know that their goal is to create environments that connect people together so significantly that it has the power of changing the quality of our lives. It’s amazing how a simple commodity like coffee can promote connections!

24. I grew up watching very, very little television- at least for the first 20 years of my life, of which I am very grateful for. I owe it to my strict church and home environment. Still, I seldom watch TV except for two programs I followed through for a season – Survivor and Desperate Housewives. ONLY TWO and ONLY for a season ;) Desperate Housewives taught me a lot about understanding women !

25. I appeared on Malaysian newspapers twice – once in 1997 & once in 2008, for good reasons. I didn’t commit any crime, if you’re wondering ;)

Janet, My Inspiration

2012-01-05T18:52:00.000-08:00

I get very inspired when ever I see Janet's articles. She's just simply a gifted writer. She's really an inspiration to many of her friends. Well, I'm hoping I'd find the time to write, maybe this could be my form of keeping the world updated with my happenings. So here's my attempt to try blogging regularly , hopefully I'll last ;).

I'll write soon.

Welcome To My New Blog

2011-09-16T00:56:00.001-07:00

I recently decided that I would start a blog to share my learning, and thoughts on cross-cultural missions especially in the area of mobilization and member-health. With over 20 years of learning, and making mistakes, I've realized that for effective learning one would have to reflect and ponder on his thoughts for effective learning and growth, and for me to see a growth in what I am passionate about I would like to pen down my thoughts, and learn from them.

The articles and writings here are and will be excerpts of books I am currently writing on Member-Health in Southeast Asia, and Mobilization in Southeast Asia. Hopefully this will be an inspiration for me to continue writing so I could complete my books, hopefully by the end of 2012.

I am interested in hearing your thoughts and comments as I blog on my books. Some of my articles have appeared in international magazine/portals and have been used in the missions context quite extensively globally. Hopefully this articles will be a blessing to you.

Besides ministry, articles, books , you will also see updates on the personal and family front. You will read and experience my journey of growth as a writer, missions advocate, father and husband. Janet will be an instrumental influence in my advocacy work and in making this reach thousands of readers globally.

Enjoy this journey together.