I had cleverly thought of extending my stay in Shanghai after the prayer marathon. After all, might as well give myself a holiday since I was already there. So cleverly, I paid extra to reschedule my return air ticket which had been booked in haste earlier. I even had the foresight to book accommodation online for the additional 3 nites, looked up everything touristy on Shanghai and was really looking forward to spending some time with God and some time with the world. Balanced life-style right. And I thought surely this must be in the will of God, since someone unexpectedly blessed me with the extra money I needed to change my flight and upgrade from a mixed dorm to a private room in the hostel I booked.
Well, as it turned out, I was in for a rude awakening. At the immigration point before we boarded ship, I was told I couldn't re-enter Shanghai on my single-entry visa. We hadn't been informed we needed a double entry visa to get back into China after the ship completed its round trip. I wasn't alone in the predicament; there were 4 other blur blur M'sians caught in the bind. But mine was the worst case. The others had booked their return flights on the same nite of re entry, so they could be granted a 24 hr temporary visa extension to come in. However my return was booked for 3 days later, for which no extension/new visa could be granted. The only option was to buy a new air tix to fly off within 24 hours of re entry (like the rest) or go home from Hong Kong, the penultimate port of disembarkation. And I would have to sort things out on board ship somehow since we were set to sail. Fine pickle I was in. The internet connection on board was terribly slow and very expensive, counted in US$ by the hour. Even if I could get off ship at Korea (which I couldn't), I wouldn't know where to purchase an air ticket and I certainly didn't want to abort at Hong Kong after having come this far. Instead of getting divine visions, I imagined having to float at sea forever - maybe they could lemme wash toilets to earn my keep - or worse held captive as an illegal immigrant somewhere in a very earthly jail....
Quite apart from the obvious lesson that I should have checked properly about the visa requirements, I guess this was God's way of reminding me, when we go on a mission for Him - and this was definitely a spiritual mission - we shouldn't try to be so clever and mix things up. That was what my leader always maintained whenever we travel to India for missions. We go as a team, we come back as a team. No off the side extension holidays after the event, no matter how 'convenient' or desirable it may be. If it's on God's business, it should be God's business all the way, unless He gives us time off.
Since we were already sailing, I had absolutely no idea how to resolve the problem. But God showed how much He loves me even when I mess things up. He granted me such high favor the very next day, as I was lining up to ask help from the info counter, my room mate approached an officer who was just standing by. It turned out he was the Manager. After some moment of hesitation, he offered the use of his private office, computer and printer, all free, and told me to take however long I needed to get online to purchase a new ticket. At the end of 2 hours, I had a new ticket to leave on the same day as the others on single entry. What peace and joy flooded my soul as we started our prayer sessions a few hours later. But God's blessings didn't stop at just resolving a seemingly impossible situation.
Indeed from the beginning, the blessings had already overflowed. I had expected to stay at the bottom deck, 4 in a dorm cabin with shared bath and a porthole fishbowl to look through. Instead we had a beautiful twin bedded cabin with a private balcony. Needless to add, with a 740 international crew member-team, the service on board was excellent . This is the first time in my life I have been on a cruise ship so huge and so luxurious.But more than the physical comforts, it was the spiritual atmosphere that was deeply fulfilling and satisfying. Imagine a sanctuary filled with 24 hour worship and prayer at every hour, on every passenger deck, right up to the top on 14th floor. In every corner there were people singing, dancing, praying nite and day in all languages. There were shofars and trumpets sounding over the waves. There were big flags, small flags, ribbons, scarves, banners flown everywhere. It was truly open heaven on the high seas. Sitting and soaking in God's presence in the sanctuary, I realized the depth of God's love for me. I had always prayed to be taken deeper, to go further in relationship with Him, and this was His astounding answer. On the final 7th nite finale celebration, as we all dressed up in white to take Holy Communion and whispered our own personal pledges of love, re dedicating our lives back to God, my heart was so full...and I remembered His Word given to me earlier....indeed "my cup runneth over"
How faithful He is to fulfil His promise, when we seek Him first, He grants us all other things. Even the littlest things. Like 2 rubber bands found hidden in my luggage bag, which I needed to tie up the soles of my shoes that had broken off. Right down to people.. there was an Asst (Restaurant) Manager from India I had befriended over many dinner sessions and I wanted to take a photo with him. But never managed to because he was always running around. On the last day, my room mate bumped into him and yes, I got the shot with my handsome friend from India. Thank God for the 'angel' He sent to take care of me - my own staff cum room-mate. She was my ever-handy translator for all the Chinese stuff I couldn't understand or speak, on and off board ship. She even lent me her sandals when mine broke.
And to cap it, I had a holiday after all. Our schedule allowed us some off time to step onto Hong Kong land. Even the room I had booked for the extension stay in Shanghai wasn't wasted entirely. For we disembarked early and had a free 1/2 day before our return flight. So we actually had a place to dump our luggage plus enough time to tour all the city sights of Shanghai on a local tourist hop on/hop off bus. Finally in spite of all the cancellation of tickets and bookings, when I counted the cost, I had ended up none the poorer.What else can I say, except that my God is good, so so good, even and especially when things go wrong. If He loves me so much, how can I not love Him back? And how can I not shout to the world that everyone can experience the most soul satisfying experience of a God who not only loves but saves to the utmost those who would just come in faith to believe and receive the very best from Him who has loved the world even unto death.
Whatever I don't understand about God, I know this one thing; that Jesus died for my sin, all the messy wrongs in my life, so that I am made right and can stand right in the eyes of my Maker . And because He is risen, my today becomes better than yesterday and my tomorrow better than today.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) - Ephesians 2:4-5
For pix click here and here
Videos:
Celebrating The Greatest Love
Who can forget...
Hallelujah Japan
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