Words A.L.I.V.E. (ICC Chapter Malaysia): Standing Up For Jesus! (July 19, 2014)

Written by Toh Jern Yoong
Edited by Michelle Toh (Coach) and Eliza Tan (Speaker)

Welcome to our 7^th ICC meeting! Thank God for another fruitful learning weekend!

We started out with all the potential, budding actors and actresses of YSG and BPS arriving at 3:30 p.m. to have our first auditions for our very first authentic, original, local-made movie of ICC Words AL.I.V.E.! Here are some pictures of the-soon to be actors and actresses!

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Our leader and producer.......Eliza Tan!

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Our First Actor.... Ranen Chan! He is busy memorizing his script.

Actresses Jern Ling and Eunice in action!

Photos by Nathanael Chong

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Actress Charis rolling her tongue for her role!

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Actor Ian in full concentration

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Actor Jern Yoong...... posing his 'cool' poise!

Actor Nathanael led the way with great acting skills while actor Jaeriel smiled his way through!

Photos by Jemima (left) and Nathanael Chong (right)

Actor Jaedon and BPS actress Jonique!

Photos by Nathanael Chong

Credits to Eunice for writing the audition plan. :)

We took about half an hour auditioning for a few roles. Then we started our meeting with the ice breaker game of the day, led by speaker Nathanael! It was really a humorous acting game where two different persons came out to act short skits respectively on specific subjects given by speaker Nathanael.

Photo by Jemima Chong

The first pair: Charis and Aunty Stacey acted as "a dentist and her patient."

Photo by Jemima Chong

Eunice and Aunty Sandy acted as "the sleepy jailer and the restless prisoner."

Photo by Jemima Chong

Aunty Chih Chin and Ranen acted as "the policeman and the thief."

Photo by Jemima Chong

Uncle James and Ian acted as "two friends who have not met for a long time."

Photo by Jemima Chong

Finally, my dad and I acted out "a man having a hearing problem asking a passer-by for directions to the KFC."

After that, we sang " Speak O Lord" to prepare our hearts for the day's activities and rehearsal because according to Coach Joseph, "When the heart is ready, the mind is open to learning."

Photo by Jemima Chong

A snapshot of the musicians. :)

Then we had our devotion led by Coach Joseph where he threw a question to the parents for open discussion: "What are the changes we see in today's culture that motivate us to send our children to ICC?"

He commented, “The culture around us is very influential, but we have to state our stand on the Bible.”

He even warned that our culture is a growing one because a "No" in the previous generation has become a "Maybe" in this generation and would become a "Yes" in the next generation. We really have to know the truth grounded on the Word of God and be able to communicate our faith to a humanistic society which focuses too much on self.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Coach Joseph showed a lot of enthusiasm in expressing his belief as he shared his convictions on biblical worldview. :)

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Coach Debra listening attentively to her husband. :)

After our devotion and group discussion, I presented my testimony on our visit to the Organic Farm on the 15th of July. A large number of Words AL.I.V.E. members had gone on that field trip as part of a separate homeschool group outing. I shared to the chapter that although I expected to learn about nature, I instead learned a big lesson about "speaking and standing up for what we believe and to not be influenced by others who have different worldviews than us." I thanked Coach Joseph for sharing the biblical principle of Creation and the good news of Jesus Christ boldly during the outing.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

This is me! :)

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Our ever attentive audience.

After my testimony, we had our YSG training led by Coach Alfred. :)

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Coach Alfred giving practical tips on the usage of cards during presentations.

First, we started out by revising vocal variation. Then we sang one of the most-loved songs from Sound of Music, 'Do, Re Mi,' to practice our vocals.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

After the very lively warm-up of the song, five YSG speakers came out to do their second ICC Limited Preparation speech. These are the speakers.........

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Eunice spoke sweetly, sharing her ideas on her speech.

Photo by Jemima Chong

Nathanael spoke with wisdom and confidence.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Jemima spoke confidently with interesting personal experiences.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Eliza used relevant Bible verses to accompany her speech.

Photo by Nathanael Chong

Charis spoke softly but steadily.

Meanwhile, the BPS speakers had their own informative teaching session.

Photo by Joseph Tan (Coach)

After our training, the BPS group came back to join us for a debrief on what we learned in our trainings. Then we had our tea break. We had yummy butter cookies and fried Chinese cruller (Yao Zha Guai).

During our break, speakers Eliza Tan and Nathanael Chong presented their unique slideshows on the Wonder of Nature as photos can also be a large form of communication.

Eliza's slideshow on Psalm 23 through the Wonder of Nature:

Nathanael's slideshow titled "Wonders of Creation:"

After our break, we had our choir rehearsal led by Eliza and Aunty Michelle!

Photo by Joseph Tan (Coach)

Although we still need refining, we made progress! Here is a video of all four singing parts! Enjoy!
We definitely have made Coach Dicky (on a family trip in U.S.A) proud!

P/S: Coach Dicky, this is a video of our progress. Please rate! :)

Comment by Uncle Dicky:

"I'm really touched to see and hear it from here. Thank you everyone for your effort and enthusiasm. We miss you all here also. Looking forward to be with you all again in the next meeting."

-------------------------Additional momentous snapshots of the day!-------------------------