This morning, I spent 4 hours watching Simon conduct/perform the regulation and service for my grand piano. We had a wonderful conversation as we discussed the theories of tuning and it was very interesting to hear him share about his experiences in Singapor, Japan, Hong Kong, and Houston. It was very difficult for me to keep myself awake during the whole time...as I didn't realy sleep much on Fri. I almost fell asleep as he got onto the tuning part. We were talking about equal temperament and how the C4 to C5 octave needs to be tuned using first P8 then P5 then major 6ths and major 3rds......and then unfortunately, we had to spend another hour waxing the base of my piano because the left pedal was producing squeaking sounds.

Later at night, went to fellowship at RCEFC and it was an amazing evening. Had a really great long chat with Rockson..and we were studying James 5, and Rockson was leading. Before Bible Study, we had a time of praise and worship and I learned a lot from the song leader's sharing. It was really cool of him to use his black belt and karate championship tournament as an analogy of being a testimony for Jesus. I really liked all of the songs that we sang, and it was great that we sang in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. The way we sang "Blessed Be Your Name" was extremely interesting... =)

The Missions Trip presentation from the team of MI was extremely touching. I was thankful to get to see the entire slide show and while Brother Paul and 2 team members shared about their experience in Uganda. I was greatly reminded of God's calling for us to preach His Word to the ends of the earth.

To top it all off, during Bible study, Rockson mentioned 2 points that struck my heart. And his sharing about his own experience with another brother...was really helpful to me.

Indeed, how can anything be more difficult than confessing the sins you have committed to your brother or sister, when "you are not even confessing because you have wronged him/her?" It is simply just revealing to a brother or sister that you have sinned against God, and that you must confess your sins in front of him/her. In retrospect, I cannot describe how thankful I am to be able to share with Rockson 5 yrs ago about my hardship and I thank the Lord so much for all the prayer and spiritual support He blessed me with during that time. CLEARLY, the Lord has spoken directly to me tonight.    

In celebration of April's birthday, Andy made a cake for her and it was really preety, and we had a mini bday party. I really felt the Lord's presence that evening as Rockson and I continued to update each other about what has been happening in the last while. As we talked about James Chapter 5 again, I almost cried. Although it's been 6 yrs already, the scar never went away, and I was so thankful that Rockson can completely empathize with my pain. I cannot express my gratitude towards the Lord for giving me such a mature and trustworthy friend. R gave me some inspiration and encouragement in regards to my upcoming choices which was very helpful. I also learned a lot from R's recent trip to HK and Beijing, and it was great to know about Simon C's situation too. R's sharing about being submissive to God and turning down his next promotion because of his current manager's plead reminded me of "What would Jesus do?" if He was facing the same situation?

I am happy for R that he had peace in his heart when he decided to let go...and to trust God to provide for a position that would be even better than the one he applied for.

I will really miss this fellowship.  

Brother Tsui's 9: 15 am message on Sunday, March 4, 2007 reminded me of a brother's sharing that seems to be speaking directly to me this entire week.  A few years ago, after composing a song, a brother wrote this on his site:

'In Sunday School, we were studying 1 John, and there was one verse [that] was emphasized and which stuck in my mind. "Because everything in the world - the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not from the Father, but is from the world." (1 John 2:16, SLT) These three things are the three things in the world that attract us away from God. Essentially, these things become idols to us, and easily take the place of God. When we realize the immenseness of God's love, we cannot help but lay down everything, including these idols, and follow God'

In view of the many trials that have happend in the last 2 months, I now clearly see that the Lord is using these 2 sources to gradually deliver me out of a contingent situation and a kind of current state.   

The Holy Spirit works in a way that is beyond our comprehension. I would not have considered this to be a "function of" my carnal/flesh, as mentioned in I Corinthians chapter 3, 4 years ago.

Concert Invitation

Dear Family, Brothers and Sisters, and Friends,

You are cordially invited to a Music Concert presented by the UBC Chinese Ensemble directed by Mei Han (world renown zheng master) in which I will be playing a kind of Chinese horizontal flute (heng di). 喜洋洋﹑步步高﹑新疆舞曲﹑關山月﹑瑤族舞曲﹑ Dance of Yao Tribe, and Moon Over the Frontier Mountain are a few of the many pieces that will be in the programme.

Date: Monday, April 2, 2007

Time: 12 pm (noon)

No Cost: FREE ADMISSION (no tickets needed)

Location: RECITAL HALL in UBC’s Music Building (You will see it as soon as you go

    into the Music Building through the main entrance = REC)

Address: 6361 Memorial Road, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z2

We had a very successful concert on February 23 at the UBC Asian Center in celebration of Chinese New Year, and so I believe this will be an exciting event for those of you who are interested in either Modern Asian music, Classical Chinese music or Chinese instruments. You are welcome to invite/bring any friends, family members, or anyone that may be interested along. This is an important event for me.  Therefore, I would like to personally invite you to come to this concert.

If you have any questions, please email or call me (please check your email for my mobile number).  I look forward to seeing you there.

In Christ,

Phyllis

***P.S. – for anyone interested:

For Your Info:

I will also be performing as a dizi (flutist) with the UBC Chinese Ensemble in the BC Chinese Orchestra’s Spring Concert on Saturday, April 7^th, 2007 at The Chan Center.

Please visit http://www.bccma.net/portal/Portals/0/UserUpload/posters/07%20Spring%20poster.pdf

for the concert details.

Below is a brief summary of the poster:

B.C. Chinese Orchestra

~~~   Free from Cure    ~~~

Fundraiser Concert for

The Society for Clinical Preventive Health Care

April 7, 2007  Saturday 7.30 pm

UBC Chan Shun Concert Hall

                   Place:  The Chan Centre at UBC (6265 Crescent Road, Vancouver)

The Spring Concert 2007 of B.C. Chinese Orchestra will be held on April 7, 2007 Saturday 7:30 p.m. at the UBC Chan Shun Concert Hall under the name of

< Free from Cure> as the fundraiser for The Society for Clinical Preventive Health Care.

Don't miss this opportunity to enjoy the performance of the BC Chinese Orchestra conducted by Jin Zhang, BC Youth Chinese Orchestra conducted by Wo-Liu Pan, guest performers : renowned soloists Gui-Lian Liu on Pipa (Pluck), Zhong-Xi Wu on Suona (Wind), UBC Chinese Ensemble and Grand Ensemble Chorus in this musical extravaganza. The programs will be:

Orchestra                                Prelude of Celebration             Spring by the Xuanwu Lake

                                                The Dagger Society Suite with chorus 

Pipa Concerto                        Sunset of Xishuang Banna

Suona Solo                             Love of Homeland

Ensemble                                The Crescent Moon             Da-Wu Da-Wu

                                                Moon over the Frontier Mountain          Dance of Yao Tribe

Chorus                                   Flowers and Youth        Song of Gulandanmu

                                             The Cable Car                 The Same Happy Song                          

This is a fundraiser concert for charity with all net proceeds going to The Society for Clinical Preventive Health Care. Tickets at prices of $20.00, $30.00, 40.00 and 50.00 and VIP (all included parking fee) will be available at Ticket Master www.ticketmaster.ca and a few locations. You can contact the organizer – B.C. Chinese Music Association by phone at (604) 327-8807, by fax at (604) 327-8606 or by e-mail at bccma@lynx.bc.ca for ticketing or more information.  

I will be able to purchase tickets for anyone who may be interested. If you have any questions, please email me, msg me on MSN, or call me. 

Thank you very much.

Phyllis