Somewhere Out There

A picture paints a thousand words... So I'll let the photographs tell the story of my weekend... (didn't originally plan to comment that much, but so much for that ;)

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Had a steamboat dinner at Danielle's place on Saturday night. Caught up with the group who helped reach out to some China friends who had come over for an Intensive English Program. Our friends from China have since returned after their one-month stay, but even though the time we spent with them was short, it would hopefully have made a difference to their lives, and the seeds that have been planted would be able to take root and grow. May tell more in another entry...

As usual, there was food, glorious food... lots of meat, so the carnivore in me was quite satisfied :)

And much sharing and laughter throughout the night :)

The guys did the washing up! Heehee (While the gals packed the remaining food and prepared the desserts)

Enoch pondered whether to stay for a movie, while David pondered the ingredients of BBQ sauce :)

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Sent two friends off on Sunday afternoon. Mindy, who graduated last year, came to re-visit Adelaide for a week, and had to return to Singapore to continue work as a hospital speech pathologist. And William, who graduated last semester, and was returning back to Malaysia. Two friends who have made an impact on those around them, and have shared and spoken into the the lives of those who knew them.

It's easy to overlook the impact of a person's life. But it is at farewells that you really see the magnitude of the ties of friendships made, and the difference that one friend has made in the lives of many others. You see the closeness of the community, and the ties that have been built along the way...

There were many tears and sad farewells from those sending William off, while Mindy just smiled... After all, she'd graduated and gone back last year. It was probably difficult to leave back then, and now it probably wasn't that hard to leave again this time, although it would probably never be easy to do so. Having been a returnee too, several years back, I was struck by the pertinence of being prepared for the end of uni life. Few people realise the importance of preparing ourselves for returning back home, or even for graduating from uni... It's different, life as a returnee. How we handle it often depends on preparation, flexibility, and trusting in the plans that God has ultimately... Letting go (but not forgetting) and moving on, relying on His grace and strength along the way, and letting Him lead the path into a new chapter.

Reach out, Build up, Send back... Praying as one, for William, as he is sent back, to live out the purposes that God has for him back in his home country.

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That evening, had dinner and brainstorming with OCF exco and convention reps. LaiKuannie blessed us with her mushroom soup and spaghetti... more food :) On another note, while brainstorming, passion can be wonderfully infectious :)

Also filled the house with sweet music, singing along to 'Imagine' by John Lennon, and 'Somewhere out there' from the cartoon 'An American Tail'. And I have video clip(s) of them singing, by the way ;) Hee hee...

The lyrics to the song 'Somewhere out there' sort of encapsulates the themes from the weekend... in a way. Our friends who returned to China, all our friends and returnees in their home countries, OCFers and students in different campuses...

Somewhere out there,

beneath the pale moonlight,

someone's thinking of me and loving me tonight

.

Somewhere out there,

someone's saying a prayer,

that we'll find one another in that big somewhere out there

.

And even though I know how very far apart we are,

it helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star.

And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby,

it helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky

.

Somewhere out there,

if love can see us through,

then we'll be together,

somewhere out there,

out where dreams come true.

- 'Somewhere Out There' , from 'An American Tale'

We may be far apart, but we're all still 'underneath the same big sky'. And God works in each and every one, for He transcends all physical distances and boundaries...