Dear All,

'Praise the Lord, O my soul
I will praise the Lord all my life
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live
Do not put your trust in princes
in mortal men who cannot save
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground
on that very day their plans come to nothing
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob
whose hope is in the Lord his God
the Maker of heaven and earth
the sea and everything in them
the Lord who remains faithful forever' Psalm 146:2-6

My reading for Saturday morning was in this psalm. . the second reading was Isaiah 51, God's wonderful promise of salvation to His people Israel, which was not yet in sight but which God would, in His time, bring to pass. When particularly struck me was God asking His people to look back to Abraham and Sarah, His people of faith, as a reminder of His faithfulness. I turned again to Romans 4 . . it is all about Abraham who, against all hope believed in God's promise (not vain hope that he simply clung to out of his own need, but the promise God had given to him) and was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.

We are nowhere near Abraham (!) . . our hope is tinged with awe (wow God, who are we that You would want to do this?) and fearful trepidation (really God, You want to do this for us? . . we know You can but to do it . . .? ) But when our God keeps encouraging and affirming, there is actually only one path to take . . be obedient and follow where He leads faithfully, even when it goes beyond our understanding, 'dig in our heels' and trust, remembering and praising Him like David that blessed is he whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Many keep thinking we are so strong in our faith . . it is not so much that we are strong in and of ourselves . . but it is the marvellous mysterious grace of God which is sustaining us and giving us faith and hope . . using your continual prayers and your wonderful encouragment, and our reading and meditating on His Word and His gift of music and song to feed and nourish our souls.

What has been most humbling and amazing is how God has been using young people to encourage us . . even at this very long last stretch . . One young friend wrote . . . I have not asked for her permission because I just received her email a few minutes ago (I don't think she will mind) but I just want to quote what she wrote in her journal and let her words speak in all its eloquence and faith (she's 19 years old) . .

You know, something bigger than finding Yi Jien has come out of all this. All of us have cried out to God. Sought His face, understood God's heart a little better and experienced God's love and peace. We've learnt to be patient, to surrender the things that we hold to our chests the tightest and in doing so set ourselves free to breathe.

God I am in awe, and I find it amazing and slightly ironic that from the beginning, Yi Jien, until the end has been Your vessel. And I praise you with all my heart for that. You have used Him so mightily and been so gentle throughout. He has been that grain of wheat that has fallen to the ground and died (metaphorically) for Your kingdom. I still believe that You have things under control, that Yi Jien is safe in your hands, that even right now He's being loved and ministered to by you be it heaven or earth. And I cannot help or stop giving thanks and praise. But for some reason I still believe that Yi Jien is alive, my heart is not moved by the odds against what it believes in.

But it doesn't matter. Being right or wrong. Really. It's capturing God's heart and pursuing relentlessly. To run the ways of His commandments and find Him there. How I love that.

On runningtherace, I think that this leg of the race was an optional one to run, but all of us have been blessed by taking on this leg. The race is far from over, but I think God's name has and is continued to be glorified.

The highlight is mine . . . such amazing insight and wisdom from one so young!

For those of you who love songs, may I leave you with this song Praise You in This Storm by Casting Crowns (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHdcyue0bSw) sent by another young girl yesterday. The storm is still there but our praises are ringing louder and our hope emerging stronger because as so eloquently written by my dear young friend, we are 'capturing God's heart and pursuing relentlessly' and know we will 'find Him there.'

The love and grace of the Father, Son and Spirit be with each of us in His glorious abundance

kim guat and siu yin