Merdeka! End of Year 1 @RTS

Submitted my final paper yesterday evening, and finally...today I can spend a free and easy day without the "seminarian guilt" of not reading, writing, memorizing and making 3x5 cards 😅

As this is the conclusion of my first year in RTS Charlotte (one down and two more to go), it is an opportune time to reflect on God's faithfulness and providence (and what a season it has been!). Ever since we touched down in the US on July 12 last year, it has been a faith journey for my whole family - I still have times when I ask myself - "What am I doing here, thousand of miles away from familiar and stable environments at home, putting the business on hold while squeezing my brain cells as a student after all these years!?" It all seemed so adventurous when we were planning to come to RTS but reality has a way of setting in at various unexpected places.

With 13 subjects completed in RTS this year, I have picked up certain study skills and tips along the way (with significant help from my wife) - this old dog still need to learn new tricks lah! Yet, I am still working to be more efficient and strategic in my study time management so that my scheduled is more holistic and not just scholastic. On another note, it was interesting that all four of us are attending classes online this semester! (A family that studies together, stays together).

Grateful that both Eliza and Eunice are graduating this year - one from the Asbury University and the other from TPS High School = the graduating class of 2020 is certainly in a unique situation! While Eunice will be graduating virtually, Eliza's session has been postponed to October because the Uni President prefers a physical celebration. Eunice will be starting her freshman year at Union University this Fall in August. The Lord is faithful. Please do pray for Eliza as she seeks for a suitable job here in the US.

One transition for us this summer is that we will be moving to another apartment - located further away in Concord - for a much reduced rent. In return, we will be working with the apartment management to organize regular social events for the apartment complex to ensure higher lease renewals. This is a great chance for us to "formally" connect with others and practice the second greatest commandment. Do pray for our move and also for God to "move" in our hearts as we embark on this new "apartment ministry". Date of move is June 20.

This summer is a precious window God has afforded for us to spend time with Eliza and Eunice before one heads off to the working world and the other to college world. Never in my wildest imagining would I have thought that the four of us will be spending summer of 2020 here in North Carolina together under one roof! Do pray for me to play an active role in facilitating meaningful conversations and to "tie heart strings" so that we continue to be open in our communications.

Thank you for your prayers and support. If it was not for the Lord's presence and His promises, getting through the day (with all the craziness that is happening right now) will be such dry drudgery. "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust." (2 Peter 1:4).

Do let us know how we can also pray for you and your family.

Thank you for partnering with us in this journey of joy.

Joseph, Debra, Eliza & Eunice.

Living on-the-line and online

Greetings from Charlotte, North Carolina. As part of the seminary spring break, I was looking forward to coming back to KL last week for a client training assignment but my flight was cancelled due to the travel restrictions from the US authorities as the flight had to transit through Seoul, Korea. "Cancellation" is becoming a common byword in this trying season where events come to a standstill and people are forced to be still. In the case of my training session, it was reconverted to become an online one instead - spent the last three days staying up from 9.00pm to 5.00am in order to match the Malaysia time zone!

When spring break ends this Sunday, all my remaining classes for the semester will be conducted online. Being in the apartment together with my wife and daughter do make learning into a family project! Eliza's final semester in Asbury University has been converted into an online season as well and she is planning to come and stay with us next week, so our apartment here is being converted into the "Tan Family School" where everyone is a student (but who's paying the bills?, haha)! We are grateful that in this time of health crisis, while there is "social distancing", we have the opportunity to stick together as a family. The Lord is faithful.

Our families back home in Malaysia is safe and healthy - we are thankful. During winter, it was about checking the temperature every day but now it is about checking the number of Covid-19 cases and all of what is happening seem so surreal. The community here is taking the situation seriously - the church service in Uptown has gone online and we are now in day 3 of a 14-day national "shut-down" ordered by the government. This common enemy has certainly united the politicians here and it is encouraging to see how the private and public sectors are working together. Eunice recently wrote a blog post about the current Covid-19 situation and what Psalm 1 has to say about it:

http://toberadical.weebly.com/blog/dont-let-covid-19-take-over-your-life

Over the past two months we have been busy with Eunice's scholarship interview and competition preparations with 3 different universities and we praise the Lord for the positive results. We are in the midst of finalizing the application/acceptance and look forward to her "new life" starting this fall (August). Eliza, on the other hand is transiting to her "new life" in terms of looking for a job (she will be graduating in May). Debra and myself are looking forward to our "new life" as empty-nesters by then! Do pray for us as we go through these transition periods and be sensitive to the Lord's leading and direction. I can often be caught up with my own schemes that I do not seek the Lord as I ought (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

Do pray also for a strong finish to this semester despite the health crisis situation. I am taking six subjects - Classics of Personal Devotion, Evangelism, Greek Exegesis, History of Christianity II, Christian Thought & Philosophy, Christian Encounter with Islam.

Thank you for partnering with us in this journey of joy.

Joseph & Debra.