Travel experiences in the year 2009

I am very thankful for the past 10 months of break where I can fulfil my dream of being overseas and travel to different places and meet different people. I thank God for each one of them and how He has brought them into my path even while I was on holiday. In this blog, I am just going to share some highlights during the past 10 months which is out of Melbourne

Travel experience 1:
The first person I met was in Perth when I was doing on 2 days trips and this person was on the same 2 days trips with me and my friend. I don't believe there is any coincidence and when we were sitting on the coach, he actually asked me what book I was reading and i was reading a Christian book. I felt at that point that I could continue the conversation. Initially,we had difficulties in communicating as he was still trying to learn English as he is working in Perth. Fortunately, my friend can speak a little Japanese and with the little basic Japanese that I know, I also tried to communicate with him. Somehow, our conversation led to discussion about Christianity and he allowed us to share the Gospel with him on the coach. Thank God we did manage to share with him the presentation of the Gospel using the bridge illustration. Although he did not respond immediately to the salvation prayer, I believe that the seed of the Gospel has already been sowed in his heart. We exchanged email addresses and thank God for the invention of facebook, we are still able to keep in touch even though my friend and I left for Melbourne soon after we bid our goodbyes to him. And when i went to Sydney a few months later, I am able to meet up with him again and he is also coming to Singapore in January next year and can continue to build the friendship. Truly, it is really amazing how I can even share the Gospel with someone even on a holiday trip. I really pray that the seed sown in his heart will bear fruit one day and he will come to know God as his personal Lord and saviour. To God be the glory!

Travel experience 2:
I was with 2 friends on a four days trip in Sydney. The trip was very good until we actually missed the flight on our return back to Melbourne. I just could not believe what I heard when we arrived at the check in counter at the airport when the person over the counter told me that we were late and that we had missed our flight. My heart literally almost sank and we had no choice but to go to the airline encounter to see what were our options could be. In the end, we had to pay extra and upgrade to another flight that departs an hour later but the terminal where the airplane was going to land was much further than the original terminal of our original flight. So that means that we had to pay extra to take the shuttle to the city and going to reach home very late. Well, this option was better than the thought of having to stay another night at the airport or even in the hotel at our own expense. Well, amazingly, something interesting happened. I was sitting next to this local guy on the plane and as my friend and I were sharing our "missed flight" story to another lady sitting near us, this local guy actually said, " I am going along the same way, I could give you girls a lift." At that point, it did not occur to me that i should not be taking a lift from a stranger and since there were 3 of us, I reckon that it should not be too dangerous and that guy looked really nice and fatherly. We started chatting with him and he was telling us about him having a son who is a lawyer and a daughter in medical school. When the airplane landed at the airport, he actually waited with us until our luggage arrived and gave us a lift to our apartments which was kind of a detour from his home. We gave him a postcard and wrote down our email addresses, gave it to him and bid farewell to him. Actually, my friend and I were thinking we should have got his namecard or something. Surprisingly, a few days later, he actually emailed us saying, " Thank you for turning what is usually a very boring flight between Sydney and Melbourne into a very pleasant experience.
Thankyou for the kind words and it was my pleasure to give you a lift back home. You are guests in Australia so we should look after you where we can."
I am glad that I met such nice people in a foreign land. Indeed, God is good. If we had not missed our flight, I would not be able to have the chance to meet such a nice person who took the effort to write to us although he is a MD of a company.

Travel Experience 3:
My friend and I were very surprised that only 2 of us were on this day trip we had pre-arranged a month ago before we arrived in NZ. It was a day trip to Mt Cook. The lady tour guide arrived at our hostel to pick us up and her friendly disposition really made me feel welcome in NZ. And I have never been on a day tour with just 2 of us with the tour guide, given the price we paid for it. Indeed God is good. Later on, as the day unfolded and then I kinda of discovered how God can use us to be an instrument of blessing to another person. This lady tour guide was so comfortable talking with us and giving us a tour of the places we have been. Never did I expect that she actually shared with us a glimpse of her life story about how she actually left her abusive husband for 20 years and tried all ways to overcome her sadness. She even told us to be careful and not be involved with bad guys. She even asked us if we had encountered any bad guys in our lives, I told her, " God is our protector, He protects us from harm." It was then that she realised that we are Christians. I felt God is using us to be her listening ears and probably she may feel better after sharing her thoughts with us. It was a very good day tour, I enjoyed the magnificent creation of God- the majestic mountains, clear water and the blue skies. It was as if a beautiful painting of nature unfolded in front of my eyes and the words of the Psalms just came to my mind. God is really an amazing and wonderful creator. I am so in awe of His greatness and majesty. The tour guide even brought us to a salmon pond to feed salmons and took us back to the city on a different route so that we can get to see another part of the country.
God is indeed good. When we arrived back in the hostel, the tour guide gave my friend and I a hug and we also asked for her email address so that we can keep in touch with her and continue to keep her in prayers that she will one day meet God personally and God will touch her life and heal her brokeness.
To God be the glory!

There are just so many things to be thankful to God for in the past 10 months even though I was away from home and away from familiar surroundings. God has provided many people, brothers and sisters in the Lord, friends whom i can share my life with. Bidding farewell is always tough and I did not know that it would be so difficult for me. Thank you Ronald for your kind words in the letter and the poem you composed, Sarah for helping me pack and repack my luggage, Pushpa for helping me to do some last minute clean up of my apartment, Elaine for printing my eticket and boarding pass, finally Krishan for sending me to the airport.
Tears of joy, thankfulness and appreciation welled up in my eyes as I see the plane leave the runway and it was really time for me to bid farewell to a place that used to be so unfamiliar to me but now it holds a special place in my heart.
I pray that all these memories will spur me on towards the challenges and life I have back home.