MIRACLES

It's nothing short of a miracle! That is what it is. I found myself in a situation where I was
thinking, "Now what!?" And I had no answers except nothing is impossible for Jesus,
nothing.

"I overheard them say it's your motherboard," Mrs Lee had said over the telephone, in a thick Singaporean accent.
I remember my heart stopping at that moment. I had expected a faulty keyboard to be the
worst case scenario. "So can we fix it?" I had asked.
The reply came swiftly, "No. It will cost one thousand do-la. Not worth it! You must buy
new one."
I tried to think if ever I had seen a money tree but quickly dismissed the thought. In this
present economy, even if there were one of those, it would have been pulled up by now,
roots and all. "Thank you," I said, "I will pick mine up tomorrow. Good bye." And that's when I
caught myself thinking, "Now what!?" My computer was my interface with the outside
world, my revenue hub, my job seeking tool. I had no money to replace it and I was stuck
without it. I closed my eyes as tight as a pip and squeezed prayers out of my soul.

I looked down on Mrs Lee. She seemed even more diminutive behind her desk than what
she was. She was on the phone again. I understood nothing of her conversation, so I just
stood there, clasping my invoice.
"Can I help you?"
I turned around, a lady with a warm smile walked towards me. I handed her my invoice.
"I've come to pick up my computer," I said.
"Oh yes, the iBook G4," she said, having scrutinized the invoice.
Mrs Lee was still on the telephone. The lady with the warm smile walked around the
counter and pulled my computer from the shelf and put it on the glass counter top. What
was its' shell is now its coffin I thought.
"Just sign here," she pointed with pen in hand.
I sighed, not knowing a miracle was about to happen.

I don't know why I did, I knew the motherboard was broken, but I asked her what was
wrong with it. And she gave me the answer I knew she was going to give me.
"So what are my options?" I pressed on. I knew she was going to say that it would cost
$1000 to fix it. That it would be better to buy a new computer. And what I thought, came
true. I sighed again. She was looking at me as if to say, "So what one do you want?" I began
signing my name, then stopped. I heard Mrs Lee put the phone down.
"I have no money to buy a new computer, nor even enough to fix mine. But I need a
computer for my work. What can I do? Aren't there cheaper options?"

All this time she had been smiling, but now she hid her warmth behind pursed lips.
She turned to her colleague standing next to her. Not one word passed their lips but
in that look they spoke.
"Does your battery work?" she asked.
"Yes," I answered.
"Do you have the power cables for your computer?"
"Yes."
"And does your keyboard work?"
If only it was the keyboard that was broken I thought then said, "Yes."
She bent over a pulled another computer from the shelf. An iBook G4, exactly like mine.
The warmth had returned to her now. "This is my old one," she said. "The keyboard,
battery and power cables are broken. It would have cost me a lot of money to fix it so I
bought a new one."
I nodded dully.
"We'll put your battery and keyboard onto it, reload the operating system and if it works
you can have it for 50 do-la."
"No ways! Really?" I exclaimed.
She nodded yes and said,"Come back in two hours, la, if it works, its yours for 50 do-la," as if to say calm down, it might not work.

Two hours to the minute later I was back in Sim Lim Square, standing in SGL Marketing,
the tiny little computer shop. A white lap top stood open on the counter top, its' screen
black. Uncharacteristically Mrs Lee was not busy on a call, but was rather keeping herself
busy with paperwork.
"Hello Mrs Lee," I said.
She looked up and smiled. "It's ready. You give me 50 do-la and you take it. If it doesn't
work in one week, you bring back and we give you 50 do-la, ok?"

It's been longer than a week now and the computer is still working well. I've managed
to re-load most of my old information and software, the bonus being that I've been able to
upload many new versions of the software I was using before. So its all worked out well and
just in time for our move.

We arrived in Malaysia on Wednesday the 8th, happy to be with the people of the
Cornerstone Church; but sad to leave Singapore and the people of the Church of Joy.
We've been having incredible times in God's presence there and have seen Him doing
supernatural things in our friends lives. Jonathan was suffering from debilitating back
aches but last Sunday Ian felt stirred to pray for him. He had him sit down and then lifted
his legs. Ian pointed out that Jonathan's legs were markedly different in length - by about 3
or more centimeters. So we began to pray, asking God to heal him. In front of our eyes
Jonathan's legs began to grow. It was incredible to see someone's legs growing!
“I felt my legs grow,” Jonathan said afterwards, “but my back still hurts.”
However, within the next few days that back ache was gone.

Having said that, God is displaying His power all over Asia. In one meeting in a little village
in China, dozens of people were healed through the prayer of Christians. Almost the whole
village turned to Jesus after that and then they went to the hospital and brought more sick
people to be prayed for, including an elderly lady who was on her death bed. She too is now
alive and well.

And here in Malaysia, in Johor Bahru in Cornerstone Church, God is pouring out His Spirit
too. The Spiritual atmosphere has totally changed compared to the last time we were here.
We went to their prayer meeting on the night we arrived and when we walked into the hall,
we were overwhelmed by God's presence. And people, who were previously sedate were
praying out aloud and prophesying. We spoke to Thomas afterward and he said that the
previous Sunday he had felt to ask the congregation if they wanted to be filled with God's
Spirit. Many of those who said yes, including a 16 year old homeless boy, had incredible
encounters with God, some speaking in tongues for the first time, others speaking in
tongues after many years, and Maran, the Indian boy, fell to the ground, overcome by a
demon. A few members of the church rushed to help him; but for many it was the first time
that they had seen a demonic manifestation. So everyone is quite excited about what is
happening at the moment.

Cindy and I are here in Malaysia for a while, our one month visas for Singapore having
expired on Wednesday. We were given, as per the norm, a three month visa for Malaysia.
We aren't quite sure how long we will stay here, but while we are here I'll be doing some
volunteer work as a teacher at the Cornerstone Church's school, filling in where they need
help. There are about 80 pupils attending the school and the curriculum is based on an
American home schooling system, so all the lessons are pre-planned, making it easier for
me to teach. I'm quite excited about learning a new skill.

Other than that, Cindy led worship for the first time in church, playing the piano and
singing. She did excellently, her voice is beautiful. And I played the djembe drum, another
first for us, it was the first time I played in a band.

I'm also waiting for Debby to finish the design work of Sexy Salsa, which should be by the
end of the day. I can't wait to see the finished product; and more than that, I can't wait
to flip through the pages of the book.