Life As It Comes: The One Life Event 1st March 2009!!

On the 1^st of March 2009, more than 600 people gathered at Holiday Inn Sokolniki to attend one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the year. The One Life event had been generating much buzz and all the hype regarding it had finally built up to this exciting climax. The atmosphere was lively and one could sense expectation in the air as the crowd gathered outside the hallway to await the time to enter the hall. Strains of hip-hop music could be heard emanating from inside as the doors were finally opened at 5.30pm allowing people to enter. Ushers were dressed smartly in suits and formal wear as they directed people through the two main entrances. At each entrance, each guest was handed as program book regarding what was going to happen for the next few hours as well as a number for the lucky draw. The program book contained opening notes from the honored guest of the evening, Ps Kevin Loo from City Harvest Church Kuala Lumpur and Coordinator of the Malaysian Fellowship, Dalvinder Singh as well as a schedule of the evening and last but not least a number for the evening’s lucky draw. Many prizes were up for grabs including airplane models, hats and key chains courtesy of Emirates Airlines, two IPOD shuffles and lastly the most coveted prize, a return ticket to anywhere in Asia from Moscow sponsored by Emirates Airlines as well. They were then escorted in and directed to their seats by the ushers. The first few rows had been reserved for sixth year seniors and they did not disappoint us by turning up in large numbers.

Finally, after everyone was sitted, the audience cheered as the media team presented a video for the opening ceremony of the event. The music was rousing as the short clip kicked into high gear challenging the audience what they knew about their one life. Immediately after the video screen blacked out, the spotlight lit up upon GengYan and the electric guitar started the intro for the song "Beautiful Day". The Malaysian Fellowship band then launched immediately into a passionate rendition of the song Beautiful Day by U2. The band members were comprised of GengYan of course, the MichealJackson impersonator for the night, IsaacSiow on the drums, WeeKee rocking away on the bass, YunnMin and ChihWan on keyboards, Herman strumming away on the acoustic guitar as well as our very own The Edge, NeilsIsaac on the electric guitar. They soon had the crowd going and cheering wildly as the GengYan put every ounce of energy into belting out the lyrics for the song. The evening had got off to a explosive start and everyone believed that it would only get better.

After the MF band made their way off stage, JivanLatif the MC for the night then strode onto the stage with a wide grin amidst heavy applause. He engaged with lively banter with the audience for a few minutes before introducing the first act for the evening, rapper Dre the Nomad. His voice preceded him as he made his way from the back of the hall to the stage, and as the audience cheered, he flicked a few of his mixtape cds into the crowd. As he nonchalantly strode onto stage, he was greeted by loud cheers and applause by the enthusiastic crowd. Within a few seconds, loud funky hip-hop music began pulsing out of the two main speakers overhead and he soon captured the audience with his in-your-face style of rapping and drove the Christian message into the heart of people amidst the loud music while he lumbered around on stage doing his stuff.

After the conclusion of the act, the crowd once again invited back MC Jivan onto the stage. He then introduced his lovely co-MC for the night LiVia to join him in announcing the lucky draw winners for the night. The atmosphere became tense as they went through the list of items up for grabs, playing up the suspense. Then only they asked the audience to search under their respective chairs as sticky notes that depicted prizes won had been placed there before the event began. The winner of one of the IPOD shuffles dazedly made his way upstage to claim his prize, looking as though he could not believe how fortunate he was.

Next, the MC introduced the next performance, a hip-hop dance group who called themselves Saved then took their place onstage to more rapturous applause. Once again, loud hip-hop music assaulted the audience’s eardrums as they held their breath in awe at the perfectly synchronized dance moves executed by the two incredibly talented dancers. Their motions were fluid and steps confident as they pranced around on stage. The energy in their routine was just impressive.

Next to follow was a Russian Rap group by the name of Light-Line. They too kept the audience wowed as they began rapping in Russian about money proving that in music, language barriers do not exist. For the second song, they were joined on stage by a female member of their group. The second song was mellower and set the stage for the female singer to demonstrate her vocal prowess. It wasn’t long before she started to impress the audience and every time she sang a verse, the crowd went into frenzy. Her pitching was accurate to the minute detail and every note was pure bliss.

Then, the MC and his co-MC came on stage. The crowd went wild as everytime the co-MC appeared, gifts were to be given out as stated earlier. And the MC set about explaining that everyone would have to send in a text message as shown on the screen to a certain handphone number also to be shown on the screen. The only requirements were to type the message exactly as seen on the screen and be the first one to send the message to the stated number. Then the message flashed on the overhead screens and the phone number slowly appeared back to front. A few frenzied minutes passed by before the winner was announced while LiVia begged the audience to stop sending as her phone was filling up with messages faster than she could delete them.

Next, the main prize for the night, which no one knew beforehand, was introduced to the crowd. It was a 3-month return ticket from Moscow to anywhere in Asia. This time, the Manager of Emirates Airlines was invited onto the stage to draw the winning number. There were rustles in the audience as everyone searched for the lucky draw number on their respective program books. Then it was time for the winner of the most coveted prize to be announced and the MCs prolonged the agony of the crowd by reading out the digits starting from the middle. The crowd held their breath as they awaited the announcement of the final number which would determine the lucky winner that would take home the grand prize. When the number was finally read out, many strained their necks to catch a glimpse of the petite girl making her way out from the crowd and onto stage. She was presented the ticket by Mr Sergei, the representative from Emirates Airline. He also took a few minutes to brief her regarding the details of her win. When asked how she felt about her win, she smiled and commented that she had never won anything that big before. She then thanked the emcees and Mr Sergei once more before taking her seat below stage once more. The joy on her face was apparent as she stepped off the stage causing her face to shine perhaps even brighter than the bright lights overhead.

And next up, the MF band made their way onstage once more to lead the crowd in rousing praise and worship. This time they were joined by singers, Esther, Kenix, MayShi, Alyssa and Billy. The songs that were sang were the ever so popular Every Move I Make, Trading My Sorrows, Sanctuary and lastly the theme song One Live, One Love. Participation by the audience was rather minimal at first but they soon began to wave their hands according to the music. It was great to see many people responding to the call of the worship leader, GengYan to do so.

After the singing and audience participation, KimWeeRic from M2 took the stage to share about giving. He presented many statistics about the state of the world nowadays, quoting figures that astounded many. He showed that if we have some money in our wallet, money in the bank and spare change lying around the house, we are considered to be in the richest 8% of the world. He also gave many figures about child labour and the illegal exploitation of minors. His words struck many hearts as he encouraged everyone to give and pledge their support in doing whatever they can. He quoted Mother Theresa saying that if we were not able to feed a thousand, it would be alright to feed even just one. A video was also shown of the Malaysian Fellowship’s recent mission trips to Indonesia and China depicting the deplorable conditions which the people lived in. Many in the audience were touched by the things that not so fortunate people have to go through in order to survive and some were deeply moved. Many responded to the call to give and the collection bags were full as they returned to the ushers that passed them out.

The event continued with the performers of the last performance making their way onstage to perform a hip-hop dance. They were no other than our very own LLAMADONKEEZ. The MC proudly announced them and claimed that they danced their way out of their mothers’ own womb, a claim that has yet to be proven with substantial proof. Dressed with white masks, they then began to dance as the speakers blared out hip-hop music for the third time that night. After completing their routine, they left the stage to loud applause.

Finally it was time for the emcee to introduce the guest speaker for the evening, specially flown in from Malaysia. The crowd rose to its feet to welcome no other than Pastor Kevin Loo, the founder and senior pastor of City Harvest Church Kuala Lumpur. Despite of his glowing reputation, he was a truly humble and down to earth man. Firstly, he took the opportunity to thank everyone for inviting him to come and the sponsors for making this event a success. He said that it was indeed a great honor for him to meet so many future Malaysian doctors studying in a far away country.

Beginning his message, he started by sharing about the Beijing Olympics which started on the 8^th of August 2008. He mentioned about the greatest Olympian on this planet, Michael Phelps which won 8 gold medals and broke as many world records. He then shared more examples of people that have understood the concept of One Life and live their life to the fullest. The next example he gave was of a Scotsman by the name of John Liddel. John had refused to run in his pet event, the 100m sprint on a Sunday because he believed by doing so he would not be honoring God. He decided to run in the 400m much to the horror of many but not only managed to win gold but also managed to shatter the then world record. The next example he gave was of Mother Theresa, a lady who dedicated her entire life to helping people that were less fortunate. He continued on by telling us about John Woo, the famous Hollywood director who incorporates Christian values into his movies because when he was younger he was constantly bullied and picked on and the only person who always stood up for him was his church pastor. He then asked us all why we chose to come to One Life despite having to brave the snow and the cold to travel for one hour to reach the place.

Pastor Kevin continued on by telling us an amazing story of one of his young church member by the name of Vincent. He had slipped and fell during cheerleading practice and felt that his neck was a little sore. The pain gradually worsened over a period of days and he began to feel dizzy. After much pleading by his friends to visit a doctor, he was stunned when the doctor told him that he had fractured two bones in his neck. The doctor also told him that it was a miracle that he did not die on the spot and also said that whatever God he believed in, it was that very same God that was sustaining him.

Pastor then began to speak on 2 Timothy 4:7. He split the verse into three parts. First he began to share on the first part of the verse “I have fought the good fight”. He started off by saying that he found it very interesting that Paul refers to life as a fight. He then questioned us on what we believe is worth living for. He shared that there were two most important days in each person’s life. First was the day we were born and second was the day we found out the reason for us living here. He then challenged us to find out why we were placed here on planet Earth.

Secondly, he began to share on the second part of the verse “I have finished the race”. He gave an example of the fastest man on earth at the moment, Usain Bolt from Jamaica. He shared that scientists had believed than Man would only be able to run that fast in the year 2025 but he had managed to accomplish it in year 2008. Pastor continued sharing about the proper way to finish a race. He shared that in order to finish a sprint, a person had to have nerves but in order to finish a marathon, what the person needed was stamina. He then likened our life to a marathon. He said in order to run this marathon, we needed stamina as well and this stamina would come from our heart. He also said that our spiritual stamina would determine how much we would accomplish in our lifetime.

He then pointed us to a verse in the Bible, Proverbs 4:23. He shared that our heart is a birthplace for desire and is the first organ to be formed in our body. Pastor then demonstrated his humorous side as he explained the difference between the words “jantung” and “hati” in Bahasa Melayu. His jokes had the audience in stitches many a times.

Moving on, he stressed that it is our heart that separates us from animals. He shared that our heart naturally longs for God and longs to be loved for. Animals have no heart and thus have no capability to love, according to him. He then gave an illustration of seeing a dead animal by the roadside and seeing a dead human being. He said that if we were to see a dead animal we would have no feelings but if we saw a dead human, we would always remember that particular spot even many years from then.

Pastor also shared that as humans, we are just not physical beings but we also had a soul and spirit. He also said that in the few years, many of us would fall out of and into love. He reminded us not to let bitterness take over our hearts if that were to happen to us.

Thirdly, he began to share on the final part of the verse “I have kept the faith”. Pastor Kevin reminded us that it was imperative for us to keep our faith strong at all times. He asked us to examine our hearts as to what we believe in our hearts. He then briefly shared his own testimony on how his life changed as he began to attend church. He commented that he would probably be a gangster if it weren’t for church and the love of God.

Pastor Kevin strongly reminded us to keep faith to believe that we were not here by accident. He shared that even before God created the universe, He already knew each and every one of us. He shared with us another funny story on how he hated to eat mushrooms. The whole hall laughed as they identified with what he was sharing.

Finally, Pastor Kevin shared about Eric Liddel once more. He talked about how Eric loved God and the Chinese people so much that he worked as a missionary in China until the end of his life. He also told us how much the Chinese people revered him until he was recognized as the first Chinese gold medalist. Pastor then invited the musicians onto stage as he asked everyone to bow their heads. He began to speak and challenge those who were eager to know more about God and those who were interested in the field of missions to raise up their hands. Us PICs at the back of the hall began to pray intensively. I personally kept asking God to touch the hearts of those I had prayed for since the planning of the One Life Event. The atmosphere was silent as hands began to rise from all over the hall. Amen!! People whom I never even expected to attend the event raising their hand! What a miracle! I praised God on the spot! Pastor then began to pray for the people who had their hands raised and after that proceeded to the foyer outside of the hall. The event had now been concluded.

Pastor remained in the foyer taking pictures with people and talking to those who had put up their hands earlier. Many people rushed to have their picture taken with him and soon he had his hands quite full. Malaysian Fellowship leaders also started to talk to the people who had raised their hands to know more about God and the missions. Some people were saved that very evening and I believe heaven rejoiced as they placed their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone was handed a goody bag containing some light refreshments and not a sad face was to be seen. Everyone obviously had a great time and the much awaited event was a great success.

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All through out the event, my helpers, Saac and Gan, and I were kept on our toes as we ran around, passed messages, ran the program, reminded the PICs about the things that were needed for the next event and tried to make the event run smoothly and seem like there were no problems at all. As the program manager, it was my duty to coordinate the MCs, the Media team, the performers and make sure they did what they were supposed to do at the right time and in the right place. Marcus, the program director would yell at me, and I would see what I could do with the media team, the lightings, and I would often send Gan to Saac to prepare the performers or running to pass the MC a note about program change and as such. I really thank my 2 helpful friends as much had been done at the expense of their stress and energy and I think I've shortened their lives by quite a number of years..

After the event, I had to help with the cleaning up and clearing up. I passed Jing's parcel to Kelvin from Volgograd to help me pass to her. And after more yelling from Marcus and rushing about, I finally got my stuff together and took them out of the hall. It was time to prepare to go home and also photo session time. Oh, by the way, my russian teacher came for the event!! It was such a big surprise to see her there. Wow.. I even managed to get into some photos with Rev. Kevin Loo. (",)

So there you have it. The successful event which showed me how much God loves me and how He will answer prayers and provide for anything we need. The phrase "I will not be in want" now really makes sense to me after experiencing it for myself. I know that from this event, I not only received much blessing and hope from the Lord, but that He has increased greatly my faith in Him too. He is Awesome, Magnificient, Wonderful, Glorious, and Everlastingly Faithful. All creatures and creations praise His name forever and ever.

And now, the pictures of the event. I'm sorry, but I only managed to take pictures after the event and most people already left at that time. I will pass the One Life Event video to whoever who would like to watch it later when it is released. For now, here is what I looked like during that event.. =p