Salt - part 2

So I finished my nightshift at 8am.





Voices of different sources were squeaking at the back of my mind.





'Don't go to pick her! She's very dodgy...she might rob u on the way!'


' Well, why bother? she might not even remember the meeting.'


' Do you think she will like the churchy things? She'll never be touched.'



etc etc



But the whispering voice gently reassured me, 'Go, go to her place and bring her to My house.'





So, I went. That's not a very neat neighbourhood at all. Pulled over a few times, checked the map...finally saw a junk house, with lotsa junks outside the house. I went down , knock knock knock...and she came out.



I can't describe how excited I was when I saw her. She's better groomed this time. No stench. No dirt. Obviously she was prepared. She told me she's excited to come.



Nothing unusual happened in the car. Very peaceful.



So we arrived at the church...introduced her to the pastors and leaders...then the service started.

I was kinda nervous, just like when you bring a new friends to church, and they have never been to a church before, you would naturally be concerned if they are comfortable, if they understand what's preached, or if they are touched or not....so the whole time i was just praying to God to touch her...Funny enough, God replied me, 'Don't you be nervous siew wai, this is MY house and I AM God. '

Okie...Okie...God.

God's presence in that place was so heavy that I couldnt help but just kept crying while interceding for her. I saw that she was crying throughout the worship. Everything that was spoken and sung, was as though God was speaking directly to her (that's what I felt, because I know about her past thru her sharing)

At the end of everything, as I dropped her off in the city, I asked how she felt..

She told me it was very good, she would come again next Sunday, and might bring her girls with her..and she said she's seen the publicity of Paradise Church on the tele, felt like going but didn't know how to. Now that she's met me and finally come to a church, shé said it must be God who made it happen.

Then she sobbed, and said she really wanna be free from alcohol. I reassured her the power of Christ will deliver her out of the bondage. Then she sobbed even more uncontrollably.

How great is God's power and grace =)

All I pray and hope is that her life will be transformed. How much can a doctor do? Maybe just to heal the physical body. What is more tormenting is the spiritual sickness that cannot be cured by anything but the blood of Christ.

How good if the church be filled with broken and spiritually sick ppl, ppl who smell alcoholic , who can not afford nice and expensive clothing, who are helpless and powerless....who are sinners, just like me, but saved by Grace.

We shall see what will happen to her. I have her number.... =)

salt - part 1

I picked up the case note from the tray, saw what the triage nurse typed, 'Alcohol intoxication', I was like...oh another alcoholic, another psychiatric patient.




Then I went to her cubicle, and began to smell a strong stench of alcohol when I went closer to it.



Just like any other patients that I see day in and day out in the area where I work . She didnt smell good. No teeth. Unkempt. Messy. Her nail polish was falling off. I caught a glimpse of her belongings lying on the ground, just a very dirty Coles shopping bag and a very old jacket.





'Hi...I am Siew Wai one of the doctors here...how can I help you today...''

She told me about her medical problems...then I went on to ask about her drinking...then she began to sob uncontrollably...she told me about her abusive partner...about her broken life, about her giving up on herself because she did not know how to get out of her situation.

My heart ached.

Then you probably know what I would do.

Then the Gospel was preached, tears were flowing, message was understood, and the sinner's prayer was said. I do not know how much it meant to her. I just knew I was following the Spirit. Didn't I pray to be used to bind the broken hearted and set the captive free?


She continued to sob, and told me no one had ever spoken to her like this before. No one wanna listen to her. No one cared about her.


I grabbed her address, and said I would pick her up from her home on Sunday. I wanna bring her to my church. She nodded her head eagerly , 'yes yes, please, I needed that. '


So, tomorrow....right after my night shift, I will venture into this area that's unknown to me, and pick her up , bring her to God's house. I know it is risky, to an extreme extent, it might be life threatening, because this area where she lives in, is infamous to be one of the MOST dangerous areas in South Australia. The people of lowest socioeconomic status live there, the drug addicts live there, the robbers, the psychotic, the criminals... they live there. Recently a shocking homicidal crime was uncovered there.


And she lives with her abusive partner.


I am gonna go out of my car, go to her doorstep, and ring the bell (she doesnt have a landline or mobile phone).


It sounds a bit horrifying. But I will go. I don't wanna be a comfortable Christian. Christ has saved my life, what do I have to lose?


So, I was joking with my friends, if they didnt hear from me , or if they didnt see me at 9am in church tomorrow, please ring the police hehhehe...


What will happen tomorrow in church? I just pray that the Spirit will touch this broken soul...

overwhelming

I am in a half comatose state now :)


Very proud of myself, slept for 2 hrs yesterday, but still managed to get to chuch at 7 am (on duty)..served til 1pm..then went to work again...got back home at 1am.. It's quite amazing that i pulled through the long day with just 2 hrs of sleep, considering I am not already young biologically...


Too much going on. Too overwhelming. Very drained. I guess all my adrenaline must have been exhausted.


Today everyone got very emotional in the department.


We had a very shocking resuscitation. A young mom brought in her 5 year old boy. The 5 year old, severely wasted, weighs only 10 Kgs, at the verge of dying. Temperature of only 26C (normal body temperature should be 35-37C), blood sugar of only 1.6 ( anything below 3 we get a lil concerned) , pH of 7.0 ( again, should be 7.35-7.45)


5 year old boy who weighs 10 Kg. Literally skin and bones. You wouldnt believe you were in Australia if you saw that. You wouldn't even see that in Africa.


The mom , 21 weeks pregnant, came from interstate. She, being pregnant, together with her 5 young children, had been living in her small CAR on the street for 3 MONTHS.
The children were without food for ???days/weeks.
They have sores all over their body.


Can you believe this.


We managed to keep the child alive.
The police were there too. They are likely to charge her with child abuse.


My heart aches. A lot of staff got very emotional. Many cried.


This is not a simple issue about poverty and homelessness. For no one really is too poor in Australia, the government and NGOs looks after their ppl very well.


Why would this happen? The woman was obviously not in the right mind.


I dunno whatelse to say.
I wonder what kind of darkness has she been living in...
And what kind of ppl would the kids grow up to be, if they made it.


Quite an emotionally draining moment.

Li Wen's wedding photos..

Photo taken by sw,





Click www.siewwai.zenfolio.com for more photos.








For Li Wen....another friend got married last month :)








This was my 3rd wedding photography experience. Wedding photography has now become my passion. The best thing about this is that, because you hold a very big and professional camera, understandably you are allowed to stand very very close to the couple at all times :) No one would criticise you for pointing your lens sooooooo close to the bride's face.








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Anyway,...lets talk about somehting more serious.








It's been 5 weeks since I started working in the Emergency Dept. I remember being upset about coming back to ED at this time of the year, thought I'd be doing surgical work instead. And because of this bizarre arrangement, I thought all my previous plans would be in vain.








But I've never allowed this to be a stumbling block in my life. I told God...it's ok, Your ways are higher than mine. Maybe I've tried too hard with my own strength to acheive something that You have already ordained to happen.








I remember crying to Him...and shouting at the enemy to leave me alone. With God on my side I would not be defeated, I refused to let the disappointment become a form of bitterness. I am not that kind of person who just sits around doing nothing but mourning about my circumstances.








So since 1st day in ED, I told God, ...maybe I should rephrase, God taught me to see my daily life and my work as a calling, not just a job. Everyday on my way to the hospital (man...it's a 45 mins drive!) I ask God to lemme be excellent, lemme do my work well, lemme do it with a sense of purpose and destiny, and all this will bring Him glory and please Him.








And God is faithful to answer our prayers. When your heart is set to please Him, He will use you and give peace and joy to you in whatever you do.








I love my job.








And when you truly love your job and do it with all your heart, ppl will see it because it is evident.








My consultants and registrars have given me very good compliments, they are now trying to retain me in the department, and convince me to choose emergency medicine as my vocational training.








My patients love me too. Emergency is a great place to meet different types of ppl, and one of the best places to tell the patients about Jesus.








I know that God will continue to shine in all my circumstances...and when His presence is here, there's no darkness.








That's why King David has been my all time favourite. I feel so much like him. He was anointed to be the King of Israel, but long before the fulfilment of this promise, he had to go thru the grinding and moulding and preparation, by tending his father's sheep day in day out. Then he killed the lion and the bear...then he served the purpose of other ppl year in year out.. yet he did everything faithfully. And God showed him great favour in everything that he did.








Isn't it awesome?


We eat , we drink, we rise and sit...and in everything that we do, if we do it unto the glory of God,and do it with a sense of purpose and destiny and eternity, life becomes so meaningful.








And God must increase, we must decrease.

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photo taken by sw... more photos on www.siewwai.zenfolio.com :)

railway

( by sw, adelaide, 11/6/08...for more photos click www.siewwai.zenfolio.com)

I have always had an undescribable fondness for rail. The tracks, the trains, the system in general. And somehow it started when I was really little..






I remember taking the train for the first time at 9. And it was since then that I was fascinated by the trains.






I love it when the train cuts across the fields and the valleys. I like sitting by the window (unlike buses or planes,trains usually have huge windows) , reading or gazing out of the window.





I like wandering purposelessly from one unit to another, from the head to the tail. I like standing on the narrow place(i dunno what it is called) between 2 coaches, imagining 'what if i fell off the train'...







I love the tracks. Where do those long tracks lead me to? Each train runs on its own track, and then changes its path and runs on another track.







I love to hear the stories behind those tracks. Who built them once upon a time? Slaves and labours. Many tracks were built upon the lives of countless unnamed heroes.






Lemme get on the train again , lemme go somewhere for a few months :) Maybe to the outback



























(by sw, www.siewwai.zenfolio.com)

(by sw, 1/4/08)

(sw, 1/4/08)







I've decided to look after myself :) Hmm... many ppl have expressed their concern about my lifestyle. Too busy, too many activities, too many crazy night shifts, too much exercise, too little sleep, too much coffee,and ermm, improper diet


too much of eating out, sometimes cereals for dinner if too busy :(...



So, I've resolved to sleep better and eat better...more home cooked meals nowadays. And guess what, I've begun to learn to use the oven! :) to my amazement I found out I can basically cook everything in an oven. I made my first pizza 3 nights ago, tasted not bad, and so I've been baking my own pizzas for 3 consecutive days.



Coffee is still unavoidable... Maybe will do something about it in older age.

randomness

(copyright@ sw)

















Autumn. Though not a big fan of trees.....






















(copyright @ sw)

....and leaves.....

(copyright @ sw)

I miss the summer, soccer games on the fields....

(copyright @ sw)

And dogs played happily.....

:) but I love the winter too where I can still snooze in the day after my nightshifts....just like now...zzzz