engage

interview of azar and dave on engage. both are pemuda members.

Azar, You just finished the university recently. First of all, how do you feel?
A: Relieved, happy, excited, kinda worried, anxious, stressed?
What are you doing now?
A: Working in uni as a research assistant for an academic.

Tell us what you do, Dave?
D: Dave is finalizing thesis, waiting 4 it 2b printed etc. I will have a proper job soon.

What makes you attend Engage about two weeks ago?

A: Going for conferences n getting equipped with God’s word is always good, and since I’m currently working (and will soon enter the “real” working world, the topics in engage should be pretty relevant to me now and in the future.

D: Dave been interested to learn as much as possible about the bible and listening to preachers, especially invited speakers from overseas, is a good opportunity to do that.

What were you all basically doing up there for three days in the mountain during the Engage conference?

D: I am not a girl, but I’ve always enjoyed going 2 the mountains.

What have you learnt from Engage 2007 about God and yourself?

A: I’ve been reminded that the cycle of life as it is, has been there and will forever be as it is (i.e. birth as a baby, childhood, growing up, teen years, uni years, working years, adult years, family, old years, and finally death). It’s inevitable, and without God, there’s simply no meaning to it

D: Without God life is meaningless and without God everything in this world is never enough. I learn that acknowledging God in my life will result in contentment rather than an endless cycle of meaningless strive after the unreachable goal of self satisfaction. What I learned from the talks mainly is about the importance of putting God first into our life before everything else that we think might satisfy our wants.

How have these been relevant to your working life?

A: I’ve been reminded to put my entire life in perspective, particularly in light of eternity. Is everything that I’m doing really worth it (i.e. has eternal value) or am I just going with the flow and that I’ve lost the plot (God and eternity). Have my love for God become dim and lost its initial sparkle due to the business of life.. was a good reminder.

D: As many of us do, we are expected to work long hours to achieve excellent results. In the lab this could be a trap because the workplace is open 24/7 and any data will be rewarded. So the result is directly proportional to the amount of effort put in. I suppose, being able to know when to work long hours and the consequences of that extra time working towards our relationship with God and other people is important.
One other important matter is that, I was reminded to be an example of Jesus in the workplace, so that others will see that we are different and we are different because of Christ.

Have you noticed anything changed since the past two weeks, maybe yourself, your attitude to work, your desire to glorify God at work, your keenest and struggles in sharing Christ to work colleagues?

A: Hmm.. if anything’s changed, it’s probably my attitude to work, well, since my current job is a temp job with “no future” and a rather unorganized and demanding boss, sometimes I just get SO sick of it that I just can’t be bothered to put in the effort I should. I’ve been reminded that my work should be to glorify God wherever I am, so, in everything that I do at work, my ultimate goal should be to glorify God and not to get ahead, or sometimes even getting annoyed with colleagues over little meaningless issues. Reminded to promote a Christlike life to my colleagues and to focus more on bringing them to Christ.

D: Better discipline on reading the Bible and spending time with God.

I assume you’ll be coming back to Engage next year in August. Is there anything that you are particularly looking forward to in term of next year’s Engage?

A: Sure thing! I’m looking forward to hear more of God’s word, to be refreshed and equipped with more applications for us in the working world.. hahaha.. I’m assuming that I’ll be working properly by the time the next engage conference comes up :P looking forward to that too

D: Don Carson will be speaking, I will hopefully improve my poker skills to take on the boys.

Any prayer points?

A:
to remember to put everything in life in the perspective of eternity
to remember that promoting Christ and bringing people to Christ in my working life should be my ultimate goal and not to solely get ahead or succeed

D:
To be bold in proclaiming the gospel and to have to courage to preach the gospel both in word and in deeds.

Dear Father, thank you for grace that we can be challenged by Your word through the Engage conference. Thank you for blessing us with our work and healthy body to earn our living.

Azar – we pray for Azar that you’ll help her to remember putting everything in life in the perspective of eternity. We ask you keep reminding her that promoting Christ and bringing people to Christ in her working life should be her ultimate goal and not to solely get ahead or succeed. We pray that you’ll help her to be godly at work as she relates to others. Father, please also bless her with another job at the proper time .

Dave – we also ask for our brother Dave, that you’ll help him to be bold in sharing Christ to others, be it through words or deeds. Help Dave to put You first in his life and to find true contentment in You alone. May you open the eyes of those surround Him that they may be able to see that the differences in his life is because of Christ.

We also ask for all of us here that you’ll help us to glorify you as students or workers. We pray for more opportunities toward the coming weeks that we may be sharing you to our family and friends who haven’t come to know you. In Jesus name, we ask.