This book, this tapestry, this labour of love - truly God’s handiwork
‘And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.’
John 15:22
Testify we must for indeed God has always been with us throughout this endeavour, to bring man to look beyond the creation, to our Creator, our Sovereign God.
This book came about from a responsive desire by my wonderful sister in Christ and co-partner, Rosanne Chan, whose acquaintance I first made in late April when she sent a beautifully designed card, with a verse to encourage those who are members of the Chinese Snuff Bottle Society.
Man waters, God brings about the increase and this act of love for fellow men and women by Rosanne, happened to be the catalyst that confirmed and ignited plans that our Lord has been showing me at about the same month, that is, to develop further the Ministry of Word that He has led me to on the internet since year 2003, into the printed world.
Beautiful art books there are plentiful. Well written gospel tracts and Christian books by men of faith, God has used. But to marry the two together, to bridge the gap between the secular and the Spiritual, few have attempted and we truly believe now is the time, as the Lord leads.
‘What man is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and an explain it?
Jeremiah 9:12
The book you see today, prayerfully reflects not just the gifts that God has blessed Rosanne, myself and all who have joined us in this journey of faithful obedience and love with, but truly the very hands of our Sovereign God.
To design an excellent book, some can, but to do a book from a passion driven by Christ our Master, I am indeed blessed to have Rosanne join me, for without her enthusiasm, care and skill, we would not have gone so far, so steadily in four months to bring this response to the leading of our Lord from inception to fruition.
‘I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’
John 16:33
In the movies, it has been increasingly popular in the closing credits to show all the fun and spills in the production process. I have always enjoyed that for it gives the audience an inside feel.
In the making of this book, we have truly been blessed for God sent us wonderful people to close out any gaps that might exist. I will like to take this opportunity to thank our fellow collector and brother in Christ, Kong Hoo, whose kindness to meet me at short notice and on a public holiday, almost right after the calling was answered by Rosanne and myself, was the needed inspiration for me to truly move from tentative steps to big steps, for I know that God indeed provided. And much as we thought that we will be leading the way to Christ for our brother, Kong Hoo, who is in fact a child of our Father, he led us to Adam, not that first man of humanity, but the same namesake whose wonderful professional work in this new area of photographing lacquer work and ivory was a blessed achievement. And not forgetting the generosity of my friend, Sam whose kindness in loaning me a couple of his beautiful collection helped complete the pictorial line-up in this book.
Suffice to say, like Rosanne, we will like to thank all her staff at CA Design, especially our brother in Christ, James for responding to the call of our Lord to help us put this book together. And not forgetting Polly, who ably stood in to smoothen out the chinks, while Rosanne was up in Korea for a prayer pilgrimage.
Last but not least, to our respective families for their love and patience, and for me to my wife Janet, and my children, Sarah and Andre, whose quiet support and forbearance, even as I disappeared to the study room for 7 nights continuous to pen my thoughts as the Holy Spirit inspired me. Heaven was made in 6 days, this book was written in 7 nights and truly, all glory to our God.
And less I forget, a heartfelt thanks to all who committed willingly to receiving this book when asked by me these past four months, without even having seen it. And the same for my four charity institutional partners, who were willing to be part of this endeavor. God indeed provides wonderful people in my temporal journey and may it be for eternity.
In closing , God is good and He bless those who truly seek Him. The completed draft design for the finalization of this work of love was emailed to me by Rosanne on Friday(June 19th) near midnight. I did not expect her email but our good Lord awoken me from my slumber to read it at 1a.m., Saturday (June 20th) and prescient indeed, for as Rosanne reminded me, God woke me up in the wee hours of the morning, of my forty-eight birthday, to witness the birth of this blessed new ministry. And forty eight years back, I myself was brought to this temporal world at about this same hour in the morning. All glory to our Father in Heaven.
‘Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it….’
Psalm 127:1
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(20th June 2009)
But can we really close??
In doing this book, we have come to learn that much as “the other side”(not the Red Devils from Man Utd, but the real McCoy) ain’t too happy, but it matters not, for God is truly Sovereign, and if challenges were to arise, it was a time for us to learn about His will and to obey and honor Him in all that we do. And so do let me share just one more testimony about our wonderful God.
As the book was sent to the printers, everything went as per the color proofs except for the cover page. The bright and sunny cloud as per our proofs came out dark and gloomy(as per photos in this blog showing original box). And poor Rosanne, for the entire day, could not figure out the reason. Was it the work of the dark forces who decided to steal our thunder, or more like a diabolical attempt to black out the light of the glory of God?
In the midst of our time spent with the Lord on this, no solution was in sight for two days, but the Lord brought me to Ezekiel 43. If you were to read Ezekiel 43, you will read about the description of God’s entrance entering the gates of the temple from the East. Look at the cover of this book when you received it, interestingly, the light representing the glory of God is truly on the East, and it is symbolically shining into the hearts of men, who are all the temple of God.
‘...write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations. This is the law of the temple. All the surrounding area on top of the mountain will be most holy. Such is the law of the temple.’
Ezekiel 43:11-12
Indeed, if you look at the same cover picture, the travelers are on the slope of the mountain, and above it are the bright clouds. And indeed, all are holy ground. How can we allow it to be dark and gloomy, much as costs ,time and expediency dictates otherwise?
But it is more than symbolic. All through this journey of faithfully doing this book as the Lord leads, there were ample opportunities to do things our own way. But God is good. He has deeply ingrained in both Rosanne and my heart, the need to honour Him in all that we do, and we pray and know that in our obedience, He has allowed us to be used by Him to be a testimony to many who has co-journeyed with us on this brief but wonderful journey.
And this is not the end, but the beginning, where we believe that if your are faithful, God will use you to touch the lives of others HE places in your path, and may this book be a tool that He has provided you with, in His work.
God indeed blesses
Eng Hieang
(20th Aug 2009)
Acknowledgement:
And thanks to the generosity and faithfulness of the following Bible publishers from whom the majority of the verses in this book "Reflections - A Traveler's Muse" are drawn from - Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright. 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
- Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973,1978,1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
COPYRIGHT
- This book "Reflections - A Traveler's Muse" is to be given free to whoever God places in my path. And much as we are open to requests from anyone intending to make copies, part or totality of the material in the book for non-commercial purposes, as a matter of prudence and stewardship, I will still reserve all copyright(20th June 2009) to this work and related materials.
Kindly write to me at hieang88@yahoo.com attn: Mr Ang Eng Hieang for written permission before using any of the above materials in any form for non commercial purposes only.
Permission will not be granted for any intended commercial purposes.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment