The Last Hour

I am just tidying a few things and clearing my desk in my last hour in office. I wrote to a few churches and enclosed the College magazine (May-July 2016). I made sure that the opening service of the College's 2nd Semester was arranged accordingly. There will be sharing and preaching from the incoming Principal, a few items of testimonies in songs (perhaps dance as well). Waiting for the hours and minutes to tick by was not as easy as I thought.
Today marks my 5 months and 5 days in office and I am leaving it with many things undone though some students thought I had accomplished much. My College whatsapp group has been active this morning and one student even sent me a greeting with a bit of Greek in it - didaskale Tony! Or in Malay guru Tony as lecturers are called teachers (guru) here. I just preached about not calling anyone "Rabi' or "didaskale" because there is only one Teacher which is Christ our Lord. But I was touched by my student's efforts in his way of saying thanks.

Last night's dinner fellowship went for 3 hours plus. We cooked and worked together from 5:15pm and it took us more than 2 hours to get everything ready. There was plenty of opportunity to fellowship and with the rain coming down hard, I could not return to my room but stayed back with my students until dinner time. We talked about many things. My trip to Korea end of the month. Which biblical seminars would I choose to attend? One suggested it must be the Song of Songs since I sang a song on the first chapter of Solomon's Song during the Semester closing service a couple of weeks ago. About the end times and the millennial kingdom. About marriage and prospects of marriage for single students. About raising funds in theological study. A young lady told us that she would be getting married this December but her soon-to-be bridegroom would leave her for Indonesia within weeks of their wedding. How unusual! But I cited the Scripture that the man who is newly married is exempted from military duties and hard labour for an entire year for the sake of his bride, so can one think of leaving a newly wedded wife for a faraway foreign country?