We came this far.

Hi dearest readers and main committee, I have very EXTREMELY good news.

OUR.

BUDGET.

IS.

APPROVED.

:D I am so happy. We've worked so hard and ORTABO is going to take flight.

From the very beginning we knew it wasn't going to be easy and will take up quite a lot of time. Nevertheless we stayed through conflict after conflicts.

The stress is over, for now. (:

Jesslyn.

UPDATE

Hellos!

We didn't get to go for the LCEC meeting on Wednesday in the end. (:

Pastor William kindly helped us present it to the LCEC committee. :D

I hope all goes well! We still don't know the outcome of the meeting but I will try to get it asap. (:

Meanwhile, things are looooking fine!

OUR FINAL BUDGET IS DONE. DONE. DONE.

Heh. Sorry, too elated. I am so proud of the main committee. :D

GOOD JOB GUYS YAY.

We just have to print some stuffs, go buy some boxes, publicise, collect, deliver and yay!

God showed us so much mercy.

1. We had more time because the LCEC meeting was supposed to be a month ago but it was pushed 3 weeks back. Therefore we had more time to do the budget.

2. We had a few problems within the main committee but what's important is we managed to break free from it.

3. We had enough time despite our busy other lives to do research NOT ONLINE HELLO for what we're in charge of.

4. WE DIDN'T GET H1N1.

Thank you for all your prayers thus far (:

Jesslyn

Hi guys. (:

IMHO, Ortabo has progressed much more in the time in between our last blog post and this post. In fact, I feel Ortabo has made it's first real progress, and it's looking good. (All IMHO)

Our new budget's half done, everything's looking fine except for a few minor problems which can't be disclosed >:) but please pray that these problems will clear up soon, we don't want the devil to be happy. (:

AMC's LCEC meeting is next week and I will be presenting it to AMC's leaders. If it doesn't sound too thick-skinned, please pray for me and the main comm to work together to bring across the ortabo message clearly. (:

While everything may not be completed yet, at least the main comm knows what to do now.
As we're rushing everything by the deadline, this Sunday, I hope that we will still be able to find the source of peace and strength to fall back on.

Please pray please pray please pray for ortabo!

1. Main committee to work together well well well.

2. People to give honest opinions for ortabo

3. Main Committee to rest in Him, as we rush to meet the deadlines and balance this with our social life, homework, assignments and other commitments.

4. Discernment.

Thank you! (: I hope and pray that we'll come back with better news!

p/s The weather's so hot these days. D: I was at a racee with my girl guides batch mates and my slippers melted. D:

Letters have gone out!!

The letters/emails to the 5 homes have been sent out and i'll be eagerly awaiting any replies within the next 2 working days. If there aren't any replies, or if some of them reject the proposal, we'll be looking into arranging appointments with those who want to find out more, as well as looking into secondary alternatives (i.e. other christian homes 1st, and if that's still not enough, then eventually non-Christian homes as well).

Children's Day is fast approaching and the main comm is getting busier as the academic calender starts to heat up, with common tests etc all flying in fast and furious.

What we need from all the fans out there is for everyone to stop procrastinating and start doing some real work (CONTRIBUTE!!!!)

Okay so what can we do now while we wait for all these corporations to respond? Simple.
Design, plan, create. This is the school holidays for non-poly people!!! Come on!!!

Get creative and start churning out designs for publicity.. for the booklet.. for posters.. for flyers.. for videos even!!! Get going!!

I know what you're thinking.. nah.. i can't help.. i'm not that good la.. i've got lots of tuition and other commitments.. CCA.. projects etc etc.

Lemme ask you these few questions:

(1) Have you scribbled in your textbook sometimes?
(2) Have you drawn random things on your paper when you're bored?
(3) Have you coloured in the bold words on your school crest just to make it look nicer?
(4) Have you drawn a circle round another shape or vice versa?
(5) Have u cancelled out a word so many times in an essay u can't even see it anymore?
(6) Have u ever coloured in a book meant for colouring?
(7) Have u ever coloured in a book NOT meant for colouring?
(8) Do you think God is awesome?
(9) Do you believe that prayer works?
(10) Do you want to be a blessing to other kids?

If your answer to one or more of those questions was yes...

Approach the main comm now!!! WE ARE NOT MONSTERS!!! WE WILL NOT EAT YOU UP. AND ABRAHAM KANG IS THE NICEST PERSON IN THE WORLD. HE IS SO FRIENDLY AND WILL BUY YOU LUNCH IF YOU SIGN UP TO HELP US.

Remember: Signing up isn't an excuse for us to scold you when your project screws up. It's for us to show the LCEC of AMC, TRAC President, Rev Wee, as well as the participating homes that we have a structure, which is very important for this kind of project.

So.

Sign up.

Now.

Message Terminated.

HI.

SORRY FOR THE LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG DELAY IN UPDATING YOU ANXIOUS READERS!

Many things has been happening since our last update!

We had a main committee meeting where we finally decided on a direction to head instead of doing everything all at a time.

Currently we will be approaching a few orphanages whether they would like to partner with us to give the boxes to the children on Children's day.

They are:

Chen Su Lan Methodist Children Home
Canossaville Children’s Home

Children's Aid Society

Marymount Centre and

Salvation Army Gracehaven

Right now the existing problem is to present ortabo to these various organisations as an appealing idea over the phone or letter so they will be willing to settle the details for an appointments.

Please pray for openness from the various leaders in the various organisations regarding Ortabo.

WE'RE FACING A CRISIS.

Abraham will be presenting ORTABO in AMC's Local Church Executive Committee (LCEC) meeting. Please pray for him! (:

Our budget's drawn up by Eugene our treasurer with the help of MAP (Media and Publicity) and LOL (Logistics and Liasons) SO THAT'S A RELIEF TO ALL OF US IN THE MAIN COMM. :D

We're still waiting for the orphanages' replies so that we can go ahead with ortabo (:

In the meantime, remember to wash your hands often! I recommend Dettol hand sanitizer >:)

Jesslyn

We met Pastor William Today!

Hi excited readers who cannot wait for another update, Abraham and I met the pastor of Aldersgate Methodist Church (AMC), Pastor William today!

Ortabo has been accepted into AMC's 30 blessings project! Praise God!

30 blessings is a project in which 30 projects will be carried out to bless the community in line with AMC's 30th anniversary.

We really have to praise God for allowing us to meet the various important people and also for patience among the main committee as we massively try to settle a day to meet. 

God has been so so so gracious right from the very start, from the recruitment of main committee till this very day where we progressed so much from just a small idea. 

There are many things brought up by Pastor William the main committee has to carry out and discuss. After much discussion on our discussion details, the main committee will be meeting this Friday. Thank God for the fixed details.

Pastor William mentioned that Children's day (1st October) will also be a good time to give the boxes for the fact that not many events are occuring around Children's Day.

More details will be shared once we have our main committee meeting. 

Lastly, please pray for wisdom, patience (for main comm) and guidance from Above. (:

Dont forget to drink lots of water BECAUSE THE WEATHER IS SO HOT! 

We met Rev Wee today!

HELLO!

Abraham and I had the pleasure/honour/privilege of meeting Rev Wee at his office today!

He shared his views about Ortabo:

Pros: 

- It's a youth initiated project

- Something came out of TRACKERS

- It's a simple concept that's easy to grasp 

- It involves everyone from young to old from the church

Cons:

- The end date is around Christmas - a lot of events like ortabo will be going on concurrently as well, therefore they may be a clash of events

- Identifying the children from lower income families may be insensitive as some families may be embarrassed 

He also mentioned that we should talk to the local churches for help instead of going straight to TRAC because it is the local churches that can do more (funding, publicity, logistics, manpower) for us. We will be speaking to the leaders in our respective churches first before making anymore decisions. 

The main committee will also be meeting up to discuss issues raised prior to this meeting with Rev Wee.

Please pray for guidance from above to the direction that He wants us to head and for good communication among the members in the main committee.

Recruitment for sub committees has been pushed back to a later date, it's not starting from 3rd May anymore. Further notices will be given. 

However if you wish you state interest or have any questions, you can call or sms through myself @ 98485928 or by sending a email to ortabo@gmail.com.

Thank You for your prayers and support!

Jesslyn.