The Testimony of Chloe and Janice

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How we met: first impressions and initial reactions to each other.

Janice: I met Chloe at a caregroup at the Hougang house.  My first impression of her was that she was young and loud.  During one discussion, she was put in my group, and I remember thinking that it would be a challenge to keep control of the discussion, because I thought she had a short attention span, and might not listen very well.  I didn’t think she listened much to me that first time, but she surprised me afterwards by thanking me, and asking how she can pray for her situation back then (she had just ended a serious relationship).  I hardly thought I was qualified to give advice, but I told her she should pray for healing for her broken heart, and she did, and that’s when I sensed that the spirit was within her, and that there is more to her than meets the eye.

How we started: Chloe’s decision, Janice’s mild surprise, Rosette’s amusement

Janice: She surprised me further the following week when she asked me if she could be my sheep, or if I could shepherd her along with Melanie, who Rosette had initially assigned to her.  All I could answer was, “Let’s ask Rosette.”  Because seriously, I was already thinking ahead to what kind of sessions we would have, with her very loud and extroverted, and me being very serious and (to be honest) strict and disciplinarian.  I couldn’t give a straight answer, the concept was strange to me, someone was actually asking to be shepherded, and although I had heard of it, I’ve never really encountered it until then.  Honestly I didn’t think she was that serious about it until she asked Rosette herself, and she kept at it until she got an answer; she can be like that sometimes.  Rosette asked me what I thought about it, and I could tell she didn’t know what to answer herself at first, but eventually she said for us to go ahead and see how it will go.

How we were challenged: our weaknesses (attitudes, schedules, etc.) and how we complement each other

Janice: Of course there were complications.  Scheduling was one major thing.  She works in retail on mall hours, while I’m on regular office hours.  We don’t have the same days off as well.  Our sessions are usually held very late at night until the early morning, and we are also limited to the places where we can hold our discussions then.

God is good though, because every time we meet that I am too tired for a session, I just pray for strength and I feel and extra burst of energy, guaranteed.

Another challenge that we have is our (then) contrasting attitudes.  She’s this very sweet, charismatic, talkative girl, whose life is an open book, and I’m this closed up, emotionless, quiet person.  During those first few weeks it was a challenge for me just to respond to all her text messages, because I’m not really as expressive of my emotions as she is (and I don’t like to text people often).  We learned a lot from each other during that first month.

But then again it turned out that those weaknesses that we saw in each other only made us grow closer.  The relationship that we have today could not have been possible if we hadn’t gone through the struggles that we had been through together.

How we meet: sample shepherding session, scheduling workarounds, venues

Janice: Every week, on cue, Chloe asks me, “Ate Janice, kelan tayo magshe-shepherding ulet? (When are going to have our shepherding session again?)” in this really small voice, holding her head to one side, and generally being all cutesy about it.

How we will move forward: how the impressions have changed, reactions so far, other insights to share (we learn from each other, from our mistakes, etc.)

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