Monday, February 12, 2007
~ 2:21 AM ~
not really in the mood to blog. really lethargic and brain dead (in a sense). oh wells since people been asking what i have been doing during my mission trip, maybe i shall just copy and paste what i shared in church today.
"Good morning church
I promise to try to make this sharing as short as possible, but hopefully with God’s grace it will leave a strong impression on you. Since I been back in Singapore, I always get people asking me how my trip went, but I only could tell them things like “good” or “fantastic”, but today I hope to share with you what exactly I did there.
Even before I applied for this mission trip through OM, I had all along wanted to go back to Thailand, mainly because of my previous trips there. But long story short, I didn’t manage to find and apply for any mission trips to Thailand. God only left this door open for me to Philippines. I didn’t really want to go there, but that was the only option given to me. I went alone so as to fully depend on God rather than on human strength. In a foreign country where everyone are strangers and in time of spiritual warfare, it only means that I have nowhere to turn except to God. In a way, it was to help me build up my faith in Him.
It was really good that God brought me to another country to serve because it was a total different experience. It was like an attachment, so I really got to reach out to people, whereas my other 2 trips were more of an exposure. I worked with street kids, children living in the slums, islands and mountains. Sometimes it was carrying out Sunday school lessons; sometimes it was to evangelize to the kids. I had the chance to organize Christmas parties in December, attend conferences and lead university fellowships. I even spoke with Brother Yun, the author of the Heavenly Man. I also met many people from different nationalities, Australian, South African, Japanese, Swiss, German, Korean and of course Filipinos.
Yet it was also a struggle to go too because it was 2 days after my O Levels. Everyone would be enjoying themselves, having parties and gatherings, and most of all, my first ever prom night! It wasn’t easy to surrender all these temptations to God, but with His grace, I managed to put all these behind me and just go. I still vividly recall that while my schoolmates were dancing during prom night, I was in a prayer meeting.
Initially I was only supposed to be in Cebu for 2 weeks, but after a week there, I felt God’s prompting for me to extend my stay there. I had further affirmation by 2 pastors and the director of the OM staff there. Partly also because I had grown rather attached to the kids there, that I felt there was more I could do in Cebu rather than waste my holidays in Singapore, so I decided to go ahead with the extension, and I am indeed grateful to God for giving me that opportunity. In that extra 2 weeks, I experienced much more than I expected. God carried me through so many things while I was there, namely weathering a so-called “typhoon” and the chance to compare the experience between going alone and with a group. In Cebu I frequently heard reports of the impeding typhoon and terrorists attacks, and it’s my first time to actually be caught up in all this. It’s a different experience reading it on the papers and living it out – the fear of dying anytime along the streets due to a bomb blast, or being swept away by a typhoon. All these were so real and it really made me re-look into my life, and REALLY thinking if I could be held accountable of my life to Christ. A group of 22 Christians from Foochow Methodist Church came during my third week, and I could really compare being alone and within a group, the different focuses and expectations. And I have to say going alone is still the best, because its then that you can really focus on God instead of fellowshipping, albeit lacking the interaction and socialization.
All this time alone, I have been constantly encouraged by my life verse, Acts 20:22-24, which speaks of completing this path God has laid in front of me. “And now, compelled by the Holy Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city, the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given to me, the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”
One thing that has kept this desire to tell these people about Christ is when I see the joy within them. It is a horrible reality to know that these people do not even know where they will be going to after death without Christ. When I see the happiness, contentment and joy within them, it really pains my heart. These children, they radiate so much joy, the type of happiness, which is so rare in Singapore. I kept thinking where the source of their joy came from, despite having so little material possessions, yet they are always smiling. What more for them to know the joy that can be found in Christ alone?
I really don’t know if you feel that burden for them, the peoples of this world, the people who haven’t even heard of Jesus. Are you really willing to let all these people go down to hell, while we just sit back and watch the whole show? Are we going to let the devil win this battle by releasing the many souls that God commissioned us to rescue? Everyone on this earth drawing breath, are they not the very people that God created, the very people that He wants to enjoy eternity with, so much so that He sent his only Son to the cross for our salvation? We are so privileged to have Christ within us, but what about the world? If Christians do not even share the Gospel, then who will? Who will share Christ with the world if not the Church?
This is my challenge to you. Maybe you have never gone on a mission trip before, but in other ways you still can contribute to these people around the world. World Vision offers child sponsorship. How about sponsoring people from our church who wished to be exposed to missions? What about evangelizing to your friends in Singapore? If you have time even, why not consider the upcoming Qiang trip in March. It’s really my desire one day to see different people in the church in different areas of the world, rising up to God’s commission.
If you didn’t really catch what I said before, I would at least like you to take something home today, which will be what I am going to end off with. God had an only Son and He made Him a missionary, what more for us? What more for us, as parents to emulate God and send your children, and children to emulate Christ and go forth? Thank You(:"
*caught up in a fluster of confusion and frustration..
