Preface
This is a post mission sharing letter so that you know what went on with me during my mission trip when you were supporting me financially and/or prayerfully. As I thought about the things that I learned while I was on this trip and the things I did there, the most accurate thing I can talk about is how I was changed by the trip. As I was only there for a really short time, it is hard for me to say if I actually made a difference in someone else's life. Therefore the contents of this letter only briefly touches on the things that I did, what I saw and the people I met there and is more about recollecting my encounters with God and adding it to my testimony. To understand why certain things I experienced during the mission trip affected me the way it did, it may be helpful to look at my testimony where I did my best to piece together the major events and influences that led me to this mission trip. You can read about this in a blog post I wrote prior to the trip.
Not So Coincidental
During the fall of 2012, I was working at my co-op placement and thinking about what I wanted to do in the future. At the end of the term, I had my wisdom teeth taken out and was given a few days to rest. I dreamt about Nehemiah and saw his wine-stained palm and when I awoke from the dream, I heard the name “Nehemiah” call out to me a few times in my head. Confused, I read Nehemiah and reflected upon a sermon about the cup bearer I remember hearing from Ken Taylor (pastor at Creekside Church, Waterloo). I understood this as God telling me I needed to do something for His people. About a week later, I attended Urbana, a global missions conference that was held during the winter break, I wanted to go on a mission trip to experience similar things to what I had heard about. So I put "go on a mission trip" on my mental to-do list, and worried with school and finding a job. One random weekend not too long after school started, I decided I would have the time to go back to my hometown for the weekend. That Sunday at church, one of the ladies that I grew up knowing approached me and asked me if I was interested in going on a short term mission trip for two weeks in July. She briefly summarized the major details and then told me to let her know by March if I was interested or not.
Not For Hire
Back at school, I was going through interviews to find a co-op placement for the spring term, which runs from the end of April to August. Now during this time, I had one foot on the side of going on that mission trip my church auntie wanted me to join her in, and the rest of me was on the fence. My heart was pretty much set on wanting to go, but I still had uncertainties with finding a job. With the addition of travel time, the trip would take up almost three weeks out of my work term - long enough to turn off potential employers. A popular mindset students have while going through the co-op interview process is to just get a job. Any job. One of the biggest fears of the co-op program is the inability to secure a job and then fail a work term. So you may be able to imagine the dilemma I was left with when somebody I interviewed with told me that I would not be considered if I went on the trip. I was then given a few days to decide if I really was going to go or not. After sharing my predicament with a friend, I felt encouraged and emailed the interviewer telling them that I was thankful for their interest in my application but that I had decided to no longer be considered for the position - I was going to go on the mission trip.
1 A Path has Been Made
Shortly after I informed that auntie from my church that I would join her mission team, I got confirmation from another employer that they were willing to hire me even though I would be gone for almost 3 weeks. The team would be going to east asia to host an English summer camp at a local church for students in their late teens and early twenties. We would be teaching in pairs so the auntie suggested I ask a family member, as it would be easier to make lesson plans with them while I was out of town. I asked my dad to come with me, and after some prayer and encouragement, he agreed to be my teaching partner. This was great as I trusted him to figure out our visa and travel arrangements while I studied for and wrote my final exams.
2 Coming as One Body
The team consisted of people that came from all over the world. The team from Canada consisted of the auntie, her husband, my father, and I. The auntie and her husband are part of the Fountainhead Chinese Christian Association, the organization we went with. There were four other university students; 3 from Australia, and 1 from America. We had one professor from Singapore, a translator from Hong Kong, and 6 full time missionaries from the organization. The team met together for the first time at their headquarters in Hong Kong. There we had training and then flew together to our destination. During our time there, we all had our roles to play. We had about 8-10 students and 2-3 teachers in each class. Some of us played musical instruments while others sang and did actions to English songs that we taught the students. We led fun activities and games to play during breaks between the lessons.
3 Strength that comes in Weakness
After the first few days of camp, the students started inviting us to play with them and offered to show us around the city in the evenings. They were excited to show and tell us things that we were new to, just as we would tell them about what it was like living in the countries we were from. I felt that it was actually easier to bond with the students even though we both had very limited knowledge of the other person’s language. There was this bond that grew from the mutual understanding of how we struggle to learn the other language. We laughed at each other’s attempts when we had bad grammar and offered each other the appropriate words and phrases for things that were communicated through gestures and writing. In addition to this encouraging spirit, it was also amazing to see that even though many of the team members fell sick during our time there, it was impossible to tell because they still led their activities and engaged with the students with the utmost enthusiasm.
4 He Knows Me
Near the end of the camp, we watched Evan Almighty, and had a discussion about it which was when we had the opportunity to share the gospel with them. We also invited them to join the local church’s student fellowship on the weekend where we shared our testimonies, and many of them came. It was really encouraging to see how God was working in the hearts of these students. Many of them were curious to know more about the gospel and their responses to our testimonies were thoughtful. On the last day of the camp, we gave out certificates for having participated in the camp and they were given the chance to share with the other classes their experience of the camp. To my surprise, one of my students said, “You taught me how to love”. With these words, God spoke directly to my heart - showing me just what He can do when I choose to obey and follow Him. Although I am still uncertain of what God intends for me in my future (and Nehemiah?), I know that listening to the voice of the Good Shepherd will never disappoint.
Acknowledgements
I am thankful to God for providing me with the family and friends who supported me and the team financially and prayerfully during the whole decision making, planning, and fundraising process. Thank you for being part of my journey and for your encouragements. Thanks for reading!
1 “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Aged Moses to Joshua) Deuteronomy 8:31
2 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14
3 “My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.” Psalm 73:26
4 “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep.” John 10:14-15
This is a post mission sharing letter so that you know what went on with me during my mission trip when you were supporting me financially and/or prayerfully. As I thought about the things that I learned while I was on this trip and the things I did there, the most accurate thing I can talk about is how I was changed by the trip. As I was only there for a really short time, it is hard for me to say if I actually made a difference in someone else's life. Therefore the contents of this letter only briefly touches on the things that I did, what I saw and the people I met there and is more about recollecting my encounters with God and adding it to my testimony. To understand why certain things I experienced during the mission trip affected me the way it did, it may be helpful to look at my testimony where I did my best to piece together the major events and influences that led me to this mission trip. You can read about this in a blog post I wrote prior to the trip.
Not So Coincidental
During the fall of 2012, I was working at my co-op placement and thinking about what I wanted to do in the future. At the end of the term, I had my wisdom teeth taken out and was given a few days to rest. I dreamt about Nehemiah and saw his wine-stained palm and when I awoke from the dream, I heard the name “Nehemiah” call out to me a few times in my head. Confused, I read Nehemiah and reflected upon a sermon about the cup bearer I remember hearing from Ken Taylor (pastor at Creekside Church, Waterloo). I understood this as God telling me I needed to do something for His people. About a week later, I attended Urbana, a global missions conference that was held during the winter break, I wanted to go on a mission trip to experience similar things to what I had heard about. So I put "go on a mission trip" on my mental to-do list, and worried with school and finding a job. One random weekend not too long after school started, I decided I would have the time to go back to my hometown for the weekend. That Sunday at church, one of the ladies that I grew up knowing approached me and asked me if I was interested in going on a short term mission trip for two weeks in July. She briefly summarized the major details and then told me to let her know by March if I was interested or not.
Not For Hire
Back at school, I was going through interviews to find a co-op placement for the spring term, which runs from the end of April to August. Now during this time, I had one foot on the side of going on that mission trip my church auntie wanted me to join her in, and the rest of me was on the fence. My heart was pretty much set on wanting to go, but I still had uncertainties with finding a job. With the addition of travel time, the trip would take up almost three weeks out of my work term - long enough to turn off potential employers. A popular mindset students have while going through the co-op interview process is to just get a job. Any job. One of the biggest fears of the co-op program is the inability to secure a job and then fail a work term. So you may be able to imagine the dilemma I was left with when somebody I interviewed with told me that I would not be considered if I went on the trip. I was then given a few days to decide if I really was going to go or not. After sharing my predicament with a friend, I felt encouraged and emailed the interviewer telling them that I was thankful for their interest in my application but that I had decided to no longer be considered for the position - I was going to go on the mission trip.
1 A Path has Been Made
Shortly after I informed that auntie from my church that I would join her mission team, I got confirmation from another employer that they were willing to hire me even though I would be gone for almost 3 weeks. The team would be going to east asia to host an English summer camp at a local church for students in their late teens and early twenties. We would be teaching in pairs so the auntie suggested I ask a family member, as it would be easier to make lesson plans with them while I was out of town. I asked my dad to come with me, and after some prayer and encouragement, he agreed to be my teaching partner. This was great as I trusted him to figure out our visa and travel arrangements while I studied for and wrote my final exams.
2 Coming as One Body
The team consisted of people that came from all over the world. The team from Canada consisted of the auntie, her husband, my father, and I. The auntie and her husband are part of the Fountainhead Chinese Christian Association, the organization we went with. There were four other university students; 3 from Australia, and 1 from America. We had one professor from Singapore, a translator from Hong Kong, and 6 full time missionaries from the organization. The team met together for the first time at their headquarters in Hong Kong. There we had training and then flew together to our destination. During our time there, we all had our roles to play. We had about 8-10 students and 2-3 teachers in each class. Some of us played musical instruments while others sang and did actions to English songs that we taught the students. We led fun activities and games to play during breaks between the lessons.
3 Strength that comes in Weakness
After the first few days of camp, the students started inviting us to play with them and offered to show us around the city in the evenings. They were excited to show and tell us things that we were new to, just as we would tell them about what it was like living in the countries we were from. I felt that it was actually easier to bond with the students even though we both had very limited knowledge of the other person’s language. There was this bond that grew from the mutual understanding of how we struggle to learn the other language. We laughed at each other’s attempts when we had bad grammar and offered each other the appropriate words and phrases for things that were communicated through gestures and writing. In addition to this encouraging spirit, it was also amazing to see that even though many of the team members fell sick during our time there, it was impossible to tell because they still led their activities and engaged with the students with the utmost enthusiasm.
4 He Knows Me
Near the end of the camp, we watched Evan Almighty, and had a discussion about it which was when we had the opportunity to share the gospel with them. We also invited them to join the local church’s student fellowship on the weekend where we shared our testimonies, and many of them came. It was really encouraging to see how God was working in the hearts of these students. Many of them were curious to know more about the gospel and their responses to our testimonies were thoughtful. On the last day of the camp, we gave out certificates for having participated in the camp and they were given the chance to share with the other classes their experience of the camp. To my surprise, one of my students said, “You taught me how to love”. With these words, God spoke directly to my heart - showing me just what He can do when I choose to obey and follow Him. Although I am still uncertain of what God intends for me in my future (and Nehemiah?), I know that listening to the voice of the Good Shepherd will never disappoint.
Acknowledgements
I am thankful to God for providing me with the family and friends who supported me and the team financially and prayerfully during the whole decision making, planning, and fundraising process. Thank you for being part of my journey and for your encouragements. Thanks for reading!
1 “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Aged Moses to Joshua) Deuteronomy 8:31
2 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14
3 “My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.” Psalm 73:26
4 “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep.” John 10:14-15
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