Our Last Reflections
Thank you all so much for your endless support! We've only been able to reach this point because of all you've done for us. Our team is flying out to Taiwan very shortly, and some of us have already arrived. But before we jump into the long week ahead, we decided to take a few moments to reflect on the triumphs and trials of our preparation process. And now, we would like to share a bit about each of our team members' thoughts regarding the first part of this journey. Please keep these concerns in prayer if you can.
- Adam, Amy, Emily, Jon, Josh, and Jeremy
Josh
1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth has been one of the most convicting passages I’ve read in preparation for this trip. The Corinthians have been quarreling over which man to follow, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or Christ. And Paul writes to address this dispute by using his own weakness (lack of eloquence) as proof that power belongs to the cross of Christ, not to any mortal man. Coming into this year’s trip, I expected my role to focus more on my English-speaking team and less on the Chinese-speaking kids. However, slight changes to my responsibilities (now having to lead a group of children as well) have brought back the same fears of inadequacy as in the past. My heart longs to connect with these kids but no doubt difficulties will come in the way. Though I’ll stumble over my words and mispronounce a few tones, I can confidently say “power be to the cross of Christ.”
Personal Prayer Request: Please pray for God to show his power through my weakness to bring about the salvation of many children
Jeremy
Job 38:1-3 Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: "Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me."
When the LORD's words came to Job out of the storm of his suffering and torment, it was because Job and his friends had presumed to know the mind of God. They, in their supreme arrogance, thought they understood God's thoughts and even sought to explain the specific details of His intentions and reasoning.
My journey through this year's missions preparation has been characterized by doubt. Ever since Mrs. Song asked me to be the leader of this year's team, I have been uncertain of nearly every decision I made. In fact, even recently, after months to meditate on the problem, I still wondered if taking the position of leader was a mistake, one that might even doom the mission because of my ineptitude. And as the mission preparations proceeded, those doubts only solidified. Whether the issue was enforcing mission meetings or bringing up certain points of discussion, I was never sure if I was doing God's will and if the team would succeed this year. I created an entire complex argument describing how my leadership was a colossal mistake and an unforgivable lapse of judgment: a sin.
I should never have doubted. In the last few preparation meetings we had, I came to see that the true sin was my presumption that God had abandoned me, abandoned us. He questioned my beliefs in the final few weeks before I left for Asia, and my answers disappointed. As each meeting went by, I came to see how little it mattered that I wasn't the best leader. With focused, creative, intentional veterans like Emily and Josh, and with committed, ambitious newcomers like Adam, Amy, and Jon, my responsibilities as a leader were cut down to almost nothing; beyond logistics, all I had to do was give my usual input and direction. In truth, I see now that Emily and Josh were the true leaders of this mission, especially in terms of content preparation. And I? Well, God buoyed me. I'm not a natural leader by any means, but with the help of my team members, I made it through the preparation.
That's not to say that I no longer have burdens, or that I can sit back, relax, and watch the magic unfold. We are probably the least prepared as a team that we have ever been, and we have more new, inexperienced team members than ever before as well. All of this means that we will have to push ourselves extraordinarily hard to make up for the deficit caused by packed, clashing schedules and distance. But I no longer wonder how badly we will fail or debate the consequences of such a failure. God managed to make a passable leader out of this weak, weak boy through a wondrous surrounding team (and not just the other five people here either; all of you too); why shouldn't he be able to increase his glory through even our patchwork team? As long as we do our part, working our butts off to spread the gospel and building powerful relationships with our students, God shall do as He wills; to ignorantly assume otherwise because of some human logic is to obscure His all-encompassing plan.
Please thank the LORD for his kindness and love, the light he gives us in our darkness. Please pray that all of our spiritual preparation will bear fruit and that our content will appeal to the children. Thank you!
Adam
We have finally reached the day before our trip to Taiwan, and needless to say, so much has happened. Ever since I joined the team, I had many expectations and preconceived notions of what would happen before, during, and after the mission trip. For example, I came in expecting maybe a couple of preparation meetings per month at tops before the trip. However, the reality of the situation never situated itself in my heart before this experience, and after our weekly meetings, my perspectives on “STM preparation” have changed. I now know that this kind of preparation is a growing experience – an experience of spiritual maturation and meditation. In preparation, we weren’t just preparing English lessons/curriculums for the kids. We were learning to develop stronger relationships, learning to synthesize God’s Word with our actions, learning to use our past mistakes as the foundation for future success. I felt that the most successful aspect of our preparation was not during the actual preparation for the lessons themselves, but rather during times where we would go out for dinner, or where we would just sit around and fellowship. These moments were where we could build ourselves as a team and as a family for Christ, and that’s what I think is most important. I also cherished those moments where we could interact with wiser believers like Pastor David Liu or Brother Hwa-Chi and Pauline. Their advice was invaluable for the success of our preparation; they ensured that we had the best understanding of what our expectations might have been and what they should be. Relating back to my personal expectations, I thought we were going to Taiwan to help the kids learn some Bible stories, and that we would also grow in the process. Simply put, I was hoping for another VBS. However, I never viewed our mission trip in the perspective Hwa-Chi told us – that our mission was the opportunity to build relationships with the kids. He mentioned how it really wasn’t about having the kids memorize these Bible stories, but rather it was about implanting positive memories in their minds. Viewing it in this light, I am now a happier, more optimistic team member. Why? Well, nothing is better than making others happy, and if we can do that when they merely remember us for who we are as Christians….that’s just amazing.
Looking forward, I won’t deny the fact that I am nervous. Even knowing that we have an almighty God to lean on, stress remains my biggest weakness going into the mission. I am sure that everyone has their doubts and fears entering the mission trip. There will be times during the trip where we feel like giving up. Where we feel that our actions are fruitless. Thus, our dear blog readers, I ask that you pray for our ability to deal with stress and any doubts that we may have.
However, because of these anxious feelings, we WILL feel the weight of the mission. God has his methods to call on us, and his presence is especially prominent in times of doubt. He will work through us no matter how we may feel. So, in order to translate God’s presence from ourselves to the Taiwan kids, please also pray for the kids and their willingness to embrace our actions! We ask for all the support that we can get!
To end things, I am feeling more excited than I have ever felt for the trip. I know 100% that God will always be there for us. I am confident that the mission will be successful and that ALL of us will come out feeling better than ever before!:D
Amy
This morning it dawned on me, how real – and close – the Taiwan STM is. In 24 hours, I will be in Taiwan meeting new people, preparing for a summer camp, speaking in a nonnative language, etc. – in other words, I’ll be taken outside of my comfort zone and put in a place where God is all I really have to rely on. Over the last few months, I’ve been battling guilt and anxiety and sensing the proximity of the Taiwan STM intensified my feelings of being unprepared and unqualified. I later confided my doubts to my mom, who encouraged me and reminded me that it’s not about what we can do, but what we’re willing to do. God can use all things for good, even someone with faith as small as a mustard seed. It’s amazing how reading scripture and quickly reminding ourselves of the gospel can so quickly fix our perspective and erase our doubts. Later this afternoon, I witnessed my mom boldly sharing the gospel with a taxi driver, which was incredibly inspiring. I sensed no feelings of self-consciousness or worry in her as she seized an opportunity in the conversation and broke into a passionate testimony.
I was also touched by the overwhelming support from people back at church. I am so thankful for all their prayer and am so excited to see how God will work through all of us. Praise God for all that He will do through this STM!
- Adam, Amy, Emily, Jon, Josh, and Jeremy
Josh
1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth has been one of the most convicting passages I’ve read in preparation for this trip. The Corinthians have been quarreling over which man to follow, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or Christ. And Paul writes to address this dispute by using his own weakness (lack of eloquence) as proof that power belongs to the cross of Christ, not to any mortal man. Coming into this year’s trip, I expected my role to focus more on my English-speaking team and less on the Chinese-speaking kids. However, slight changes to my responsibilities (now having to lead a group of children as well) have brought back the same fears of inadequacy as in the past. My heart longs to connect with these kids but no doubt difficulties will come in the way. Though I’ll stumble over my words and mispronounce a few tones, I can confidently say “power be to the cross of Christ.”
Personal Prayer Request: Please pray for God to show his power through my weakness to bring about the salvation of many children
Jeremy
Job 38:1-3 Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: "Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me."
When the LORD's words came to Job out of the storm of his suffering and torment, it was because Job and his friends had presumed to know the mind of God. They, in their supreme arrogance, thought they understood God's thoughts and even sought to explain the specific details of His intentions and reasoning.
My journey through this year's missions preparation has been characterized by doubt. Ever since Mrs. Song asked me to be the leader of this year's team, I have been uncertain of nearly every decision I made. In fact, even recently, after months to meditate on the problem, I still wondered if taking the position of leader was a mistake, one that might even doom the mission because of my ineptitude. And as the mission preparations proceeded, those doubts only solidified. Whether the issue was enforcing mission meetings or bringing up certain points of discussion, I was never sure if I was doing God's will and if the team would succeed this year. I created an entire complex argument describing how my leadership was a colossal mistake and an unforgivable lapse of judgment: a sin.
I should never have doubted. In the last few preparation meetings we had, I came to see that the true sin was my presumption that God had abandoned me, abandoned us. He questioned my beliefs in the final few weeks before I left for Asia, and my answers disappointed. As each meeting went by, I came to see how little it mattered that I wasn't the best leader. With focused, creative, intentional veterans like Emily and Josh, and with committed, ambitious newcomers like Adam, Amy, and Jon, my responsibilities as a leader were cut down to almost nothing; beyond logistics, all I had to do was give my usual input and direction. In truth, I see now that Emily and Josh were the true leaders of this mission, especially in terms of content preparation. And I? Well, God buoyed me. I'm not a natural leader by any means, but with the help of my team members, I made it through the preparation.
That's not to say that I no longer have burdens, or that I can sit back, relax, and watch the magic unfold. We are probably the least prepared as a team that we have ever been, and we have more new, inexperienced team members than ever before as well. All of this means that we will have to push ourselves extraordinarily hard to make up for the deficit caused by packed, clashing schedules and distance. But I no longer wonder how badly we will fail or debate the consequences of such a failure. God managed to make a passable leader out of this weak, weak boy through a wondrous surrounding team (and not just the other five people here either; all of you too); why shouldn't he be able to increase his glory through even our patchwork team? As long as we do our part, working our butts off to spread the gospel and building powerful relationships with our students, God shall do as He wills; to ignorantly assume otherwise because of some human logic is to obscure His all-encompassing plan.
Please thank the LORD for his kindness and love, the light he gives us in our darkness. Please pray that all of our spiritual preparation will bear fruit and that our content will appeal to the children. Thank you!
Adam
We have finally reached the day before our trip to Taiwan, and needless to say, so much has happened. Ever since I joined the team, I had many expectations and preconceived notions of what would happen before, during, and after the mission trip. For example, I came in expecting maybe a couple of preparation meetings per month at tops before the trip. However, the reality of the situation never situated itself in my heart before this experience, and after our weekly meetings, my perspectives on “STM preparation” have changed. I now know that this kind of preparation is a growing experience – an experience of spiritual maturation and meditation. In preparation, we weren’t just preparing English lessons/curriculums for the kids. We were learning to develop stronger relationships, learning to synthesize God’s Word with our actions, learning to use our past mistakes as the foundation for future success. I felt that the most successful aspect of our preparation was not during the actual preparation for the lessons themselves, but rather during times where we would go out for dinner, or where we would just sit around and fellowship. These moments were where we could build ourselves as a team and as a family for Christ, and that’s what I think is most important. I also cherished those moments where we could interact with wiser believers like Pastor David Liu or Brother Hwa-Chi and Pauline. Their advice was invaluable for the success of our preparation; they ensured that we had the best understanding of what our expectations might have been and what they should be. Relating back to my personal expectations, I thought we were going to Taiwan to help the kids learn some Bible stories, and that we would also grow in the process. Simply put, I was hoping for another VBS. However, I never viewed our mission trip in the perspective Hwa-Chi told us – that our mission was the opportunity to build relationships with the kids. He mentioned how it really wasn’t about having the kids memorize these Bible stories, but rather it was about implanting positive memories in their minds. Viewing it in this light, I am now a happier, more optimistic team member. Why? Well, nothing is better than making others happy, and if we can do that when they merely remember us for who we are as Christians….that’s just amazing.
Looking forward, I won’t deny the fact that I am nervous. Even knowing that we have an almighty God to lean on, stress remains my biggest weakness going into the mission. I am sure that everyone has their doubts and fears entering the mission trip. There will be times during the trip where we feel like giving up. Where we feel that our actions are fruitless. Thus, our dear blog readers, I ask that you pray for our ability to deal with stress and any doubts that we may have.
However, because of these anxious feelings, we WILL feel the weight of the mission. God has his methods to call on us, and his presence is especially prominent in times of doubt. He will work through us no matter how we may feel. So, in order to translate God’s presence from ourselves to the Taiwan kids, please also pray for the kids and their willingness to embrace our actions! We ask for all the support that we can get!
To end things, I am feeling more excited than I have ever felt for the trip. I know 100% that God will always be there for us. I am confident that the mission will be successful and that ALL of us will come out feeling better than ever before!:D
Amy
This morning it dawned on me, how real – and close – the Taiwan STM is. In 24 hours, I will be in Taiwan meeting new people, preparing for a summer camp, speaking in a nonnative language, etc. – in other words, I’ll be taken outside of my comfort zone and put in a place where God is all I really have to rely on. Over the last few months, I’ve been battling guilt and anxiety and sensing the proximity of the Taiwan STM intensified my feelings of being unprepared and unqualified. I later confided my doubts to my mom, who encouraged me and reminded me that it’s not about what we can do, but what we’re willing to do. God can use all things for good, even someone with faith as small as a mustard seed. It’s amazing how reading scripture and quickly reminding ourselves of the gospel can so quickly fix our perspective and erase our doubts. Later this afternoon, I witnessed my mom boldly sharing the gospel with a taxi driver, which was incredibly inspiring. I sensed no feelings of self-consciousness or worry in her as she seized an opportunity in the conversation and broke into a passionate testimony.
I was also touched by the overwhelming support from people back at church. I am so thankful for all their prayer and am so excited to see how God will work through all of us. Praise God for all that He will do through this STM!
Emily
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” 1 Corinthians 2:9
In reading 1 Corinthians 1-3 yesterday with Josh and Jon, I’ve been able to reflect upon how merciful and loving God has been in my life this past year, from beginning college, to the preparations leading up to this missions trip. Even before freshman year in college started, God had surrounded me with such caring brothers and sisters from Renewal College Fellowship (RCF), which turned into my closest community on campus as the months went by. Their openness, genuineness, vulnerability, and selflessness has helped me truly make my faith my own. God has revealed Himself to me so much through my brothers and sisters, really emphasizing the importance of community and close fellowship.
This mindset of intentionality and striving to know Him more has seeped into the Taiwan preparations as well. This year, apart from the previous two, has been heavily focused on spiritual preparation. It has taken two years of us trying to rely on our own abilities and battling the “savior complex” to finally see that God is the ultimate warrior in this battle; if He wills it, nothing in this world can stand in His path, and if He doesn’t, absolutely nothing will change that. It has taken a lot of prayer, discussions, devotions, and trust for our team to allow God to transform that head knowledge into heart transformation. It is our hope this year to focus on making genuine relationships with the children, not worrying about trying to preach with “eloquent words of wisdom” so that we may not boast.
As our week in Taiwan begins, I can’t to see what God has prepared. He deserves all the glory!
Jonathan
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” 1 Corinthians 2:9
In reading 1 Corinthians 1-3 yesterday with Josh and Jon, I’ve been able to reflect upon how merciful and loving God has been in my life this past year, from beginning college, to the preparations leading up to this missions trip. Even before freshman year in college started, God had surrounded me with such caring brothers and sisters from Renewal College Fellowship (RCF), which turned into my closest community on campus as the months went by. Their openness, genuineness, vulnerability, and selflessness has helped me truly make my faith my own. God has revealed Himself to me so much through my brothers and sisters, really emphasizing the importance of community and close fellowship.
This mindset of intentionality and striving to know Him more has seeped into the Taiwan preparations as well. This year, apart from the previous two, has been heavily focused on spiritual preparation. It has taken two years of us trying to rely on our own abilities and battling the “savior complex” to finally see that God is the ultimate warrior in this battle; if He wills it, nothing in this world can stand in His path, and if He doesn’t, absolutely nothing will change that. It has taken a lot of prayer, discussions, devotions, and trust for our team to allow God to transform that head knowledge into heart transformation. It is our hope this year to focus on making genuine relationships with the children, not worrying about trying to preach with “eloquent words of wisdom” so that we may not boast.
As our week in Taiwan begins, I can’t to see what God has prepared. He deserves all the glory!
Jonathan
Sitting in our Taiwan apartment typing this after our 15-hour
flight, it still feels surreal that the Taiwan STM has already started. It
feels like just yesterday we were having our very first group meeting, but now
we’re about to meet the Taiwan youth and start teaching. I can only imagine
what this next week will hold, but whatever happens I know that the Lord will
provide. The preparation process for this mission has truly been eye-opening. Through
hearing Josh, Jeremy, and Emily talk about what this mission means and their
past experiences, including successes and failures, I realized the weight and
significance of this trip. I looked forward to these meetings and the
fellowship we created where we could express our concerns and doubts and grow
closer to God with one another.
On the way to the airport, I couldn’t contain my excitement,
for both the trip and the airport/plane ride (I love flying in case you didn’t
know). We were riding the shuttle with a Vietnamese family and started playing
a game of “would you rather” with a little girl named Monica. After discussing
whether it would be better to have telekinesis or super speed, Josh asked the
question “Would you rather have Jesus but nothing else, or have everything but
not Jesus?” And without hesitation Monica said Jesus! What an amazing feeling it
was to come across complete strangers who were brothers and sisters in Christ! As
she went on saying how Jesus was the true love and we only needed Him, we all
smiled at each other and knew that the Lord was right there with us, showing us
signs and working in ways we could never imagine.
We will be heading to the church soon (for my first time),
and I still can’t shake my feelings of both excitement and nervousness. Please
pray for our energy (we have a long, jet-lagged day ahead of us) as well as our
focus and spirit throughout this week. All of us are extremely fortunate to
have your support, and we can’t even come close to describing how thankful we
are for your prayers!
May God bless your trip. We will pray for you!
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