Day 10 - 7/7/19 - Final Reflections
Right now, I feel heartbroken.
Tired.
I've already cried at least 3 times, but I just can't stop. I'm so desperate for a way to prolong our time here in Taiwan, but I know I can't.
Only God could perform a miracle like that.
But who am I to ask God for miracles when He is our Lord - a Father who has done so much for us this past week and who has revealed more than I could have ever expected, so much more than we deserve. And this year, I think a lot of those realizations were personal to each of us. Whether we were fighting sickness, temptations, distractions, or internal weaknesses, we each faced unique struggles that while may have led to similar lessons learned, gave us different perspectives as to how those lessons should be applied to our lives.
I had a similar feeling of desperation last year when we were about to leave from the airport, with the youth surrounding us and seeing us off one last time. But this time, my desperation reached a different, perhaps even greater height. Maybe it’s because this could be my last time here, maybe it’s because this year I was more intentional with my relationships with the youth. I just don’t want to go back to my normal life.
For me, the most important thing God revealed to me was what it truly meant to selflessly love others, just as God Himself loves us unconditionally. This week, I embraced my biggest weakness – my selfish intentions when helping others. People-pleasing.
Galatians 5:14 "For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
The Taiwanese youth are such a special group of people. I seriously can't stress this enough. During Sunday’s church service, we shared our thoughts and reflections for the past week with the rest of the congregation. Seeing how passionate and genuine two of the Taiwanese youth leaders, Kevin and Evangeline, shared their thoughts, I was moved to tears. I could relate to their feelings because I was there this past week to experience it. Hearing about this mission through the blogs is great, but experiencing it is something truly truly different. Experiencing how much love each of the youth poured out this past week, experiencing how God is able to connect our hearts and tune them to Christ alone, experiencing the life-changing fellowship each of the youth offer, experiencing tiredness to the point where God becomes so much greater, I think I'm finally starting to understand God's unconditional love. It's not about expecting something in return, but rather it's about loving people because God loved us first. What a beautiful truth.
When people ask me why I am a Christian, why I believe God, why I want to help people as a doctor, I’ve always struggled to give a concrete answer. What I now know for sure because of this week, however, is that all my motives and actions in helping and loving others should be for others. To achieve the feelings of joy that comes with loving others shouldn’t be my motivation for doing so, but rather should be naturally received as a gift from God. God expects and wants us to be happy when doing His work, but by learning from how Jesus did His good work, I’ve realized that it’s possible to be happy by fully giving myself to other people without expecting a return – because God promises a return, an eternal one at that. I will never have perfect intentions, but I can have faith that God will continue to refine my heart.
Thank you, my dear Father, for revealing this to me. I am so undeserving of this grace you’ve shown me, so undeserving of the people you’ve placed in my life. It is my hope and prayer that I may return next year. Thank you, God.
As I mentioned previously, we each started and ended the trip from different angles. The following are some thoughts from each of our members (except Jonathan, who still has a really bad cough. Please pray for his health, that God will provide the strength he needs)
Nicole
Today is the last day of this mission trip 😞 We started off the day with church, where both our US team and the Taiwan youth exchanged gifts. The gift that the Taiwanese youth gave us was a framed picture of all of them which makes me so emotional because it just holds so many happy memories. Also, during church, one of my kids from VBS showed up for a couple minutes which was so heartwarming because I could tell God opened his heart so much during the week and it was very reassuring seeing him at church. Then, we went to Gaomei wetlands where we all got covered in sand and salt water but it’s okay because it was so fun and such a great bonding experience. Afterward, we went to a restaurant to have dinner where we once again bonded and had a gift exchange. I’m really really gonna miss the youth and I’m currently writing with tears streaming down my face because I’m thinking about all the happy memories I made throughout this week. Reflecting back, I can tell my heart changed so much; starting from the beginning of the trip where I was in a negative mindset and wanting to stay at home, to now where I have met some of the most life-changing people of my life, wishing I could stay longer. This opportunity has been truly amazing and the relationships I made with the youth here are ones that I could never forget. I feel God has opened my heart to be more serving and loving and I can only end this mission trip with one word: Amen!
Matt
I came into this missions trip with my doubts and worries. Taiwan wasn’t my first priority. I was searching for an internship when Adam reached out to me about Taiwan. I thought to myself: “If I don’t get an internship, I will just have this missions trip as a plan B”. And that was my mindset coming into the missions trip. So when I did find an internship (praise God) and had to explain to my supervisor that I had to take off two weeks, I worried a lot. I worried about balancing both work and God and my heart was all over the place. But after experiencing a week of God’s love, I realized how lucky I was that God placed this trip in my life. The youth in Taiwan had an unconditional love that I have never experienced before. Regardless of how broken our Chinese was and regardless of how hard it was to communicate, the Taiwanese still showed us a love that Made me realize how good our God is. We were able to work together and pour out to the children as a body united in Christ. This trip truly has changed my life and I will be forever grateful for this opportunity that God has placed in my life.
Amy
Please pray for our brother Jonathan, who is in the hospital right now, to have a speedy and peaceful recovery.
Today was our last full day in Taiwan. All of us will head to the airport at 4:30 am tomorrow morning. It’s really hard to think about leaving but this trip is quickly coming to a close.
This morning all of us met at church and had a time of sharing in the youth Sunday school. Later during the service, Amy aiyi presented all of the VBS teachers with gifts and presented about our mission to the church. A few of the kids from the VBS were actually at church this morning, which was awesome (PTL Kevin was there too!). After that, we all had lunch and then headed out to Gao Mei wetlands to play. The scenery at Gao Mei was breathtaking! I had a great time strolling around and chatting with Evangeline. The other youth played an intense game of dodgeball that involved chucking handfuls of muddy sand at each other. At last, we all ate our final dinner together at a seafood restaurant. We also had a gift exchange and gave out cards before leaving.
It was also around that time when we found out that Jonathan, who had gone to see a doctor about his cold, was actually sent to the emergency room. The six of us, Cherry, and Penny rushed to the hospital to visit and pray for him. I was relieved to see that, despite being exhausted and medicated, Jonathan was still laughing like his usual self. Please pray for Jonathan’s health!
Looking back at this week, I am just filled with gratefulness that I got the chance to be here. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to come to Taiwan again this year but it was surely God’s grace that things worked out this way. Seeing the all Taiwanese youth again was a very precious blessing. Despite feeling anxious and drained for much of the week, God used the people around me to uplift me and demonstrate his abundant love. I oftentimes found myself surprised and in awe of my teammates when I saw how beautifully they reflected God’s character through serving. I also grew attached to a lot of the children at the camp. I saw aspects of myself in a lot of them, which was endearing but also instilled greater urgency for them to know God. As always, I have seen this week that God faithfully protects me when I am weak and uses all things in my life for good. Overall, I think I’m just feeling really grateful for a lot of stuff right now.
And to everyone reading this blog, thank you thank you thank you for all of your prayer and support. Praise God for hearing our prayers and working through this missions trip in amazing ways.
Angela
Before I take part in this 2019 STM at ChungKe Christian Assembly Church, I never notice that there could be this many kids who have never heard of Gospel. It is the easiest thing to just stay as where I am, in my own comfort zone and not knowing there could be more that is in need.
I know how limited I am and how lack I am, but in this STM I can see how God uses us to be a part of his plan. I often question whether I could really have any positive influence on others. Through this VBS I learn that most of the things are not what I can do but what God had planned to do.
This year is the first time Chungke Church puts Bible stories in the VBS program. It can be a big challenge for everyone because in the previous year in VBS only teaches about America culture. There could be many doubts in mind, but I think God really spoke to the kids. God’s grace to way more beyond then I can imagine.
I pray that in the future all the kids who come to this years’ VBS can remember there is a God who loves us, and always have his loving arm open to embrace us. In this mission trip, I witness God’s work and how he has loved me as always.
Prayer Requests:
Tired.
I've already cried at least 3 times, but I just can't stop. I'm so desperate for a way to prolong our time here in Taiwan, but I know I can't.
Only God could perform a miracle like that.
But who am I to ask God for miracles when He is our Lord - a Father who has done so much for us this past week and who has revealed more than I could have ever expected, so much more than we deserve. And this year, I think a lot of those realizations were personal to each of us. Whether we were fighting sickness, temptations, distractions, or internal weaknesses, we each faced unique struggles that while may have led to similar lessons learned, gave us different perspectives as to how those lessons should be applied to our lives.
I had a similar feeling of desperation last year when we were about to leave from the airport, with the youth surrounding us and seeing us off one last time. But this time, my desperation reached a different, perhaps even greater height. Maybe it’s because this could be my last time here, maybe it’s because this year I was more intentional with my relationships with the youth. I just don’t want to go back to my normal life.
For me, the most important thing God revealed to me was what it truly meant to selflessly love others, just as God Himself loves us unconditionally. This week, I embraced my biggest weakness – my selfish intentions when helping others. People-pleasing.
Galatians 5:14 "For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
The Taiwanese youth are such a special group of people. I seriously can't stress this enough. During Sunday’s church service, we shared our thoughts and reflections for the past week with the rest of the congregation. Seeing how passionate and genuine two of the Taiwanese youth leaders, Kevin and Evangeline, shared their thoughts, I was moved to tears. I could relate to their feelings because I was there this past week to experience it. Hearing about this mission through the blogs is great, but experiencing it is something truly truly different. Experiencing how much love each of the youth poured out this past week, experiencing how God is able to connect our hearts and tune them to Christ alone, experiencing the life-changing fellowship each of the youth offer, experiencing tiredness to the point where God becomes so much greater, I think I'm finally starting to understand God's unconditional love. It's not about expecting something in return, but rather it's about loving people because God loved us first. What a beautiful truth.
When people ask me why I am a Christian, why I believe God, why I want to help people as a doctor, I’ve always struggled to give a concrete answer. What I now know for sure because of this week, however, is that all my motives and actions in helping and loving others should be for others. To achieve the feelings of joy that comes with loving others shouldn’t be my motivation for doing so, but rather should be naturally received as a gift from God. God expects and wants us to be happy when doing His work, but by learning from how Jesus did His good work, I’ve realized that it’s possible to be happy by fully giving myself to other people without expecting a return – because God promises a return, an eternal one at that. I will never have perfect intentions, but I can have faith that God will continue to refine my heart.
Thank you, my dear Father, for revealing this to me. I am so undeserving of this grace you’ve shown me, so undeserving of the people you’ve placed in my life. It is my hope and prayer that I may return next year. Thank you, God.
 |
Nicole
Today is the last day of this mission trip 😞 We started off the day with church, where both our US team and the Taiwan youth exchanged gifts. The gift that the Taiwanese youth gave us was a framed picture of all of them which makes me so emotional because it just holds so many happy memories. Also, during church, one of my kids from VBS showed up for a couple minutes which was so heartwarming because I could tell God opened his heart so much during the week and it was very reassuring seeing him at church. Then, we went to Gaomei wetlands where we all got covered in sand and salt water but it’s okay because it was so fun and such a great bonding experience. Afterward, we went to a restaurant to have dinner where we once again bonded and had a gift exchange. I’m really really gonna miss the youth and I’m currently writing with tears streaming down my face because I’m thinking about all the happy memories I made throughout this week. Reflecting back, I can tell my heart changed so much; starting from the beginning of the trip where I was in a negative mindset and wanting to stay at home, to now where I have met some of the most life-changing people of my life, wishing I could stay longer. This opportunity has been truly amazing and the relationships I made with the youth here are ones that I could never forget. I feel God has opened my heart to be more serving and loving and I can only end this mission trip with one word: Amen!
Matt
I came into this missions trip with my doubts and worries. Taiwan wasn’t my first priority. I was searching for an internship when Adam reached out to me about Taiwan. I thought to myself: “If I don’t get an internship, I will just have this missions trip as a plan B”. And that was my mindset coming into the missions trip. So when I did find an internship (praise God) and had to explain to my supervisor that I had to take off two weeks, I worried a lot. I worried about balancing both work and God and my heart was all over the place. But after experiencing a week of God’s love, I realized how lucky I was that God placed this trip in my life. The youth in Taiwan had an unconditional love that I have never experienced before. Regardless of how broken our Chinese was and regardless of how hard it was to communicate, the Taiwanese still showed us a love that Made me realize how good our God is. We were able to work together and pour out to the children as a body united in Christ. This trip truly has changed my life and I will be forever grateful for this opportunity that God has placed in my life.
Amy
Please pray for our brother Jonathan, who is in the hospital right now, to have a speedy and peaceful recovery.
Today was our last full day in Taiwan. All of us will head to the airport at 4:30 am tomorrow morning. It’s really hard to think about leaving but this trip is quickly coming to a close.
This morning all of us met at church and had a time of sharing in the youth Sunday school. Later during the service, Amy aiyi presented all of the VBS teachers with gifts and presented about our mission to the church. A few of the kids from the VBS were actually at church this morning, which was awesome (PTL Kevin was there too!). After that, we all had lunch and then headed out to Gao Mei wetlands to play. The scenery at Gao Mei was breathtaking! I had a great time strolling around and chatting with Evangeline. The other youth played an intense game of dodgeball that involved chucking handfuls of muddy sand at each other. At last, we all ate our final dinner together at a seafood restaurant. We also had a gift exchange and gave out cards before leaving.
It was also around that time when we found out that Jonathan, who had gone to see a doctor about his cold, was actually sent to the emergency room. The six of us, Cherry, and Penny rushed to the hospital to visit and pray for him. I was relieved to see that, despite being exhausted and medicated, Jonathan was still laughing like his usual self. Please pray for Jonathan’s health!
Looking back at this week, I am just filled with gratefulness that I got the chance to be here. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to come to Taiwan again this year but it was surely God’s grace that things worked out this way. Seeing the all Taiwanese youth again was a very precious blessing. Despite feeling anxious and drained for much of the week, God used the people around me to uplift me and demonstrate his abundant love. I oftentimes found myself surprised and in awe of my teammates when I saw how beautifully they reflected God’s character through serving. I also grew attached to a lot of the children at the camp. I saw aspects of myself in a lot of them, which was endearing but also instilled greater urgency for them to know God. As always, I have seen this week that God faithfully protects me when I am weak and uses all things in my life for good. Overall, I think I’m just feeling really grateful for a lot of stuff right now.
And to everyone reading this blog, thank you thank you thank you for all of your prayer and support. Praise God for hearing our prayers and working through this missions trip in amazing ways.
Angela
Before I take part in this 2019 STM at ChungKe Christian Assembly Church, I never notice that there could be this many kids who have never heard of Gospel. It is the easiest thing to just stay as where I am, in my own comfort zone and not knowing there could be more that is in need.
I know how limited I am and how lack I am, but in this STM I can see how God uses us to be a part of his plan. I often question whether I could really have any positive influence on others. Through this VBS I learn that most of the things are not what I can do but what God had planned to do.
This year is the first time Chungke Church puts Bible stories in the VBS program. It can be a big challenge for everyone because in the previous year in VBS only teaches about America culture. There could be many doubts in mind, but I think God really spoke to the kids. God’s grace to way more beyond then I can imagine.
I pray that in the future all the kids who come to this years’ VBS can remember there is a God who loves us, and always have his loving arm open to embrace us. In this mission trip, I witness God’s work and how he has loved me as always.
Prayer Requests:
- For us to cherish these memories and use this experience to build our relationship with God and His people
- For those kids who were willing to accept Jesus into their life
- That next year we may continue this mission if God wills it
Thank you everyone, job well done. Thanks for sharing daily, so we can experience God along your side. Thanks Jonathan is recovering and safely return his family. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAs a quiet reader in the entire duration, I often end up with a prayer of thanksgiving and praise. How marvelous to see God’s operation in each one of you. Your responses as reflected in the blog have shown your spiritual growth. Now that the STM is completed, press on, my dear brothers and sisters, to win the prize for which God has called you upwards in Christ Jesus.
ReplyDeleteIndeed the LORD belongs all the praise and thanks for the work being done through 6 of you. Have a speedy recovery Jonathan and look forward to hearing from you more soon.
ReplyDelete