”Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.“ 1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV
I hate being sick. I’m currently sitting in a coffee shop getting over a small bug that I’ve had for the past day or so. Life here has been pretty consistent with the same events every week, but the work we have been putting in is starting to bear fruit. Our empty afternoons and evenings are starting to fill up with coffee discipleships, game nights, and pick-up frisbee. God has led us to many people, all needing Jesus, and we’re finally getting the chances to build on those relationships. As I jump into the details of the past two weeks, I’ll focus on some of the themes God has continued to impress upon my heart and how my faith, though challenged, has continued to grow through these experiences.
The first bigger event that happened after I last wrote was my short-term trip to a different part of my deployment. It was about a 5-hour drive and then a short ferry ride to our destination near the sea. The scenery and people seemed very similar to the area we had just left, but some noticeable differences were the Chinese influences on this specific area. We dropped our stuff, got some lunch, and then spent the next 2 days going out periodically sharing with those we met. As I sat in the ferry on my way back, I reflected on what God had put on my heart specifically the gospel being “good news”. As I sat in coffee shops, next to food stalls, and shared the gospel I personal felt the rescuing power of what I was sharing. As I opened up to those I was sharing with, related over my past fears of death and living without purpose, I pointed them to the saving grace of Jesus and its present effect on my life. That I now lived with an assurance of hope. That I was going to heaven not because of what I had done (quite the opposite) but because of what he had done for me. Life can become monotonous and even the sharing of the gospel can dim, but in moments like this I recognize once again the treasure God has entrusted to me. This is news that changes lives, transforms them, and those of us who have experiences Jesus can speak personally to this. Yet some have never heard this news, never had the chance to fully understand what Jesus has done for them. This is the need of the world, to hear and experience this news.
Another bigger event that’s happened in the past two weeks was finishing one of our assigned books called “In This Generation”. One of the chapters that stood out to me was the twistedness of the term being “called”. Our generation has fallen into an overwhelming common deception that to be called is something mystical and supernatural from God. However, this is a lie twisted by the enemy that has successfully held thousands back from realizing the truth. That the need abroad is the call. “The millions in India, China, Japan, Africa are crying, “Come over and help us.” Who are under more obligation to go than we? In the greater need abroad we hear the call of God” (Ahrend). There is a need, there is a command (Matthew 28:18-20), yet we still wait on God’s “call”. Our perspective needs to change. “You and I need no special call to apply that general call of God to our lives. We do need a special call to exempt us from its application to our lives. In other words, every one of us stands under a presumptive obligation to give his life to the world unless we have some special exemption” (Ahrend). God has called us to go, and as obedient followers of Christ, we must go. There is a need to be met and Christ intends to use us as tools of his love and mercy. Let’s stop thinking in this twisted way of, am I called to go, but rather am I called to stay?
As we got back from our short step out of our normal weekly ministries, our team leaders challenge us to start reaching out to all the contacts we had made and trying to get into a role of meeting with them more consistently. And so that is now where my life stands. Meeting with believers discipling and encouraging them in their faith. Having dinners and lunches with those that I’ve met but haven’t had a chance to share with, and now raising before them the news of what Jesus means to me and what he can mean to them. And daily striving to trust God with all these things, including my frisbee ministry. Last weekend we finally had our first scheduled frisbee game! But, after encountering some technical problems and a discouraging number of participants I was left frustrated. That night as I reflect on it all God continued to put the words of “trusting him” on my heart. This has been something God’s been telling me for a while. To trust him not only with my life, but in every encounter, sharing of the gospel, and relationship I am building for him. This is not something I have perfected, it is something I wrestle with every day, but God is helping me to give it all to him more and more. And I hope and pray that as I lift all of my life up to him, that he will use me more and more to blaze his good news into this darkness around me. He has proven himself over and over again to me. I pray that in the short time I have left here that I will trust him and prove my faith to him, specifically by the trust I put in him in my daily walk of life.
Some more specific highlights from the past two weeks have been;
-Knocking out the main brunt of scholarship I had to get done
-Getting better at Futsal
-Chinese new years celebrations
-Watching a national partner getting rizzed up by someone we just met
-D&d with Will and David
-Calls with the family
-Catching up with Alex and Eli
-English presentation and lotsss of pictures
-Killing a scorpion
-Deepest gospel conversation with a refugee/learning more about the culture
God has continued to give me some awesome experiences and look forward to learning and loving these people more as I live life alongside them.
Some prayer requests y’all can be interceding on for me are:
- Health and wisdom in resting
- Trusting God with every aspect on my life
- To grow deeper into this love I have for these lost people
- For believers here to have a renewed faith and hunger for God’s word, and their commitment to him
- For me to make more time for personal talks with God both in prayer and in scripture
God is good and even now feeling out of it as I get over this sickness, I look forward to renewed energy as I hop back into these moments of life God has given me. More and more I know this is where God wants me to be and what he wants me to be doing. As I go out with this message of transformation and life, I hope that God will continue to nurture this excitement of what the gospel is and has done for me. So many people have not heard, so many people need Jesus, and that is why I am here. That is the call. I hope God continues to show you this “call”, and that as you respond to it, God will grow you and show you how to trust him with all that you have. God bless y’all and give you much hope.
