Journey of Faith – Mission Preparation (Day 19)

Today is Day 19 of the 7-week preparation for the mission trip to Myanmar. 6 of us will be going. This spiritual journey so far has been quite amusing & a revelation at the same time.

See, I actually haven’t even attended the Mission Candidate Preparatory workshop yet…I’m only going this weekend. The workshop is something that the church requires everyone to attend before going on a mission trip…so I was a bit blur about what people really do in missions. OK OK…very blur actually. 😛

We had our 1st meeting on the Myanmar trip early this month & were given the mission manuals. I was actually quite “shocked” & overwhelmed when I saw the programmes. I had in mind missions before this was something like doing community service, like teaching English to the kids, or helping to repair their wooden houses, or build wells, or helping to feed them, etc. But what I realised when I saw the programme was that mission is really about evangelism. Besides playing games with the kids, we also have to conduct sermons, Bible studies, sharing word & testimonies, healing rally…now, there’s just a small little problem with that…I’ve never done any of those before…I’ve read maybe 5% of the Bible so far…I couldn’t even pray properly, for goodness sake! Suddenly I thought, “Uh oh…what have I got myself into?”

Anyway, after talking to my colleagues & cell group members…they all told me that it’s gonna be fun! “Just enjoy it!” “Don’t worry about the spiritual part…let the Holy Spirit guide you.” Hmm OK….but how????

My cell leader told me that mission is not just about reaching out & sharing the Gospel….but really more of my own journey & encounter with God. I realised that I was too worried & stressed out about not being able to say the right words or share the Gospel in a way that would touch them…I was more worried about the end results. But what I really should focus on is my own experience of spiritual growth during this time. So then I felt much better & less stressed about it now.

Since the 1st meeting, we were asked to fast each person a day in a week, and another day together as a group. So I’ve been fasting every Tuesday & Friday for 3 weeks now. 4 more weeks to go. I just skip lunch. It’s not so bad, really. Yes I do get hungry by lunch time but it’s actually bearable. It’s one of the things I never thought I’d be able to do…

Why fast, you ask?

a) It intensifies our connection with God and improves our communication for a more effective prayer.

b) It humbles us and brings us to an awareness of our need of God.

c) It hits at our deep-seated selfishness and strengthens our self control.

d) It clears the ground for greater spiritual breakthrough in our lives and the lives of those we come into contact with.

I have to say that many things regarding the trip just fell nicely into place….like how the Red Sea parted conveniently when Moses led the Isrealites across to the Promised Land. Haha. Like how my menses is now a week earlier than it should be, just within 2 months….to make way for the trip. Oh praise the Lord! 😛

I can also feel that I’m growing (spiritually) exponentially now than ever before in the last 9 years of attending church…well, pretty much because I’m forced to as well. Haha. But I believe God has called me to this mission for a purpose…maybe He knows that this is the only way to speed up my growing process. 😛 Or maybe this is a test of faith? Or perhaps, both.

Journey of Faith – Mission Preparation (Prequel)

First of all, I’d like to apologize for my long silence. The last entry was a year ago…as usual, been really lazy to blog. Nevermind about what happened in the past year….it’s been…an awakening experience…and finally walking out of the sinking mud that I’ve been trapped in for the longest time…with die-hard determination…no more turning back…no no no! OK now that it’s out of the way of my life….here’s to something more exciting…

Where shall I start…

Very briefly…(if you’re a non-believer, please bear with me for the next few posts…)

Last year, I was touched by the Holy Spirit in a mega way…after being “disconnected” for the last 6 years or so. Around that time, I had a vision…of doing mission…in some “ulu kampung”. First place that came to mind was Myanmar. Why Myanmar? Hmm…coz I have no interest in Cambodia…and Nepal is a place I’d like to go for hiking, not mission. Myanmar seems just right. The other place was the orang asli village deep within Sarawak. OK maybe it was just a daydream…but whatever it was, there were signs that convinced me that it was a calling from God. Firstly, I would never dream of doing mission before this….never! This has got to be the work of the Holy Spirit. Then, few weeks after the vision & telling a friend about it & the idea was still floating somewhere in my mind, a non-Christian friend of mine suddenly asked me out of the blue, “Dee, what is mission?” Like…the timing couldn’t be better right?! Shortly after that too, I got to know that a friend (whom I had wanted so many times to ask for drinks with my friends but never did!) had been headhunted & moved to Myanmar (of all places, right?). So mission & Myanmar. Mission + Myanmar. It just seems right to equate it to ‘Mission To Myanmar’!

Hahaha…..

Fast forward to today, yes, I’m going for a mission trip to Myanmar at the end of July! 🙂

(…to be continued)