PRAY, PARTNER and PERGI
My first China Mission Trip – August 8 to 18, 2006
Being a regular member of the CBC Prayer Task Force for Missions, I
have faithfully prayed for each of our Mission fields as we met each
2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month. Thus from the onset of last year,
missions has been very close to my heart.
So it was a definite “yes” to be part of the next mission team to
China. When Pastor Richard announced the intention of sending another
team earlier this year to GZ, I was happy to follow the team.
The whole team consisted of Norah, David, Pat Shum, Larry Wuan, Sue Ng
and me. Pat and Norah were seasoned missioners! Preparations started as
early as in June. Norah, our faithful team leader, prayed and thought
through the theme for this trip, calling for meetings and getting us
all come together to work on “the whole armor of God” – that was the
theme, based on Ephesians 6:10-18.
I began earnestly mastering Ephesians 6 and learning to speak Mandarin
(Pudonghua.) Pat Shum was wonderful, equipping me with a Chinese Bible
and a song book with Hanyu Pinyin. Pastor Huang and his wife Cindy
helped translate our theme song. They also helped me with the
translation on the Gospel shoes of peace, which was my portion.
Brother David arranged for our bus ride on Tuesday. We started at 10
a.m. and arrived in Singapore at 3 p.m. We flew Tiger Airways that
evening, arriving in GZ past mid-night. Praise God for keeping us safe.
David’s contact took us in a nice van to our destination, arriving at 3
a.m. The whole team was warmly welcomed by our host and workers at the
camp. Can you imagine how touched we were by their welcome at that hour!
I was completely knocked off on arrival, felt fairly sick with a bad
throat infection and aching body indicating signs of a possible bout of
’flu. With much prayers from everyone, a few panadols and plenty of
water, I quickly recovered on the second day. By the third day, my
normal self began to emerge. I was truly grateful to God.
The camp was fairly comfortable. We slept on wooden beds with bamboo
mats and mosquito netting. Water for bathing was like a medium pail a
day. We had to use water pumped from the ground. Hence the frugal use
of every drop. For food, we had lots of vegetables and preserved
cabbages. The hosts were kind to us because we were teachers.
Throughout the 4 days of the camp we were looked after really well. For
breakfast, we had simple broth, tasty home grown vegetables and
delicious food for lunch and dinner. Meat dishes which were regarded as
a special treat for these folks were readily made available for us. We
were very grateful and touched by their generous hospitality and
kindness.
The kids were wonderful. They amazed us with their simple faith and
their hearts were full of love for God. Their fervent outpouring of
prayers touched all our hearts. We were moved beyond words by their
openness for missions and for sharing the gospel.
The Balloon Armour
of God
We were truly blessed beyond our expectations. We taught them to sing,
dance and use creative ideas for crafts and other activities. We were
just amazed that we got by with our limited Pudonghua and Cantonese.
The prayer sessions at the camp were really spirit filled. We felt the
children were all called for special service as they grow in their
Christian walk.
We were also wonderfully blessed by a Malaysian lady, co-worker named
Sister M. She translated for us. On Sunday, the last day of the camp,
we were really sad to leave. We had all bonded with the workers and
children. We felt so much a part of them that we all were in tears as
we bade farewell after lunch. Some of the children cried. All of us had
red eyes!
We had a different set of experience in GZ. It was really great that we
made used of our time to do a bit of sight seeing. When Larry lost his
hand phone, it opened up an opportunity for us to share the gospel with
a stranger. Surely it was not a coincidence but a Romans 8:28 life
experience!
While the rest of the team flew home, Pat, Sister M and I stayed back
another day at the city. The Lord opened yet another opportunity for us
to share the gospel with the housekeeper of the hotel.
On Tuesday afternoon, we set off for ZH. We had a good time with the
locals there and stayed over at their house church. We met our host and
her cousin from Anhui, who had just accepted Jesus on the 8th of
August. So we were able to share and encourage her as she shared her
feelings and uncertainties having just accepted Jesus into her life.
The following afternoon we were invited to one of the house churches in
ZH where we ministered to some children. We shared Ephesians 6 on the
full armor of God with them through songs, word search puzzles, and
balloon craft.
The final morning, Pat and I parted with sister M who journeyed back to
GZ with the sister from Anhui. We left for Macau for a day’s sight
seeing. It was also a meaningful day for both of us as we had a great
time seeing this Portuguese city and ending the day by being invited to
join the prayer meeting at a Macau Church. We were happy that at the
meeting we were able to share and pray together with the brothers and
sisters there.
Pat and I felt we were really blessed by the children and people we met
on this Mission trip. I just want to thank God for allowing me to see
the great need of missions and the big harvest field in China.
All in all, I had a satisfying trip. It was a trip well worth going
back again. I saw how brothers and sisters serve God in China and
Macau. I am just so thankful and so grateful for all that God has
blessed me with. This trip has also blessed me with Kingdom values far
beyond any I have experienced before.
The Balloon Armour
of God