A Trip to Serve God and for Self-Development

China Mission Trip – October 23 to November 2, 2006

 

It all started when I wanted to set my priorities right and told God to grant me opportunities to serve HIM more. With much apprehension, I obeyed HIS calling to enroll for the China Mission Trip, not really knowing what I am getting myself into. By faith, I found myself part of a team of 7 heading towards Singapore in a comfortable coach to catch our budget flight to GZ on October 23, 2006.

 

Here’s how my mission adventure went - filled with excitement, anxiety, uncertainty, culture shocks, despair and joy!

 

23/10 – For the first time the CBC mission trip was represented by each center - Philip from Puchong, Pat Shum from SEA Park and myself from Subang along with Pastor Richard, Pat Toh, Edward Wee from Brisbane and David Chee, our missionary to China. Reached Harbour Front, Singapore, by coach, and had a late lunch, loitered around before taking a cab to the Budget Terminal. Too early to have dinner but forced myself to have ‘bak kuah’ with French loaf, courtesy of Edward. This was my first time traveling in a low budget airline. It was full and cramped – the coach was a luxury in comparison!!

 

Arrived at our hotel in GZ past midnight. To my horror, my luggage bag was damaged. Thank God for team members who were kind enough to carry the heavy luggage for me. As usual, I could not sleep as this was my first day out of the comforts of home.

 

24/10 – went for Dim Sum breakfast. Philip was given the honour to order and we ended up having a Dim Sum banquet with lots of leftovers for our lunch. Visited Simon Peter’s center, an English institution, before we headed for the train station.

 

My first culture shock – for a 20 hour ride to XF in Central China, the berth was a six bedded triple-decker compartment. The train was crowded with narrow corridors. The bed was dirty, journey was long and noisy. Because we did not get an air-conditioned coach, the windows were left opened. Soon, we found our faces covered with soot. I watched in horror as the passengers spat on the floor and rubbish literally thrown out through the windows! Beginning to despair, I put up a brave front to try and eat the food served. I could not sleep at all as my body was aching all over. I prayed to God for endurance and courage. The team members helped lift my spirit with their positiveness.

 

25/10 – finally arrived at XF and were hurriedly brought to the home of the church leader. Could not wait to have my bath. I thoroughly washed my hair and scrubbed my blackened comb. It was getting cold and my open sandals were not helping me to keep warm. Had a good simple lunch prepared by a full time worker. 

 

In the evening, we waited before the men to arrive. We walked in separate groups to allay notice, to a nearby restaurant for dinner. A lot of last minute changes to the agenda and I began to feel frustrated. The guys will go their separate ways to minister at house churches and meet up with the leaders; the ladies will proceed to QZ to minister at house churches and teach at a Bible school.

 

26/10 – woke up very early to prepare for our journey to QZ. We could only bring a backpack for our necessities for the next 5 days, leaving our luggage bags behind.

 

My second culture shock – the public toilets at the bus station were so smelly and dirty, and yes, either without doors or the users were not bothered to close the doors as they squat and stared at me indifferently while doing their ‘business!’

 

Arrived at QZ after a 3-hour bus ride, driven by a reckless driver. We were brought to Sister C’s house, one of the teachers at the Bible school. As Pat Shum and Lina (her interpreter) moved on to visit and teach at house churches, Pat Toh, May (our interpreter) and I went with Sister C to the Bible school. On arrival, my worst fears were confirmed. Yes, I had been forewarned about the living conditions but I did not imagine it to be that bad. The school was actually an old, dilapidated farm house located in a remote village surrounded by fish ponds and cotton fields. The nearest town was more than 10km away. I saw filth and flies everywhere, with a pond beside the house for throwing rubbish. There was no proper bathroom as most activities were done near the kitchen where the well was. For toilets, they were just pits dug in the ground with stagnated human waste floating in them. The smell was just unbearable. Pat encouraged me to overcome the culture shock.

 

In all, the Bible Scholl consisted of 40 students, age ranging from 15 to 22, with two other in their 40’s. There were 22 guys and 18 gals. We started at night with some ice breakers and games before Pat preached on Abraham, taken from Genesis 11 and 12. We ended by ministering and praying for the students who eagerly waited for their turns.

The well, where all the washing was done. The basins were used for washing veggies,  meat, clothes,  feet, and faces!

 

27/10 – we had difficulty sleeping because of the fumes from the mosquito coil. I woke up with an asthmatic cough. It was actually the singing and prayers of the students that woke us up at 6 a.m. Their session lasted an hour. Breakfast was at 7 a.m. The students washed up and our session started at 8 a.m. We played games which the students enjoyed especially knowing there were prizes to be won. Pat taught on Leadership, using the John Maxwell’s MLM series, Book 1. The students were very responsive to what was taught and we encouraged them to ask questions and to discuss issues to make it relevant to their lives. When asked to share, they willingly volunteered and showed their passion to serve God.

As Pat taught, I felt so miserable with the living conditions. Having my handphone, I SMS Peter. Tears welled in my eyes as he and the girls replied with words of encouragement, which I desperately needed. For the students’ sake, I had to be courageous even though deep inside I just wanted to pack up and take the next flight home!

 

As the first session ended, there was some excitement as the village head (government servant) came over. We were worried he will get suspicious and report to the authorities. We prayed and thank God he left without suspecting anything.

 

After lunch, the students formed into 3 groups where I got them to work as a team to piece together a jigsaw puzzle. We could observe self appointed leaders as well as students who stayed out, not wanting to get involved. Session two of the teaching followed until 5 p.m. Dinner was served at a special table for us, “Lao Shi” – teacher, that’s what they called us!

 

As I despaired again, Pat was gently encouraging me by teaching me ways to stay comfortable. I prayed to God for endurance and strength to overcome as the dust affected my sinus; my body was itching and the foul smell was making me nauseous.

Participation from the students had been encouraging during the teaching sessions. They were especially excited when we spent time ministering and praying for them.

 

28/10 – my spirit was lifted as I received words of encouragement via SMS from my cell group members. The students impressed us by waking up at 5 a.m. daily and started the day with corporate prayer. After every simple meal comprising mainly of carbohydrates and vegetables, they will work as a team to clean up. Outdoor activities included the gathering and bundling of twigs from the cotton crop for fire. More than 10 students shared one bedroom, sleeping in rows on the floor. Some even slept in a makeshift bedroom. I really felt humbled when I learnt that the students had to go and clear all the human waste from the pits and carried them to another manure pond. To us, that would be considered a degrading job. The amount of hardship they had to go through really earned my respect for them as it did not dampen their fervency and hunger for God.

 

We organized a competition between 4 groups to build a tower each, using only drinking straws. The aim of this exercise was to teach them team work, creativity and a need to build on a strong foundation. There was also the spiritual implications to this – a house that is built on the rock stands because it has a firm foundation in Jesus Christ. There was a lot of cooperation among the students. Each team explained what their tower symbolized and they even prayed over their structure, in the hope of being judged the best tower.

 

In the evening, we taught them some of our worship songs and praise hands. The students were full of excitement and showed great enthusiasm.

 

29/10 – we were awoken by the students’ worship and prayer. Being our last day, we got the students to write their sins and burdens on pieces of paper, and then ‘nailed’ them to a make-shift wooden cross. When asked how they felt after the symbolic act, with such joy, they answered, What a relief! They also wrote their testimonies for us to take home.

 

As we did not get to minister to all the 40 students over the past 3 days, the remaining students were divided into two groups according to their gender. Ladies first, we heard their sharing, which was so open and honest before we ministered to them. The guys were less intense in their sharing but nevertheless, had issues which we were glad we could handle. Having prayed for everyone, we left this abode with a little sadness as we had made so many friends, both young and old. Caught the hourly bus back to QZ. It made us smile because Sister C had actually put a live fish in a plastic bag to take back to her home to cook for us that night. The bag had a leak and all the way, it made a watery streak on the floor of the bus!

 

We had two reunions in the next 24 hours. The CBC team was at last together again in the big city of W on 30/10. A dinner with the local believers at an outdoor restaurant was memorable. We had hairy crab (in Malaysia, this was an expensive delicacy) and more than a dozen dishes! The next day, we visited a house church, went shopping and had local snacks along the streets before we finally said goodbye to our Chinese brothers and sisters.

 

Thank God, our train journey was halved this time as we managed to hop on an express! At GZ, we had a final round of shopping before we headed for Zhuhai and Macau. A local pastor allowed us to stay at his music studio that night. Throughout the night, we were ‘serenaded’ by the howling of a pack of dogs! The next morning, after breakfast, we boarded the AirAsia plane back to KLIA.

After the mission trip, it was feasting time in the streets of W-city in Central China. They had lovely satay – beef, lamb and sotong, and hot (really hot) noodles!

 

This mission trip was not only a trip for me to serve God, but it was also a trip for self development. I have learnt to put my faith in God to protect and sustain me and the other team members. I thank God for HIS presence throughout the trip (Proverbs 2:8 “He guards the paths of justice and protects those who are faithful to him.”) This trip was also made possible by having team members who cared and cell members who continually prayed for us, giving me words of encouragement to hang on and persevere during moments of despair. Despite the challenging conditions, it was a joy to serve and teach as the students were so fervent and hungry for God. It has also made me appreciate the blessings that God has showered upon me and not take the people around me and relationships for granted.

 

You need to be there to be able to fully understand and experience the joys of serving. Matthew 9:37 reads: “The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few.” The fervent faith and responsiveness that we saw in the youth we taught and ministered were motivation enough to make the trip worth while.

 

So, let us get out from our comfort zone and obey God’s command of “Come, be my disciples, and I will make you fishers of man” (Matthew 4:19). Just as I told my cell members, if I can make it, so can everyone else.

By Chin Kim Fei

Cell Member of M8 in Subang Centre