God's Ten-Years Series for Me

Feeling very excited about missions! :) A lot of us have been fired up in our recent services / mission camp. I saw the missions video. Thank God for the good people who made it!

And I'm very grateful to God for His faithfulness. I remember responding to missions back on 22 Feb 2002 during an overnight prayer meeting.

In that prayer meeting, the prayer leader had an altar call for people who were willing to go for missions to South America. At that time, my district (it was called Young Professionals... the equivalent of my church's Young Grads group today) was sending out people.

Though I was the youngest in the Young Professionals group (I was only an NSF, as compared to all the other people, who had started working already), something in my heart believed that God would be willing to send me if I volunteered, even though I was so unready in all aspects of my life - spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, socially.

So I stuck my hand up in childlike faith to respond, believing with all my heart that God looks not at my outward appearance, but my heart.

And I remember the encouraging smiles of all my brothers and sisters around me as they reached out their hands to pray for me, together with the others who had responded. Haha, perhaps they were encouraged to see how God was touching even the youngest one, the "xiao di di" among them to respond for missions in a particular field...

:)

And now, I see how things have unfolded over the past decade.

As 2002 unfolded, God gave me such an unusual ability to learn Spanish - I can still even recite certain passages of the Bible that I've memorised in Spanish up to now... how God made a way for me to meet some Spanish-speaking people (Mexicans and a few South Americans)... and how my church recognized and publicly affirmed my heart for missions during a special Best-of-the-Best awards ceremony...

And then from 2003 to 2005, when I had started to wonder whether my "application" for missions was being processed at all in the heavenly departments... I went through a very intense time of humbling, breaking down and character moulding. It was so humbling that I remember wishing to God a few times that I could die.

But ah, sing to the Lord, praise His holy name. For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favour a lifetime. Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning!

Through those painful times, He helped me know Him in such a real and richer way than I'd ever before... I will never exchange the pain that I've gone through, because all the pain He let me go through really worked out for such a wonderful experience of experiencing the depths of His love, mercy and grace... oh... God. He just is so GOOD. =) Ah. Tears in my eyes again, remembering all the wonderful little things that He did for me during those terrible times.

There is no pit so deep that His love is not deeper still.

Finally, in 2006, the last year of my uni life, I sought God for about 6 months of fasting and praying (not all the time lah). He then slowly revealed His specific calling for me to be in children's ministry.

:)

Then in 2007, I had a major step of faith to make. Whether to take up a job that promised stability and a good starting pay for a first-time grad with no honours... but at the risk of having to work on a lot of Sundays, or choose to turn it down and trust God for a better job.

Peter and I waited upon God and God independently confirmed with both of us the same thing: "Those who honour Me will I honour." So I honoured God by turning down the job and looking for a better one. And God impressed very clearly on me the exact starting pay that I would get: $2750. And it really came to pass! And I even got a raise a few months later, bringing my pay to over $3K. Truly, those who honour Him will He honour.

This miraculous providence of God was a very important faith-strengthening experience for me, especially in light of what would come 2 years later: my quitting that same job.

In 2008, I got a few powerful and encouraging prophecies and prophetic words. E.g. Pastor James from Mandarin service telling me over a conference breakfast that God has called me to be in children's ministry - while I was about to chomp on a sausage. LOL. And the dual prophecies by Peter Truong and Hong Teck. 2008 was also the year I was finally able to become a shepherd offically... (after TEN YEARS in church...) to take care of a younger brother and help encourage him to experience God a little more... just so blessed to see how good and kind God has been to him! :D And oh yes, my first-ever missions trip... and were it not for God's divine protection, probably the last-ever trip. :P (Van turned turtle after a drunk driver smashed heads-on into our van... even an atheist friend who saw the photo said that even though he doesn't believe in God, I had better thank God that I'm still alive! ROFL and amen!)

In 2009, I fasted and prayed for about 6 months to seek His guidance regarding whether I should quit my job. God showed me very clearly that I should quit, so I did. Wow. Step of faith. But I saw how God worked so wonderfully in the days to come. Also received a clear confirmation that God has given me the gift of prophecy. So many other exciting things unfolded as well, but too many to write here.

Then last year (2010), two missions trips to Cambodia and seeing for myself the children there. And after finishing my work attachment in October, I began to sense a prompting in my heart from the Holy Spirit. By now, I was already becoming familiar with His voice, and I knew that such a prompting was very likely from Him. That prompting was ... to go to Hope Ecuador and support the church-planting team there in their children's ministry. :) Asked Shenteng and Peiru about it when they came to Singapore last month, and ST said it's a good idea, provided I can come up with the money to go there.

Now, in 2011 as of January, as I retrace the past nine years, I can see how God is the Great Grand Weaver. Children's ministry, media, missions... all wonderfully interwoven in a beautiful tapestry. And each new unfolding builds upon the previous unfolding. How I might not have sensed the prompting from the Holy Spirit to go if I had not learnt to discern AND OBEY His voice in earlier experiences.

:)

In conclusion, I responded for missions to South America in Feb 2002. Now it seems that I may be going to Ecuador at the start of 2012. The way things are, I won't be surprised if I end up going in Feb 2012... or even 22 Feb 2012? God's timing is always perfect. Hee hee!

Yeah! So touched to see God's grace and faithfulness and love... that He listened to a willing young heart, though it was clearly not ready... and He accepted the very little that I could give (even though it was all I had), and He's training me for ten years before sending me out into the harvest fields. And I see how God is fitting together for me an interdependent "three-in-one" calling: missions, media and children's ministry. :) Hee hee!

So my dear brothers and sisters, if you're thinking of responding to God's call for workers to go out into the harvest fields of the world, but feel / think / know that you are so unable... I REALLY want to encourage you, dear friends, with this:

God doesn't call the qualified; He qualifies the called!

¡La salvación viene de nuestro Dios,
que está sentado en el trono,
y del Cordero!

¡Amén!
La alabanza, la gloria,
la sabiduría, la acción de gracias,
la honra, el poder y la fortaleza
son de nuestro Dios por los siglos de los siglos.
¡Amén!

Matthew 28:18-20 in Spanish:
Jesús se acercó entonces a ellos y les dijo:
—Se me ha dado toda autoridad en el cielo y en la tierra. Por tanto, vayan y hagan discípulos de todas las naciones, bautizándolos en el nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo, enseñándoles a obedecer todo lo que les he mandado a ustedes. Y les aseguro que estaré con ustedes siempre, hasta el fin del mundo.—

¡Amén y amén!