| Helloooo!!!! I'm back from my missions trip to Northeast China A bit jet lagged but in good spirits. Would've been better readjusting to home had I not succumb to a cold. That's ok....the trip was well worth it and overrides a little physical ailment. Needless to say, I have seen and heard so many blessing things and thus have LOTS to share. I'm in the process of gathering my thoughts so once that's over, I will be ELATED to share with everyone. One thing I have learned is that God ultimately has a mighty plan of his own that he doesn't privy us to beforehand. Due to security reasons, the two month of missions training and planning pretty much went caput when we arrived in China. Plan B (God's Plan) kicked in, however, in a matter of hours. I definitely was encouraged by how well my team adjusted despite all the last minute changed and the morale continued to remain high throughout the trip. God certainly really works for the BETTER - and looking back I'm really amazed to witness and experience that first-hand. Not only did the team get to spend time and minister to amazingly beautiful and wonderfully cute children whom we all bonded with right away (and yes I was tempted to bring one back home - I instantly bonded with a 4 year old K.J. who’s beguiling smile remains in my thoughts, he ate so well all the time and had these BIG pinchable cheeks!!! ), we got to visit the Tumen Vocational School in the town of Tumen (the city borders North Korea and connects a single bridge and railway for import/export bet. China and North Korea), taught English and VBS lessons at a predominantly Korean kindergarten, and visited a school for the handicapped and played with the children there. My heart was particularly burdened as I stared out at the vast land before me that was North Korea. The land look so dry and barren and there was such a stark contrast even in coloring between the two countries. The grayish hue of mountains lined the border and covered whatever atrocities going within the confines of the country. I'd mostly heard of the stories and seen atrocious pictures prior to our trip, but it certainly didn't hit me as hard and made my heart ache for them as it did at the moment. For some reason, literally standing less than 1/2 a mile away from the North Korean border and staring out into the oppressed and enclosed land made it all the more profound. I stood there on the bridge observing a clump of workers in the field in dark clothing manually laboring in the fields with no fielding euipment at all. I wondered what they were thinking at these foreigners staring out at them working - do they know that they are being prayed for and remains in our thoughts even as we walk away from them? To my right were North Korean soldiers in a little dugout that lined the border every half a mile of so, keeping vigilant watch on anyone trying to cross the border. I wondered -God, why do you let such things go on, to your beloved people, but we trust that you have a plan and we lift up these lost people to you, and truly hope that one day, the land will be able to proclaim your name and LOVE YOU. We met so many amazing and inspiring individuals setting up ministry bases there. Everyday people, performing extraordinary works, giving up the comforts of their own homes in different countries to serve the LORD. I also met a 22 year old refugee who went through much more than a any young man should. He told me of his experiences in a North Korean jail, the injustice committed upon the people and even of his first-hand witnessing of individuals being shot in front of his eyes when he was a child. Despite all the horrendous acts he experienced, he gave up his life and made a commitment to serve the Lord and he wants to go back into North Korea to minister there after his studies are over. Now THAT is awesome. There is so much prayer and support needed in that region of the world and I walk away with a great burden on my heart to convey this to those around me. We visited a church there and the pastor spoke on a passage that I really GRAPPLED with and held me over this past year so it made it all the more profound as I sat on the cold, hardwood floor, in a country where HIS existence is suppressed. Though it was all in Korean, I THINK I was able to grasp the major points. I have a copy of this passage on my bulletin board in my office. I’m thankful I found a little more understanding what that purpose is after this trip. Romans 8:28-37: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified….. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For YOUR sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” NO in ALL things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither death nor life, neither the present nor the future, not anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the LOVE of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” |
