It’s been a pretty long week since the start of this year’s i42 camps. I don’t have the energy or time really to reread what I wrote so it could be raw and/or have bad grammar.
Even though it’s my second year on Taiwan missions with i42, I still feel very much like a noob. God has been working a lot through my life this past year – while the camps are still largely the same, I am seeing them with a much different perspective. I feel as if there is a new hunger in me to see God glorified in these camps, these children, these churches, and in ourselves.
There were around 90 kids at this year’s N Taichung Camp. We were able to tell them four stories from the bible. This camp was also my first experience teaching English. The first class that I taught was really rough and between classes (and even during class) we would always rushedly discuss what to do next. Even through this, I was able to see God work a lot. One of the things that someone said to me back home was that God didn’t waste anything, and it was really humbling to see firsthand. We did honestly really bad, but God was still able to use it to reach the kids. And God was also able to help us to get better a lot and towards the end of the camp. There was honestly no way I would have been able to handle that many kids by myself
One experience that especially encouraged me was a house visit that I was able to go to. We knew that the family there was already Christian and involved in the church, but the 叔叔’s testimony was [really a blessing for us]. The family had first been introduced to Christ through one of our previous camps a couple years ago. Initially, it was only for their children to learn English, but a seed was planted within the family and they began to become [more and more] curious as to what church was really about. I don’t particularly remember what happened as he grew closer to Christ (or I didn’t understand it in Chinese lol), but he eventually gave his life to Christ. His parents were initially opposed to his baptism, but 500 people at a church prayed for him and he decided to step out in faith and ask his parents again. This time, their hearts were softened and he was able to be baptised. This experience just reminded me that although we may not see the fruit of our efforts immediately, God is still using that. And over time, God will make the seed grow – we may not be the ones to see the fruit but God is still glorified. In the same way, I want to be able to have the faith that the seeds that we’ve planted this week would be watered by the church and that God would grow them to bear fruit.
Even though God has blessed us so much throughout this camp, there are still several prayer requests. The church needs a lot of prayer. What we did was honestly the easy part – we were only there for 6 days. They’ve still got a lot to do and they’re working in this area long-term. Pray that they would be encouraged and challenged to reach out to those around them in the community and that they would be able to bring the church out to those who can or will not visit the church. Specifically within the church, some of our co-workers/helpers can also use prayer. They also need to grow closer to God, and my hope is that now that they have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, that they would hunger for more of Him. Also pray for our team health, I think me and maybe some other members are starting to get a bit sick, but also for our spiritual health, that we would continue to abide in God.
If nothing else, I want to see the people we reached in heaven.
