Thank you for your prayers. I can't even begin to describe how much God is moving in East Asia and how much He taught me this summer. God's doing amazing things there. Our team got to see 44 people come to know Christ! Praise God! We also got to meet some national staff which was really exciting, since they came to know Christ in college, and now are STINTing in Central Asia, taking the Gospel to places where it would be difficult for Americans to go- the whole Back to Jerusalem movement. It's sweet to see how that nation is becoming a great sending nation.
God humbled me in many ways this summer. I realized that I came into the project with rose-colored glasses, as I thought that full-time ministry would be all good and happy since I had heard how ripe East Asia is for harvesting. But God is faithful, He shatters my expectations and with every broken piece surrendered to Him, He makes my vision clearer to gaze on Him. Despite sickness, loneliness, and discouragement, God gave me more of His joy and showed me how His grace is sufficient and His power is perfected in my weakness as it says in 2 Corinthians 12:9. It was actually really cool because the second week we were there, there were around 4 of us who were really sick, and that was the week the harvest was most plentiful as our team got to see around 25 people come to know Christ. Praise God! I couldn't go out very much that week, so I stayed in my apartment and prayed for my team, but it was so encouraging seeing God use the body to accomplish His work. I actually never got to see someone come to know Christ personally, which was hard for me at first, as I struggled with comparision and feeling like a failure, but God is so faithful of reminding me to rejoice first and foremostly in my salvation, not the results, because it is God who takes care of the results as it says in Habbakuk 3:17-19, "Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength, he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places."
I was also very encouraged by my team, and saw the great value of community especially when doing ministry. I actually miss them alot. God has grown my heart for East Asia, and I am praying to see if God is leading me to STINT next year or go back in some other way at some other time. Please pray for me as I seek God's direction this next year. I'm graduating, which is a scary thought, but I believe that this trip affirmed that God is calling me to full-time ministry, but I'm not sure what that looks like right now. I'll be applying to Biola to get an M.A. in Intercultural studies. Please be in prayer for that as well.
This is kind of a strange illustration of how much I was at peace being there: My parents told me my acne was much clearer than when I left, even though they expected that it would've gotten worse. I told them that I guess it's because it was most joyous and less stressful being fully focused on ministry. Maybe it's also because it's a simple and slower pace of life there. Please also pray for my parents, as they trust God with my plans as well. I praise God that He grew them alot during this trip, in letting me go, and trusting Him with me. I ask that He continue to grow them and grow their trust in Him since He might lead me to some crazy places in the future.
Oh yeah, and CM 2007 was amazing! It was like a glimpse of heaven.
Now, I'm at home and having a refreshing time resting in God's presence - reading, writing, listening to sermons, playing piano and guitar. It's been very refreshing, especially after experiencing exhaustion in East Asia.
