In the end of May, I went to ACMI conference, where lots of international student ministries gathered and got connected with each other. It was a neat experience. I learned a lot. I met people from other IFI locations as well as people from other ministries. Also, I got to see my awesome host family Kim and Rod from Michigan!
There were lots of workshops during ACMI. My favorite one was about reaching Middle Eastern people, not only because I learned so many shocking cultural differences, but also because I can see how the speaker built trust with the students he ministered. When I was involved in a student ministry in college, I heard people say “build trust” a lot but it wasn’t until this workshop did I really understand what it meant to build trust.
Lots of us want to tell people the Good News about Jesus, but before this we need to let them trust us. I think building trust involves love and appreciation of both sides. Trust will be built when people on both sides can find things to appreciate each other. It is difficult to build trust when we can’t find any good qualities on each other. Besides, there are so many different kinds of people. Sometimes because of the differences we don’t understand each other; and misunderstanding can trigger bitterness. The Bible says “love is patient”. When doing ministry, it is inevitable to meet people we don’t understand or people very different from us. We need to be patient and learn to love these people, just like the way Jesus loves us. I believe that in ministry, love should be sincere. We should treat people as our dear friends instead of projects. I pray that God can build sincere friendships in my ministry; help me be understanding and share the Gospel with people out of love.
During the IFI all staff meeting on Sunday, our executive directer Rich shared some of his discouragements. Also he used God’s word to encourage people. I really appreciated that he can share that. When I was student, I was friends with some full time staff in the mission field. I was always wondering what their daily lives look like. Since they look well joyful every day, I doubted if they had any problems or sadness in their life. Sometimes, I feel that they are so perfect and I think may be they don’t have as many problems as I do. When I really step into the mission field, at first I still had the thought that my coworkers had very little struggles in their lives. However, on Sunday, Rich shared lots of his discouragements, as well as other coworkers, and I realized that every one encounters difficulties in their lives. I realized that missionaries are not perfect people; they can also have fears, doubts, hardships and temptations. Problems are real and we can’t ignore them, rather, we need to face them with the proper attitude. We should totally depend on God to solve those problems and we should help each other in Christ. Rich mentioned that Jesus and his disciples in the Bible also had many difficulties in their ministry. We shouldn’t have any fear about difficulties in this world; we should put our hope in God’s Kingdom.
God is also working in another thing. In the beginning of May. I went to Michigan to attend the graduation of Grace, my good friend and old roommate. I wrote letters to Grace and my other old roommate Paggie. In the letter, I expressed my appreciation to them and shared the Gospel with them in the letter. One day last week, Grace’s mom send me a message saying she wants to know more about Christianity and she wandered where to start. So I shared some good resources with her. Praise the Lord! I pray that she can continue pursuing God and God will draw her to Him. I pray for spiritual protection. I also pray for Grace and Paggie’s spiritual journey. I pray that they can feel a sense of emptiness as well as a need for God. I pray that they’ll start asking questions about God.
There are some other things to pray about:
- I pray that God can guide my through all my weakness, loneliness, and struggles with sins. I pray that I can love God more and know Him more.
- I plan to start a (6-week?) Face time Bible Study with my dad online. He showed interest in Christianity. We had this idea twice but we couldn’t continue. I pray God can give protection this time and make it fruitful. I pray God can give me wisdom in choosing good material and I pray for God’s presence at the discussion. I pray that my other family members can join too.
- I pray that this month, God can bring me students that are interested in talking about the Bible. I pray that I can make friends with them and share the Gospel with them.
- I pray for God’s plan for me after the ISEED program. I believe I will do full time ministry eventually but I don’t know when. I trust in God’s timing and I pray that God can show me clearly what He wants me to do. I also pray God can take away all my fears and concerns of doing ministry in other countries after the ISEED program.
- I pray that I can be organized in my life; and that I can use my time wisely. I hope I can honor God by managing my time well.
Thanks for reading!
Lin