Mission Trip Reflections (Joshua)
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing."
This verse sums up my learning from my experience on my first ever mission trip to Surabaya. There are also some peripheral lessons along the way, but principally it seems to me that God is calling me to recognise that He is the source of all things, that a fruitful life and effective ministry is all of grace, and lastly, calling me to complete and utter dependence on Him.
One of the songs that really spoke to me after come home from Surabaya is titled 'My Worth Is Not In What I Own', which talks about having our all in Him and being satisfied only in him, not finding our treasures in earthly things or achievements. There is a freedom that comes without the burden of comparison and competition that is rife in our kiasu society, a freedom that comes from believing the truth that Christ is all our worth and identity. If we believe that God is the giver of all things, we need not constantly worry about the need to prove ourselves. This resonated with me in my first lesson.
1) Humility and dependence
In many ways I initially thought that I was prepared for this mission trip from the get go. Even though this was my maiden trip, it being focused on campus and evangelistic ministry played to my strengths (or so I thought). I was a teacher and a trained extrovert. I spoke to various people with ages ranging from 13 to 60 daily. I'd like to think I was an effective communicator and nerves were the last thing that would get in the way.
I was wrong.
On the first morning of campus ministry, we hit the ground running. Almost immediately after we got acquainted with G, the student leader who was supposed to bring us around campus, W and the other pairs split up and started approaching students. At this point in time I panicked a little - I needed to mentally rehearse what I wanted to say but there didn't seem to be much time. Thankfully God was gracious to me, and I was paired with Aquila, our translator, who suggested I try sharing with the two male students from Pelmar first, to ensure that they know the gospel and are assured of their salvation. So I did. After that, it was student after student, and there was no lack of students to approach.
I learnt how to be humble, and to not take excessive pride in our strengths and abilities but surrender them to Him to be truly useful for His kingdom work. After all, it is God who makes any plant grow, and like Paul and Apollos, we merely water and tend to it (1 Corinthians 3:6).
2) The Father's heart
The second most memorable lesson came at the orphanage. The children, all 160 of them, despite living in rundown conditions, did not have their joy diminished. On the contrary, we were surprised to find that they exuded kindness and contentment: kindness of older youth towards younger youth; contentment with what little they had. They participated actively in our games and activities, and were appreciative of our presence. In Singapore we live comfortably sheltered lives, and can never fully comprehend what poverty feels like. Living in Surabaya gives us the experience of having an embarrassment of riches by contrast, especially when it came to the food, which was significantly cheaper than in Singapore. Because of this, it made me think about the way I spend and the way I steward the resources that God has given me. I felt like perhaps I also caught a glimpse of God's fatherly heart for his children. This was most salient when I saw the conditions they had to live in versus what we had always taken for granted, and I felt that desire to provide for them in some way, to give them more than they have now. We are hoping to continue working with the orphanage for future mission trips, and to see how we can marshal some long term financial support for them from church.
3) The heart of worship - a broken spirit and a contrite heart
We were very blessed to join one of the local churches on the two Sundays in Surabaya, for a service that ministered to us. Culturally and musically the church there was slightly different from the way we do worship services. One of the key differences was that they practiced pre-service singing. This means that the band and a worship leader was already singing songs and worshiping God even before service started. I felt strongly that this helped the congregation to ready their hearts and minds to encounter God during the service, and sets the tone right. Upon entering the sanctuary the presence of God was almost palpable as the congregation sang and prayed. This stands in stark contrast to the irreverence at worship services back home where we find people strolling in halfway through the singing after the service has begun, and talking amongst themselves before service started. Here, people desired to encounter God and prepared themselves for it each Sunday, which was very encouraging for me. Another key difference was that I felt that the members of the worship team were each individually worshiping God in a passionate, uninhibited kind of way. Their worship modelled the way for the congregation to follow, and the enthusiasm and joy that emanated throughout the sanctuary was contagious. The last difference was that the musicians were excellent in what they do, and were sensitive to the worship leader's leading. I noticed that they did not have chord sheets but relied on their ears, and with great familiarity with the music they could instead focus on worshipping God and not putting up a technically accurate performance. What I learned is that the preparation of your heart is key to encountering God in worship for both the member of the congregation and for musicians or worship team members who may be serving. Many times we allow too many distractions to derail us, to stray us from the purpose of coming to church to encounter God and to be in community with each other. Truly a broken spirit and a contrite heart God will not despise (Psalm 51:17).
4) My friend Aquila - servant of the King
Aquila is our Indonesian friend who works as a teacher in Jakarta. The first thing that's remarkable about him is that he is sacrificing his holiday to help us be a translator for our mission work. He embodies hospitality. During the services (first at the church, second at the Christian fellowship service in Petra university campus), he took the initiative to translate the entire sermon for us from Bahasa Indonesia to English so that we can also learn some spiritual insights. This was something that he decided he should do on his own even though it wasn't necessary. Aquila also has a servant's heart, not unlike the attitude Jesus had when he washed his disciples feet. He serves others with a ready heart. At the orphanage, he decided that after distributing food to the orphans, he would help clean up some of the mess that they made as well. He repeated this after our gospel sharing event on Saturday at the Indonesian Cru office. While I was paired with him during our campus evangelisation, after my gospel presentations, he would take the time to follow up with the contact comprehensively in Bahasa Indonesia, to ensure that he or she completely understands the message that I have shared, and on occasion also enquired further to sense how he can make the gospel relevant to the contact's life. His readiness and ease of sharing the gospel also amazed me, together with the wisdom through which he weaved into the sharing in order to direct conversations back to Jesus or Christianity. He also shared on the trip that he chose teaching as a profession because of the opportunities for witnessing and impacting lives, even though he is a trained architect. Truly this is a man after God's heart and I learnt much from him and our interactions.
5) Resentment and refreshment
Teachers' holidays are precious times used most commonly to take holidays (usually overseas) to recharge. This June we had decided to commit to a HWAD trip, and what was more apt than to go for a youth oriented one? Somewhere deep in my heart I knew I harboured some kind of resentment, and it was more difficult compounded by the fact that I had a harsh half a year and started the holidays burnt out. But God is incredibly good and provided time for physical rest (more than sufficient sleep every night) and spiritual rest which came in the form of daily time for devotion and worship both at a team and individual level. There was also time for rest and relaxation which I appreciated where the team got to know each other better as well. Almost surprisingly (in a positive way) I got the refreshment I needed from God even though this was a 'work' trip, and God is still reminding me that true rest is abiding in Him (John 15:5) and relying on His grace daily (2 Corinthians 12:9)
This verse sums up my learning from my experience on my first ever mission trip to Surabaya. There are also some peripheral lessons along the way, but principally it seems to me that God is calling me to recognise that He is the source of all things, that a fruitful life and effective ministry is all of grace, and lastly, calling me to complete and utter dependence on Him.
One of the songs that really spoke to me after come home from Surabaya is titled 'My Worth Is Not In What I Own', which talks about having our all in Him and being satisfied only in him, not finding our treasures in earthly things or achievements. There is a freedom that comes without the burden of comparison and competition that is rife in our kiasu society, a freedom that comes from believing the truth that Christ is all our worth and identity. If we believe that God is the giver of all things, we need not constantly worry about the need to prove ourselves. This resonated with me in my first lesson.
1) Humility and dependence
In many ways I initially thought that I was prepared for this mission trip from the get go. Even though this was my maiden trip, it being focused on campus and evangelistic ministry played to my strengths (or so I thought). I was a teacher and a trained extrovert. I spoke to various people with ages ranging from 13 to 60 daily. I'd like to think I was an effective communicator and nerves were the last thing that would get in the way.
I was wrong.
On the first morning of campus ministry, we hit the ground running. Almost immediately after we got acquainted with G, the student leader who was supposed to bring us around campus, W and the other pairs split up and started approaching students. At this point in time I panicked a little - I needed to mentally rehearse what I wanted to say but there didn't seem to be much time. Thankfully God was gracious to me, and I was paired with Aquila, our translator, who suggested I try sharing with the two male students from Pelmar first, to ensure that they know the gospel and are assured of their salvation. So I did. After that, it was student after student, and there was no lack of students to approach.
I learnt how to be humble, and to not take excessive pride in our strengths and abilities but surrender them to Him to be truly useful for His kingdom work. After all, it is God who makes any plant grow, and like Paul and Apollos, we merely water and tend to it (1 Corinthians 3:6).
2) The Father's heart
The second most memorable lesson came at the orphanage. The children, all 160 of them, despite living in rundown conditions, did not have their joy diminished. On the contrary, we were surprised to find that they exuded kindness and contentment: kindness of older youth towards younger youth; contentment with what little they had. They participated actively in our games and activities, and were appreciative of our presence. In Singapore we live comfortably sheltered lives, and can never fully comprehend what poverty feels like. Living in Surabaya gives us the experience of having an embarrassment of riches by contrast, especially when it came to the food, which was significantly cheaper than in Singapore. Because of this, it made me think about the way I spend and the way I steward the resources that God has given me. I felt like perhaps I also caught a glimpse of God's fatherly heart for his children. This was most salient when I saw the conditions they had to live in versus what we had always taken for granted, and I felt that desire to provide for them in some way, to give them more than they have now. We are hoping to continue working with the orphanage for future mission trips, and to see how we can marshal some long term financial support for them from church.
3) The heart of worship - a broken spirit and a contrite heart
We were very blessed to join one of the local churches on the two Sundays in Surabaya, for a service that ministered to us. Culturally and musically the church there was slightly different from the way we do worship services. One of the key differences was that they practiced pre-service singing. This means that the band and a worship leader was already singing songs and worshiping God even before service started. I felt strongly that this helped the congregation to ready their hearts and minds to encounter God during the service, and sets the tone right. Upon entering the sanctuary the presence of God was almost palpable as the congregation sang and prayed. This stands in stark contrast to the irreverence at worship services back home where we find people strolling in halfway through the singing after the service has begun, and talking amongst themselves before service started. Here, people desired to encounter God and prepared themselves for it each Sunday, which was very encouraging for me. Another key difference was that I felt that the members of the worship team were each individually worshiping God in a passionate, uninhibited kind of way. Their worship modelled the way for the congregation to follow, and the enthusiasm and joy that emanated throughout the sanctuary was contagious. The last difference was that the musicians were excellent in what they do, and were sensitive to the worship leader's leading. I noticed that they did not have chord sheets but relied on their ears, and with great familiarity with the music they could instead focus on worshipping God and not putting up a technically accurate performance. What I learned is that the preparation of your heart is key to encountering God in worship for both the member of the congregation and for musicians or worship team members who may be serving. Many times we allow too many distractions to derail us, to stray us from the purpose of coming to church to encounter God and to be in community with each other. Truly a broken spirit and a contrite heart God will not despise (Psalm 51:17).
4) My friend Aquila - servant of the King
Aquila is our Indonesian friend who works as a teacher in Jakarta. The first thing that's remarkable about him is that he is sacrificing his holiday to help us be a translator for our mission work. He embodies hospitality. During the services (first at the church, second at the Christian fellowship service in Petra university campus), he took the initiative to translate the entire sermon for us from Bahasa Indonesia to English so that we can also learn some spiritual insights. This was something that he decided he should do on his own even though it wasn't necessary. Aquila also has a servant's heart, not unlike the attitude Jesus had when he washed his disciples feet. He serves others with a ready heart. At the orphanage, he decided that after distributing food to the orphans, he would help clean up some of the mess that they made as well. He repeated this after our gospel sharing event on Saturday at the Indonesian Cru office. While I was paired with him during our campus evangelisation, after my gospel presentations, he would take the time to follow up with the contact comprehensively in Bahasa Indonesia, to ensure that he or she completely understands the message that I have shared, and on occasion also enquired further to sense how he can make the gospel relevant to the contact's life. His readiness and ease of sharing the gospel also amazed me, together with the wisdom through which he weaved into the sharing in order to direct conversations back to Jesus or Christianity. He also shared on the trip that he chose teaching as a profession because of the opportunities for witnessing and impacting lives, even though he is a trained architect. Truly this is a man after God's heart and I learnt much from him and our interactions.
5) Resentment and refreshment
Teachers' holidays are precious times used most commonly to take holidays (usually overseas) to recharge. This June we had decided to commit to a HWAD trip, and what was more apt than to go for a youth oriented one? Somewhere deep in my heart I knew I harboured some kind of resentment, and it was more difficult compounded by the fact that I had a harsh half a year and started the holidays burnt out. But God is incredibly good and provided time for physical rest (more than sufficient sleep every night) and spiritual rest which came in the form of daily time for devotion and worship both at a team and individual level. There was also time for rest and relaxation which I appreciated where the team got to know each other better as well. Almost surprisingly (in a positive way) I got the refreshment I needed from God even though this was a 'work' trip, and God is still reminding me that true rest is abiding in Him (John 15:5) and relying on His grace daily (2 Corinthians 12:9)
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