A Life Surrendered
I’m writing to share with you how God led me to go on Missions. I started where most people started -- I never thought I would go on a mission trip, ever. I had selfish reasons for not wanting to go. Going on a mission trip would mean spending a lot less time at home with my family, and since my home in Singapore is so far away, I don’t get to go home that much. The time commitments were also daunting, training during the course of the semester and intensive training for over a month in Summer. I was worried going on the mission trip would cost me my GPA (CAP), because I would have to sacrifice study time to train. Lastly, I get really squeamish about needles, I was (and am still, a little) scared of getting my shots!
So what changed?
God used external factors to show help me see His plans for my summer.
On separate occasions throughout last year, 4 different people asked me whether I would be going on missions this year. I’m not sure how you would interpret that, but I believe it was God prodding me and making me think about going on missions this summer.
So when I went home over winter break, I spoke to a lot of my friends and told them that I was considering missions. I just remember them telling me over and over again what a privilege this opportunity to go on mission was.
Thirdly, God also used my parents to help me see that He wanted me to go on missions. All this while, I told God that if I He wanted me to go, then my parents would have to agree to let me go. When I brought up summer missions with my parents, they nodded and told me to do what I had to do. Not only did my parents allow me to go but they were really supportive and encouraging.
All these external factors lead to an internal change, which happened through prayer. Throughout most of December, I had been praying that God would raise up role models in GMC, people willing to deny themselves, lay down their lives, take up the cross and live fully for Christ. It was a sobering realization, but I came to see that through the JCA summer mission program, God was answering my prayers – God was changing me to be one of those role models, someone who would deny her selfish desires for summer, go to India and live for God.
I made up my mind to go for missions on January 9th, 2006. During service, we had a guest speaker come and talk about world evangelism and he quoted John Piper - "Missions exists because worship doesn’t." It was the cherry on top of all the things that God had been trying to tell me in the past month as I was praying through missions.
In my journal entry for that Sunday, I wrote "Having decided to go on missions, there are still concerns like raising money and my studies but I know that in choosing to be in the centre of God’s Will, He will provide."
I am going on missions because I know God wants me to go, and I know that is God’s will for my life this summer. God has shown me, through the course of this semester, a little glimpse of what life is like when we’re in God’s Will. God provides. Over the course of this semester, God has miraculously given me enough time to study, serve at church and train for missions. Also, who would have thought that this semester and this summer, even though I'm spending less time in Singapore, God would grow the relationships with people at home the most. In sharing my prayer requests and having them support me through prayer, God has allowed them to get involved in my life.
Our privilege as we walk in the centre of God’s Will, is that we see little miracles of answered prayers, and we see how God accomplishes amazing perfect things through ordinary imperfect people. Thank you for this opportunity to share with you.
