Malaysia 2011 – God is Able
So we’re finally back in Houston. I just got up after a much needed and refreshing 12 hours of slumber. Before I began to write this, I had a really hard time trying to put together all my thoughts and experiences into words. As I begin to look back on the whole trip though, I think the one theme that rang during the whole time was that “God is Able.” While we are weak, foolish, and needy… He is able. That idea was inspired by Hillsong Live’s song “God is Able.” So yeah, what I’m about to give y’all is a short run through of what happened on my trip and attempt to show you just how gracious and good God was to us during our time in Malaysia. My hope is not only that you enjoy hearing about my trip, but that it reminds you of just how beautiful and powerful our God is. So here we gooooo.
We first landed in Malaysia and were greeted by the church leaders that were our hosts for the week. They picked us up from the airport, took us to our hotel, and helped us get situated. Then we pretty much spent the whole day with them. They took us out to grab lunch at Little Penang Kafe and dinner at a very nice Chinese restaurant. It was fun meeting the leaders and just talking. For me, I just loved being able to look around the city and see how different it was from what I’m used too. Also, it was fun just talking with the leaders and seeing how our pronunciations and vocabulary differed. As the trip progressed… we began to get used to using “boot” instead of trunk, “rubbish” instead of trash, “washroom” instead of bathroom/restroom, and adding “la” randomly at the end of sentences (yes, they do that, and yes, it’s awesome!) As the day progressed, our jet lag got worse and worse. By the time we got back to the hotel at night, we were all completely exhausted. This was good though, it definitely forced us to adjust to the time difference. So the next morning we left for the youth camp with the church.
Day one at the camp was really fun. It was tough trying to meet the kids though, especially since many of them were a bit reserved or just nervous to meet us. As the evening rolled around (following a session of games, room assignments, and Justin’s message), it was small group time. As the group discussion time approached, I began to get more nervous and more worried, especially since this was my first time counseling. In addition, what also intimidated me was that 5 of my campers were either older than me or the same age (oldest being 21). That, also piled on with the fact that two of my kids were non Christians (one of them speaking very little English) made for a really tough time for me. Right before we began, I met with my co-counselor Colin and tried to discuss how we would run the group. He pretty much told me that I’d be leading because he didn’t feel comfortable doing it. So yeah, I was pretty much on my own for a group of 12 kids (mixed sexes and ages from ages 13 to 21). The first night of small group felt like the longest half hour of my life… and I struggled big time. There was little to no conversation, discussion, or questions. The few questions that were brought up I could not immediately answer, so I had to delay them to a later time (I needed my scripture references and to think about the questions). I just felt like I was lecturing and with little response or attention from my group. When that first session was finally done, I just felt so defeated… like I had failed. After this, I went to a few of the leaders to just talk and figure out what are some good things to try in my small group… and the best advice I got was definitely… “You’re trying too hard.” As I look back, I think God was definitely humbling me in this moment and reminding me of my purpose for this trip. Showing me that this is all for His glory and will only be made possible and done by Him. I am merely a servant and instrument. I cannot do anything, but He can do mighty things. I am not able, but He is… to bring himself more glory through me than I can imagine. So this is what my heart’s cry began to be… starting from night one. I just called out to God and begged Him to use me up. To empty me of self and to fill me with humility and a heart set on bringing Him and He alone glory. In His grace, He did that very thing. Our God is able.
The very next morning, we led group devotionals at 7:30. I opened with teaching the devotional passage and going over the handout. Then I opened up the time for questions because the theme of the camp was truth fitness. It basically challenged the campers to look at their faith and truly understand it. Also, Justin challenged the campers to answer questions and doubts about their faith that they have either neglected or been afraid to ask… whether those questions were about foundational beliefs or about higher level theology. As I said before, during the previous night, there were little to no questions asked, but this morning there was almost an abundance of questions coming from 4 of the campers. I got questions like how do we know Christianity is right?, how do we get other denominations?, How do we treat those other denominations?, and How do we know God exist?. God definitely provided. He not only sparked questions in my group, but also gave me the knowledge and understanding to answer them. Throughout the rest of camp, God in His grace continued to provide during every small group time. Some other topics I got questions on were evolution, the trinity, and can a person lose salvation. The last night was the only time when we really were able to start sharing my group. God opened hearts and wills to share their stories and hurts… as the topic for the last night was… why does God allow suffering? Overall, God did beautiful work for His name in my small groups… I’m just blessed to be able to see it and be part of it. Our God is able.
As for the workshops that all of the CBC members taught… God provided once again. He helped us teach well and with patience. As for Joseph and I’s workshop on sovereignty and free will… the first day about 8 people came and the second day about 20 people came. God in His grace made it like that so that Joseph and I were able to present a better workshop on the second day for more people. After the first run through, a few of the leaders were able to give us feed back on how to present our workshop better and improve it which helped us out a lot. When initially preparing, I was afraid that Joseph and I would not present an equal argument for both sides of Arminianism and Calvinism (not on purpose, but just because Joseph and I hold one of the doctrines). To our surprise, one of the leaders said that we actually over compensated, and did not present a strong enough argument for the side we believed. They also reminded us that we need to reassure and emphasize to the kids that the Bible does not contradict itself. This was great advice, it helped us better manage our time and topics during our second workshop run through. Overall though, I think God in His grace, helped many of the kids who came to our workshop gain a basic and solid understanding of Armianism and Calvinism. So overall, I think our workshop went great… especially considering that almost everyone who came to our workshop had not heard of the doctrines of Calvinism or Arminianism before they came. God helped us keep their attention and explain the doctrines well. In addition, God kept Joseph well enough to teach the workshop with me both times. Following the end of our workshop, over a dozen campers had questions and were interested in learning more. Once again, God is able.
The last major thing I was responsible for was leading worship with Aly for two sessions. Each day was extremely full and tiring. The day started with waking up around 7, then doing camp activities all day and then sleeping at about 12 or so. This tiring schedule started to kind take a toll on my voice and just my energy. In addition, members of our team started to get sick on the trip. First it was Rebecca and Aly, then it was Warren and Joseph, and then it was Avina and Justin. When Aly first went down, I got worried because she was supposed to help me lead. I considered asking other members of my team to help me out, but the problem was that I hadn’t had the opportunity to practice with them yet. God in His sovereignty and grace, brought Aly back to health just in time to help me lead worship for both sessions. He guided our song selection and used our service… He used it to bring about reflection in people’s lives and praise to His name. As I said before, 6 members of our team fell ill at one point on the trip. Joseph had to leave camp a little early and get medical treatment at a nearby hospital for just a little bit for his dehydration and food poisoning. Many of us got sick because our bodies were just not used to the food and probably because of the ice that we ate at the meals. God was sovereign over all of this illness and provided for us greatly. In His sovereignty He provided us with a great host family in the Lee’s who helped accommodate us and get us medicine when we needed it. In addition, in His sovereignty He planned for us to have a pharmacist on our team in Aunt Swee-Ling who helped take care of us and give us advice when our team members got sick. God healed those that were sick and protected those that were not. Lastly, God’s hand was definitely at work in the fact that only one of the members of each co-led (two people) workshop fell ill, never both at the same time. This allowed for all the workshops to be taught, despite some of the leaders falling ill. When I look back on it, God could not have provided in a mightier way than the way in which He did. God is able.
Lastly, God just helped us connect with the kids. It might not seem like it’d be tough… but it was. I think partly for a lot of the kids they were a bit intimidated because they had never met us. He not only helped us relate to the kids but also gave us the energy and time to be able to hang out and get to know them during meals and games. As for me, God provided a boy in my group by the name of Kenneth, who helped encourage our team during group games and helped excite our team to work together. His “team spirit” was sooo key to us winning competitions and just building a sense of unity and fun. By the end of the camp, my team was able to meet lots of the kids and some of us were able to make good friends with many of the kids. In addition, a few of the kids were able to really open up to us and share with us what was going on in their lives.
As the camp ended, we came back to the hotel and pretty much spent a lot of time resting. In the evening we were able to go out to dinner with the Chan family and the next day do some leadership training for the youth leaders of Pantai Baptist Church. We gave different perspectives and suggestions to them on how to teach Sunday school, How to do church discipline, and what is the role of a youth leader. Then we were able to go out to dinner and dessert with a lot of the youth and their leaders. It was nice to be able to just hang out with them and see the city some more. The last day was our sight seeing/shopping day. We were able to see the two famous twin towers of Kuala Lumpur and do lots of souvenir shopping at a mall and market. At the Market, we got to try a fish spa. For those of y’all that aren’t familiar with it… basically you put your feet in a tank of fish and the fish eat all the dead skin off your feet. It was a lot of fun, but really really tickilish. If y’all want to know more about all of the trip and see some of our pictures… you can check out https://picasaweb.google.com/chriscross14 or www.flickr.com/chewywong.
In the end, I’m so thankful I was able to go on this trip and be part of God’s plan. It’s awesome for me to sit back and reflect on what God has done and how He did it. He truly did great things in the lives of the youth while we were in Malaysia, and it was amazing to see Him do that… when we look back, we see that it can only be by His doing. It astonishes me that He used such a weak and young team to do such great things. Thank you again for your support in prayers and donations… it’s your support that God has used to bring glory to His name and do beautiful work in the lives of others. Thanks be to the God who is Able.
No comments:
Post a Comment