Malaysia 2011 was actually a sequel for me. I had gone with
PJ Woo and Keith Chan back in 2009 to speak for the FBC Youth Camp. I
remembered ending the last sermon with an over-dramatic, “Look guys…we’ll
probably never see each other again but continue to live out your faith here
while we live out our faith in the States.” I really didn’t believe that I was
coming back but little did I know God had something a lot bigger in store.
When our leadership team began to plan the vision for
2010-2011, our core value of “truth” became very evident that it was definitely
something we needed to focus on. And it wasn’t that we wanted each of our
students and leaders to teach/preach truth unapologetically, but more
specifically we wanted everyone to understand 1) the Gospel and its
implications and 2) the basic doctrines of our Christian faith. Somewhere in
that planning we started to think about applying what we were going to learn
that year in a major way. I got on my email and made a couple of calls and
reconnected with Su-Anne and Kevin from Malaysia. One thing led to another and
we were given the green light to bring a team to Malaysia to teach. The faith
that their church (Pantai Baptist Church) continues to extend to us is
mind-blowing. I mean, would you be willing to invite a group of people from
around the world to teach you and your students theology? Well…they took
another leap of faith and allowed us to partner with them yet again. Now it was
our turn to respond.
Assembling the Team
So I needed to assemble a team that I could trust to work
with me and also one that would get the job done. My understanding of missions
trips is that:
- God never needs us to accomplish His work. He’s not waiting for us to do something because He’s incapable of getting something done. Rather, God delights in His children when they are obedient and will trust Him in faith. And if God is going to open the door for the trip, He’ll provide for the trip.
- It’s not a vacation. If we’re going to go minister to a group of people, we’re expected to work and to labor for the sake of the Gospel. There needs to be preparation and commitment involved.
- We are the supporting arm of the group that we’ll be partnering up with. Which means, we don’t come in and take over a group, rather we go in and partner with the local church and provide them with additional resources for that time period.
So I had to choose the team very carefully. And from the
very beginning I had written down our expectations:
- Served for at least 2 of leadership with Justin. The reason why is because the leader of this trip needs to be able to trust that all of the members have the same philosophy, doctrine, and focus in mind. The leader should be able to know the weakness/strength of the team members and vice versa.
- Each participant will be involved in some aspect of teaching (large group, small group, bible study, theology class, and leadership training)
- The team will fundraise as a team. The reason is because we want to keep the “team” mentality on all levels – even money. The money will be pooled together until we reach our overall goal.
- Each participant is responsible for raising a part of their overall cost. I say part of it because the participant should be able to sacrifice for this trip and work for raising some of their own support (aside from support letters).
- Extensive training which included 3 textbooks and each person leading at least 1 workshop and counseling a group of students.
God’s Economy is
Better
For some reason we started a bit late on fund raising. We
had asked each person to contribute to this trip personally but we still had a
huge amount of funds that we needed to raise. As a team, we needed to raise
support for airfare, hotels, and the camp fees. It was something crazy like
twenty thousand dollars in 3 months. So we just started writing letters and
sending them out to people who we think would actually “support us” not just
financially but also in prayer. Well…God did something that I’ve never seen
before to this day. We raised about 21,000 in a month and a half. And I just
kept telling people, “If God really wanted us to go to this, He was going to
provide the finances for it.” We ended up with more than we needed and with all
the excess we just gave back to the church…I mean, there’s no reason for us to
keep it, it wasn’t ours to begin with.
Pastoral Leadership
This was my first overseas trip that I was leading. Not only
that, but I was leading a team of 10. Not only that, but it was very very far
away. Not only that, I had some kids in my group that if anything were to
happen to them, their parents would shoot me in the face. So let’s just say
that it was a bit stressful just from the “don’t mess up” side. I knew my role
would dramatically shift from other trips because this time I had to look after
a whole team and not just their physically safety but making sure that they
were accomplishing the goal that we have set out to do. And then and then I learned
a huge lesson. Although I can’t make moves for them, my responsibility was to
set them up to make the right moves. I think they call that pasturing or
something like that. I wanted to make sure they were trained and focused.
Not only did God allow me to pastor our people while we were
still in the States, He allowed me to pastor fellow brothers and sisters
overseas. It’s a bit surreal to find myself giving lectures and answering
questions to a group of people. First of all…who am I that I have any advice to
give? Second of all…surely there are better, more equipped people to listen to.
Third of all…there was a third but I don’t remember what I was going to say.
Anyways…all to say that God is gracious isn’t He? Yes there are people out
there more qualified and yes, I’m light years away from actually knowing things…but
I suppose God has allowed me to learn and to pass on knowledge and perhaps a
bit of wisdom. I enjoy that pastoral side of my calling.
Extremely Grateful
There has yet been a Church so generous and hospitable than
the one we’ve partnered with. I am extremely blessed to have been part of
ministry with them. I keep wondering why God continues to be so good to us and
the only reason I can come up with is…for his name sake and our joy. So thank
you PBC. Thank you youth leaders, Pastor Marvin, and the youth over there. You
have encouraged and blessed my soul in more ways than you realize. Thank you
for allowing me to speak and for offering me an opportunity to bring my team
over there. I pray that you continue to search out the deep truths of God and
apply it to your lives. Until we meet again…I shall be praying for you.
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