Reflections on the Trip

(For those of you who haven't figure it out, almost all the unsigned posts in this blog were written by me, Joshua Chen. It was my intention to keep all my posts anonymous, but apparantly my writing content and style were too obvious.)

As Taiwan trip came to a conclusion, I can say I had very mixed emotions. Happiness, from all the wondrous things God had done, but sadness also at the realization that it’s all over. Though the things we did were powerful, the bonds we shared with each other shall be eternal. While I miss the amazing VGM program and the awe inspiring Saturday altar call, the people I grew closest to in Taiwan will be the ones I long for the most. I have met so many amazing people, all with incredible stories and a strong love of God. Their stories have inspired me and have influenced me to live a life filled with God. In the short two and a half weeks time, God united us together as one, to help in His ministry. Then, we all went our separate ways, possibly never to meet again until heaven. These next several people I list are a few of the many who made a strong impact on my life and I’ll list them in alphabetical order because I can’t figure out any other way to order them.

Jack- I entered the first week’s camp two days after everyone else, yet I was extremely warmly welcome anyways. Something about Jack stood out to me though, out of all the people, God’s love seemed to be overflowing out of him. I don’t know how we managed to get to know each other that quickly, but by the end of my first day, we could joke around and hug each other like we had known each other for years. Jack was a mentor to me that week and still continues to be. He was probably one of the oldest co-workers, having just graduated from college. Funny thing is, he barely understands any English. That night before STM was supposed to leave; Jack and I spoke for an hour or two about life. He shared his testimony to me and it was powerful. He’s only the person he is today because of God. We talked about other things, but what I’ll remember most is that it is possible to live a Godly life. Despite circumstances and hardships, God still loves me. I need to follow His example in everything I do. Jack, to me, was an example of what God could do if you let Him. After we left to go to the second camp, Jack went up to Taipei with us for Sunday worship the last week, even though the drive was a couple hours long. Sitting in the airplane, Jack was the last person I talked to on the phone, up until the flight attendant told us to turn our phones off seconds before the plane started moving.

Martin- Martin was one of my co-teachers the second week of VGM bilingual camp. Through the week, I realized Martin and I were quite similar. We were similarly tall, and loved sports. He even told me to throw baseballs at him as hard as I could as he was a high school catcher. However, what will be the most similar about us is the experiences we’ve shared. Somehow, God destined us to be partners. We shared the gospel to our students together. I would attract them because the students liked talking to some foreign American guy and tell them all I could about God. I had to speak in Chinese though and I struggled with some vocabulary. Every time, Martin would just pick up where I couldn’t continue and share exactly what I had intended. God used us together to preach the good news as neither one of us would have ever been able to do it alone. The most powerful experience we shared is the last Saturday’s altar call. Before it began, I pulled him outside with me to pray. We prayed; him in Chinese, me in English. We prayed for all the students, especially for Vicky and Joe, and then we broke down crying, touched by God. We re-entered the room and stood in the back as the altar call began. We prayed our hearts out and waited, waited for Vicky’s hand to rise. One call passed, then two. No response from her. We prayed even more intently. Finally, her hand raised slowly on the third call. We broke down crying again as we prayed, “Thank you God” in our respective languages, over and over again. We had seen a miracle. As we parted later that day, and again when he visited us right before STM went to the airport, I was greatly saddened. He might be the only person on earth who knew exactly how I felt, having experienced the same thing. I don’t know if I’ll ever see him on this world again, but we’ll certainly have some nice life stories to tell in heaven.

Rita- Without a doubt, Rita is her own very unique person. She’s had an incredible impact on the STM team, especially Andrea and I, and we still keep in regular contact. I don’t know why, but seeing Rita makes you happy somehow, though a possible factor may be watching her laugh so hard she can’t stand up. Rita has the capability of comforting you when you need it and joking around with you when appropriate. She is also incredibly accepting of who God made her to be, despite some pretty troubling times. Just looking at Rita, you can see on who lives her life entirely for God. She uses her past as a comfort for others, instead of allowing it to be constant pain. When I needed Godly advice, she happily provided it to me, even though she had to stay up until 2 AM because of time zone differences. I am very grateful for all she has done, both for me, and the rest of the STM team. (I could go on and on about Rita, but I won’t.)

Yutting- Her life story was an absolute encouragement to everyone. Yutting was one of the co-workers from the first camp. She grew up in the village we went to the second week and attended the very school we stayed and worked at the second week. When she was in middle school, she attended one of VGM’s camps. What she learned that week stuck with her as she became a Christian. What an absolutely remarkable thing it was to meet her. The common problem with short term missionaries is that we rarely get to see the fruits of our labor, yet, there she was, living proof that what we were doing was not in vain. Throughout my stay in Taiwan, her story encouraged me to share the gospel every chance I get. I had no idea where the next Yutting would be, nor who him or her would be, but I knew that what I was doing really had an effect. There was a tangible goal, something to work towards because of her. We were really blessed to have Yutting there with us. As if her story by itself wasn’t enough, God also placed her among us to impact us through what she did. In essence, she acted as our STM translator on stage. In partnership with her, I was able to go onto stage, to share God’s love. She was also one of the members of the first week’s team that visited us the second week. That visit brought much needed encouragement during a stressful time for some of us. I still keep in contact with Yutting and am very grateful for everything she’s done for us.

My thoughts back home

I'm thankful for giving us (STM) the opportunity to reach out in Taiwan this summer. As the other team members have shared, God truly was with us the entire journey.
I received warm welcome from friends back home. Some said, "Already back?, you just mentioned you were leaving and now you're home..." Although it may seem like a pretty short trip for some, I have to say we worked hard during these 3 weeks for a great purpose. We accomplished and experienced so much that I don't know how to begin sharing. Many people have asked "How is Taiwan" and "What exactly did you do there?" but I really don't know where to start..

We did have challenges with team personality dynamics, sticky humid weather, bugs, and times of isolation, but at the end, we seemed to do well, as they were minor issues on such a mission trip. But thinking back, I wished we prayed more as a team, which I think we lacked. And I found myself not a late night owl as most were. I consistently got up at 5:30 or 6, having quiet times to myself, listening to ipod, and praying after a nice cold shower. Knowing that challenges would appear, it was not too much a surprise, but the challenges did put me down at times.

Seeing what God did through STM and Taiwan coworkers was amazing and undescribable in words. I have learned that trusting God and not ourselves brings overflowing results. As what Josh shared about his student Vicky, and my student Wendy and 2 others, I was without words when I heard they came to Christ. Surely it was God who knocked on their heart and they accepted. All by His power. In the first week, I was nervous to start praying during lunch but at the last day, I stood in the front and took out the "colorless book" and started to share. A student even walked up to hear me better. I felt so happy inside for being able to share. For the second week, I had prayed for more courage regarding sharing Gospel, and God answered prayers.
I hope I can go on another mission trip again soon, see where God wants me and when God wants me to go.

-Ruth

Transcript of Sunday Sharing

If I had to use one word to describe the trip, I would say “indescribable”. How would mere words be capable of describing the works of our almighty God? I have seen God work miracles, God answer prayers, and God do the seemingly impossible. I saw Him do this not only once, but countless times, over and over again. I can safely say that through this trip, God has not only changed the villages we served in, but God has changed me and each and every one of us members of the team. The mission team went to Taiwan with the VGM organization to run two bilingual camps, each with a different set of Taiwanese college students in different villages. Both villages had a Christian population of less than 1%, with many residents having strong anti-Christian beliefs. We intended to show God’s love though actions only, with minimal straightforward gospel sharing. We went out to plant seeds, in hopes that they would grow at later points in the students’ lives, but God blessed what we did and made some of those seeds sprout much earlier than we could have ever expected. The VGM program contains four days of actual camp, with and optional program on Saturday. The first four days were supposed to contain minimal gospel message sharing, but God had other plans. VGM strongly discourages public sharing in large group settings for fear of parental protest. If they occurred, the protests would forbid the church from ever being able to run the camp again. Yet, God wanted us to and we did and he rewarded us greatly. On the last Saturday’s altar call, I saw the most touching thing ever in my life. All my fellow co-workers were in tears as slowly, students began to raise their hands to turn their lives over to God. These were the same students who entered as strong opposers of Christianity, living in families, hostile to our beliefs. Yet, God can soften even the hardest hearts. There was one specific student of mine that stood out. She entered as a typical student, everything seemed normal. The first day, she protested lunch time prayers and also declared herself an adamant believer in the family's idol worship; unsurprising considering that was the mentality of most people there. Yet, as the week continued, God worked in her heart. She slowly opened up to us as she shared the family problems she faced, including the abuse and parental issues. She began to really take in what we said about God, that God loves each and every person. The last day, Saturday, after she received Christ, she remained at school long after everyone else had left. For more than an hour she stayed behind, talking to us. The week had been so powerful she didn’t want to leave, declaring it the best time of her life. She wasn’t the only one with those feelings. The Bible says that the angels in heaven would rejoice for every person that returned to God. Let’s just say that the angels were rejoicing for quite a while that day for the 15-20 students who received Christ. In this trip I have learned quite a bit about God and myself. He truly does answer prayers, whether it’s right away, or a long time in the future. He also requires humility when serving Him. When I lacked humility, God instilled it in me during this trip by making me sick. Most of all, God really does love each and every person and can turn even the most anti-Christian person back to Him. Just leaving Taiwan, the words of Jesus repeated over and over in my head, “It is finished,” but while the trip may be over, everything is not finished. What I have learned will stay with me back home and well there are more unbelievers in Taiwan, more unbelievers in the world.
If you would like a more detailed description of what we did in Taiwan, we kept a blog: Hoc5vgm09.blogspot.com
We’re still going to update it for a couple more weeks even though our trip is over, so keep checking. Thank you and please pray for the new Christians in Taiwan!

Last Words about the trip...

Before we left on this amazing trip to Taiwan, our team read a book called “How to Listen to God.” The main idea was prayer. It wasn’t until this trip did I realize how important prayers were…or if God ever answered them. Truthfully, until now, I wasn’t really sure if God ever answered my prayers. The book told us how we must listen to God. Patiently, gratefully, and attentively are the ones that I experienced on this trip. On the start of this trip, I had prayed, asking God to help the kids attending the camp to open their hearts to Him, so that they may learn His words. I had heard from one past story that one child dropped out when his/her parents found out it was a Christian type camp. I prayed that everyone would stay and enjoy the camp. Thankfully, all the kids stayed and were interested. There was a happy feeling in me whenever a kid asked me about God or question they had about church, Jesus, or God. There was one boy in the first group I had who was very cute and outgoing. His family worshipped idols (just like most of the people there…) during the home visit, I was really scared that the mother wouldn’t listen to us, so in the car I was praying silently that the visit will go smoothly (also because it was my first home visit that week.) When we (Taiwan co-worker and I) arrived, the mother looked very nice. We chatted about the boy and his cheerful, happy personality in class. His mother then shared about the boy’s personality at home. It was totally different then how we described him. He explained that he can’t be himself at home; there was always a barrier somewhere. That’s when we told her a little about God. When we mentioned about God, her faced changed a little. She almost looked a bit nervous. That’s when I was like, “Uh oh…” But gradually we started explaining to her a little more about why we visited the family her face changed to normal. I was like, “thank god…!” His mother took in everything we said, and we made a strong bond with the boy as well. During altar call, I saw him raise his hand, which really touched me. I saw many others of my group kids raise their hand as well. I saw that through God, these kids chose to listen.
As for me personally, this trip changed me a lot. As quoted from other team members, “Andrea had definitely opened up more since the first time we met her.” I believe this is true, and this is what has helped me bond with the Taiwan coworkers so well. I think I bonded extremely well with the Taiwan coworkers. Many of them prayed for us during the mission, which was heart-warming. To me, there was one coworker that really stood out. To be honest, at first I thought she was kind of weird, but later I got to know her. She was a kind hearted person who really cared for others. She was also the one that got me out of my turtle shell so that I can be more comfortable around other people. I learned to become the person reaching out to people rather than the one waiting to be reached. I felt that I learned a lot on this trip. And when I say this is a trip I’ll never forget, I really mean it. I’ll never forget the people, the kids, the camp, everything. But most importantly, I’ll always know that God answers our prayers. Maybe it takes a week, or a year, or maybe longer…but God will always listen and will answer.

~AW :D

Please Pray for My Students

Vicky

Vicky entered the camp as a very unwilling participant. I believe she only came to see one of her friends. Every day, we asked each student to write down some thoughts in a booklet, and Vicky would write how boring the camp was because she couldn't find her friend. She protested lunch time prayers and also declared herself an adamant believer in the family's idol worship. The first few days, she seemed reluctant or scared to come talk to me, and as a result, I didn't really see any opportunities to share the gospel with her. However, slowly the Lord worked in Vicky's life, transforming her heart. Thursday night, we visited her family at their home, where all seemed well on the surface. We entered to the very common sight of an idol, to be welcomed by the family. The family seemed very normal, mother, father, baby sister, and grandparents living there. Everyone seemed happy. However, the next day when one of my Taiwan co-worker partners finally was able to have a deep converstaion with her, she revealed some pretty serious family problems. Vicky returned the next day for the optional Saturday program. Observing her body language showed her slightly bored at times while many game testimonies, other times it showed her intently listenting. Finally, when the altar call began, she had to make a decision, turn her live over to God, or continue along her current path. I don't know what God used from us that spoke to her, but she was visibly moved and touched during the altar call. That same Taiwanese co-worker and I were both crying and pleading with God in the back for her to make the right decision. The first call goes by, no response from her. The second, still nothing. Near the end of the third, she finally raises her hand, ever so hesitantly. My partner and I both start crying heavily, continuously repeating "Thank you God". We had just seen a miracle transformation and one more sheep return to the shepherd. Despite her acceptance in Christ, she still faces a very challenging road. Her family problems still exist and their reaction to her new found faith is unknown. I ask everyone who reads this to pray for her. Pray that the seed we planed and sprouted will not be stolen by Satan's temptations. Pray that Vicky would grow to be a strong Christian, spreading the love of God to the village, that it may spread like wildfire. Pray for her protection and family problems. Thank you God for this wonderful miracle You've let me witness.

7/18 Reflections on the Most Powerful Day of My Life

John 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Why does the God of all creation never cease to be amazing? Despite the knowledge that he who can transform an entire pagan Roman Empire to a Christian empire, can resurrect a nation thousands of years after it was destroyed, and can completely touch and change every single life, can do all things, the sight of every precious person that returns to the Lord still never ceases to be absolutely incredible. Yes, I previously talked about what a success our trip would be if just one “sheep” returned to its shepherd, but what happens if the impossible occurs and numerous children of God return to Him. I think I may have seen the most touching sight of my life on Saturday. The VGM program works by opening a 4 day bilingual camp from Tuesday to Friday, with an invitation for the students to return Saturday to see us possibly for the last time. The goal is the show God’s love throughout the week mostly through actions and explicitly share the gospel on Saturday. Entering into the week, I knew it would take a miracle for just one life to be transformed by God. Let me tell you, by the end of the week, I saw somewhere between 15 to 25 miracles. The focal point of the Saturday program was the altar call. As the students closed their eyes, Martin (one of my teaching partners for the week) and I quietly moved to the back of the room to pray. I don’t think I’ve ever prayed so hard in my life. We just stood there, praying our hearts out for our students. I knew God’s presence was definitely in that room on Saturday. One of the Taiwanese co-workers doing the altar call spoke so inspirationally and powerfully that only God could provide such words with such conviction. He made four calls, each more powerful than the one prior to it. Slowly I saw more and more students raise their hands. People, co-workers and students alike, were crying everywhere. Martin and I just stood there, waiting, watching one specific student. We both saw the changes God made in her life the short amount of time we were there, but we prayed and prayed that she would accept Christ. Near the end, she did. I almost screamed and yelled “Thank you God!” when I saw her hand rise. When everything was said and done, the village we served at gained several new Christians, and the kingdom of God just got a little bigger. This girl I was talking about was extremely reluctant to come on the first day. She protested lunch prayer and declared herself an adamant believer in the family idol worship. More importantly, she broke down and turned her life over to Jesus on the last day. She saw what each and every one of us STM or Taiwan co-worker had and desired the same. I saw another camp member, a middle school boy, completely changed. He also entered as a firm believer in idol worship. Yet, with the transforming power of Jesus Christ, he left as a young Christian. I can say that he was the last member of my group that I’d expect to receive Christ. God truly is the same God who changed Emperor Constantine, post WWII leaders, and each and every Christian. As the team left, the words of Jesus ran through my mind, "It is finished." Yet, the work of the Lord is never finished until the next coming of Jesus Christ. As I return to the US, everything will be different, but the stakes still are the same: eternity in heaven or hell. I have the knowledge of the saving gospel, and share it I must, so when Jesus returns, I can confidently say with Him, "It is finished."

Welcome Back

The team (except sheen) arrived at SFO on Tuesday evening and welcomed by their families.

Welcome back, HOC5 VGM-STM!