newsletter no. 1

this is the newsletter I wrote in July...or was it August? Anyway, thought it would be a good idea to post it here...as usual, some of the contents you might have already read it somewhere on this blog. In any case...thank you, for taking time to read this and pray for me of course!


Newsletter – July 2005

Isaiah 6:8 - Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Beginnings
I came to know the Lord and was born-again when I was 16. Brought to Glory by 2 different friends at 2 separate times in that same year just seemed to be more than just a coincidence, and since then I’ve concluded Glory is where God wants me to be. He has blessed me with loving parents who have yet to know Him, but have come to accept the path that I have taken. Through these years, the Lord has shown me His love and goodness. He has also stirred in me the desire to serve Him wholeheartedly…

What are you willing to give?
Like the hymn that goes, “I gave, I gave my life to thee, what has thou given for me?”, I felt the Lord asking me what was I willing to give Him. Somehow, as I struggled to obey Him in my everyday life as a young Christian, He kept prompting me to surrender, bit by bit. the things of my life I held on to so dearly.

Be a servant…
Slowly, God led me to serve Him – as group leader in YF camp, then in the YF committee, choir, Sunday School… I really thought that was it. I thought I would just serve Him the best I could with what He has gifted me with in the ministries in church… I was taught to ‘seek God’s will’, but how would I know what His will for me was? I prayed for Him to show me…

Thailand…
Missions was one thing that I never really thought about. It was something I really knew little about. During my first mission trip to Thailand in 1999, the Lord showed me His heart for the lost. What I saw, heard and learnt there deeply moved me. Once again, He asked me what I was willing to give Him. I told God that I was not sure. I didn’t want to make any impulsive decision just based on my first mission trip. I wanted to make sure it was His guiding and not my own imagination playing tricks on me. I told God I was willing to surrender my life to Him to do His will…but I needed Him to show me clearly what He wanted me to do.

I prayed about it and asked God many questions. Well, He didn’t exactly speak to me in a dream or answered through a verse in the Bible. He simply showed me more and more of on my subsequent mission trips to Thailand – the Thai people’s great need to know Christ, the faith of the Thai believers, the need for workers in that great harvest field. Through these trips, God has taught me much, not just what He was doing in the mission field, but in many ways, He also showed me my weaknesses and strengths, helping me to grow in Him.

In a way, God never called Isaiah directly. He simply showed him the need, and Isaiah responded. I believe that God has shown me His work in Thailand, the need for workers, and I believe that it is Him in me who has been prompting me to respond the way I have.

Somehow, when it came to the time to quit, I pondered more than I thought I would. I had grown to be comfortable with the way things were and I had even grown to love being a secondary school teacher. How sure was I, to give up this security and comfort? 5 years after that first prompting, God gave me a greater love for Him and His Word, I still had the desire to be a part of fulfilling the Great Commission to the Thais, God had given me the opportunities and the ability to pick up the Thai language quite easily and my parents were more open and to what I wanted to do with my life. I was sure. Send me, Lord.

Internship & SBC
After I quit my job as a teacher, I served as an intern in church for 6 months. This was a time when God taught me many precious lessons, through my quiet time, prayers, seminars and the pastoral staff. It is really exciting yet scary to be a student again, and a student in Singapore Bible College at that! This is a one-year Graduate Diploma in Intercultural Studies (GDIS) which has really opened my eyes to what God was doing throughout the world through many missionaries, workers, ministries, agencies and organizations.

Now…
I will finish my course in SBC by November this year. I am seeking the Lord’s guidance and wisdom in my decision to join a mission agency to go to Thailand with. The Lord has led me to take this exciting journey of faith, where there is much that is unknown ahead of me. Right now, I still don’t know which agency I will join, which part of Thailand I will go to, who I will be working with, what ministry I will be involved in, how much financial I will have to raise and what other problems and difficulties I will face. But I have seen how the Lord has led me thus far, and I trust that He will continue to do so and bring along brothers and sisters in Glory to be partners in my journey.

Pray for me…
1. To be faithful, available and teachable, and in the process of being used by God, I may grow to be more Christ-like.
2. God’s wisdom and guidance as I decide which mission agency/programme I will join.
3. Faithful brothers and sisters to support me in prayers and finances.
4. Opportunities to share God’s love with my family.