Wednesday, July 20, 2016

“Different Beauties”

My grandma is a bit reluctant when it comes to taking pictures. Her reason being that we all look so nice but she looks so rugged and dirty.

The fact still stays that her children and grandchildren STILL want to take pictures with her NO MATTER how she looks. They like her just the way she is! *cues Bruno Mars* This just reminds me of the verse from Proverbs 20:29.

The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.

There IS a certain splendor to the way grandies look. All the wrinkles… The graying, or even WHITING hair… The dentures… The bent posture… It all tells of how much they have been through and how much wisdom they can impart to us.

20-7-16 (Wednesday) "The Reached Reaching Out"

 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” ~ Romans 10:14-15

It's been a while.

Many things have changed since the last time but there is one thing in particular I'd like to share.

My wife and I have been heavily involved with the Mandarin Bible Fellowship here in Canberra since its inception in February 2015. There have been many ups and downs.

One particular "down" to the ministry is seemingly not seeing results from it. We invest much time, effort and energy into weekly preparations and gatherings, praying for them, organising activities and reading the Bible with them. However, many listen and do not come to believe. Some who believed or who have come to believe do not seem to show fruit in their lives, which makes us question their belief. The challenge for us here is to trust that only God can do the work and He knows the best timing for things to happen. Our role is only to preach the Good News to them and to preach it faithfully and continuously.

Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” ~ John 4:35-38

Just today, we had our Market Day. You can think of it as our recruitment drive, really. The day we set up a stall (a table and two chairs, among many other table and two chairs of other clubs) and talk to students who pass by.

The harvest was ripe indeed, with many students showing keen interest in our gathering (or maybe just the free snacks we were providing. Doesn't matter.).

What was even greater to observe was how the students that we've been spending time with come alongside us and talk to new students about coming to join our group! I listened in on a conversation and heard about how one student (a.k.a someone-who-I-deemed-the-least-likely-evangelist) talk to other students about the group and very convincingly invited them to come along to the group. And he wasn't even a believer at this point! Soon, he was joined in by another girl who was fairly new to the group (not a believer too) and she was chiming in on why this new person should come along.

I was washed over with feelings of great happiness seeing their actions and words and how God had been working in their lives. God does do great things in various ways. In various, unexpected ways.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation.