Missions Training and Steamboat

The undergraduate students are having their holidays at the moment, so no CF and Bible study this week. Instead, I had to help conduct some training sessions for the CF team that would be heading out for a mission trip to Pahang. They will be visiting some 'Orang Asli's over there. This was my first time conducting training sessions of this nature. I wasn’t really too keen on it at first. Three nights of sessions! And what do I know about missions anyway? But in the end, I believe it was a good learning experience for me. And God blessed me by bringing this bunch of great people into my life, half of them whom I didn’t really know until then!

We touched on cross-culture and preparing testimonies on Tuesday night, and then moved on to group dynamics on the second day. We had a really special session then as some of the group members began to share what they really felt about the whole thing. I was blessed with the opportunity to witness God bringing a rag-tag group of people who didn’t really know each other and turn them into a team in these few days. It’s interesting to see that God provided all the different gifts to each of them that were required to balance the group. The whole group is interesting as well; not the usual outstanding CF people, but rather those who have been in the background most of the time. It’s great to see them getting involved! I can’t wait for them to come back and tell their stories! On the last session today, I shared about Peter’s experience stepping out of the boat to meet Jesus on the water in Matthew 14. I’ve always loved this passage. It reminds us each time as we leave our comfort zones to meet Jesus in a new adventure, that we need to always fix our eyes on Jesus, rather than focus on the winds. It is a good reminder too, that Jesus is always there to catch us if ever we start sinking, and that failures will always be another lesson in our faith journey. We then washed each other’s feet as we prayed for one another. This is a reminder that we have been called to serve (something I learnt from Pastor Joanne as she sent us off on our last mission trip to Sarawak!).

I managed to join the Sarawak 05 Mission team members for the steamboat buffet dinner! My meeting with my boss was canceled today so we could bring the last session forward. I wonder if God intended for me to go and join them there!

When we hear that prayer must be offered in accordance with God’s will, our initial response might be to assume that the crucial aspect has to do with what we ask for. To focus first on our petitions, however, is to put the cart before the horse. Rather than what we say, our first concern ought to be who we are. ~ Stanley Grenz, Prayer: The Cry for the Kingdom

At times, we claim that we are concerned for God’s glory, God’s kingdom, and the welfare of others, but in fact our motivation is pure selfishness. When this occurs, prayer becomes hypocritical. We might continue to follow the proper prayer routine and even speak the right words. Nevertheless, the motivation that drives us to pray is not the desire that God’s rule be present in the here and now. In such prayers we give only lip service that the kingdom break into the present. ~ Stanley Grenz, Prayer: The Cry for the Kingdom

We sometimes ask God to accomplish in our midst what we in fact should be doing ourselves. Uncooperative prayer – petitioning God while being unwilling to get involved – is ultimately ineffective. Prayer must be accompanied by cooperation, by a willingness to be engaged in the process of answering our requests. ~ Stanley Grenz, Prayer: The Cry for the Kingdom