Anyhow, I had a blast with my “close to” a months’ vacation, though getting sick after is not something I’d fancy, but it goes with the territory of having been to more than 3 countries, enduring extreme climate changes, 15 flights not including land and sea within a span of 3 weeks?!hehe… it was by far, one of the most outrageous things I’ve ever done in my life…LOL, and I don’t regret doing it.
I greatly enjoyed the short time spent with my family and friends both in Australia and the Philippines, and I praise God for placing people I love all over the world, so that I too would be able to experience the beauty of God’s creation, His goodness and see God’s provisional hands working in the lives of the people that mean much to me. During those 3 weeks, the 2 weeks spent on the church Missions’ trip to the Phil and Japan really resonated much to me, and my call as a servant and messenger of God’s goodness and grace, through the person of Jesus Christ. I thank God for just keeping my team and I safe, as we went on the trips that we planned to go, we surely saw the mighty hand of GOD prepare the way of each task we embarked on, it was like seeing the red sea part with our Spiritual Eyes. Isaiah 14:27 says and I quote, “For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”...Truly God is awesome in all His ways! We were in awe to proclaim God’s goodness and grace at kuya Edgar’s small church near scandy village, Casa Esperanza shelter, Mantuyop Elementary School, as well as in the nearby Science High School and with an evening of praise and worship despite pouring rains of “Typhoon Hanna”..haha. We witnessed the power of the gospel as thousands received the saving grace of Jesus during the altar call at the Hope for You Concert held in Surigao and God’s mighty hand in allowing believing churches to flourish and persevere in Okinawa. As much as we wanted to bless others with our presence and support, we were the ones that were truly blessed in return…we grew as a team and we grew in faith for this was the very first missions trip that CC Echo Park has been on.
During my devotions, as I was reading in the book of Kings, it pointed out something to me in everything we were doing on the trip. As I read the chapters of 1 Kings and pondered on the life of Elijah, the prophet, there was a passage that caught my attention and I pondered on it during the time. The first was 1 Kings 18: 36-37 and I quote, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel [Jacob], let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Elijah spoke these words as he stood on Mt. Carmel challenging the 450 prophets of Baal and God showed His awesome power as He consumed with fire the sacrifice prepared by Elijah despite the trench filled with jars of water over the offering and the wood. And when all the people saw this they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord- He is GOD! The Lord- He is GOD.” What happened on Mt. Carmel was a miracle and an awesome proclamation to all Israel that the GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Israel is the true and living GOD, He was making sure that they all knew that His mighty hand can do the impossible…you see, “miracles” challenges man’s pride, wisdom and knowledge because it is a supernatural act that can be done only in a supernatural way! Then I came upon this quote on my journal by Charles Morgan, “There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved. It is God’s finger on man’s shoulder”. After coming upon these passages and quote, I asked myself, does it really take the supernatural for the hearts of man to turn to GOD?! To see his mighty hand work wonders in impossible ways?? Or does it just need a person humbled by the grace of GOD to go out into the world and show the LOVE of CHRIST as the greatest miracle anyone can ever receive?! Ephesians 3:18 says and I quote, “May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.” LOVE, in its fullness is truly GOD’s finger on man’s shoulder and the greatest way for anyone to be able to experience that love is to go out there and share it to the people who don’t know who He is. We, who have been called as heirs to the kingdom of GOD and who have the love of Christ poured out in our hearts through His Holy Spirit, should have the passion and desire to share what we have received from GOD to others. It was truly amazing and a blessing to participate as part of the team of 14 in this mission, for we were just average people who didn’t have much to give but our time, our obedience and our love for Christ to be shown to other people, to proclaim the truth of the Gospel to a generation that needed to hear the message of forgiveness, mercy and grace.
During this trip, I realized that being a missionary really takes a lot of dedication, sacrifice, patience, and at times just to be “still” before GOD and wait on where He leads and to be flexible, just relying on His strength {lol}. It was such a great experience to be in Japan, to experience the culture of the people and to see GOD working in the churches of Okinawa. Though language barrier may have been a challenge, it really didn’t stop us from sharing the goodness of Christ to the children and their parents in Nago, we spoke the language of LOVE – we gave our time, effort and resources for something we knew would leave a lasting impression on this trip and maybe for the years to come.
