Last week I was on a missions trip to Vancouver, BC where we held a vacation Bible school (VBS) at the Chinese Tabernacle Baptist Church (CTBC). As this was my first missions trip, I wasn't sure what to expect really. I had heard stories from friends about seeing God work, but even with that, I still went into the trip pretty blind. Of the people that went, I knew 2 or 3 prior to leaving Florence. The rest I had seen or knew their names, but that was the extent of it. The first night that we were in Vancouver we really didn't notice a whole lot; since we didn't arrive until after midnight local time (which was 3 hours behind us here) and were pretty wiped out, but for the rest of the trip, I was in total culture shock. Superficially, Vancouver is pretty much like any large US city, it has its nicer homes and areas of town, and there are areas that are a bit more run down, it has its people, its attractions, etc...but when Pastor Fred Davis, who is the missionary we were there with, took us the first day to a functioning Buddhist Temple, I realized that this was unlike any other place I had been. The sheer diversity of people and religions kinda overwhelmed me. In one long row there were churches and temples form nearly every area of the world lined up. It was then that I began to understand how unusual (to me anyhow) Pastor Davis' ministry was. Whereas here, people are either Christian or not, for the most part, and ministry focuses on showing people that they need A God, there, Pastor Davis' ministry focuses on showing people that they need THE God. One who can fill the emptiness left by their native gods and their works based religions.
What really got a hold of me, though, were the people that I got to know on the trip. The children at the VBS we were holding at the church Thursday through Sunday night touched my heart. There was a diversity there that was not only related to the people, but also to the knowledge these children had. In some cases, these children were asking questions that would make my head spin, in other cases, some children seemed to have no prior knowledge of what we taught, whatsoever. As the week progressed, I got to know the people a little better, my fellow team members, Pastor and Mrs. Davis, the young adults of CTBC, and the kids that attended our VBS, and in each of these groups I learned about the experiences that they had been through prior to me meeting them, and I learned about what they were going through personally now, and what things lay ahead of them in the near future. It was an experience I don't believe I will soon forget. At least, I pray that I don't. In each of these people that I came to know, whether American or Canadian, whether child, youth, or adult, I got to see a piece of myself. Something in them that I could apply back to my own life and learn from , and I will carry that piece of them with me now. Remembering what it is that I learned from them and how it helped me in my personal walk with Christ. I would like nothing more than to go back to Vancouver and spend more time there with the people of CTBC and see what else God can teach me through their lives. Thank you very much for allowing me to go on this trip.
What really got a hold of me, though, were the people that I got to know on the trip. The children at the VBS we were holding at the church Thursday through Sunday night touched my heart. There was a diversity there that was not only related to the people, but also to the knowledge these children had. In some cases, these children were asking questions that would make my head spin, in other cases, some children seemed to have no prior knowledge of what we taught, whatsoever. As the week progressed, I got to know the people a little better, my fellow team members, Pastor and Mrs. Davis, the young adults of CTBC, and the kids that attended our VBS, and in each of these groups I learned about the experiences that they had been through prior to me meeting them, and I learned about what they were going through personally now, and what things lay ahead of them in the near future. It was an experience I don't believe I will soon forget. At least, I pray that I don't. In each of these people that I came to know, whether American or Canadian, whether child, youth, or adult, I got to see a piece of myself. Something in them that I could apply back to my own life and learn from , and I will carry that piece of them with me now. Remembering what it is that I learned from them and how it helped me in my personal walk with Christ. I would like nothing more than to go back to Vancouver and spend more time there with the people of CTBC and see what else God can teach me through their lives. Thank you very much for allowing me to go on this trip.
2 comments:
The letter ?
...? What letter are you talking about?
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