Missions and Me
(view this entry on michng.com)
I had the privilege of attending a 4 day 3 night missions conference earlier this week. Won't go into details here, but may the fruit of my life reflect what I learned and received there. Come talk to me personally if you are interested to know more :) I must mention though, that I had a great time gleaning from men and women who have paid the price and have been powerfully used by God.
One of the other highlights of the conference: I purchased 4 biographies of men that God used in missions, 3 of which I have read several years ago. Those biographies impacted my life so much that I purposed in my heart to get them for myself, as the copies I read were borrowed. However, I had difficulty finding them until now. In fact, the Pastor Hsi biography was out of print for many years until recently!
The books I bought:1. Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret (by Howard & Geraldine Taylor)
2. Pastor Hsi: A Struggle for Chinese Christianity (by Geraldine Taylor)
3. A Biography of John Sung (by Leslie T. Lyall)
4. Sadhu Sundar Singh (by Phyllis Thompson)
One of the things that really blew my mind when I read those first 3 biographies (in that order, also in the order of their existence), was how it was through the first man's obedience, faithfulness and sacrifice that brought about the second through his ministry, and how the second man's ministry brought about the third. And the third, John Sung, as most of us know brought about a great revival in China and even in Malaysia, where today, places like Sibu and Sitiawan enjoy the Christian legacy that was left. (Majority of the people I meet from Sibu and Sitiawan are Christians or have had strong Christian influence in their lives)
There are times where we sow into a cause and see instantaneous results. Then there are times where we have to wait a certain period, sometimes years, before we see any fruit from our sowing. Then there are also times where we won't live to see the results, but they take place nonetheless, in God's perfect timing. That's why faith is needed - the substance of things hope for, and the evidence of things not seen.
Looking forward to re-read those 3 biographies :)
The biography of Sadhu Sundar Singh is the only one I have not read. In fact, his name was fairly new to me. Therefore, I chose to read this first and finished it this afternoon. Such simplicity and power in his life, that though he only lived 41 years, he had accomplished much for the glory of God.
An excerpt from the book that I like very much:
"The sadhu's reply was brief but unconsciously revealing. He spoke as one who had known physical hardship and suffering, loneliness and rejection, secret and open hostility, long days and nights of strain and weariness, mental exhaustion and spiritual conflict over many years all for the sake of the Name. To die as a martyr for Christ is easy. To live for Christ is hard."- Sadhu Sundar Singh
A picture of the small group I was in (minus James), led by the awesome Pr Susan from Kota Kinabalu :)
