Cross-cultural missionary work is available at home
Picture/Xu Juying
Seeing the threshing field at the door of my house
The global epidemic in 2020 has shrouded the entire world like darkness. I did not expect that a small virus would disrupt people's inherent life patterns, and it also made me deeply understand the fragility of human beings. During the epidemic, join the Bethel Center (BRC) daily morning prayer team to offer prayers for today’s generation online. Many brothers and sisters from different churches, countries, and regions prayed together online. Different pastors and frontline missionaries also shared their views, allowing participants to understand their needs and pray for them.
Just as the epidemic was spreading in full swing in New Jersey, where I live, the state government canceled all non-essential activities and asked everyone to stay at home to avoid the epidemic. In early June, BRC launched the one-week missionary life course "Seizing the Moment" (Kairos) (for details, please refer to:https://cccmforhim.org/kairos), I had the opportunity to participate in training because the studio was closed.
This course broke my original myths about missions; it opened up my view of the kingdom and opened my mind to the world; it gave me a clearer view of missions. I originally thought that missionary work required leaving home and going to unfamiliar places. During my studies, I realized that I must truly live out the likeness of Christ and influence lives with my life; I must not only obey the Great Commandment, but also fulfill the Great Commission. It turns out that to be a disciple of Christ is to be a missionary; in fact, you can do missionary work right on your doorstep.
The training course had just ended, and at the morning prayer meeting of the BRC, it happened that Pastor Sarah was scheduled to share about the cross-cultural missionary work at Paterson Memorial Park. The Paterson area in northeastern New Jersey has the second largest Muslim population in the United States. Preacher Sarah, inspired by God, walked and prayed alone in this area for two years. It happened that BRC provided free masks to local residents, hoping to help people in need during the shortage of masks, and at the same time take this opportunity to bring the gospel to them. Co-workers invite brothers and sisters who are moved to participate. I was filled with excitement and gratitude, knowing that the Lord had given me this opportunity to practice missionary practice!
Need prayer covering
On June 13, 2020, my son and I officially joined the cross-cultural missionary team of "Aimu" on our doorstep. Together with brothers and sisters from different churches who share the same goals, we marched towards our goal with the missionary burden and full of enthusiasm.
Looking back on the thrilling twists and turns of that day, I still vividly remember it.
Due to a car accident 20 years ago, my son had difficulty moving and had to rely on a wheelchair to get around. That day we arrived at Paterson Park, a 20-minute drive from home. After parking the car, we pushed our son towards our destination. Unexpectedly, one person was not careful, and the wheelchair hit a hole on the roadside, and he was thrown out of the wheelchair. Watching Steven roll around on the ground helplessly made me feel distressed and guilty at the same time. This road has always been busy with traffic. Thanks to the Lord’s protection, my son fell on the side of the road instead of on the road, and he only had a little scratch on his knee.
At that moment, there was a voice in my heart that said, "You took your son with you, so this happened to you!" Even though the voice of accusation echoed in my ears, I was still very sure that what I did was in line with God's will, and more importantly, I followed God's will. The peace that comes. Make up your mind and move on with your son.
Just as he was getting ready to set off, the Holy Spirit reminded him to pray with his son, but because it was already too late, he did not stop but prayed silently by himself along the way. After arriving at the destination, we began to distribute masks to the Muslim women and children who came to the park, while talking to them and preaching the salvation of Jesus Christ until evening. On the way home, Steven, who had always been calm, suddenly lost control and angrily destroyed the devices in the car and tried to open the door. I was so frightened by his sudden behavior that I had no time to think about anything else. I immediately parked the running car on the side of the road and comforted him as soon as possible. After he calmed down, I drove home.
Because I experienced this incident, I truly felt the situation of spiritual warfare, and it reminded me of the importance of vigilance and prayer. After that, my good friend Sister Guohong joined our prayer team, and we had a prayer partner. Before departure every week, the three of us would pray together for the ministry, asking the Lord to guide, protect, and bless the work to be done that day.
▲Realizing that missionary work can be done at home, the author (right) took his daughter and son to participate in delivering masks and preaching the gospel.
From individual to team
We continue to deliver masks every Saturday at Paterson Park. During those two months, I preached the gospel to more than a hundred Muslim friends, and two of them decided to believe in the Lord. Later, Sarah followed up with preaching. There are also four women who are willing to take ESL (English as Second Language) online English courses to help them understand the gospel through learning English. These results give us great encouragement. As the epidemic gradually slows down, people's demand for masks also decreases, and we gradually lose the opportunity to communicate with them. Just when we were not sure how to continue, a co-worker suggested holding a garden party.
At that moment, I looked around and saw that the park was full of young children. I feel moved in my heart: we will use garden outing activities to attract the young generation of Muslims, and sow the seeds of the gospel into their hearts through laughter and laughter! The co-workers also unanimously agreed, so everyone immediately planned to change the mask distribution operation into a parent-child activity in the park!
Six of us co-workers from different churches held a meeting that day. I invited my daughter Tammy to participate. She has some experience in organizing this type of event and can give us some suggestions. She was eager to participate. Afterwards, the co-workers were moved and enthusiastic and took less than five days to arrange the program content of the event and prepare all the prizes and gifts to be distributed.
The original plan was to hold three parent-child activities on three consecutive Saturdays. The only publicity before the event was to distribute invitation cards in the park. At 5:30 pm on August 22, the first parent-child activity officially started, including singing hymns, Bible stories, playing games with the children, and sending small gifts, etc. Even though there were only six children and guests, the co-workers who told stories and led the singing still tried their best. More than a dozen brothers and sisters from different churches came to support and help create an atmosphere at the scene. Some sisters chatted with the participating mothers in hopes of building relationships.
The ultimate goal of parent-child activities is that everyone who participates can feel the love of Jesus Christ. The feeling that day was really pleasant and warm. What was even more unexpected was that the number of participants increased dozens of times in the second and third sessions. It was originally discussed that there would only be three events, but unexpectedly we couldn't stop, and the event lasted until October 31, 2020. It’s late autumn, and due to the weather, outdoor activities will eventually have to be suspended.
Thank you Heavenly Father for opening another door and transforming your activities into the cloud. After several discussions among the brothers and sisters, the online event started at 4:00 pm on Saturday, November 28th. We have no publicity channels and can only invite friends who are willing to leave their contact numbers after participating in the event. A total of 42 families were invited by sending messages. Although there are only five children participating for the first time, we believe that there is a beautiful plan from God the Father in this process. Every step we take is guided by the Father and is full of blessings from God.
Mission makes life grow
On September 4, 2020, BRC launched another course "Becoming a Muslim", which will focus on Muslim missionary work in 12 weeks and introduce the Muslim community and our cultural differences in detail. I realized that they were under the oppression and control of religion and were full of uncertainty about the future; they relied on the worship of religious rituals and their own actions to hope for a change in their lives. I also understand the false teachings of their religion, which values personal honor above all else, even one's own life. It would be a great shame for them if someone apostatized.
This gave me a clearer view of the true needs of Muslims. God loves the world. In the ministry of Aimu, I used to only focus on the younger generation of Muslims. God, the Father, through "entering the heart of Muslims", allowed me to see those women who were treated unfairly. Thinking of a Muslim woman friend in the park. Although I couldn't tell her about the salvation of Jesus Christ in public, when I extended kindness and friendship to her, she was willing and happy to accept it. I could feel her desire for love and respect. Because of the love of Jesus Christ, I learned that we must love everyone, especially the weak.
Thank the Lord for raising up many brothers and sisters to work with the Lord. Give us the opportunity to serve others and serve God. Even if we are from different churches, the love of Jesus Christ attracts and connects us. Without the same aspirations, the same emotions and burdens, it would be very difficult for this group of people who are unfamiliar with each other and have different life backgrounds to reach a consensus and complete the same work. It is the love of Jesus Christ that allows us to accept and tolerate each other.
An experience that I remember particularly deeply was when a new co-worker did not make good arrangements for the entire activity program and personnel deployment, and his approach and philosophy were different from ours. At this time, I felt dissatisfied, and my intuition was that "different ways do not lead to the same goal." I had the idea of quitting the ministry. Unexpectedly, I suddenly felt extremely sad. Afterwards, God reminded me of 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 7 which says “bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things” and Romans chapter 15 verse 7: “Therefore accept one another as Christ accepts you all to the glory of God.” In fact, each co-worker has different gifts, and through God’s wonderful arrangement, we are placed in the right position.
In the process of serving, I learned more about team spirit and the importance of unity. From simply distributing masks individually to cooperating as a team to organize parent-child activities in the park, the most difficult thing is to tolerate and accept each other. During service, Heavenly Father’s biggest reminder to me is to value my relationship with people and Heavenly Father, and to learn to rely more on God.
The COVID-19 epidemic, which has disrupted and harmed lives, has opened up a new realm for my life and turned my life around. When the world seemed to be on hold, I was given the opportunity to be equipped to cross my comfort zone and hit the missionary path close to home. From understanding Muslim culture, we also learn how to correctly convey God’s redemption plan.
It turns out that the command of the Lord Jesus, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” can be put into practice right at your doorstep.
Readers who are moved to participate, please scan the QR code (Mission QR Code) or contact me via email (amyhsusteven@gmail.com).
Amy Hsu, was born in Taoyuan County, Taiwan, and immigrated to New Jersey, the United States in 1995. He specializes in beauty and hairdressing and has a son and a daughter. In 2004, she was baptized into the name of the Lord. In December 2019, she published the book "Aimee's Symphonic Life".