Ray Li
I went on missions to find intimacy with God, to make sure that the vision of KCM was something I truly believed in if I were to be a student leader in this ministry. Then God placed me in Nicaragua. To be transparent, I did not have a strong desire to go to Nicaragua and was in fact super certain that I was going to Taiwan, but God had other plans for me. This past month was truly a blast and an absolute privilege. Although it was physically tough at times and perhaps even mentally, it is an experience I do not regret and will forever hold near to my heart. God was truly a rabbi this summer, constantly teaching me things and revealing more parts about my brokenness, yet also a wonderful healer who loyally loved me from the start. Three poignant lessons I learned this summer can be summed into purpose, trust, and empathy.
Purpose- It is really easy to get distracted in life. Stories like the parable of the sower and the two houses warn us of that. As a college student entering his twenties who is still carrying a ton of baggage, I forget my purpose a fair amount. But as the days passed by and as I got closer to our primary missionary point of contact, Missionary Kim, I began to find my purpose more and more: to love God and see every gift in life as an opportunity to serve others. Missionary Kim is someone who had lots of dreams and ambitions, and to give all that up by moving across the globe and becoming a missionary seems absurd, unless you know Jesus. When you truly understand the Father’s heart and live a life sustained by His love, your only response can be surrender.
Trust- When I asked my homestay host what is one piece of advice he would give, he said “trust in God”. Although it is something we hear so often, it hit different here because the people in Nicaragua often lack many resources and sometimes don’t even know when their next meal will be. They really have to depend on God to provide everything. And although I may not lack material resources in the same way they do, there are still lots of things in life I need to surrender to God, trusting that He will be my provider.
Empathy- I speak no Spanish or Korean, yet I still felt so connected to the missionary and locals. We laughed together, cried together, and simply did life together. We are all people made in the image of God with the innate desire to be loved. The older I get, the more I flock to people similar to me, but we are all the one that Jesus would leave the ninety-nine for, so I ought to see people that way.
I am deeply grateful to God and KCM for this summer in Nicaragua, a summer I will forever cherish with fond memories. As I come back from missions, I commit to seeking the Lord with all my heart through consistency in my purpose, trust, and empathy. I have never been consistent in my spiritual life for the past 4 years that I have been a Christian, but I don’t believe that I have been seeking the Lord with all my heart. Seeking the Lord with all my heart means to set aside space to remain in Him consistently through the ups, downs, and mundane of life. It is time to really be disciplined with my daily spiritual habits, but also things like being more loving to the people around me.
