GAYEON JANG

As I was in my last semester of college, I was not planning to go on missions at all this summer. I thought that I had served God enough in college in KCM prayer and small group committees and that I needed a break. However, during Kingdom Come, a KCM intercampus mission report night, God revealed His heart for me to go back on missions with KCM. Reluctantly, I texted my mom to change our plans to go to Korea and committed my summer to God. When I arrived in India, I quickly realized that this mission trip was not a burden for me to bear but a gift from God to leave my struggles and problems to find comfort in His presence. 

Our South India team has the privilege of serving the students of St. Paul High School campuses in Kammanahalli and Chelekere. At these campuses, we held VBS sessions for around a hundred to three-hundred students at a time and did discipleship sessions with older students in smaller groups. I was given the responsibility of dance coordinator on my team, so I was able to pick out body worship songs to take and lead the students into worship. On the first day of ministry in the Kammanahalli campus, we held a VBS session with the first and second grade students and they were so purely excited to do body worship. While leading His precious children in worship, God reminded me of my seven years in a Christian dance team. When I was in the team, I always felt insignificant compared to my friends and spent so much time comparing myself with them, wanting to be as good at dancing as them.  A question I had in mind after I graduated from the team was, why did I stay seven years without giving up? As I looked at the students’ excitement, God put a question into my mind: Aren’t you so much more in joy leading my children into worship than being a good dancer performing on a stage? In this time, God also reminded me that those seven years were Him training me mentally, spiritually, and physically so I could be used to lead His children into worship. I was grateful that God trusted me to lead His children into worship, but even more surprised that He had been preparing me to do His work even when I had no intention to follow Him. 

In the Kammanahalli campus courtyard, there were a few big trees that made shade. Missionary Chung, the principal of St. Paul High School, told us the students are able to come outside and enjoy the courtyard because of the shade. She said, like how these trees protect the students from the sun, we are protected by God. During our time in Bangalore, one of our teammates was spiritually attacked during her nap, and she quickly recovered but I was slightly scared to go to sleep. But during my personal devotionals, God gave me these two verses: “In peace I will both lie down and sleep;  for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalms 4:8), “If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet” (Proverbs 3:24), and I was able to sleep in peace knowing that God’s provision is over me. In our twelve days of travel and prayer journey through India, our team experienced God’s perfect provision. In trains there were times when we were split into separate cars and when we couldn’t chain our belongings because we were so spread apart. However, we never missed a train, missed our stop, or lost important baggage. Even when we were split into multiple rickshaws or tuk-tuks and the drivers were lost, at least one team member’s phone would have a signal to contact our leaders. Past team leaders warned us that there will be people trying to annoy us to get money from us, but our team was never touched in our hundred-plus hour journey from Bangalore to New Delhi. In this prayer journey through India, our team was exhausted and did not have the energy to pay any attention to the potential dangers of the trip, but God provided infinite shade for our team to rest in. 

When our team visited Varanasi, the holy city of Hinduism, so many people were sacrificing their time and money to worship and please false idols. Knowing that their hard work is all for nothing, I was thinking how stupid and blinded they are. At that moment, I heard a voice in my head saying: what makes your faith so different? I knew that thought was not from God, but I found myself doubting my own faith. When we left the city, my doubts were gone but I realized I’ve been focusing on me and what God can do for me, not God Himself. Now that I’m back in America, I want to get to know God on a deeper and personal level so my faith cannot be shaken next time I go to a place like Varanasi. 

It was a huge privilege to go to South India to observe what God has been doing in India and join in His work for the summer. Even though it was tough, this trip allowed me to reflect on my walk with God and reminded me what I needed to focus on as I enter my post-graduate life. I am not sure where God will take me next, but I hope to trust God’s plan above mine and pursue after Him before my career and wants.