NOAH SUH

I decided to go on missions this summer because I felt called to. Not that I had some big revelation from God or that he spoke to me to go to a specific country, but because I know that as a believer I am called to “make disciples of all nations” and I wanted to live in obedience to that calling.

When I got chosen to go to South India I was not the happiest. Looking back, I think I wasn’t happy because I was scared of the unknown. I was going to a country that KCM hadn’t been to in 5 years, so I had no idea what to expect, and none of my friends were on my team. This fear of the unknown was something that God continued to reveal to me on the trip, because in India, nothing was certain. We had planned ministry such as VBS but there were always surprises thrown in. For example, there was a morning when we did our VBS sessions and were expecting to rest after, but the missionary told us we were going to lead discipleship groups. To be honest I was very tired and felt unprepared, but getting to share the Gospel with the students and have intentional conversations with them ended up being one the biggest blessings of the trip. Also, our travel from south to north India was especially spontaneous and we had to trust that God would guide us each step of the way. What I learned through these experiences is that worrying about what will happen next takes away from my ability to live in the present. I need only to trust God and to rely on him in every moment, knowing that he provides my daily bread and is sovereign over all things.

Something that also touched my heart on this trip was being able to witness the faithfulness of the missionaries. Missionary Chung was a successful businessman in Korea before he decided to give it all up and move to India. He started with nothing, but through his faithfulness God has built numerous churches and a school with thousands of students. After our first day of ministry, his wife took us to her avocado tree in front of the school to give us avocados as gifts. She said she planted the tree 30 years ago. All I saw was a huge tree with so much fruit, but what I didn’t see was the years of care and labor it must have taken to grow that tree into what it became. To me this tree was a symbol of their faith and work in India. Through their obedience and dedication, God has spread His truth in India and produced much fruit.

Another thing that I noticed in India was how much faith the people have. It is almost impossible to find an atheist in India. Most people follow either Hinduism or Islam or a combination of religions pretty devoutly. They go on religious pilgrimages, walking barefoot for hundreds of miles, and follow numerous rituals at their temples just to please their gods. But even though their faith is in the wrong things, I think they have a virtue that is often absent in America. They recognize that they have a need for something greater than themselves. They are also surprisingly open to the Gospel but they see Jesus as an addition to the many gods that they worship. The hard part is getting them to believe that He is the one true God. A verse that I think is especially relevant in India is Matthew 9:37 which says “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” As a nation with over 1.4 billion people, India has a huge harvest. All God desires is faithful disciples through which He can reconcile the people of India back to Himself.

Lastly, there was one experience that humbled me, convicted me, inspired me, and brought me so much joy all at the same time. It was during one of our ministries where we got to meet and worship with lepers. Many of them were missing limbs and living on the streets because they were abandoned by family, and yet they worshiped God with a purity and joy that I have never seen before. The missionary said, “Jesus can do anything for you and give you whatever you want. If you could ask Him for one thing, what would you ask for?” They have so much they could ask for, but one man’s response is something I will never forget. With a smile on his face, he said “I just want to be next to Jesus.” This statement was so powerful to me because he had no family, his health was taken away, he owned nothing, and yet his greatest desire was the presence of God.

Now that I am back home, I want to live my life in faith and see each day as a gift and opportunity to glorify God. In whatever circumstance I am in, I want to be content because my joy is in God alone. And I want to pursue God and His kingdom first, trusting that He is sovereign and that His love will never fail.