Freshman | UCI

The summer before my freshman year in college, I had the opportunity to go to Kenya for summer missions with my youth group ministry. Doing ministry in Kenya, one theme God showed me about the people there was that their urgency and their satisfaction did not come from the worldly things that they did or did not have, but they were enriched by the gospel and their relationship with God. Whatever they had was temporary and they were trying to pilgrimage to their natural home which is heaven. This moment changed how I viewed the gospel as something that is needed and emphasized the importance of us sharing that urgent love with others and continuing to be missional everywhere that I go. Even though I was so blessed by this trip, I was also sad because I thought that this would be my last ever opportunity to go on missions but thankfully the Lord provides! I believe that it was in his provision that my desire to share his urgent love would lead me to go on STSM this year. This summer, God gave me the privilege to share his abundant love in Nicaragua. Going into it, I had no expectations as I didn’t know what to expect but rather I was curious about two things. To see how God was going to use our team as his instrument for his plan in Nicaragua and what he was going to reveal to me during my time there. Even though I faced a lot of hardship and challenges during my stay, God revealed to me an abundance of blessings that far outweighed the trials and tribulations I encountered. Throughout my period there, there were two themes I got to witness which I am sharing with you all today.

The first theme that the Lord was revealing to me was God’s sacrificial love for us. Missionary Kim, whom we were working with during our month, runs an international Christian school in Tipitapa called KCA (Korean Christian Academy). During our first week there, we conducted VBS and English Camp for the KCA students. Following that, we immediately proceeded to organize VBS for the various church plants associated with the Jesus Esperanza network, founded by Missionary Kim. I remember that physically it was so demanding. Although my desire and Spirit were so filled, my flesh was so weak. The second and the most inspiring theme that God was showing me is the utmost importance of the body of Christ. Another church plant that we got to visit was located in Matagalpa called Arise and Shine church and the purpose of us being at the church was to help out with the Revival Night and anniversary service that was happening there. When we had the revival night, I found it extremely challenging spiritually due to the spiritual brokenness and struggle of this church. It was eye-opening seeing the dark and the brokenness of the people but I felt discouraged and uneasy. But I believe the revival night is what made the anniversary service so significant. At the anniversary service at Matagalpa all of the various church plants that Missionary Kim founded all came together in unison to worship together as a body and to support the Arise and Shine church. This moment reminded me of 1 Corinthians 12:26 where Paul is talking about the body of a church which states, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” Despite all of the many different people that were in that congregation, as brothers and sisters in Christ,  God’s grace and spirit brought all hearts to respond to the suffering and celebration in unity. 

Despite the obstacles and trials that came while on missions it only led my heart to yearn for missions even further both locally and globally. As I experienced the taste of pouring out urgent, sacrificial love to God’s children in Nicaragua for a month, it led my heart to yearn for the mission field back at home: to my campus, to my unreached friends, and my church. Something that Missionary Kim emphasized that stood out to me was that although we may feel pity for the people of Nicaragua for their living situations, the biggest pity actually is the people who do not know the gospel, which is the purpose of missions. No matter where we are or what we do, we have to remember the calling God gives to all of us to be good stewards and fulfill his intentions.

Matthew 28:18-19 : “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

Dios te Bendiga!