#BringMehope

[nooomainstream]

Today in celebrating #internationalyogaday In connection to be brave and dare, honor my #chakrasana Back down, we are mentally inside us, we are nothing with universe. #bringmehopes #spiritual #bringawareness #bodyflow #flowing #bluesky #highland #horizon #kintamani #mountbatur #igloo #iglooglamping #iglooglampingbali #baliisland #drivefast #indonesia (at Kintamani Bali) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQXe1lfhmPX/?utm_medium=tumblr

[oliviahofficial-blog]

@bringmehope is a beautiful initiative based in California that provides for the needs and wants of orphans year round, all around the world. Dedicated to the cause, a core group of charity staff work year round with volunteers to ensure that children are met with love and compassion. It starts with a tooling building summer camp, and the children are spring boarded into the future with the care that they deserve. To learn more about the amazing work they do, visit their page @bringmehope !

[redeemedbymygoel]

No Purpose of God’s Can Be Thwarted (Part 3/3) | BMH 2019 Reflection

<-- Part 1/3

<-- Part 2/3

Week 4: God’s Purpose Revealed and Goodbyes

*prays before eating lunch*

“Ah! Do you believe in Jesus?”

“Yes...”

“Me too!”

“GOD, WHY ARE YOU SO GOOD TO ME THIS WEEK?!?!?!”

            God gifted me this week with 16-year-old Grace* and 15-year-old Lucy* who, along with several familiar faces, came from the Week 1 orphanage! Day 1 not only did I find out that my translator Matty was a Christian, but also, at mealtime, I prayed and found out so was Grace! By evening, I had been blessed to sing songs like, “10,000 Reasons” with our family and get to curl Lucy’s hair when she couldn’t go to swim time. God also used a volunteer from that week named Kara, to show us all more of why He relocated us Week 1.

“I saw Lucy is in your group.”

“Yeah! I have Lucy and Grace. God is so GOOD! I just found out that Grace and my translator are both Christians!”

“I was thinking the same thing! Every year I went to camp at Yantai, Lucy’s always been in my family group but this year I heard Zhengzhou needed more volunteers, so I decided to come here. I was afraid that Lucy might feel sad that I wasn’t in Yantai this year but then I saw her walk in and I was like, ‘Wow, God! You’re amazing!’”

           My jaw dropped when I heard that and at the volunteer meeting that night when we shared about it, we were all mind blown at God’s sovereignty.

“WOW. God had a purpose and reason for moving us!”

           Even more amazingly, Grace’s testimony affirmed God’s sovereign hand even over orphans who age out! Grace was born with a lot of health problems and abandoned by her parents who divorced. She was sent to a Buddhist foster home where the practice was drilled into them yet somehow she just knew that Buddhism was not “the way”. The foster home burned down and she was relocated to another orphanage where there happened to be Christian teachers who taught the kids math, English, and the Bible! When Grace was 13, she decided to give her life to Jesus. A year later, a Canadian Christian family had read about her online, moved to China, and adopted her so she got to live with them! Still, Chinese law says orphans are not adoptable at age 14 so a year later at 15, she was moved to this orphanage.

           It would seem that all hope is lost, but God had bigger plans.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” ~Isaiah 55:8-9

          Grace’s family told her that when she was 18, she would go back to living with them while also giving her a bible and phone to keep up with them. What is God’s purpose in keeping her in this orphanage for the next 2 years? Through brokenness, He started to reveal more of that.

          Grace had a mental break down the whole day of the talent show and we were speechless on what to do. I felt so weak and helpless that day, unable to understand what was going on in her heart- all I could do was get to my knees and pray. That night, we just sat handing her tissues. I knew that the only One who could comfort her was the Comforter Himself, so I said,

“Although I don’t know what’s on your heart, I’m glad you know the One who does. Lean on Him and pray to Him. He will never leave you or forsake you.”

           I just sat there and hugged her for a half hour as she cried. Through it all, my other girl Lucy asked why I was saying what I said. Wow! Even through seemingly “inconvenient” trauma, God can still allow it to be a chance to share the gospel. Truly, not one plan for the sake of His glory can be thwarted!

          Although Grace had to wait for two years to go back to her family, in the waiting, God can use her life as a testimony to these kids. I can’t openly share the gospel with these kids but she probably can! Her life is already a picture of the gospel: for the one who knows Christ will also receive the family of Christ.

          We all, like Grace, are broken humans who move from place to place, fostered by the philosophy of the world that will never satisfy because it is not the “Truth”. In fact, one day, all those who follow in the philosophy of the world will lose everything and similarly burn as they are thrown into the “lake of fire”. Yet, a good and gracious God from afar sees us. He left all He knew to come live in ‘our land’ as a man because of love. God shows His love for us in this: that while we were still sinners (following in the ways of the world), Christ died for us. He died for our sins so we can be forgiven by a Holy and Just God. Not only are we forgiven, but we are redeemed into a new life where we receive His Spirit and are adopted as His children into His heavenly family. 

            Still, because of the work to be done, we still live on the earth surrounded by a broken world but are given the Word of Truth to guide us to live as Jesus lived. Hence, while we wait for Jesus to come back and redeem us fully, we have a mission here to be a witness for Jesus through how we live. As we yearn to finally be with our heavenly “family”, He teaches us to learn to look more to Christ as His power is perfected in our brokenness and weakness. No evil in the world could thwart God’s plan of adoption for Grace and no evil in the world can thwart God’s plan to redeem us into the family of Christ because the work “is finished.”

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

~~~~~~~~~~~

“I want to encourage you all that there is hope. I wasn’t supposed to stay for Week 4 but I praise God that I did. When these kids left Week 1, I wondered, will I ever see them again? But seeing them again this week encouraged me so much! Just seeing us again, made their days even brighter. You can just tell they had so much fun being back this week! I hope you all would consider coming back next year to be consistency for these kids, something they don’t have. I definitely want to and I want you all to keep me accountable.”

          The Lord allowed me and other staff to impart these words to the translators. Leaving camp was of one of the most painful goodbyes. Today, I still think so much of the kids and all that has happened. Some days I am so happy but then I cry because my heart yearns to see, hold, and hug them. My heart’s desire is to move to East Asia, to be closer to the kids (and my extended family) to the point of questioning why the Lord has me here in the United States. Opportunities have come but He has made it clear that they are not His will. 

           Yet I must remember that He is sovereign and that He has a good plan for me in His timing (which may not be my plans or timing but when He reveals it, it will be perfect). There is a reason He has brought me back to the US. In the meanwhile, He reminds me to pursue Him and pray that the seeds planted in these kids would lead them to a living hope in Christ until we (prayerfully) meet again next year. May You, O Lord, help me to be content in You, wherever You place me, for I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from Your love.

“Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” ~ Psalm 37:4

[redeemedbymygoel]

No Purpose of God’s Can Be Thwarted (Part 2/3) | BMH 2019 Reflection

<-- Part 1/3

Week 3: Changing My Flight and Crying for Katie

            More goodbyes. Several dear sisters were driven away to their rides to leave Zhengzhou. As I stood with our significantly smaller group, I wondered if I might feel alone for this last week of being in China. Yet, the yearning to stay in China longer for these kids grew with every beat of my heart. Already, I had been looking for plane tickets all week to stay but due to the choppy Wi-Fi, I quit.

“I’ll stay another week if you don’t eat a cicada…”

Two nights before camp, some staff were making bets on trying to get our director, Jenny, to eat a cicada. I just found the whole concept disgusting so these words essentially blurted out of my mouth. The room went dead silent.

“Wait, don’t you mean if she eats a cicada?”

Jenny started flipping through her phone. The staff members were staring at me with eyes wide open. Although I knew it was wrong of me to say oaths like that, I knew what came out of my mouth stemmed from an immense desire to stay.

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” ~Matthew 12:34

“Wait really? I’ll do it if you’re serious. Let me check the volunteer list, I’m pretty sure we only have 2 people.”

I whipped out my phone and started furiously searching for flights.

“Wait let me see if this is possible. I’m pretty sure this is possible. I’ve been searching for flights all week.”

          Over the next two days, I found it was possible to stay another week. Yet, each airline I tried to book would not let me because I did not have a “Chinese Cell Phone Number”. Fear came into my heart. “Am I being disobedient to You, Lord? Am I not just causing my parents to worry? Am I wasting Your money, Lord? But Your work among these kids...” I came to a point where I just said to the Lord, “If You want me to stay, I’ll stay. If You want me to leave, I’ll leave. Your will be done.” The next morning was the first day of Week 3 camp I woke up and ‘happened’ to read Luke 12:

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”~ Luke 12:32-34 

What a comfort His Word brought to my heart to eradicate the fears! I decided to try one last time to change my ticket before our training at 9:00 am. The Lord brought me to a new airline where tickets were cheaper, with better seating class, and better layovers than my previous flight. The website loaded slowly for a good 15 minutes as I worked on journaling. I looked up and saw, “Confirmed!”

“PRAISE THE LORD! I’M STAYING FOR WEEK 4!”

“What?!?!?”

I jumped out of my bed and ran to find Jenny but she was in a meeting. I’d have to wait until that night’s volunteer meeting to tell her, but my heart was absolutely elated! Not even China’s “Great Firewall” nor lack of Chinese phone number could stop God from allowing me to stay another week if it was His will!

~~~~~~~~~~~

“姐姐, isn’t it true Mazu protects the seas?”

“*to translator* What’s Mazu?”

“Mazu is a Chinese god.”

“姐姐 does not recognize the god Mazu but 姐姐 knows the God named Yahweh!”

             My new Week 3 family included my translator Chris and two adorable 8-year-old girls, Katie* and Ella*. This week, none of the kids who came had special needs-- they were extremely bright, yet all unadoptable. Katie and Ella were like day and night, rarely wanting to play together, so our family was often split. Katie bonded to me quickly since we had shared loves of studying for exams and she questioned me a lot about religion. After the Lord allowed me to share His name, Katie sparked interest and started asking more. Cautious because of the law, I briefly explained to her about being a Christian.

“姐姐, what are you doing?”

“I’m praying.”

“Oh, why do you pray?”

“Remember, 姐姐 told you I was a Christian? I’m praying to God!”

“I see! So you have to pray before you eat everyday?”

“*laughing* No, I want to pray before eating because I’m so thankful to God for this food, a place to stay, and for bringing us together as a family this week!”

Ella had seen me praying and even though we didn’t spend much time together, not even that could stop God from using her curiosity to share about Him!

~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

          I called Katie “我的小天使 (My Little Angel)”. She was so sweet-- constantly looking out and caring for me. During the movie night, when Ella had kicked me off a mat, Katie crawled over to give me a hug. She pulled me over to share her mat with me and delicately covered my legs with a blanket to make sure I was warm. Touched and tearing up, I gave her the biggest hug and offered to let her lay back on a pillow. Still, Katie put up a strong front, unwilling to let me love on her, and shook her head as she uncomfortably sat up straight. Being independent and capable was one of few things she could control about her life.

           The next morning, before sending the kids off, we sang a song called, “我愛你 (I Love You)”. Turning towards Katie, I did the hand movements as normal. Suddenly, her smile broke into a pout. She started crying and shocked I started crying too. I hugged her and tried to keep singing through tears but it was a lost cause for my heart broke to see my strong willed, little angel would care so much about this week of camp. As we walked out, the whole camp was crying and Katie wanted to go on the bus last.

“姐姐, these are my bells. I made them into a bracelet for you.”

Since the day we met, Katie had held on to a beloved collection of bells. I kissed her tear-filled cheek and hugged her with thankfulness. Putting her on the bus was so hard. She held my hand tightly and cried even more. Before the door closed, I reached to hold her hand one more time. I never thought I’d cry sending a child off but not even my tendency to “save face” would stop God from helping me find freedom to weep as Jesus wept, yearning for these little ones to know the hope of Christ, in front of others.

“And when He drew near and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”~ Luke 19:41-42

“I will pray for you always.” The door shut.

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[redeemedbymygoel]

No Purpose of God’s Can Be Thwarted (Part 1/3) | BMH 2019 Reflection

“I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”~ Job 42:2

“Actually, camp is going to be a 3 hour drive away... not 30 minutes.”

         My heart froze. All echoes of doubts about going to camp stirred in my head. How upset would my anti-Christian parents be? One who told me to drop the whole orphan ministry thing, how much reason would she have to say, ‘I told you so’. I was already annoyed about being lost in Zhengzhou’s airport for half an hour with barely working Wi-Fi, my only way of communication in China.

“Wait, where is it? Why?”

          As it turned out, our camp for Bring Me Hope 2019 in Zhengzhou was relocated outside the province for unclear reasons. As our group of volunteers walked to the van set for Shandong, I prayed for understanding. As I talked to Amye, a sister and staff member, the Lord started to work hope in my heart. I had no idea why this was happening, but He did (and that’s all that mattered). God had a reason for moving us so far away last minute and, although we couldn’t see what would happen, we could trust Jesus was in control and had a glorious plan for us all, no matter what trials would come.

“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Romans 8:24-25

Week 1: Flexibility and the Fake Smile

          With no idea what each day brought, we could only, by faith, be prepared for change at any moment. Praise be to the Lord that He provided housing, a camp location, and little campers last minute through our Week 1 Chinese director, Roy. That week 13-year-old Victor* (advocacy name), who constantly held hands with Josy (my translator) and I, became our little brother. Sadly, I must confess that I struggled with apathy towards my family group this week because of several energy-draining sicknesses. 

            The day we went to the aquarium, the media showed up and the foreign volunteers were not allowed to go in with the kids. Our camp was just in too fragile of a situation.

“Victor kept asking where you were, and he insisted on finding you. I tried to tell him you were ‘tired’ and went to rest. I’m worried that at the end of the week when we leave, it will be bad for the kids. What should we do?”

          Panicked, Josy sent me this message that day. My heart broke. Even in my apathy, God was still working through these kids to touch my heart. Did Victor really care that much I wasn’t there? My heart was touched but I was at a loss of how to respond so I asked Gabby, another staff member, to help me. I didn’t want to separate from Victor either, but I suppressed feelings of sadness and fake smiled as I waved goodbye to Victor to maintain his happy memories. I wanted to be strong for Victor but I just felt weak. The Lord would work on me that very weekend; there was a lot I needed to give to the Lord. 

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”          ~ Psalm 51:10

Week 2: Prayer and Practicing Discipline

          After we said goodbye to translators and volunteers, we moved to a new location where we could run camp 24/7. That weekend, I had regained health but nothing could prepare me for receiving heart shattering news from home that broke me into a million pieces. Mourning the sinful way I had handled things, I brought my pains and sorrows to the Lord where He met me in this valley. By grace, He prompted me to pray for focus and love this week as I met cute but rambunctious little Tommy*, an 8-year-old who kept my translator Elise and I on our feet.   

“姐姐(jie jie = big sister), I want to throw up…”

          Tommy had eaten a whole plate of fried meat the night before and refused to eat any veggies. It makes one wonder how much trauma he might have had related to being withheld from food due to his skinny figure. My poor translator Elise grieved at the thought of discipline when I told her our director had discussed limiting his food intake and eat separately from others. Taking up my people-pleasing cross, I prepared to accept the fact that I would be the un-fun sister who was too strict since, at first, only I was the one telling Tommy no. Tommy fussed about food yet I was so blessed when we would briefly leave to scarf food down and come back to the most joyful little boy running into our arms for a hug, happily yelling, “ 姐姐”!

           Praise the Lord, later Elise told me that she was so happy and grateful that we limited his portions because Tommy’s health was so much better! To top it all off, I had been praying for a chance to share my faith but had none until the last day when the brother who chaperoned Tommy’s room shared his art (which had biblical inspirations) with my translator who asked about its meaning since she loves poetic things. Amazed at His sovereign hand, God gave me a chance to translate the meaning to her in Chinese and talk more about the Lord!  I couldn’t believe it yet that is our God, for He is the one faithful to answer prayers-- not even the running around of a rambunctious little boy could stop God from showing His glory! 

“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.”- Psalm 145:18-19

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[redeemedbymygoel]

Camp Week 2~ Learning Humility and Unconditional Forgiveness

<<A continuation of Camp 2019: Week 1>>

"The Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times? Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times." ~Matthew 18:21-22 (ESV) 

     May God receive glory for being the one who chooses and uses the weak to shame the strong! Despite all the relocation mishaps, the Lord provided a new place to this time run an 24/7 camp at a hot springs hotel. This hotel allowed both foreigners and citizens to stay there. It also had a pool and adequate space for the kids to play. Our fellowship Sunday was uplifting as a brother delivered a message on examining our faith. It was dear to have the time to hold on to each truth in His word and know that the trials we all faced were in the purpose of the Lord. 

       On Monday 7/15, I met my translator Elise and our adorable 8 year old boy Tommy* (advocacy name) who had a lot of energy. We quickly found Tommy had trouble controlling his eating and was extremely active. Compared to last week there wasn't time to have a conversation since Tommy loved running around. It was humbling, since I am a chatterbox, to learn to witness with actions, not just words. The Lord showed me how much I needed to rely on Him in prayer when I would fail to be loving and He was faithful to answer prayers to fill my heart with His love. 

       The next day, Tommy woke up with a stomach ache and told me he wanted to throw up. After talking to the camp director, we decided that sitting in the family style dinning room with all the food was not a good idea so we ate outside where Elise and I switched off eating separately or helping teach Tommy learn to eat slower with help from camp staff. It was a week of discipline and correction but it was heartwarming to see Tommy's loving nature. Each time we left to eat and came back, Tommy would see us, run to us, and happily shout, "姐姐!" (jie jie = big sister) as he gave us a big hug! This reminded me of Psalm 127:3, 

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward (NASB)." 

       The Lord also used Tommy to teach me unconditional forgiveness. A particular  kid would hit him often and they had a bit of a fight in the pool one day. Later, that kid's family wanted him to apologize to Tommy but he refused. Elise and I had talked to Tommy about how he had been in the wrong too and asked him to apologize. Even though the other kid would not apologize, Tommy immediately did so! Throughout the week, no matter how many times Tommy was hit, he'd always respond in love and forgiveness. Though I don't know Tommy's heart, it touched my heart to see him live out a picture of Matthew 18:21-22 (above).          

        The last day started off somber as I reflected on not having a chance to share about the Lord with Elise. Each day started off with small prayers for opportunity and time was running out. As we packed up, the brother who was "chaperoning" Tommy's room, was giving the kids post cards of art he had created. Elise loved poetic things so when she saw one of the cards (pictured on the left), she was amazed and asked about the meaning behind it. Each postcard had biblical inspiration behind it as he explained some to her. Since there were terms like, "Fruits of the Spirit" she couldn't understand in English, the Lord gave me an opportunity to translate it into Chinese, meaning Tommy could hear too! Wow, I pray seeds may be planted! It amazes me how when He answers prayers, He goes above and beyond what we can imagine!

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all the we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen." ~Eph 3:20-21

Week 1 Buddy: Victor

Week 3 to be continued...

[redeemedbymygoel]

Camp Year: 2019

Week: 1

Translator: Josy

Buddy Age: 13 Years Old

Photo: Our family making a star together!!

Victor* [advocacy name] is a 13 year old boy who loves to draw, play rock paper scissors, and put things back in a neat fashion! He is well behaved and besides lack of schooling, he's a pretty normal kid who would thrive with a loving family to guide him. Victor wants to be a police officer one day and he is such a strong little man. When we went to the water park during Week 1, Victor had a blast going down the slides with an adventurous spark in his eyes! Near the end, he tripped and scraped his knee and we helped him up. We asked him if it hurt and he said yes but he did not cry. When an older sister helped him clean it up, on his own accord he said 'thank you' and happily went to the locker room to change. What a well-tempered kid!

[redeemedbymygoel]

Camp 2019: Week 1~ God’s Providence

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." ~2 Corinthians 12:9 

             May God be glorified for being the One who is sufficient in any and all circumstances to sustain any trials we may face! After landing in China and walking around the airport lost for 30 minutes, I heard the news, "We can't stay in this province anymore. We're being relocated 3 hours away because of our affiliation". A part of my mind started to go down a road of worry thinking, "This was not what was supposed to happen! What will my parents think of God? My parents will be so upset and blame God... again. Was I wrong to come to China?" The Lord gave me an incredible amount of grace at the moment to see I could 1) choose to let my emotions run wild and be driven by fear or 2) by faith, trust that He was in control. By His grace, my heart started to have hope that God was in control and although I couldn't see it now, by faith, I could trust in the conviction that God had a good plan for all of this and that He would not leave us or forsake us. After an hour of the Spirit bringing to me remembrance of the Word that He had stored in my heart, the Lord left me with an in-explainable confidence in Him and an excitement to see how He would bring Himself glory during this trip. Knowing it would need to be covered in prayer, I reached out to brothers and sisters. 

        Hours later we made it to the new location and in a matter of minutes we found out no one was certain if we could even run camp. We had no resources besides what volunteers had brought, no orphanage to work with, and no location to hold an overnight camp due to few hotels accepting foreigners and citizens. Somehow, we had to trust the Lord would work through this and that He had sent us here for a reason so that night we all just prayed for His will to be done. The next day, the Lord provided quickly! We weren't able to start camp on a Monday like normal but after volunteer training, we found out God had provided an orphanage to work with. We'd have to run a day camp sadly due to lack of housing but at least the Lord provided a chance to share His love with these kids and translators. Out of all the kids, only one was a girl which was going to be challenging since the rule was two adults of the same gender to accompany a kid older than 5 to the bathroom at all times (due to assistance needed due to disabilities) and already we barely had any guy volunteers/ translators. Still, the Lord throughout the week gave the men in our group such servant hearts and willingness to serve the kids with issues that few adults would probably want to help older kids who should normally be capable with. 

       Amazingly, He also gave us a chance to go visit the orphanage itself which usually never happens for other camps. As 19 boys and 1 girl with various disabilities and personalities walked in the small, crowded, and sterile room, the Lord just softened my heart for them. Despite how they looked on the outside (to an extent, we all knew that they were most likely abandoned because of their disabilities), I knew that the Lord saw them and He cared for each one of their souls. What an amazing sight it was to experience a taste of unconditional love that our Savior might have felt with us- a love not based on what these kids had done for us but a love based on the fact that these little humans were created in the image of God and worthy to be loved as an image of God! 

         My family group was made of my translator Josy and our 10 year old boy named Victor (more about Victor here). Even though our camp was "weak" in a way where we had little resources, limited staff, and barely any time with the kids like a normal camp, it was such an encouragement to see God start to help us love on the kids in that tiny little orphanage room as we drew with the kids, played cards, and got to know them more. The rest of the week echoed the same theme. Each day, we had little resources and little time but the Lord gave us creativity and multiplied our meaningful times with the kids, who had so much fun with just simple games! Praise be to God, He even allowed me to share during crafts times with my translator (and my kid listening) about being a Christian and what God had done in my life with my family!

        After we left the orphanage, the Lord also allowed me to meet a fellow sister in Christ named Faye who was very bold about her faith and extremely passionate about God. Her and her husband had studied at seminary in Singapore to the point of being blacklisted in China yet she still fearlessly shared her faith. It was an encouragement to see the joy and love the Lord had given her for the kids which was so different from the other translators who didn't know Christ. To hear of her bold faith in the face of persecution tries my own faith and encourages me to genuinely pray for the body in China because now it has become personal. 

         The last day of camp, we brought the kids to the bus and the volunteers and translators were heart broken, especially those who would only be here one week. We debriefed with our camp director immediately after and no one had words to say for there was a sense of despair, "Will we ever see them again?" (Wow did God answer that prayer three week later! If only I would have known!). A volunteer who had the most joyful little boy in a wheelchair named Hector wrote a poem and read it to us about how Hector taught him more in a week about hope than he could ever imagine and we were encouraged by our camp director to find a way to keep up with our kids and advocate for them. A translator even shared that she noticed that there was something different about this camp and wanted to know more about it, at which our director got to share about her hope in Christ! May these seeds be planted and may He grow them for His glory! Here is a video with some highlights from week 1, see my little boy at 0:22. Week 2 to be continued...  

[redeemedbymygoel]

Christ, My Shelter in the Storm

I have a shelter in the storm When troubles pour upon me Though fears are rising like a flood My soul can rest securely O Jesus, I will hide in You My place of peace and solace No trial is deeper than Your love That comforts all my sorrows 

~”I Have a Shelter” by Sovereign Grace Music

The month of May hit me like a tsunami and boy did it hurt causing emotional wreckage and havoc everywhere. Yet, in the midst of it all, even though right now it’s really hard to feel like God is good because there are so many fears rising up, I know that Christ is my shelter in the storm and in Him I can find security. 

Today in the Bring Me Hope internship, we listened to a sermon by David Platt on talking about giving our lives with full abandon to Christ and being open to Him sending us anywhere and a Desiring God article about how for the missionaries of the old days it was a privilege to go on mission, not a sacrifice.

It’s only been 9 days but this month was SO hard emotionally... Before May 1st, I was already suffering from extremely bad stomach pains to the point of being doubled over in pain every morning before work. I had severe jet lag and I was getting all these itchy, painful bumps all over the place (and because of this couldn’t sleep out of fear of bed bugs being everywhere). May 1st, I found out from my employer that the law for the state changed where teachers in public schools now HAD to have a license to teach. Essentially, I could possibly not have a job in the fall and on top of it all, I’m losing my parent’s insurance at the end of the year. Then May 2nd, I realized I had to take two exams on stuff that I never went to school for and pass to keep my position all before going to the Bring Me Hope camp. After that, I found out that I also had limited time to get in a bunch of doctor’s appointments to get more contacts, vaccinations, and dental stuff before going to China (not to mention the airplane tickets, medical appointments, applying to the position and more are extremely expensive.) Even more, I have limited time already and will have to take sometime to pack and move to another apartment again by the end of the month on top of a friend’s wedding, field trips, and just crazy busyness (which I’m not proud of... I pray that no one would ever go through all that has happened because to be honest, Satan has used it to throw me into temptation to doubt). On top of it all, I’m inclined to worry about what my parents might think about this all considering it’s been such an amazing time that God has allowed me to share more about Christ with them, would this cause them a reason to accuse God again?

Still, in it all God reminded me of the hope I have in Christ and it is a true hope that brings me peace because the futility in hoping in the things of the world are solved by one answer alone: Jesus. I turn these into points of things we hold on to that we can let go of when we have faith in Christ in hopes that later it would bring hope when hope seems spare. 

1) Christ’s Promise Sustains Over the Hope of Physical Health: For the physical pains, I’m still struggling today, but God reminds me that He allows things to happen as He wills when I could relate on a tiny level with Job in the Bible. I thank Him that He sustains me at work each day through the pain and actually a part of me thinks, “What’s the worst that can happen? I die and go to heaven to see Jesus?” (Also praise the Lord, there were no bed bugs!!!) 

2) Christ’s Work Fulfills Greater than the Hope of Career: For the teaching for next year, the Lord helped me to simply pray that next year His will would be done. Either I’ll pass the tests and all will be as normal or I will fail the tests and actually it might be even better- I’d be able to apply for Teaching Aide jobs again or another job and be able to spend even more time in the Word! Even in failing these tests and losing a job, God still says, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).”

3) Christ’s Grace is Richer than Hope of Money:  For health care costs and insurance, I can trust that God will sustain me and also that even if I don’t have insurance and all goes south, I am not outside of God’s grace and He has a place prepared for me. Even if I have to live more frugally because of health costs, the riches of God’s grace (and perhaps less distraction in the world) will sustain me even if I have less to ‘enjoy’. Again, this is like the health one, “What’s the worst that can happen? I dies and go to heave to see Jesus?”

 4) Christ’s Power in my Weakness Will Save More than the Hope of a “Perfect” Life Image: With that, in conjunction with my parent’s, perhaps this might be an even greater opportunity for God to show my parents that He is God, in my weakness and vulnerability. In fact, it says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” That’s what I need to do, I need to boast gladly in my weaknesses! I’m not rich but not poor either- God will provide, even if now my state is weakness in my parent’s eyes.

5) Christ’s Sovereignty is more Just than the Hope of Manipulating Others to Salvation: For my parents, I am reminded that God is sovereign and supreme for in Romans 9:18-21 it says, 

“So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?”

If God wants to save my parents, He will do it how He wills- it is not for me to manipulate (not that I can). My job is to be obedient and faithful and He will work out what He wills. So, I can entrust that God is good no matter how this affects my parents and I can only pray that God will prepare their hearts.

6) Christ’s Intentional Plan for Me and Work in My Life is more Wise than Hope in My Own Efforts: For the little test prep I’ve done, I even praise the Lord more because there’s a tiny bit of overlap with work and this internship! Wow!

6) Christ’s Timing is Completely Perfect over My Hope that I Can Do Everything at Once: is In all of this too, God has been supremely amazing over all the scheduling and appointments too allowing me to get everything in before I leave! Even in plane scheduling, God has allowed me to be able to go to camp in Zhengzhou for three week and so I didn’t have to pay for a super expensive ticket to another city, PRAISE THE LORD!!! I’m so grateful! Also with work calendars, the Lord allowed that come out just in time to allow me to make final decisions about camp length (I’ll be going 3 weeks since work starts earlier this year), so I’ll actually be able to be back home to see my church’s first VBS as well as have just enough money to pay for everything (I didn’t raise enough support before).

So today, I abandon these fears to the Lord and hold on to all the privileges He has given me. I don’t need to feel like these are privileges because I know what His Word says and His Word is true and in faith, I know these Words will hold me fast. All these little fears are nothing but fire arrows Satan is trying to throw and even if they weren’t, it is what I would naturally deserve if it wasn’t for God’s grace because I’m a sinner to the core and deserving of wrath. No matter what the reason is for all of these events, it’s made me confident of one thing and that Christ is the only hope for anything and I pray that God would help those around me to see it! 

In our devos for Bring Me Hope, we’ve been going through Isaiah this week and this really was a great reminder that the Lord can be trusted and in the end, I want to be able to say that I waited on the Lord and He was faithful to provide!

He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,    and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,    for the Lord has spoken.  It will be said on that day,    “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” 

~Isaiah 25:8-9

[redeemedbymygoel]

Meet Mitchel~ AGING OUT SOON!!!

Mitchell’s volunteers describe him as a “good kid.” He’s outgoing, funny, loving, kind, generous, considerate, and versatile. He was the one who calmed down the other kids when they were crying or upset, served people around his table while eating, and shared what he had with other kids. He is easy to get along with and everyone at camp loves him.

Mitchell likes singing, dancing, swimming, and art. He is curious about the world and always willing to learn something new. Like most teenage boys, his favorite part of the day was mealtime!

Mitchell is diagnosed with Encephalatrophy, or “atrophy of the brain.” However, his volunteers see him as a “pretty normal kid.” He is capable of taking care of himself very well, although he does struggle using his right hand. He has never been offered an education, so he still has much he could learn.

Everyone agrees that Mitchell would THRIVE in a family. His chance to be adopted will end in April 2019. Please consider bringing this precious boy home or get the news out!

More Questions? Email me at rosalyn.chen@bringmehope.org

[redeemedbymygoel]

Missions and Adoption: Seeing His Larger Picture Purpose in Not Going to Med School 3 Years Ago

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”~ Jeremiah 29:11

I would have never imagined in a million years when I was deciding not to go to medical school three years ago in 2016 that the Lord would lead me to teach at an urban school which would cause me to struggle so much with my own sin yet the Lord would use it to work in my heart a desire for adoption!  On January 1st, 2019, I was accepted into a year-long volunteer internship program with the Christian organization, Bring Me Hope- a ministry that desires to “Love and Defend Orphans” and at-risk kids, primarily in China. Each year, the ministry runs a week-long summer camp for Chinese orphans in six different locations in China throughout the month of July where volunteers from anywhere around the world came come to love on orphans and are equipped to continue to defend orphans when they leave. As an intern, I am able to go to China, but also during the year, I am trained on orphan care, child trauma advocacy, non-profit skills, and mission skills.

How it all started was honestly when the Lord had opened the door to go to medical school during my senior year at Case but at the same time, through a plethora of bible studies with sisters in Christ on campus, slowly and surely, I found my desire for graduation was to do ministry instead of medical school. Therefore, in May 2016, I deferred a year and was looking for a job that would allow me to support myself to stay in Cleveland but also give me time to do ministry on campus. Through a dear sister at church, God opened an opportunity to work at an urban school close by as a Special Education Teaching Aide, an entry level position that allowed me to provide for myself but also had less responsibility than that of a teacher, so I was able to do ministry after the work day was over. 

Although my intention was never to make teaching a career, through working at this school, I saw the brokenness of what happens in a society that does not uphold the Word of God regarding family order. My students often acted disrespectful, defiant, and violent and were struggling a lot academically and I found that a lot of them had parents that weren’t involved or working third shift, so they did not have that parent consistency in their lives. Additionally, I had a few students who were adopted or in a foster-care situation due to abandonment or parents in jail. My work place had quite a bit of teacher turn over too, which didn’t help the students’ instability. Despite the difficulties in working with my students, I found the Lord working in my heart to think, “These children didn’t get to choose who their parents were. Especially for those fostered/ adopted or are ‘the fatherless’, what if they were brought into a family that know the Word of the Lord? How different would their lives be?”

That same year, the Lord brought be to CROSS Conference 2016, where He affirmed a growing conviction me that to be a following disciple of Christ, to be involved in the mission of bringing the gospel to the nations. Before CROSS, a sister and I had been reading Desiring God by John Piper and upon reading Matthew 24:14, 

“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole word as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come”,

immediately God opened the eyes of my heart to see partly why missions was so necessary. Seeing how the broken state of this world could find no other answer than in the gospel, a theme of my life at that time was a yearning to see Christ come back. When the gospel is preached to all the nations or people groups on earth, God states as a fact that Jesus will come back. Therefore, if I call myself a servant of God, how could I stand here and do nothing about praying for and being part of this Great Commission? The Lord blew my expectation of CROSS Con out of the water from being taught passages that matched bible passages I had been studying, to meeting a pastor who similarly had given up medical school for ministry, and learning how the Lord had been aligning my the trajectory of my life with characteristics for effective missionaries, I decided to surrender my life to praying for opportunity to be part of missions, for now in sending but in the future for going, in His will.

Shortly afterward, I decided to withdraw my spot in medical school and was unsure of how God would get me to the mission field but three months later, my work place offered me a position to be a 6th grade science teacher for the 2016-17 school year. My particular students constantly leaving them and I didn’t want to be one of those teachers so for the sake of these kids, after much prayer, I took the job. Since becoming a teacher, I have never faced a more physically, emotionally, and spiritually difficult year where I have sinned in all categories more than I ever wanted to see but I found that in God’s grace and mercy, He has never allowed a heart for missions and wanting to love on the fatherless depart from me. In fact, despite all the times of disrespect and failures at work, I still in the back of my minded desired to adopt one day.

As summer 2018 rolled by, I met some sisters and brothers during our church mission trip to Detroit involved in foster care. It was beautiful to see the couple- a Caucasian husband and Asian wife fostering two African-American babies. I asked them if I could hold they baby and they said yes. I held the baby and she threw up on me. After the slight surprise, I brought her to kitchen to clean her up and something about wiping the throw up off her face softened my heart to realize, not only were these kids fostered into a family but they got the whole family of Christ as well! It opened my heart to wanting to do foster care or adoption more and more.

As the fall semester of 2018 came by,  I read some books and was convicted that I desired to be involved somehow with adoption even if I couldn’t adopt or foster with my current status as a single (whose finances would definitely not qualify for adoption). By the beginning of November, I actively prayed that the Lord would give me a chance to be involved with loving on the fatherless. Amazingly, shortly after, I found out that a couple at my church were adopting (check out their journey here) and was so amazed at God’s quick answers to my prayers! If only I had seen what He would do next...

In December 2018, during a vacation to Key West with my family with no computer and expecting to not be checking my mail often, I received a ministry post from Girl Defined titled, “Singleness and Missions”. Having prayed about going to mission field for the last two years and knowing a dear friend was going to get engaged soon and praying for strength to continue in contentedness about singleness, I decided to give the vlog a look. On this blog was a sister, Ellissa Baird, who similarly had a heart for missions but also wanted to help orphans and she had the opportunity to do so through an organization called Bring Me Hope. 

At that point, I was praising the Lord for it fit my desire to love on the fatherless and missions perfectly! I looked up the internship and I only have 5 days to apply which gave me some doubts. Plus there was a fee and my phone screen was so small to operate on I started thinking, “Hmm, but I didn’t pray about this... but then again, I’ve been praying about this for the last 2-3 years. God, what should I do?” Ultimately, I decided to step out in faith that this was a possible answer to my last 2-3 years of prayers. Additionally, I had already applied to so many other jobs in the last semester but they were closed doors so what was the issue with one more opportunity? 

On New Years Day, I interviewed with Bring Me Hope and was amazed at how much the Lord affirmed that decision to apply. The organization talked about how they really wanted the gospel to be the focus so much training was on biblical foundations and how we read through the bible together! Additionally, I found out that after being trained in orphan care and child trauma counseling, we get to train Chinese students on how to do so with hopes of sharing the gospel with them which was PERFECT considering that this year, my involvement in international student ministry had really decreased but I wanted to do something more. We also go to learn missionary skills (which when I went to Cross Conference 2019, this decision was even more affirmed), along with orphan advocacy which was definitely a great opportunity in helping me with the whole long term missions thing. The craziest thing though was, each year Bring Me Hope has a different theme, and it just so happens this year, they were trying to start a school for orphans (wow... praise the Lord)! 

They accepted me and the internship started the second week of January! The journey has been incredible including one of the assignments being keeping a blog about what the Lord is doing through all this so this is where I will keep updates about what the Lord has been doing through this internship! If you are a friend, please pray that He would increase my faith through this internship as I continued to work as a teacher and grow in my walk with Christ as preparation for the mission field sometime in the future (God willing)! If you are a guest, I pray that this would bring you hope that everything that happens in your life is NOT meaningless, especially when you know Jesus, because He has planned everything so intentionally to work together for good for those who love Him! 

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” ~ Romans 8:28

[redeemedbymygoel]

Applying “Life on Mission” in Taiwan Family Visit

The days before heading to Taiwan (in hopes of ministering to my extended family) were a huge spiritual battle to fight fears of their reaction to my faith. Immediately, the Lord convicted me to ask several sisters to pray alongside me knowing that I needed to be surrounded by the Word and prayer to have strength the rest of the week. Unexpectedly, God allowed me share with my mother even more about Bring Me Hope on the plane! When we arrived in Taiwan, I told my parents about church the next day, they were concerned that I would get lost. Regrettably, I confess that I tried to convince them using lies to let me go out of desperation but was convicted pretty quickly by the Lord of my lack of faith so the Lord helped me to repent and just pray and lean on Him (which very much reminded me of Israel's reaction to sending Benjamin to Egypt in Genesis 43:1-14 which I happened to be reading). God was so much more gracious to me that week that I deserved...            

Firstly, my family got me a taxi to church on Sunday and took me around after! Then, God allowed me to share about the internship and fundraising with the and my mom even helped me translate! My last night there, I saw cousins I hadn't seen in 11 years who asked me in front of the whole family why I decided to become a teacher in such a difficult situation. Immediately, I started to tell them about choosing between medical school and ministry. Initially, I saw my parents put their heads down in shame, which tempted me to hold back on my testimony but God reminded me that this was the cost of following Christ. Scared but trusting in Him, I shared with my cousins what God had done and they were rather intrigued. Even more so, my grandfather, who has dementia and a hard time focusing, was intently listening as well! To top things off, that night I told my grandfather that I'd be going back to America the next day and gave him a hand written letter with a bible verse/ prayer on it to say goodbye.      

The next morning, I woke up at 5:30 am (6 hours earlier than when my grandpa wakes up) to head out and to my surprise, my grandfather got up to see me off! What was even more miraculous was he remembered through his dementia that I was going back to America! My grandfather can't even remember my job even though I've told him 10 times and he didn't remember my cousins who live in Taiwan so to remember this detail was truly a work of God! As if that wasn't enough, God gave us a discussion of why I was able to come to Taiwan now and why my sister couldn't and then he asked me to come back to Taiwan soon to visit him and bring my sister. God then gave me the idea to tell my grandpa that it's only because I'm a teacher that I even have time to visit him. If I was in medical school, I wouldn't be able to go and see him, which was a cool witness to my parents, who even encouraged me to come see grandpa over my breaks. In all this, it was really cool to see God bringing a huge theme of ministering to my family through the internship's ministry training and even at church! That week in Taiwan, in the internship, we read chapter 11 in "Life on Mission" where it talks about ministry pitfalls and the first pitfall talked of misplaced priorities. It says on page 153, 

"Mission is great, but sacrificing you family on the altar of mission is not what God has called us to... The greatest mission effort you will ever participate in is the one that involved the people who sit around your dinner table at night... when faced with a decision to cheat either your ministry or cheat your family- always choose to cheat your ministry. Why? Ministry will always be there and will never be finished- not to mention the fact that God is in charge of it and other people can do it. Your family, however, is a different story. Who beyond yourself is called to love and take care of them? Exactly. No one. Your family is a responsibility given uniquely to you by God, and you are called to make that responsibility a priority. If you don't purse being on mission with your family then the mission you seek is a failure before you even begin."

God in His sovereignty just so happened to have me hear a sermon this past Sunday at church where we went through 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 which talks about being reconciled to God and therefore being ambassadors to Him for Christ. What really convicted me even more to make my family a priority was the pastor mentioned that "our purpose is not our successful home, community, or careers- these things are just a means to be an ambassador for Christ" and so "first, be ambassadors in our home, then in the other places He puts you (school/ workplace)". What an incredible God we serve whose message is constant no matter where you are!