本堂青年Ma Qing、Jen Wen Luoh、Stacey Chin、Fuman Jin、Shirley Guan、Esther Huang、Malisa等七人一行參加了2006年美國Urbana宣教大會，這些是他們的見證，供弟兄姊妹分享。
關於Urbana大會的介紹請看網站：http://www.urbana.org/u2006.webcast.cfm
Ma Qing
One month has passed since the end of the Urbana conference. As I reflect back today, I can fairly say that this conference was an important step in my life as a Christian. Through the whole experience God has helped me to better understand his mission and my role in his mission.
Before going to this conference, I went through a few struggles in my head. Although I have this calling that I will get actively involved in cross-cultural mission in the developing world, I had many questions and doubts about the mission and its purpose. I am someone who always tries to do something significant and meaningful in my life. But can I really make a difference in the mission field? From what I read, many missionaries have been sent to the developing world through the ages, but most of those countries still remain in poverty. And few people believe in Jesus Christ. Also, the work can seem to be boring and insignificant. I started to seriously doubt about the purpose of mission and its impact in my life. However, during the course of the Urbana conference, God showed his mercy and slowly he revealed to me more about his mission. Instead of focusing on the outcome of the mission, I realized that God is in control of everything, not us. All we need to do is to be obedient to his calling. If his calling is for us to go for a cross-cultural mission and do his work, then we should just go and not worry about anything else. I remember in one Urbana seminar, the head of the AIDS track Jim Thomas said:“ Be resigned to it, you(the future missionary) will be just a drop of water, but it is a glorious drop of water.” No matter how insignificant in humans' eyes, just by obeying his will, our work becomes part of God’s mission and is important in God's eye. And our work can be rewarded by God in many unexpected ways. As an example of this, as I reflect back on the Urbana conference, I still feel very impressed with its organization. It showed so many things Christian can do by working together for God’s glory. Of course the work of speakers or leaders is important, but how can I ignore the work of those people who guided us from airport to hotel, cheered for us on in the chilling cold and offered help whenever we needed. I could see the joy in their eyes. All those things are part of the precious memory that continues to motivate me to serve for him in my everyday life.
Another thing that impressed me about Urbana is its multi-cultural content. Since I decided to join the church, I only worshipped in Grace Church. Urbana conference gave me an opportunity to live, pray and share with people from other different background. Through my interaction with them, I realized that we all have so many things in common. The problems that exist in our church people from other church either have or understand perfectly and vice versa. It’s true that everyone is different one way or another. But we are all sinners and we were all touched by God’s love in one way or another. In Urbana I have heard testimonies from people so different who seem to have nothing in common. eg. former gay man, African HIV victims, etc. I realized that our difference in culture, appearance should not keep us from reaching out to other people.
There are still many things about Urbana I want to share with you, especially for those who didn't come this year. Of course the best way is to experience it yourself. The next Urbana will take place in 2009!! For me now,
I have made personal commitments towards mission during the conference. It's time for me to act on them!! I need prayer from all of you.
Jen Wen Luoh
Hello everyone,
This is Jen, writing you before I head back to China. Right now, I am in LA at my grandparents' place and will soon return to China in less than one week. There is much to write about and much to share, but all I have in my heart to express is endless gratefulness first to our heavenly Father and then to all of my brothers and sisters who encouraged and prayed for and with me all these years. We grew together and shared together in the period God caused our paths to cross. I am thankful for all your influences.
As you know, I have just graduated from university and searching for God's guidance in my life ahead. Before leaving Montreal for Urbana Christian conference and then off to China, my heart was at peace but there were still many unanswered questions and unsettling emotions about leaving cherished friends behind and heading towards an unclear future.
Although Urbana is only a 5 day conference, I believe God has used this conference to really do massive works in all of us and through us. Most of us (from my friends' testimonies), it is a heart of courage for evangelism. Some of us, it is to become closer to Jesus and knowing His purpose in our lives. For some of us, it was recommitting our lives to God and to take up the cross. For me, it is the work of unity.
Throughout the conference, we read the book of Ephesians. It is about Jesus who came to break the barriers between people and between nations to make the body of Christ. It is really about His love for all people to know Him. Breaking barriers seems so easy, but the Holy Spirit broke my heart and my pride was turned to repentance. Before God, I repented for my prejudice against people of different denominations, against people of different ethnicity and culture. Even though it seems like prejudice is inevitable, but I know through Jesus, He can constantly remind us and break the invisible walls we have between people. At the conference, we all came together, young people of different ethnic groups, cultures and backgrounds to pray and to worship the One True God. God has also reminded me that He loves not only the Chinese people, but people of all nations, tribes and tongue. Sometimes, especially being a Chinese, going to a Chinese church, I forget of God's cross-cultural love. My eyes were opened even wider.
Almost immediately after Urbana, God has worked in our family. There were misunderstandings between my Christian aunt and cousin from Vancouver for years. This year they happen to come to LA to visit grandma too. As we shared, God broke the walls between us and we apologized to each other for any wrongdoings we had against each other. Each day, we cried and enjoyed our times together. The process of reconciliation is so painful, but through Him, there is freedom and release with each "sorry" and each "I forgive you, it's ok". So, God worked first to bring unity among the believers as we all thought our main goal was to come share the gospel with our relatives in LA (none are Christian). As we shared verbally and through our actions of Christ, we really don't know if they believed, but we just pray for that ounce of faith and the Holy Spirit to touch their lives. Actually, my grandparents have heard the gospel so many times that they don't want to listen anymore. For me, it is a big challenge. Sharing the gospel with family is the hardest as sharing with my friends or even strangers sometime seems like a breeze, but it's all God's work. However, God listens to our prayers even in little faith and hopelessness. He is working in my grandmother's heart that her heart is softened towards Him slowly. Thank God, she is willing to go to church with us!
These days, through my devotions and such, God continues to speak to me. The future seems uncertain, but my heart is steadfast. It does not matter what is ahead as even in my blindness, God is leading me each step of the way. I'm excited and anticipate for what is ahead. Recently, I have gotten news that I may be able to participate in a short mission with medical personnel in China. I really pray that everything will work out. There are so much to tell of what He has done just in these few weeks! If I kept writing, there would be no end. So, in conclusion, my life, as yours, are the Lords' and we are nothing without Him. So let us really strive for our final reward together for as many days as the Lord has given us.
You are all constantly in my prayers,
Have a great year and an amazing journey,
Jen
Stacey Chin
Urbana 06 was an experience that will forever remain in my heart. A student missions convention that was opened to the whole world and where we all gathered to worship one God. I’ve had problems and questions about school last semester, and at Urbana, I attended a seminar called Making Decisions Now that Prepare you to Make Decisions in the Future, which dealt with putting our worries, our burdens and our futures in God’s hands. God told me to trust Him and to obey his commands, because all He does is good. That seminar told me to live a full life, full in the fullness of God, that God can do anything, far more than I could ever imagine or guess or request in any of my wildest dreams, that He does it not by pushing me around, but by working within me. So what was I going to do? I wasn’t sure if I was ‘hearing’ Him correctly, so I heard it, but I didn’t take it at heart, until the day after, when I attended Rick Warren’s seminar called Living with Purpose. He said that failure is something that should never be feared, and I realized that I feared failure. The problems and questions I had were slowly clearing out and that day, I learned that I need to trust God more, doubt less, listen and obey His commands because we are His creation designed with a mission and a purpose, and that failure is not failure when God is involved. Not only did I learn to trust and obey, but to stay positive at all times and to look on the bright side of things. From all the experiences there, good and bad, I learned to have an appreciative heart. Urbana was more than extraordinary and it was five days of great eye-opening experience.
Fuman Jin
I went to Urbana 06. I attended a seminar about calling and the workplace. When I went there, the room was already packed, I had to sit down on the floor at the back. So I didn't see much and the floor was uncomfortable but fortunately I didn't quit because the two speakers were very interesting.
As you may know already, Urbana 06's theme is A life worthy of the calling, it comes from Ephesians 4:1 which says, "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling.". During that seminar, I realized what's my calling at work.
In summary, it's
Do a good job
Be optimistic
Then at the end, I was encouraged by a poem that reportedly was written on the wall of Mother Teresa's home. I hope that it'll encourage you too.
Do It Anyway
People are often unreasonable, illogical,
and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, People may accuse you
of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some
false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone
could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway
Shirley Guan
This Urbana trip has been such an “eye-opener” for me. There were so many young Christians gathered together to seek and worship the Lord. This trip has given me a glimpse of what our world could’ve been if everybody loved our God and followed His words. There were so much warmth, passion, sincerity and love in the air when more than 23000 of us found ourselves crowded into the downtown of St-Louis; we were brothers and sisters in Christ and we sought our Lord together.
Before Urbana, I have never realized that there were so many young people in this society that loved our God and are passionate about spreading His word. In my mind, I’ve always thought that most young people nowadays are very “worldly”, only pursuit their own self-gratification, and we are the only young Christians among a sea of non-believers. Guess I was wrong. During Urbana, I have seen the sincerity and love of thousands and thousands of young people for the Lord. It’s heart warming and encouraging knowing that we are not alone. They too, like us, believe in the same everlasting truth, and are eager to share it.
This convention includes the inspiring seminars of several world famous speakers. Although I have trouble remembering all of their names, it’s their speeches that had the biggest impact on me. I realized that too often I reject people before actually knowing them because they look different, act different, or are just not the type of people I usually socialize with. Through the speeches of these speakers, God has shown me how wrong I am. We should never reject people before knowing them. God loves all of his children, no matter how they are. God would never discriminate based on gender, race or appearance. Why should we? Therefore, we need to learn to love and accept others as He would, no matter how different they seem on the surface.
God loves us and has a calling for each one of us. We have received different gifts from God. Some of us are gifted at speech, some at organization, and others at caring. Alone, we might not amount to much, but together as a team we could achieve great results. It’s just like what Rick Warren, the author of “A Purpose-Driven Life” said: Snowflakes might be frail, but when enough stick together, they can stop traffic.
Esther Huang
After coming back from Urbana 06 I was very overwhelmed, I didn’t exactly have back the answer I wanted, but I got back some unexpected answers that made me more confident in myself. I’m that kind of person who thinks everyone’s better then I am, who thinks I’m not worthy to do certain things. I might always look happy on the outside but truly insight I have no confident. I’ll always be thinking if I’m doing the right thing, or what other people think of me. And when I felt the Holy Spirit came to me, telling me to serve the Lord with my life. You can imagine how insecure I was. During Urbana, I learned many things, things like how everyone has a role to serve the Lord, how God cares who we are and not what we do, how grateful we should be with what we have and where we are. The one thing that really hit me was, God has a purpose for everyone, and He’ll use every single one of us. I wasn’t a mistake, He made me in His own image, and He loves me for who I am. I shouldn’t try to be someone else; I shouldn’t care what others think of me. I have to live my own life, to live the life God created for me and to hear my calling. If I was trying to become someone else, I’ll be living a life that wasn’t made for me, and I’ll miss my calling. I am different because God made me this way, and He’ll use me to do something that not a lot of people can understand, He’ll use me to help the ones that are going through or have been through the things I have. So I truly thank God and everyone who prayed for us for letting me having this chance to experience something that I’ll never forget and for letting me know that I am someone important in God’s eyes. Jesus Christ is the father I never had and He is the best friend that’ll never leave me. So I thank you all once again for giving me this chance.
Malisa
Urbana was an unforgettable experience. 22,000 people listening to God’s Word through God’s people and singing praises to His name was an amazing experience. I remember the first day I arrived, whenever I met people on the streets (practically all of them came for the Urbana conference), everyone had smiles on their faces, everyone was willing to lend a helping hand (if someone needed it), everyone initiated conversations to random strangers, everyone, though different cultures, different denominations came together, together as part of the same family… a family of unity, a family of hope, a family of love, a family in which God is father and that everyone felt “at home”. During the conference, God reminded me that through Him and for His sake, I can make a difference; I can be used by God and change the world. I vividly remember a statement that Rick Warren made, he said “God uses fat people, skinny people, short people, tall people, white people, brown people, yellow people but He DOESN’T use “dirty” people. He needs to use CLEAN vessels to carry on His mission.” To tell you the truth, I had unresolved issues, I held grudges, I was unforgiving towards certain people and I realized I needed to be purified and made clean by the blood of Jesus. Well, to sum up, the lyrics from my favorite song at Urbana 06 does it quite nicely, it goes something like: “You lift up our song, Lord, we sing as one voice to the King—that we need You— We lift up our lives, live in sacrifice, given all to Your call— Come, we need You – Unify us, purify us, so that we will change the world, Jesus You are hope, Giver of life….” May God UNIFY and PURIFY us, so that we WILL change the world.
社區導航
2006年美國Urbana宣教大會
