We've just finished the task we're set to do here in Malaysia. We attended and performed some skits at the Community Baptist Church this morning for Sunday Service and we're just about to prepare for our departure back to Manila.
The mission was first brought up last year but I didn't really think I will be able to join. It was an opportunity to experience what's it like to be a missionary and best of all, TRAVEL. I had my apprehensions knowing fully well that I'm not an actor, a singer or a performer since I'll be part of a christian performing arts group. But somehow God saw my willingness and desire to be used for His purpose and He gave me this opportunity.
The first day we went to Kawan outreach - "friend" in Malay - to reach out and help in the feeding and outreach program in some depressed areas near KL. It was very fulfilling and saddening at the same time when we were reaching out to these people. Some of the people there had nowhere to live and had nothing to eat. Some were stricken with AIDS. Even though we didn't understand each other, the language of love is universal. A smile of gratitude and relief is easily understood, bypassing the language barrier. I would say that a lot still needs to be done back in Manila but the ministry here somehow showed us the way on how we should do it.
In the evening, the group conducted a performance workshop in the CBC church. Its a small church who loves God and desires to reach out to its community. They're planning to raise some money to help out their unfortunate people who were flooded in some areas in Malaysia. The idea came from a teen malay girl who had a burden for them. They asked for the group's help to lend them some expertise in the performance arts. It was tiring but we all had fun. In a day, we experienced how missionary work is happy, sad, fun, and exhausting.
That evening, the exhaustion got the best of me, and I was down with fever. My body was feeling sore the whole evening and I thought that I would no longer be able to help out in the ministry work for the rest of our stay. The following day, they gave me medicine, got some massage, and prayed for me. Miraculously, I felt better. In fact, I was almost back in shape in time for our evening ministry work.
That evening was to become the climax of our work in Malaysia. We were sent to perform, along with YWAM Canada, to a group of drug rehabs. Majority are Muslims and haven't heard of the gospel. Only a few groups are privileged to perform and we're the third group to do it. We had mixed feelings of what we are about to do. We were warned not to try to convert them nor mention of the name Jesus. We prayed and let God move in our behalf. Evening came and we did our skits and songs. For them, it was just for entertainment; for God, that evening was groundbreaking! The seeds were planted - the rehab administrator, a Muslim, was so encouraged by the work we did that he was allowing, even encouraging, Bible studies, cell groups for the people in the rehabilitation program! We heard of the news the morning after. God is good! Everyone was so encouraged - no matter how inadequate we are and what we have, if we offer what we have in full, He will honor and multiply it according to His will and purpose.
This work is about to end, but we know His work is yet to be completed. There are a lot of people who are very much hungry for the gospel. We know that all of us who are part of this will never be the same way again. Though much we have given, much more we have received. Each of us who loves God should see through God's eyes. We have seen how much God loves us and desires to bring man back to His grace.
Until He comes, may we not fail to see through His eyes...
Welcome to the mission field. :- ) I am glad to see that all of you have been used by God in Malaysia. There is a lot to do and I know that God will raise willing hearts, like what you have. I know also that as you ministered to them, you have been ministered to also. Glory to God.
ReplyDeleteWell, where are the pictures from this trip? hehe
ReplyDeleteTo God be the glory!!! I told Rachelle about talents, don't you know that the best talent we had is a talent that God Himself will give us. As long as we had a willing heart to serve Him. I used to be a teacher of ballet and jazz but God is using me through writings (i am so poor in english before, now i am married to an american, ha,ha,ha). I am so happy to hear the good news about the missions, your being sick is not new to those who goes to the mission field, that's only the attack of the enemy, he is again defeted, ha,ha,ha. But looks like many are waiting for your pictures.
ReplyDeletewow xtn! great work! Praise God!!! :) ... you are an inspiration
ReplyDeleteCongrats! ^_^
ReplyDelete[21]
congrats kuya xtn :-) very great work
ReplyDeleteYou are God's gift to these people.. :-)
ReplyDeleteI am still overwhelmed with how the Lord worked in us and through us during the outreach. From our prep time until we got back home, everything was carefully orchestrated by God. Definitely a Romans 8: 28 moment. I believe that all of us came home changed. We will never be the same again...
ReplyDeleteTO GOD BE THE GLORY!!! :D
Christian, thank you for your willingness and for working hard in this outreach. Kahit nagkasakit ka, "go" ka pa din. As Ate Marie said it was an attack of the enemy, but you overcame. Praise God! You're a big blessing to the team. Sa uulitin! :)
Ey kuya chris... hehehe... tnx for your patience and for being so cool during our outreach... and syempre for the great pix.... at sa special request na background ko doin a break dance.. haha.... looking forward to see those pix SOON... hindi yung mga mukang halimaw ha... Praise God!!!! mission accomplished tayo!!!! ALL FOR GOD... whatever it takes....
ReplyDeletewow..way to go christian. glad to know ur into missions now..Praise GOd
ReplyDeletedon't forget to keep your soul fed... thanks for the update.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Ptr. Chad. I call this time "the spiritual downtime". Napaka-hyper namin spiritually at Malaysia, we need to somehow stay in that kind of heat now that we are back. I, for one, am sure that our job is not yet finished regarding the Malaysia trip. We need to follow it up with prayers. :)
ReplyDeleteNung last day, I felt so sad. It seemed something was missing. Parang bitin.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of things to do... so little time. I am looking forward to the day that we can tell them about JESUS. But I know, with the little but best that we had and gave to these people, God will multiply it.
I believe God also met us at our very point of need and has dealt with us individually. Let's continue to do our part and be faithful to our calling. God is faithful.
way to go! keep it up, indeed the harvest is plentiful. may you grow in Christ's love...not all followers embrace the duty to go into missions like this.
ReplyDeleteThis is a bit ironic.
ReplyDeleteYou don't need to go to Malaysia to preach the gospel to the "needy". Malaysia is fast becoming a first world country. If you really want to reach out to the poor, you need not look farther than a few feet from your own doorstep. The Philippines is teeming with poor and desperate people! I was in KL before and I for one never even saw any barong-barong or slum areas in the city, in stark contrast to what can so easily be seen in abundance in every city in Metro Manila. It's a bit ironic that, instead of reaching out to people in countries poorer than the Philippines (e.g., Burma, Laos, Cambodia, etc.), so-called missionaries prefer to do their "missions" in more affluent countries like Malaysia, the United States, Netherlands, etc. If one were to go from a poor country to a more affluent one, there isn't much of a sacrifice now, is there?
So why go to Malaysia for "outreach"? Should we blame it on the travel bug? If only the money used to buy plane tickets and accomodation in KL and Melaka was used instead to buy a few meals for some starving street kids I regularly see begging under the flyovers.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY if that were to happen.
"I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light". - John Keith Falconer
ReplyDeletehttp://rachelragaza.multiply.com/journal/item/80
So your authority is this John Keith Falconer fellow? He has a nice sounding name, but I wouldn't place much authority on his words, being a relative unknown compared to the likes of Ted "I was gay but now am straight" Haggard, erstwhile president of the National Association of Evangelicals in the US. Check out if Falconer doesn't have a fat bank account first before you quote him.
ReplyDeleteAnd you think the Philippines is 'flooded with light' ? How convenient! Ignore the teeming masses in your own country because they are inconvenient and you refuse to see them.
Let's do a little accounting.
How much did it cost you and your group to go to Malaysia? Airfares being what they are in a country where Airfares are high, you probably spent 500 USD per head, not including accomodations. Compare this with the urban poor families in Manila who get by on only 1 USD/day or less.
So tell me, Rachel, when was the last time you gave money to the poor?
Now isn't THAT funny. You leave a link in your reply to a blog item in your site, but when I try to access it, I see that you have blocked it from view of my Multiply user.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Rachel Ragaza is not answering questions today, folks.
;-)
You look for a fight, girly man? Let us no fight. You look like good man. Sochi-whatever? Something is come to you, just wait. It come, and not good for you. ;)
ReplyDeleteIs God glorified when you threaten and name-call like this?
ReplyDeleteWho is God? What I want is you, girly looking man. ;-)
ReplyDeleteCan I gloriy you?
I see the spiritual "heat" from your doing the "missionary work" is wearing off. Tsk tsk tsk....
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see that all the replies to my post have been immediately hostile, while not offering any intelligent response.
keep up the good work!!! We are called to reach out the the poor spiritually. Mahirap man o mayaman yan if they dont have Christ in their heart they are still poor and need to know Christ. It doesnt really matter which place you go as long as you obey where the Lord leads you, GO... and you will bring impact.
ReplyDeleteBe blessed and secure to the one who had called you! I salute you Christian and personally blessed by your obedience.
So the Lord leads people to spend hundreds of thousands of pesos ON THEMSELVES, and not on others, so that they can take a trip to a more economically advanced country so that they can "minister" to the people of that country who are "poor at heart"? By your definition, there is nothing to stop us from ministering exclusively to the rich segment of any population, under the pretense that even the rich are "poor at heart" as long as they do not know Christ.
ReplyDelete"'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame."(Luke 14:21) Clearly you do not need to venture overseas to do this, but to simply go to the alleys and streets nearby.
Now anybody can claim that the Lord is "leading them" to do this or that crazy thing. More extreme examples are people telling them that the Lord has led them to kill this or that person or order mass suicide (Jim Jones). But whenever I read the gospels I always see the tremendous emphasis Jesus placed on helping the poor, and mind you, he was referring to the literal and generic poor, not only to poor Christians! "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys." (Luke 12:33) Instead we see this TRS group spending enormous sums for their own consumption, just so they can do a little sight seeing and "ministry" in some exotic location. In short, the financial priorities are wrong, even from a biblical perspective. Yes, even based on the very words of Jesus, your financial priorities are misplaced! And no excuse of "the Lord led me to do otherwise" will stand up to the higher authority of scripture.
What would Jesus have done? I can't imagine Jesus spending so much money on himself, not even for decent shelter. "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."(Matthew 8:20) The only time he did not travel on foot was when he entered Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey! TRS should ask themselves, when Jesus reached out to so many people, how much did he spend on himself? And how much do TRSers like to spend to indulge their so-called "ministry"? These are the hard questions comfort-level Christians do not like to answer.
Sometimes God put on our way to help those who are far from our doors, not those who are close, and He has a purpose for it....I guess it comes from "love your NEIGHBOR as YOURSELF",
ReplyDeleteOur door, land or country is still OURSELF....
OTHER countries are our NEIGHBOR...
In conclusion:
If each country would take care of their neighbor country, there will be peace in the world....