October 10, 1990...

 

A six year old girl stood to sing the invitation hymn at the end of a Wednesday night service. As she stood there she didn't really sing but wrestled with her conscience because deep in her heart the Holy Spirit was drawing her to Himself; convicting her of her need for a Savior. Knowing full well that she had stood through several invitation hymns experiencing the same conviction and left in disobedience to Christ's call, she finally reached the point where she knew she had to heed His promptings. Reaching up to tug on her mother's dress she said these words, "Mommy, I know this is the time that God wants me to be saved." With tears of joy streaming down her cheeks, her mother went with her to the altar where they were joined by her father. Together the parents listened in gratefulness as their child asked Jesus to forgive her sins and be her Lord and Savior for life. The joy they had felt at the moment of her birth was multiplied a thousand times as they witnessed her new birth into the family of God.

 

October 10, 2005...

 

Fifteen years ago when I became a child of the King, I had no idea what He had in store for me. Four years after my salvation while reading Isaiah 6:8, (...I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.") I heard and answered His call to foreign missions in China. How do I know I am called to missions? The same way that I know the He has called me to salvation. The most important thing my parents taught me from the moment of my birth is to listen for the Lord's voice speaking in my heart. They told me that someday He would speak to my heart and tell me when it was time for me to trust Him as Savior. After I became a Christian they taught me to have open ears and a sensitive heart as He had a special plan for my life and would someday reveal that plan to me. There are still many unknowns ahead. So often I am not sure what step to take, or where His path for my life will lead next. Yet I know beyond doubt that I can trust my Savior to lead me in His way and to give me direction in His Word.

 

I truly never could have imagined myself where I am now (and have been for the past year)...on the small island of Kinmen, teaching English and reaching out to the many spiritually needy people around me. As I strive to put Christ first in the capacities He has given me here - teaching school, loving the kids in our dorm, assisting at our church with singing, Sunday school, piano, and showing His love to the people He brings across my path - I stand in awe of the God I serve and the amazing opportunities to see Him at work in the hearts and lives of men. Although this is a dark island and the enemy has a strong hold on the hearts and minds of the people who live here, we know that our God is stronger still, and the Light and Truth of His Word will prevail.

 

Recently He has been teaching me the importance of sitting still before Him and waiting on His will. It is difficult to do when I want to rush ahead and see the next step in plenty of time to prepare for it. I am learning that He wants me to wait on Him to reveal it in His time...and during the waiting process He is doing a work in my heart that will prepare me far better than I ever could have done on my own. Wherever He leads me in the future, and whatever His will is as He leads me step by step, it is my desire that my Savior will be honored and lifted up in my life. My passion is to see Him glorified in every nation, and my delight is to tell others of Him and point them to His cross.

 

"...my earnest expectation and my hope, that...Christ shall be magnified in my body whether by life or by death."

Phil. 1:20