Day in the Life: Missions Convention

Yesterday was our annual missions convention. This is one of the special events that happen annually in our church. Usually it lasts 3 days long, but recently we celebrate it on one Sunday. It's the time we renew our missions support as a church to local and foreign missionaries across the globe. This particular Missions Sunday had a lot to rave about:

1. First, we have finally overshoot our last year's missions pledge. Pastor reported that it was 101% already and we still have a month to wrap up last year's monthly missions pledge.
2. Second, it was a wonderful message from Kimberly Snider who was our guest speaker. She's the editor-in-chief of Moms Magazine, and the wife of Bro. Bill Snider, the main man of Asia Pacific Media Ministries. Anyway its a simple message from Matthew 28 that turned out to be one of the most inspiring and challenging I have heard in a while (after Bill Hybels). Her last story is worthy of retelling:
   
   Earlier when she was taking up some ministry course in Thailand under Biola University, now a grandmother of three, began to experience some sort of depression or "loss-cause" syndrome. I think all ministers go through that one point or another (Even Moses and Elijah had those moments). As she was pondering about this in her room with her roommate, they began to exchange to ask themselves what the heck they were doing on the other side of the globe instead of enjoying their families back in the States. After sometime some of their American classmates decided to enjoy the tourist sites in Thailand and opted to have an elephant ride. Kim and her friend thought, they're used to these kind of trips being Asia-based missionaries and thought to pass up the trip but went on anyway. Fast forward. They now find themselves on top on an elephant cruising through the Thai forest, and suddenly they here a very familiar sound. They hear the elephant driver singing "What A Friend We Have in Jesus" in his own language. Unsure that they were hearing the right song, they sang along with the guy using English lyrics and to their surprise it was indeed the faithful hymn. They thought, could he be Christian? So Kim started another song. An old familiar hymn, "Amazing grace ... how sweet the sound ... that saved a wretched like me ..." The elephant driver, in an unspoken validation, sang in harmony with them in his own language! Soon, as elephant riders now going past them, a number caught on the tune and began to sing along. Now it was a choir-like singing in the forest in English and Karen. She remembers how a hundred years before a missionary by name of Adoniram Judson preached on the steps of a Buddhist temple in Myanmar, and for 18 (more or less) years won only 6 converts. But with that small number of converts a whole Burmese Karen tribe were won to Christ. And this Christian heritage past on from generations to generations of these people until they cross over from Myanmar to the mountains to Thailand for refuge and work. Lesson: Sometimes we think that our work is in vain. But no work for the Lord comes to waste.
   
   That's a beautiful story.
   
   
   

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." ~ 1 Corinthians 15:58