This post is also available in: English (英語) 简体中文 (簡體中文)
Someone once asked me, “Why you serve in Golden Lampstand Ministry? How does that impact your life and walk with God? Or your service now in church…”
It all started with the China mission trip in 2016. I met all the core coworkers in GLS then, where we share the same mission of serving the left behind children, to witness and to proclaim the gospel to all nations. Through the trip, we got the opportunity to serve the children from both rich families and families with left behind children. It was through that, I was able to interact and work with youths closely and started to discover a new passion/calling from God for youth ministry. I have always served in the children ministry, never as a leader role in youth ministry before this mission trip. I have always thought children ministry is important because you want to plant the seed while they are young, so that when they grow old, they can be future leaders. Not till this trip, I learned that youths are our next future leaders. They are equally important. And it was not till when the youth Pastor came to CBC in 2018 that God called me to be a full time youth leader working alongside with the new youth pastor.
With the unknown and things constantly changing during our mission trip, I learned to trust and put our faith in the Lord who is constant in the unknown or uncharted world. With COVID, there are so many struggles, hurdles, challenges and changes every day, God allows me to see that although things might be changing around our environment, we need to rely on Him. Also, God is constant and is faithful even when we are faithless. We shouldn’t live in fear, but in hope, trust and in obedience. So get out of your comfort zone and let God leads you what He has in store for you. You never know until you take that leap of faith! And here I am now – serving a group of 23 youths at my church.
一切都從2016年的中國宣教之旅開始的。當時我遇到了GLS的所有核心同工，在那裡我們有著共同的使命，為留守兒童服務，到遠方到各國見證和傳福音。通過這次旅行，我們得到了服務富裕家庭和留守兒童家庭的機會。正是通過那個機會，我能夠與年輕人密切互動和工作，並開始發現上帝對青年事工的新熱情/呼召。在這次宣教之旅之前，我一直在兒童事工中服務，從未擔任過青年事工的領導角色。我一直認為兒童事工很重要，因為你想在他們年輕的時候種下種子，這樣他們長大後就可以成為未來的領導者。直到這次旅行，我才了解到青少年是我們未來的領導者。他們同樣重要。直到2018年青年牧師來到我的教會CBC，神才呼召我成為一名全職青年領袖，與新青年牧師一起工作。
在我們的宣教之旅中，未知和事物不斷變化，我學會了信任並相信主，他在未知的世界或无人涉足的領域中保持不變。有了新冠肺炎，每天都有太多的掙扎、障礙、挑戰和變化，上帝讓我看到，儘管我們周圍的環境可能會發生變化，但我們需要依靠他。此外，即使我們不信，上帝也是不變的，也是信實的。我們不應該生活在恐懼中，而應該生活在希望、信任和服從中。所以離開你的舒適區，讓上帝帶領你，他為你準備了什麼。你永遠不知道，直到你踏出信念的飛躍！我現在在這裡 – 正在我教會服事 23多名青少年。
樊潔儀 Kitty Fan
