“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…”. So…. yes, with God’s words imprinted on my heart, we started our 2 wks journey in Taiwan.
On our second last day, a few of us got up really early, waiting to be picked up by Pastor Alan and his wife to visit a gpa at a nursing home in PingDong, which is about an hr drive from Kaohsiung. During the ride, we quickly discussed among the 4 of us which songs we were gonna sing when we get there. Upon arrival, we saw a few status of the local gods in the garden and light musical chanting was playing in the background. As we entered, a familiar scene was laid before me - nursing station, medical charts and a strong smell of a mixture of medication, disinfectant and…. patients, bed ridden patients to be exact. We were greeted by a housing staff and soon enough, we were guided to a common room where patients wait for their scheduled visitation. Gpa has been bed ridden for the past 20 years. He has a feeding tube going down from his nose to his stomach for milk, and he has lost a lot of muscle support so he couldn’t sit up or even roll over by himself. He can’t talk, and we weren’t even sure whether his consciousness was alert or not. Immediately, Pastor Alan’s wife said with a trembling voice, “Gpa, Jesus loves you… and we love you, too”, she even raise her voice just so it won’t be so obvious. As we all gathered around his bed, singing songs that described that we are one family because of God, and how there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is from Christ Jesus…. We sang many many songs, then, all of a sudden, Pastor Alan’s wife started reading the Bible to gpa. Not just one or two verses, but chapters after chapters on the birth of Jesus, and then more reading from Psalm, praising God, and then more reading from another gospel book, declaring that God loves the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. To be honest, I was a bit impatient and almost got annoyed at the fact that she went on and on with the reading. I thought to myself, “Come on, we are here to cheer him up, make him feel comfortable and loved and perhaps he will eventually understand that this love comes from God. What is the use of reading long chapters of scripture filled with all sorts of weird foreign names and places, plus, with his level of consciousness, he probably won’t even recognize his daughters, let alone understands the scriptures”.
But then, I saw it… as Pastor Alan’s wife read about how Jesus came not to condemn the world, but to save this sinful world through Him, including you and me. He brings forgiveness, and reconciliation so we may restore that beautiful relationship with our Father God. Gpa cried….. not just tears running down his cheek kinda crying, but sobbing, weeping, granting with regrets. At that moment, something struck me: I was in fact, ashamed of the gospel. I looked down on the power of His Word. I was blinded by my arrogance and ignorance. I tried to do what I thought was best for gpa. I tried to substitute His Word with charity acts. I tried so hard to wrap the gift box but forgot it is the gift itself that matters.
Leaving that nursing home, I couldn’t stop counting all the other times when I was ashamed of the gospel. It is in fact very easy to find excuses to not share the gospel, too easy that they usually slip our mind as “excuses”. How many times have I hold back from praying with and for a non-believing friend and offer them something else instead. How many times have I withdraw myself from sharing the gospel to with work mate or a family member when I was too afraid to damage the relationship. I eventually had to stop counting and return to God in repentance. His amazing love and power overwhelms us in unexpected ways as I have experienced during this mission trip to Taiwan, and I can’t wait for more.
The good news is, we don’t have to wait til the end of the year to experience and to be equipped to share the gospel, there are many organizations that host and run local missions, SHUM being one of them. Many of us may have heard about SHUM, which stands for Surry Hill Urban Mission. Can I have a show of hands of those who have participated in SHUM? Quite a few of us, let me briefly introduce SHUM.
SHUM has been running since the year 2000 and at present, a certified mission under Scripture Union NSW. The name suggests the location of its activity, Surry Hills area, which contains populations of homeless people, some below poverty families, shelters and brothels. In this environment the area can be like a spiritual vacuum. SHUM does not pretend to be a charity organization or a professional counselling service. It is there to provide what we believe is needed to change people’s lives – which is The Word of God. With or without SHUM, God is working in Surry Hills. The problem is for most people this goes unnoticed. SHUM tries to point people back to God and to the love Jesus showed them by dying on the cross.
The aim of SHUM is two-fold:
· As I mentioned, is to have fellowship and share the Gospel with the people of Surry Hill/ Central station, particularly the street people or the disadvantaged.
· To use the mission to encourage and educate Christian brothers and sisters to be prepared to evangelise more readily in their own lives, at home, at work, with friends and family.
What can you do to participate in SHUM?
Easy. For all who have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal God and saviour, come and join us, either by yourself, friends or fellowship groups. Every month is treated as a mission, which includes every Tuesday night and one Sunday morning where we join a Church service for marginalised people. If you decide to join, you must commit to one month. If you have never been to SHUM before, its crucial that you attend an information night, which is held every month.
So, let your light shine before others!!
local mission - SHUM 的網址如下:
http://focusonministry.blogspot.com.au/
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