Grateful

Earlier this week, God reminded me of something really simple yet important, which is gratefulness. According the Oxford dictionary, gratefulness is feeling or showing an appreciation for something done or received.

On Monday night, I was walking around the city with a brother. We met a homeless man sitting by himself and went to talk to him. As we talked to him over dinner, he shared many bits and pieces of his daily life.

This brother was diagnosed with epilepsy at an early age. This means that he has a neurological disease which may cause him to have seizures unless he takes his medication twice a day. His doctor doesn’t allow him to take up any strenuous works and he recently lost his job. Although the government will be giving him a unit to stay in soon, there is currently a long period of waiting.

Despite having no shelter at night and all his other hardship, I was surprised to find that he still could be so carefree. Talking about his new discounted bag, a recent book he read, and free showers in Southbank were enough to comfort him and keep him looking forward to the tough days ahead. The most shocking part was when he told us that he still prays to God every night before he sleeps. I really admire his faith. Even is such a situation, this brother still acknowledges God and takes the challenges God set for him without complaining.

After hearing what the homeless brother is going through, I suddenly realized how ungrateful I was. Although I live a very comfortable life with minimal need to worry about food, money, and shelter, I seldom thank God for all these things. Not only that, somehow in the luxury of all these, I still found the time to complaint to God about these things that he has blessed me with.

My God, created this Earth and placed me in a great family, brought me to a great country, and provided me with MORE than I need, and who gave me EVERLASTING hope, peace, joy, love and life.

So from now on, I'm gonna try to be grateful about everything I have and stop complaining over small issues. It was a great wake up call for me and I really thank God for this great long overdue lesson.

My Final Year at QUT

So this year, I was given the privilege to serve God in many areas. Besides being an usher on a few Sundays, I was involved in planning and managing Orientation and Market Weeks. I also helped out more in lifegroup in the area of prayer, praise, and even sending out weekly bulletins. As I served God more and more, I have came to realize that compared to what He has given me, what I gave him is close to nothing. In Matthew Chapter 6 verse 33 of the Bible, it says “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”. Today I would like to share with you how God has blessed me as I served Him. 

Last year, I didn’t score very well in my exams. That caused my GPA to be dragged down and I was not very satisfied with that. But during Semester 1 this year, God blessed me with good teammates for my group assignments. Thanks to God, we scored very well for our assignments. While I was sitting for an exam I realized I do not have enough time to answer all the questions. But, knowing that God was with me gave me the assurance and peace of mind. Which in the end, helped me to finish the paper calmly. Five days later, after a prayer meeting, I found out that I scored 92 over 100 for that paper. Without a doubt, I know this only happened because of the combination of my hard work, your prayers and the Lord’s favour and grace upon me. 

As semester 2 came by, I was very indecisive of what subjects to take. I dropped a few subjects because some of them clashed with our lifegroup and prayer meeting times. But then God gave me the idea of applying for 2 other project units instead of the usual classroom subjects. For the first few weeks, I was trying hard to look for a suitable project and supervisor. 

Although it was tough, I was able to enjoy my weeks and that was because deep down I know that as long as I do my best, God will take care of everything else because He has a perfect plan for me. And true enough, I ended up getting 3 project units. That means I only had to be in uni for only 3 hours a week on average. These projects allowed me to interact with real clients in the corporate world which will also look good in my future resume. 

On top of that, I was also able to get a good supervisor to oversee these projects. I really enjoyed the flexible timetable as I was able to do different things with my spare time. I thank God for this because even though it was the last semester of my final year, it seemed to be easier than all my previous semesters. 

Although I served God the most this academic year, it was during this year that I scored the best. For both semesters this year, by God’s grace, I got into the Dean’s list with a 6.75 GPA. To be honest, I didn’t study that much and was quite laid back this year. But it was God’s favour upon me that I was able to serve God, enjoy this year and even graduate from my degree with distinction. 

Earlier today, I collected my ielts test results and it was not enough for me to apply for PR. Even so, I still am able to go on without worry about job hunting or how to stay in australia. This is because I know God is in control and He has the perfect plan for me. Meanwhile, my project supervisor has offered me 3 months of casual work from January till March next year while I look for a permanent job. A week ago, I even had a casual interview for a possible long-term job. I didn’t even need to look everywhere and sent in many resumes for this. Instead, this job was referred to me by a friend.

With God being my Father, friend, and provider, every day I have hope and peace. There is also never a need to worry. More than a year ago, I heard this verse from someone who came out and spoke during lifegroup. I didn’t really believe it at that time. But now, after experiencing it myself, I can confidently say that this is very true. It’s from Jeremiah Chapter 29 Verse 11. Here it says 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”. 

Before I end this post, I’d like to thank my friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, family, and most importantly, God, for all your support and love throughout these years. Thank you.

Street Evax

Today I went for my first street evangelism with my brothers and sisters from Hope Church. Was paired up with Sophia and we started with worshipping God. Then, we talked to a few people who rejected us.

But I learned from Sophia and really admire how she never fails to love the people and go on without being discouraged.

Then, we talked to a girl and she was so open to us. She was going through a lot and spilled everything to her. We explained to her about God and shared a few testimonies. Later, we even got to pray for her and she was really greatful for that.

That experience was really God's divine appointment and I can't wait to see how God brings her back to Him. Beliving for greater things!

After meeting with our group, we prayed for a few of our brothers and sisters and saw another 2 healings! God is awesome and I'm super excited of being used by Him to love others. Can't wait to join this again.

:)

Canberra Mission Trip: Summary

Just two days ago, I came back from a short mission trip to Canberra. Our team were made out of 5 guys and 5 girls from different QUT Lifegroups. This 6-day mission trip was focussed on supporting and encouraging the local churches there, which are Hope Canberra and Hope Queanbeyan.

Throughout the mission trip, we had the chance to help out with their prayer meeting, church services, and lifegroups. It was a great experience for me as I was given the opportunity to try out different ministries. On top of that, we also got to observe how different individuals had to take on multiple roles when the church is smaller in size. One of the brothers in Hope Queanbeyan had to set up the equipment, serve as a visualizer, and after their prayer meeting he would send different ones back to their home. Another brother in Hope Canberra had to play the guitar for church, preach, and when the service ended, he humbly vacuumed the floor.

During this trip, we also stepped out in faith to try out new things such as going out to the streets to invite people to church and share the gospel to strangers. We also went to the Parliament House and did a prayer walk to pray for the country and the people of Australia.

Besides that, we also had the chance to have meals with the core team from both churches where we were given the chance to ask them questions. These sessions really inspired us as they shared how the team persevered and selflessly served God through their tough seasons. Listening to them share why they never stop giving and serving was also a great encouragement.

Throughout these 6 days, I also learned that teamwork is really important. Each of us served with whatever gifts we had, be it playing musical instruments, leading praise and worship, sharing, cooking, and even being a human-GPS. Personally, I didn't think I contributed much but I'm glad I was able to be used by God throughout the trip.

After this trip, I am even more convinced that my God is real and He knows each one of us intimately. Besides that, knowing that there are many other brothers and sisters out there persevering to do His work has greatly encouraged me to be missional for God.  

Words can not fully describe this mission trip and I really want to encourage all of you to go for a mission trip if you have the chance, and experience this for yourself. Before I end this testimony, I would also like to say “thank you” to those who supported our mission trip through finance and prayer because we couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you.