Youth Missions Trip 2010
Posted by Larissa Bongco on Friday, January 7, 2011
In the span of 12 days (28th of November to the 8th of December), I could honestly say we finally understood and saw the LIVING Word of God. The people we met lived and breathed the Word of God like it was their first language and Tagalog was their second. We saw the bible verses we grew up with being actively used in their daily life. The bible was not just pages of advice but the Word of God was ALIVE IN PEOPLE.
We so easily say, ‘All I need is you God’, but when one thing is taken away from us, God is the LAST person we run too. They didn't have much materially but they had something eternal. They were so abundant with hope and faith that no hardship could separate them from God’s love. It made me think of all the times I wasted my breath complaining when I should have been praising God.
Here in Australia, we tend to memorise verses. It sometimes goes in but as soon as we’re under pressure, we can’t even remember it. What I learnt in Philippines is that they didn’t have verses prepared in their heads. They had it written in their hearts. It was their life support. They needed the Word of God like their whole life depended on it. The youth we partnered with were like 13-15 years old when we did street evangelism and they shocked all of us. In the time I took with trying to figure out where to casually insert the Word of God in the conversation, the youth already had them saying the Salvation prayer. That’s how much the Word of God was engraved in their life.
That’s where we all learnt how God and His Word taught us to be Fearless. We found out we were more than capable with the Word and Spirit of God. Language and cultural barriers were broken because there were many cases when most of us, who don’t speak Tagalog, were sharing about God IN Tagalog. It surprised us on how much, at missions, God proved what He promised in that He will equip us with whatever is necessary in fulfilling His will. For me that gave me such a confidence boost knowing that God really was right there next to me. It was in evangelism that we got tested for what was written in our hearts, and how available we were to be used by God.
My highlight was the Medical/Dental mission. In the Medical/Dental Missions, we got thrown into the deep end. We came to the realisation that none of us had ever done one-on-one evangelism before. We’ve preached and taught at youth but never to a complete stranger, let alone someone from another country that aren’t too familiar in speaking or understanding English. After the doctors and dentists provided free services, they came to us for counselling. In all honesty, I was so nervous the whole way through until the last girl. Everyone was relaxing because it was almost over, when Val asked Jovelle and I to counsel one more girl. Since I was caught off guard, I had no time to prepare anything. I was like ‘God, I’m counting on you’. So we began talking and crying on how much God has already changed us just by being there, and I can confidently say God really used us as His mouthpiece. It was definitely ALL him. She became the first person we ever lead through the Salvation prayer. That’s where we learnt how to evangelise, when everything and every word came from the Holy Spirit and we were humbly His messengers.
The Missions trip made everything we learnt about God come to life. It was more than just a memory but a turning point in our lives. It made us realise that people out there STILL don’t know how much God loves them. God tugged at my heart during worship at missions and He said, ‘Tell my sons and daughters that I love them, that’s all I want you to tell them. I’ll set people in your path so you can show them how much I love you, and in turn how I love them just as much’. That is what WE ALL are meant to do. There is no specific formula to evangelism, simply tell them that they are DEARLY loved by a God that will never stop loving you. God’s love will speak for itself.
We so easily say, ‘All I need is you God’, but when one thing is taken away from us, God is the LAST person we run too. They didn't have much materially but they had something eternal. They were so abundant with hope and faith that no hardship could separate them from God’s love. It made me think of all the times I wasted my breath complaining when I should have been praising God.
Here in Australia, we tend to memorise verses. It sometimes goes in but as soon as we’re under pressure, we can’t even remember it. What I learnt in Philippines is that they didn’t have verses prepared in their heads. They had it written in their hearts. It was their life support. They needed the Word of God like their whole life depended on it. The youth we partnered with were like 13-15 years old when we did street evangelism and they shocked all of us. In the time I took with trying to figure out where to casually insert the Word of God in the conversation, the youth already had them saying the Salvation prayer. That’s how much the Word of God was engraved in their life.
That’s where we all learnt how God and His Word taught us to be Fearless. We found out we were more than capable with the Word and Spirit of God. Language and cultural barriers were broken because there were many cases when most of us, who don’t speak Tagalog, were sharing about God IN Tagalog. It surprised us on how much, at missions, God proved what He promised in that He will equip us with whatever is necessary in fulfilling His will. For me that gave me such a confidence boost knowing that God really was right there next to me. It was in evangelism that we got tested for what was written in our hearts, and how available we were to be used by God.
My highlight was the Medical/Dental mission. In the Medical/Dental Missions, we got thrown into the deep end. We came to the realisation that none of us had ever done one-on-one evangelism before. We’ve preached and taught at youth but never to a complete stranger, let alone someone from another country that aren’t too familiar in speaking or understanding English. After the doctors and dentists provided free services, they came to us for counselling. In all honesty, I was so nervous the whole way through until the last girl. Everyone was relaxing because it was almost over, when Val asked Jovelle and I to counsel one more girl. Since I was caught off guard, I had no time to prepare anything. I was like ‘God, I’m counting on you’. So we began talking and crying on how much God has already changed us just by being there, and I can confidently say God really used us as His mouthpiece. It was definitely ALL him. She became the first person we ever lead through the Salvation prayer. That’s where we learnt how to evangelise, when everything and every word came from the Holy Spirit and we were humbly His messengers.
The Missions trip made everything we learnt about God come to life. It was more than just a memory but a turning point in our lives. It made us realise that people out there STILL don’t know how much God loves them. God tugged at my heart during worship at missions and He said, ‘Tell my sons and daughters that I love them, that’s all I want you to tell them. I’ll set people in your path so you can show them how much I love you, and in turn how I love them just as much’. That is what WE ALL are meant to do. There is no specific formula to evangelism, simply tell them that they are DEARLY loved by a God that will never stop loving you. God’s love will speak for itself.
