Asian Christian Fellowship has completed its fifth year on the University of Toronto's Scarborough Campus. It definitely is something to praise God for! For those who may not know who I am, I am the Chair/President, however you may call it, for the 2014/2015 year. I have learned so much this year and I praise my Lord for His faithfulness and love. I would like to share my reflections and some of the things I have learned this year in hopes it would be a refresher for my brothers and sisters.
1. The Gospel is sufficient.
The book of Romans is an intimidating systematically reasoned letter from Paul, but it depicts the Gospel so beautifully. It shows us how The Gospel transcends all racial, gender, class, economic, and other barriers that we find ourselves in. It shows us how the Gospel challenges and transforms the hardest of hearts. It shows us how the Gospel inspires us to look to God and worship him with our whole being; Mind, body, and soul. It depicts a God who not only loves His creation mightily but also a wrathful God of justice. It shows us how the Gospel gives us hope by giving us the gift of not facing that wrath through Christ. Indeed, the Gospel levels the playing ground for any human being by telling us that we will never look better than the next person who stands before God. The only redeeming factor that qualifies us to stand in the presence of The Living God is Jesus Christ.
This year, I had the privilege to see this first hand on my mission trip in Hong Kong and on campus. I saw how good and merciful my Lord was by offering this hope to the lost and to the saved. I saw how inspiring He was to the brothers and sisters by challenging them to seek Him and to glorify Him in their actions and words. I saw many of the brothers and sisters who were veterans in the faith come back to Him from a place of complacency to a position of humility and repentance. Although the growth was slow and painful, the joy that came from the satisfaction found in Christ was immeasurable.
A story I would like to share is about a brother that I had the privilege to see grow. He has the ability to cut someone down in an instant with his hot temper and his sharp tongue. But this year, his words were dulled by love and the only thing hot was his passion for the fellowship and for the lost. I've seen him cry out to God because he was so scared of misleading people who were curious about Christ. I've seen him morn for the missed opportunities to talk with his friends who are lost about God. I continue to see him seek wisdom and truth so then when the time for him to defend his faith comes, he would be well equipped. When I think of him, I praise God for his ability to transform this brother and I can't help but feel the sense of pride and joy. I want to tell him that I'm proud of him as often as I can (he's probably sick of it...hahaha...). But this is one of the many stories that God inspired in this fellowship.
2. Success is not measured in the numbers but how faithful you were.
This year, I had some struggle with my position as Chair. I had small moments of when my competency was questioned, my work felt like it was undermined, and having my leadership questioned either by people around me or by my insecurities. I constantly thought, what else could I do to improve this Bible study? Is this the right thing to do? Are we going in the right direction that God wants us to go? What if this becomes a problem? How do I fix this if it does become a problem? Am I loving this person enough? It was a vicious cycle of worrying causing stress and the stress causing worries.
In Romans 5:1, it says that we are justified by faith and in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Paul writes about when one boasts that they would boast in the Lord. So, it is the same when I stand before my brothers and sisters as a leader. My only qualification to serve or boast was, and still is, Christ. In worldly standards my skill sets for leading are strong but I do not have an in dept understanding of doctrines or theology but there will always be someone who is better than me. If Jesus did not show me His love, I would not be able to have that sense of peace and comfort. Let alone, show the ability to serve in a Christ-centered mindset in a fellowship setting. Anything that was considered an accomplishment is credited to His sovereignty. His strength and faithfulness were exemplified through what small work I did because there were so many opportunities to throw my hands up and say "I'm done with this ridiculousness." But in those moments, Christ gave me the strength to endure and be used by him to advance His kingdom. My work was small but I can confidently say that I was faithful by not running away or making excuses.
I would like to praise God for putting me in a very competent leadership team and mentors. In a sense, they were my provision from God to be faithful to the various responsibilities before me. This group is comprised of very flawed and confused individuals. We disagreed, we became lazy, we became self-centered, and we became tired. But with Christ as our common ground and the humility that came with this truth, these people came together and helped the fellowship to develop the bible studies, prayer meetings, or Small Investment Groups (SIGs) to the level we have them now. Proving that my faithfulness was an extension of His faithfulness.
3. Leave no room for Satan to mess with.
If you have sin that you're struggling with; confess and repent. If you are serving with a team; protect them with accountability, love, honesty, and communication. If you know that you are Bible-illiterate; read and study. Surround yourself in truth. Be transparent with your parents and have them support you when you are serving. What I'm trying to say is Satan is a sneaky guy who uses everything he can find against you. That can be your insecurities, unconfessed sin, hurtful words said from anger, miscommunication, lack of wisdom, knowledge, support and even lack of accountability against you.
I'm not saying that God is insufficient, (2 Corinthians 4:8-9) but that he expects us to put in work (Proverbs 13:4). When we become lazy and complacent, we become susceptible to worldly influences. We leave room for Satan to find those little cuts and pour lime juice and salt all over them. So when you are or aren't serving, be diligent, "[b]e watchful, stand firm in the faith,..., be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." (1 Corinthians 16:13-14)
My mentor and my pastor both said something similar to me when I started this year that has helped me through the struggles I faced. It was this, "You are part of a spiritual warfare. Pray for protection for yourself, the people you're surrounded with, and your family. Commit all things to Christ because it's safer in His hands than yours."
4. Fellowship is a place for brothers and sisters to support, rejoice with, mourn with, and encourage one another.
It's not a new concept but I think over long periods of time of being raised in a church and not being unfamiliar with the concept of "young adults fellowship" I forget the original meaning of fellowship. For the past three years, I had the opportunity to spend time with a Christian Chaplain, named Seba, whose primary concerns were campus ministry and church planting. He's very gifted with bringing people together and creating dialogue about faith. What I have learned from him and his example is that fellowship isn't a place just for short bible studies or attractive fun programs for the general meetings. Fellowship calls for devoted teachings from the Bible, breaking bread with one another, praying fervently for one another, celebrating with one another for the many blessings God gives us, mourn and encourage one another when there are times of tribulation, and keeping one another accountable when a brother or sister confesses a sin that they struggle. (Acts 2, Colossians 3, and Romans 1 are good reference for what characteristics a fellowship should have.)
But what does that look like? SIGs were loosely based off Seba's Eat Serve Love program that he holds in his own home. It's a small community that meets every other week to have a meal together and answer the following questions; "How are you celebrating this week? Are you mourning? How are you sinning/violated your conscience? etc." Followed with questions based off a story of Jesus. I envisioned our large general group meetings breaking up into small groups and having meetings to answer these types of questions, continue the bible study we went through during our Wednesday meetings, pray for one another, and to share our sins so then we might find healing through Christ. Eventually, I hoped that the SIG leaders would intentionally disciple a select few from their SIGs so then they can build up more leaders for the Kingdom. I wanted the burden of disciplining, caring, and serving to fall onto the fellowship and not onto the leadership team. I view the team as a guide to help the fellowship do it. So when we come together as a large group, we have that sense of a family
My hope for this was that the brothers and sisters in the fellowship would learn to take responsibility for their own faith and not leave it to a temporary institution placed here on campus. I hope for these skills to be developed now for the future when they do graduate from UTSC that they can share and teach others in their own churches and fellowships. And I am so proud to say that I can see His work in so many of my brothers' and sisters' walk with Him.
In conclusion, I know that things aren't the way I want them to be but the things are where God wants them to be. Reflecting back on this year has humbled me to know that my Lord has used a small chair in a small way to take part in a massive intricate plan. I thank God for my parents, David, Tristan, and the Exec Team who spoke truth and love into my life. I thank my sisters in my SIG and those who are close to me for encouraging me and checking in on me regularly. Your kindness is an example to me. I thank my brothers from the fellowship and church for challenging me to seek knowledge of the Bible and to defend my faith. I thank God for the Pastors who were so curious about the work I was a part of to offer me what resources I desperately needed. I thank my mentor, Grace, for being available to me whenever I panicked. I love you all, in my own way, dearly.
In Christ and Love,
G
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