By: Angelie Gonda
Hi, good morning. I'm Angelie Gonda.
About two years ago, God started to open my eyes and my heart to missions through my quite time, Bible reading, through simple interactions with friends and even from messages during Sunday worship. In one of those services, one of the missionaries CCF supports shared about their ministry. I spoke to them right after the service. To make a long story short, God used that to lead me to the people & organization that would eventually help send us on our mission trip.
On Jan 21, 2012, after months of preparation, Jaque, Ellie and I finally left Singapore for a short mission trip exposure. My main purpose of going was to know if God was really calling me to be a missionary.
On this trip, I witnessed how God works to accomplish His purpose. It was amazing how God orchestrated everything – From selecting the people He wanted to send to even small details like reserving the last 3 seats in the van on our way back to Singapore. Otherwise, we would have not made it in time to catch our bus!
I also want to share the greatest struggle I had going on this trip. It was informing my parents about it. As a little bit of background, my mother is a devotee of one of the traditional religions in the Philippines. She is strongly against me going to a different church. I didn't choose to join the previous trips to the Bugkalot or Agta because someone might see me in the Philippines and tell my parents. I originally had no plan of telling them about the trip at all. To me, I was being obedient to God. But God had a different plan. A few weeks before our trip, someone from church asked me if my parents knew about it. I said No. She told me to inform them, to show that I respect and honor them. I struggled with this a lot and was really afraid of telling my parents. My friends and I prayed hard about it. Finally, after weeks of prayer, God gave me the courage to inform them. My mother's initial reaction was not good, though it was not as bad as I expected. I prayed again and asked God that when I call them before leaving Singapore, they wouldn't have any objections. So, the day before we left, I called my parents. Amazingly, I heard no objection whatsoever! They only asked me to keep them updated every day so they wouldn’t worry. What is too difficult for God?
The place we went to is like Mindanao in the Philippines. We spent most of our time chatting and having fun with the locals. The people were really nice.
Matt 28:19 says “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
To go and become friends with them may not be too difficult, but making disciples and baptizing them is a totally different challenge. Our workers need all the support they can get. They need partners. We also need more workers. There is a great imbalance of workers in the reached and unreached places. I've seen the difficulty of sharing the good news in a place where you can't openly say certain things about our faith. A small or simple mistake could very well jeopardize the whole ministry or even worse, the life of our brothers and sisters there. On the other hand, however, God's power, faithfulness, provision, grace and mercy are very evident.
Through everything I witnessed during the trip I learned that every one of us could be involved in so many different ways. We can pray for them, we can send and support workers, we can serve through hospitality or by mobilizing people to go or even going ourselves.
If you know that God is calling you, just take that first step. God is faithful!
To God be all the glory
By: Eleanor Gesulgon
‘Go and make disciples’ the Bible says. Of what? ‘Of all nations.” Matthew 28 : 19. This was my take away from the short mission trip we participated in last January 2012. I have come to embrace this verse after having been exposed to the mission field. This trip also educated me a lot about missions – That being part of the Great Commission is not just necessarily going out into the field and evangelizing people. Those that are in the field, also called front liners, also need support from back home or from the church that sent them. This is not just financial support (which most people are familiar with), though that is obviously very important. What I’m trying to say is that there are a lot of other forms of support we can give to the front liners.
Prayer is the number one way to support them. We can choose a particular mission team, town, village, country, or even a whole continent to pray for when we spend time with God. Short term visits or encouraging people to get involved in missions is another form of support. The point is, taking part in the Great Commission does not necessarily require you to go to a particular country and evangelize. Fulfilling the Great Commission is as simple as being involved in what God has been doing to reach those people groups who have not yet heard of Jesus Christ.
Aside from what I learned about the Great Commission, this short mission trip taught me more about myself. On the trip, my strengths were affirmed and my weaknesses identified. In fact, my singing career was launched there in Thailand J Kidding aside, confronting my weaknesses and utilizing my strengths outside my comfort zone was a really tedious task. I realized that this is what living a Christian life is all about. I shouldn’t rely on my own strength because as I decrease, God will increase. It is only by God’s grace that we accomplish things He prepared for us to do, so that no credit will go to us but His name will be glorified on the earth.
At the end of the trip, with a heart for missions and with all these realizations & exposure, I said to myself ‘I want to be involved.’ God willing, I will be preparing myself over the next 2 years to go on a long term mission trip. I still don’t know where, or how this process will go, so I’m asking that you please include me in your prayers – For the Lord to open the door, to provide opportunities and also to provide for my needs. I still remember Pastor Jay Jackson flashing this on the screen – “Before God sent Gideon into battle, He sent him home.” At the time, I already knew I would go home but I was still waiting for the “when.” Finally, after a long wait, constant prayer & this short mission trip, I will go home in April with my heart’s desire to be involved in making God known among the nations.
I thank God for the privilege of sharing my experiences with you. We are blessed to be a blessing. Hearing the Good News and being saved are blessings. Don’t let anything or anyone discourage you or keep you from reaching out to other people groups and getting involved in the Great Commission. For sure, Singapore will give you enough opportunities for this. Just try lah! J
I am Eleanor Gesulgon. All glory to God alone.
*For inquiries, you can send an email to gogettersg@psmail.net. This is the OMF Serve Asia Program email address.
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