'I will offer up my life"

The China Mission Trip was actually my first overseas mission trip. I was a bit unsure
what to expect on this trip and I felt like I was blindly going into an oppressed nation.
I also knew that God heals blindness and will most definitely guide his children. Praise
be to God, who guided us through this mission trip! He who is in the children of God is far greater than the one who is in the world! Thank you Lord Jesus for guiding us through this trip, for the blessings that you prepared for the children, for the blessings you prepared for us, and for your protection while we were in China.

When thinking about being part of a mission team, I think about sharing God’s Word and His love through bible study classes, camp fires, music, dancing, and skits. You know like vacation bible school? I never thought about going on a mission trip and being able to do these things, but with one stipulation. This would be that we couldn’t talk about God, His Love, or let alone open up our Bibles and share God’s word to the unsaved. There are 3 main things that the Lord showed me during this trip. These include the power of His love, the power of worship, and the importance of freedom in prayer.

I was taught an important lesson of the power of God’s love through the children during the camp. I have to honestly say that I didn’t expect to be ministered to during this trip but I expected to be the one ministering out to. I was amazed just how much the children loved on us! We were not allowed to talk with them openly about Christ but were only allowed to show Him through our actions and love for them. I felt so much love from Christ through these children’s actions and love for us! I thought that I was supposed to be showing the children God’s love but I didn’t realize how much they were going to show me His love back. I learned that God is shown through love, not just by giving love but by receiving love, not just by speaking about His love but by showing and acting out His love. When thinking about this I am reminded how the Pharisees wanted to stop the disciples from preaching about the miracles that Jesus had performed. In Luke 19:40 Jesus simply said “I tell you if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Though we weren’t openly allowed to speak to the unsaved children about the Gospel, the love that we shared did. Just as Jesus said that the rocks will cry out if they keep quiet so will our love cry out. I had the privilege to be on the bible-study team in which we were able to be part of the high school worship and bible study time. It was an amazing experience that I was so honored to be a part of. What a blessing to witness these wonderful young women taking part in communion for their first time!

The second lesson that I was taught during this trip was the power of worship. When thinking of missions I automatically think about praise and worship. I never imagined being on a mission trip and not being able to publicly praise and worship our Lord. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to share with the people? One would think, but when in such an oppressed country like China, we were at a disadvantage. Or were we? I’ve never had my freedom in worship taken away before, so this was somewhat of a humbling experience. Although we were not publicly allowed to worship, it seemed that no matter where I went, whether in public or private, there was worship music. In the class our students always had a guitar. During their free time the boys were always playing music and strumming away on their guitars. Although these specific students were not singing the lyrics, they were playing worship songs! These students were ministering to the unsaved students in the class with the music! I could feel the Holy Spirit moving through the music even without the lyrics. We also had a supply room that seemed to take its course as a worship room. There were so many times that I would go to take a break by being refreshed by the strumming of Elisha and Susie’s guitars, while singing along in Jesus’ tunes! I also was hearing humming everywhere I went, realizing quickly that the humming was coming from me! I guess a little of my shyness broke-off during this trip too. J No matter where I was at it seemed that I had worship music in my head! I can’t explain the power behind the worship I experienced in China. You would think that the worship wouldn’t be as strong because of the restrictions, but I felt the exact opposite. Maybe it was the rebel coming out in me, but I honestly believe it was the Holy Spirit at work. The one song that I still can’t get out of my soul from the trip is “I will offer up my life.” I really learned what it means to worship in Spirit and Truth. I believe that my heart has been forever changed by the power of worship that I experienced during this trip.

The Lord also taught me the importance of freedom in prayer. Have you ever tried to pray with your eyes open? Have you ever tried to pray using Christian jargon? Well in China, we had to do just this. It was one of the most difficult things that I have ever had to do. I can’t tell you that I succeeded in praying like this. I can’t tell you that I even succeeded in talking the Christian jargon slang. I guess I’m a law breaker but through this, yet another humbling experience, I realized just how much Christ is embedded into my soul. I never knew how much my everyday language consists of the words: God, Father, Lord, Jesus, Christ, praying, and Amen. We weren’t allowed to publicly speak these words when praying or in our everyday conversations. When praying we also had to look at each other like we were talking amongst one another. This was a very awkward experience to say the least. If you have never done this, I recommend just trying to do this to see how much passion is taken out of your prayer. Talk about a bland prayer. I can remember during one of our prayer meetings at the hotel. Priscilla was praying and kept forgetting to use “code talk” during her prayer. She kept catching her words and then turning them into code words. By her doing this, it just made the Holy Spirit flow even more so in our presence. Before going to China, I hadn’t understood the importance of freedom in prayer. I don’t think it’s possible to fully see this until you experience this freedom being taken away from you. By experiencing this first hand, I began to realize the importance of missions. I may think it’s difficult to give up my freedom for 10 days in China but what about the people who live there? What about the children who have no concept of freedom in prayer or worship? How will they grow in the refreshing of the Holy Spirit? How will they grow to become prayer driven and bold in their faith when they are forever scared of the repercussions of this? I began to really understand how blessed I was to come from a country that had freedom in worship, praise, prayer, bible reading, evangelizing, and as little a thing as everyday language communication. As I realized this, I began to think about what I’m doing with my freedom. I had this conviction to dedicate my God given freedom to people who don’t have freedom. To be used by God to help encourage, strengthen, and grow His church in countries that may not have the same freedom that I have been so blessed with.

God taught me so much during our China Mission Trip. I only mentioned 3 main points but if you want to hear more feel free to ask me in person. For me this trip was a confirmation of missions for my future. After going to China, I can’t imagine living for any other purpose than to serve our Lord Jesus Christ by spreading His love, worshiping in Spirit and Truth, and using my freedom for the freedom of others. If I had to sum up our mission trip in one bible verse it would be Romans 8:38 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Thank you Lord Jesus.

God Bless,

Nicole

Ni hau

Dear friends and family,
Hello! Annyong Haseyo! Or should I say Ni hau? So many languages I don’t know what to say. (English, Korean, Mandarin, and even some Arabic and Turkish) Sometimes it can get a bit confusing to say the least! My English has definitely not improved. I hope everything is going well with you. I can’t believe another year has passed and it’s now summer of 2008! It’s been a while since I’ve spoken with some of you guys. For a few of you, it might have been even as long as a year ago since we last spoke. I just wanted to touch base, reconnect, and let you know about some of the great things that are happening in my life here in the ROK.

How faithful the Lord has been this year in shining his blessings down among his children, especially here in the Land of the Morning Calm, aka. Korea. Work at Rainbow International School is going well and I just recently resigned for yet another year through the school. I will only be teaching the first grade this year, which I am very much happy with. I will be working and going to graduate school this year as well. So it looks as if I’ll have yet another busy but most surely blessed year! I’m now enjoying my free time as summer break just started last week. The joys of being a teacher! During my free time, I plan on spending time with the youth at Namson Orphanage (Jerusalem Ministries), volunteering at church (Jubilee), and also going on a mission trip. I’m looking forward to an awesome opportunity to go a mission trip to China with a group from Jubilee. I’m constantly growing closer to the Lord through my experiences within our church, and now I’m ready to see how God is working in another part of Asia.

This month through July 10-19, about 35 people from Jubilee church will be heading to
Harbin, China. Harbin is China’s northernmost major city, with a population in excess of 10 million and over 4 million in the city center alone. Historically, the city has had a lot of Russian influence, especially after the Russian Civil War, when refugees escaped the newly formed Soviet Union. The city was captured by the Japanese during World War II and later captured by the Chinese. Harbin is originally a Manchu word meaning ‘a place for drying fishing nets’ and also known as ‘Ice city’ for its long and cold winter. Over the years, the country has had civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. The country has switched from an autocratic socialist system, which imposed strict controls over everyday life to being more focused on market-oriented economic development. For many individuals the living standards have improved but political controls remain tight. Jubilee has a connection with a school in Harbin. We will be going to participate in English, Sports, and VBS Ministries.

This trip provides an opportunity to meet the educational and spiritual needs of a community that is desperately in need. More than anything, I would value your prayers for our mission’s team and those whose lives will be touched by God through us when visiting
Harbin. I believe that God answers prayers and that He calls us to pray for the lost. I’m asking you to pray before, during, and after our trip.

(1)Pray that the Lord would prepare the hearts of the children to hear about Jesus Christ and that we would be able to plant the seed of the gospel in them. (2)Pray for salvation and the salvation of their family. (3)Pray that God will prepare our hearts to have no other agenda than to love them with the love of Christ. (4)Lastly, for our safety, good health, smooth travel, and financial support. Just knowing that you will be praying will give me peace as I go into an unfamiliar country.

Beyond your prayers, if you are led to join me by financially supporting this mission, I would be grateful. Our group needs to raise just over 15,000.00 to cover the total cost of the trip. We have been coming up with creative ways to raise the money, and support letters just happen to be one of these. I have realized that it is very difficult to send support-money overseas (especially on short notice), so if you are interested in helping in my support than please contact me and I will give you account information. This is a journey that God has called me to and I would greatly appreciate any level of support that you would be willing to offer. I do understand that you may not be able to give financially but most importantly we are in need of your prayers.

“14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled out the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3:14-19

Again, I really hope things are going well for you. I’d love to hear an update on what’s going on in your life in the USA, if you have the time. I will definitely be praying for you, if you already aren’t in my prayers. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter, and if you have any questions, please let me know. Again, please send me an update on your lives so I can be praying for you too! Take care, and I hope to hear from you all soon!

With Love in Christ Jesus,
Nicole
More than a Teacher You are a Shepherd!
More than a Student You are a Disciple!

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these." Mark 10:14

And He took the children in His arms and blessed them

As she handed me "The Grouchy Ladybug" book that she made this evening, she handed it to me backwards. I read the inscription "I love you" written on the back. My heart began to melt. I could feel the love of Christ shining down upon us at this moment. Her eyes sparkled when she handed it to me. I tried not to show tears, but one or two might have slipped out. I think about how the Lord's word says "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." It's moments in life like this one, that I understand the fullness of how the disciple Paul says that the greatest of these is love. Its funny how we look to be loved our entire lives while having already been given the greatest gift of love. Our Father in Heaven loves us so much. So much, that he gave his son Jesus over to die so we could have life. As she told me that she loved me tonight, I fell even more in love with our Heavenly Father. How amazing is it that the Lord's loving words can be spoken through the voice of a child, yet alone written on red construction paper with crayons! Just as this little girl's words were so sweet, even more so that I'm reminded that our Father’s love is even sweeter. This little girl’s love is just a speck of what God's love is for you, for me, for we are also called His little children.

He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them." Mark 10:14-16