Having spent two years as a fulltime missionary in Operation Mobilisation in the late 70’s, John had since the first day we met, always been talking about his experience in the mission field. From riding and sleeping in an old Volkswagon van to running for their lives after hitting a cow on the road in India, his tales of mundane chores like chipping away at the rusty panels in the hull of the ship, Logos, to the exciting experience of singing and evangelizing at road sides, would often made me wonder if it was all that meaningful. At times, when John could not stop waxing lyrical about all his “brothers and sisters” on board Logos and all the people he had met during the two years, I would wished he would just stop already! I was at that time very far away from the Lord and could perhaps only see the cross through a telescope. I could never understand how one could have so many brothers and sisters. Aren’t our own, headache enough!
However the seeds of all that sharing began to take root in me and I began to wonder what it would like to be on a mission trip.
The opportunity came for me in the year 2000 when I joined a group of 14 to Vietnam and Cambodia. That first mission exposure trip would then go on to really open my eyes to see, know and feel a glimpse of what John had been sharing about all those years.
Someone once said :
Tell me and I may forget
Show me and I may remember
Involve me and I will understand.
For how can we feel if we don’t know. How can we know if we don’t see, and how can we see if we don’t go. However, how can we go if we don’t make the choice to do so.
Indeed, we can either be the sender or the sent ones. These days I choose to be the sent ones
The Lord has a funny way of working in our hearts. Now, the fruits of all those seeds planted by John’s words have finally pushed it’s ways out of my heart. After three years of being in the mission field most of the time, I have finally agreed with John that yes, this is our passion, our calling. This is what the Lord would want for us to do.
Having decided, we then both agree that for better accountability, a registered society would be the way to manage our ministry and wherever else the Lord leads from henceforth. Accountability is needed in the area of finance because people were beginning to bless us financially for our ministry. And accountability is needed in the better management of the ministry which seems to be growing under the leading of the Holy Spirit.
We reasoned that we would be in need of more heads and hearts than just the two of us. And with that, more ideas too, for the expansion and extension of GraceSpeaks.
Here we would like to introduce you to the rest of the GraceSpeaks team.
To God be the Glory.
Amen
– Helen Tan
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