Archive for August, 2014

The tragic sights and scenes we saw were not at all what we expected to see when considering that Philadelphia is in the US, which is a first world country. We encountered many homelessness, pollution, segregation, and the worst of them all – hopelessness. And yet, we saw God working in the city to bring faith and hope to the people. The volunteer work we did at Philly mostly consisted of either serving or preparing food for the homeless. We went to different volunteering programs where waves of people would come into the cafeteria expecting food. We, as volunteers, would serve food to these people until they were all satisfied. At certain times, I thought that some people were insatiable, based on how many times they returned to the line. We’ve served over 1,100 people throughout the week.

We also went to a summer camp everyday where we assisted the teachers. The kids there lived up in dangerous or unhealthy family situations. They saw their time at this camp as the only way to be away from their homes. We talked with them, played games with them, and supervised their play times. I was blessed to see these kids who grew up in such difficult situations, look up to us. I pray that God would work in these capable young people, to give hope to this city. After a days work of volunteering with various organizations and eating delicious, diverse, ethnic meals, we had some time to ourselves. We talked to each other about our thought on that day. The boys in our group stayed up till 3am one night sharing our biggest struggles we had back at home. I’ve learned more about each person in six days worth of time than I did for the entire duration of our friendship. In this I learned that God is not just working in the city but in us too. We, as a group, learned that many cities are much more deprived of hope than we thought and yet God is working there to bring hope to the people. We, as a group, learned that God is working in nations like the U.S because we need just as much gospel hope as any other countries of the world. And we, as a group, learned that God is working, not just in the homeless and needy, but within our team to bring us closer to each other.

On the day we left for missions I was scared and excited. I didn’t know what would happen at Philly. For me this was like going into deep water because it made me to step out of my comfort zone.

When we arrived at the CSM base it was a lot different than what I expected. The outside looked like a normal apartment that needed some renovation. We went inside and started to unpack and we learned that we weren’t the only ones staying at the base. Another church stayed with us. They were nice, but we didn’t really talk to them.

After unpacking we did to our first activity, the prayer tour. It was a tour of the city and as we went on the tour we prayed things for the city. This tour set the mood for the missions. Our hosts told us statistic about the city and told us what we should pray about during the tour. These stats about the city made me wonder about God’s love for this city, especially because many people here were homeless, many who were just kids. The homeless were caught in a cycle of poverty. This made me question God’s love.

Few things surprised me from that tour. The first was that we prayed with our eyes open. Another thing that surprised me was that the parts we went on tour were absolutely different from what you would expect to be Philadelphia. We saw a lot of art on the side of the wall, but we also saw very broken, run down, and dirty buildings.

Before the second day of missions, even though I knew that was wrong, I thought that God perhaps didn’t love equally. Sure God might be using people to help the city, but it was just hard for me to accept that the God we believe allowed the terrible conditions present in this city.

We served at a ministry called Whosever Gospel. There I met many people dealing with homelessness and other with problems. Yet they were changing and I knew that it was God was changing them because God loves them. Some used the ministry to get out of addiction, to obtain jobs, and even begin to trust in Jesus!

After that day helping out at the thrift shop, we helped out at a soup kitchen called Chosen 300. There, we served around 300 people and I knew God was with us and that he was there with the volunteer/team and the pastor. At the end of the message 2 people were saved to Christ. This made me begin to think that God was there and that he really loves this city.

We also served at a place that was like an after school program. The kids were about 5-14 years old. Some of them were older than me. Thankfully I was placed in the 1-2 graders class. It was difficult for the students to open up to me since I was a stranger. Eventually though, they did open up and began to talk to me. Many times when we were leaving, I felt that I’d done a poor job. Yet a fellow team member encouraged me, saying that as long as I tried my best, that was the good enough.

On Saturday when we finally returned after 5 days of missions and 1 day of debrief, I was glad to be back home. Our team was also thankful that our church van survived the week without any problems.

After that week in Philly, I now realize that God is the same, God is very strong, and very much alive. I learned that God loves everyone, even the broken, hungry, and sinful. I also learned to love others even if it’s someone that you hate or someone that despises you.

I went into the missions field with the wrong mindset. I wanted a project that I could use to glorify myself, something to brag about and say, “I did this, I did that.”

One might think, “Missions in Philadelphia? That’s nothing like going to Mexico or Africa.” And they would be right; it’s totally different, but it’s just as heartbreaking to know that there is so much poverty and so much brokenness just a few miles from a well-off city. In a city where 1.5 million people live, 25% are in poverty and there are dropout rates of 50%.

One night, we stopped under a bridge where a homeless man might sleep. It was cushioned with bags filled with trash, and bricks covered in slime. “How would you feel,” we were asked, “if you had to sleep here?” And I thought back to earlier that day when I complained about our housing at CSM. We had beds, bathrooms, electricity, running water, what could I complain about?

But in the midst of all the hurt and brokenness in the city, God was still there. He brought people like Hubie who created parks where kids could just have fun. The mayor who brought down crime rates and built schools for people who didn’t have anything. Also, God worked in the people and united them through art and murals.

God was with us when we served at the many facilities where we met and helped homeless people and children. We built relationships, not just within the team, but also the people that we helped. Quickly, we realized that we are all the same and the only difference was our life situations. It was heartwarming to see all the people who kept fighting to get back on their feet and the huge amount of people who were willing to help them do that.

In the end, I could say that I played with kids, fed over 1100 people and built relationships with them, but the thing that I want to brag about is the work that God was doing in the streets and in the people of Philadelphia. He did this, He is doing these things, and He will do that.

Post Philadelphia Missions Trip Testimony

It’s more than a week since I came back from Philadelphia. The trip last for about five days, from July 20th to July 25th. Even though the trip is over, there are still so many things to consider and look back on. There were so many things I got to see and learn during that short period of time.

Our week in Philadelphia heavily consisted of our small group of eight doing volunteer work for the homeless and less fortunate. To me personally, it did not feel like a mission trip. Although helping and feeding many people, I saw and felt a lack of the gospel throughout the entire trip. However, the presence of God was not absent in our trip. Each day, he was able to show me the things I needed to work on in my own life and walk with God.

During our trip, we went to a few different organizations to volunteer and assist the programs. There was, however, one place we returned to every day. In short, it was called Lighthouse. Lighthouse was a summer program for kids ranging from toddlers to highschoolers. When we first arrived at Lighthouse, it was complete chaos. There was no form of organization and the kids were unruly. Nearly everyone in our group was frustrated with what we had to go through and none of us were looking forward to returning the next day. To our surprise, when we went back, things were different. We went back with a new perspective of grace and acceptance. Many of the kids that attended this program came from rough neighborhoods. Though this experience, God taught me the value of patience, grace, and understanding. It was as if God was showing me what I needed to work on when I got back from my trip.

Amongst everything that happened throughout the trip, the most precious moments for me was with our small group. Going into the trip, I was nervous and afraid of how I would react towards each and every one of them. Spending extended periods of time with other can cause friction and irritation. It was shocking when I realized that our relationship with one another grew exponentially. We shared and expressed things with one another in confidence and trust. It was amazing and so refreshing for me. In the end, I saw that I loved each and every one in that group so dearly.

Even though our inner-city mission trip was not really a “missions” trip, it was still a great experience for me. Through our shared struggles and hardships, our group emerged close than ever with each other. The trip also showed me that God is real. That God works in broken and dark places. His love for his people knows no bounds. We just have to keep and open eye to see all the works of God and his glory.

We partnered with a group called Center for Student Missions for the week. Through CSM, we worked with several different ministries and organizations to prepare meals for about 1,000 people and provide some other help.

There are a whole lot of dark parts in Philadelphia as we learned on the first night’s prayer tour. Philadelphia may be a city for tourists but beneath all the lights and attractions, there are neighborhoods in ruins and people in despair. It’s a center for drugs, violence, poverty and a whole lot of other things. Yet, despite that, God is still working in Philadelphia. He doesn’t neglect even the worst neighborhood.

To give one illustration, while we were at St. John’s Hospice, there were two men on the piano—one of them homeless and the other a staff member. When you think ‘hospice’, you think of a desolate, plain depressing place. But these two guys on the piano were just the opposite; they were actually emanating joy. You could see it on their faces, not to mention the faces of the fellow guys at the hospice, volunteers and staff. These guys were jamming out on the piano and belting their hearts out for half an hour straight. I’m pretty sure if they were any more happy, sunshine would’ve actually been radiating from their faces. And one of these guys was homeless! Yet, he still found a reason for joy, regardless of his situation. The whole thing was just too great.

The only place we spent all four full days at was a summer camp-like place called Lighthouse and it’s something I won’t forget. It was equal parts chaos/learning experience/really great. If there’s one thing that the kids at Lighthouse taught me, it’s that people have reasons for acting the way they do and you still have to love them nonetheless. A lot of these kids grew up in neighborhoods of crime or violent households and it’s not an excuse to act all crazy, but you still have to understand where people are coming from because most of those kids live lives a lot tougher than ours and at such a young age. One of the kids I met was a wise-beyond-her-years ten year old named Giana. She was pretty unresponsive at first but by the end of those four days, we had grown pretty tight. She told me that she was well aware that Lighthouse wasn’t the most orderly place but it was still a safe place where she could come and have fun. It made me realize that the Lighthouse was actually a blessing for a lot of the kids. It would’ve been easy to give up trying to form a friendship after the first encounter but that wouldn’t be loving people well.

A prayer request I had before the mission trip was to build and deepen relationships with others and I thank God that that has happened, not only with the people we served but the people we served alongside. As a group, we grew—maybe because we had to eat and sleep and talk with each other for seven days. We shared many laughs and bonded but in the end of it all what we really did was love each other and love Jesus and people and work for the glory of God with the people we loved.

It is only because of the grace of God that we were able to love the people of Philadelphia and love each other. Again, thank you supporters for all your help through this mission trip.

This year I was blessed to go with 7 friends to CSM (Center for Student Missions) at Philadelphia to meet many great people. I had seen what God had done in the city and what he will do for the people of Philadelphia. This might sound cliché but my only regret is not being able to do more and meet more people.

One way I have seen God working in the city is a thrift shop called Whosoever. At Whosoever they find homeless people that want to turn their life around and so they give them meals, work so they can get used to a schedule and free counselling. While I was working I saw how happy the workers are and how gracious they were for the shop. At Whosoever I was conversing with a man named Joseph and i could tell that he was actually trying. I just wished that i could talk with him more and actually get to know him.

A way God worked through me was at a summer camp called lighthouse. After our first task of the day my group would go to lighthouse every day from Monday to Thursday. The first day was very rough. I tried to get the kids to like me and they didn’t really open up, i feel like i was not needed and it was very hot. But the grace of God showed me to give them a second chance like he has to me every time I screw up. On the second day and after I really tried to get to know the kids. Nana was one of the smart kids of the group, she always tells me how I was playing goldfish wrong when I let the other kids take all my cards.(hahaha) Gina was very feisty and always wanted to play basketball then got pouty when I would make more shots than her. And there was Angel that was obsessed with the game speed but he eventually beat me. I know it was God working through me because it was definitely not my bright and sunny personality that make these kids love me.  I now think that i could have done a bit more but i will always remember the kids at lighthouse.

This is my second year doing missions and as time progressed I have learned to love missions and what it does and I know i will just love it more as time progresses. Whether missions is my real calling or not, I will always love what missions do. As writing my testimony for the Philadelphia missions trip means it is really over I will never forget what what i have done here and what it has done for me.