Friends, thank you for your prayers and support. I finally made time to type up my Arizona testimony that I shared with YG last night. So without further ado...
I never had any intentions of going to Arizona this summer. I had my CSET to study for (which I am taking in a few hours) and I did not want to worry about raising enough support to go. However, it only took one question from a friend like Snugs to change my considerations about the mission trip: �You can set aside one week of studying, can�t you?� Our team consisted of 7 members: Me, Eugene (Snugs) Pahk, Daniel (Dinko) Kim, Zenia An, Liz Chung, Michelle Lee, and our leader, Pastor Jin Chong. We met every Sunday for one hour to learn about the Tohono O�odham people (Native American tribe), practice singing hymns, work on a skit, and share our personal testimonies with each other. The training was not intense or burdensome at all as our main ministry was going to focus on working with the elderly at a senior center.
Our trip went from July 9-15, exactly one week long. We stayed in Sells, Arizona which is one hour away from Tucson and 30 miles/minutes (?) away from the border of Mexico. Sells is a very rural area in the middle of a desert. Imagine one highway, occasional houses, lots of dirt, plenty of garbage, and a whole lot of cacti. With just a population of a little over 2000, rarely will you see any people outside because it is so hot. Every day that we were there, the heat was over 100 degrees and went as high as 113 degrees. Thank goodness that air conditioning was available 24 hours a day.
We stayed at a Pentecostal church called Papago Assembly of God. Along with our team, there was a group from Memphis, Tennessee and a compilation of three churches on the Phoenix team. The Memphis and Phoenix teams mainly consisted of youth group students, so our team had the oldest members. Coincidentally, one of the Phoenix churches included my old youth group leader, John O, which was a pleasant surprise. We also had Lisa from Pennsylvania and Karen from New York. Besides these two white ladies, everyone else was Korean. With a little over 30 people, it was really interesting working with Christians from other parts of the country and encouraging seeing God work even in non-Presbyterian churches. All three teams got along very well right away.
Just to give a little background-Native Americans have a history of drug abuse, poverty, oppression, and dysfunctional families. The people we were working with were no different. Often times, I heard tragic stories of alcoholism, abandoned children, and family members dying at an early age. Many called themselves Catholic and lived lives of no hope. Despite this negative background, I was surprised to meet many kind and friendly Tohono O�odham people throughout my experience. I learned that everyone speaks English, and most of the adults know their native language as well. As I mentioned earlier, our main ministry was focused on working with the elderly.
We went to this one senior center almost everyday and each of us committed to one or two seniors that we could get to know on a personal level. I committed to an 84-year-old man named Sam. Sam is on a wheelchair, has a weak memory, and suffers from bad hearing. He has three daughters, several grandchildren, and even some great grandchildren. He was very laid back and kind and never got upset like some of the others. He always seemed to be in a good mood, so getting to know him was really easy for me. There was an incident where he could not remember who I was after the first couple of days. But towards the end, he was able to remember my name and realize that I was the one who had been visiting him for the past week. This meant a lot to me because he even had trouble remembering his own daughters� names. I had to use this opportunity to be a direct witness to him! On the last day of our visit, I gave him a Bible and shared the Gospel with him by sharing some passages from Romans and 1 Peter. He told me that he was going to get some reading glasses so that he could start reading the Bible. I really do hope that God will make that seed grow.
When we were not at the senior center, we were back at the church either picking up trash along the highway or helping out with VBS. Trash pick-up was a pretty difficult task. Along with the dry, summer heat of the desert, there were also plenty of dangerous cacti to keep you company. Picking up beer bottles underneath spiky plants and reaching for plastic bags caught in thorns caused me a few, good screams. At one point after being poked in the fingers for the n-th time, I recalled the experience of Jesus� crown of thorns and how the soldiers beat him on the head with a staff �again and again.� I think the crazier fact is that Christ was silent during his persecution. This thought brought some perspective into my experience with trash pick-up (and serving in general) as I compared my agonizing screams with Christ�s humble silence.
But during this time, I was really encouraged by those around me as I did not hear a single complaint about the trash or the heat. In fact, a whacko named Snugs was even singing hymns as he was picking up the most trash out of all of us. What a guy. Although I could not figure out why we were even out there most of the time, I heard that two people actually stopped to give their thanks, and even the sanitation people told us that they could see a difference. I never would have guessed. In summary, I have three main points that the Lord taught me in Arizona:
1. Different people have different gifts. (1 Corinthians 12:4-6-�4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.�). I saw God using different types of people for various purposes. For example, VBS was a big ministry that I was rarely a part of. Even with the VBS we have every summer at church, I refuse to participate because I just do not have the heart or ability to work with younger children. I cannot stand those songs and dance moves and forced smiles (well, they�re forced for me). But when I saw some of the people from the other teams playing with the kids and getting all into the body worship, I realized that God has gifted the Church with different abilities for the sake of specific ministries. Another example is when I heard about how Pastor Jin was able to share the Gospel and give a Bible to a closed-off man named Wallace. I was originally going to commit to working with Wallace but felt discouraged after sensing his anti-Christian attitude/behavior. Pastor Jin was perfect for Wallace and God knew it all along. So crazy.
2. Actions speak louder than words. (James 2:17-18-�17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.�). We all know that actions are more meaningful than words alone. Snugs was a great example of this throughout the trip. That fool was ALWAYS serving through kitchen duty, picking up trash, playing with kids, etc. In the end, one of the Tohono O�odham people even gave him a very valuable gift because Snugs� heart and hard work were evident. Never did I hear a complaint or see a frown on that guy�s face (I really gotta stop praising him). I was also encouraged to see Pastor Jin actually living what he preaches every Sunday. There is nothing more real than to hear a man�s words being practiced before your very eyes. I have grown a deeper respect for the pastor I used to be discouraged by.
3. There is no excuse for not evangelizing! (Acts 4:18-20-� 18Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. 20For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."). I thought about how many of us were so passionate to serve and evangelize during that one week in Sells. I thought about �mission highs� and being so committed to effective witnessing to the Native Americans. Then I thought some more and realized that we were only a couple of hundred miles away from home. We were not even in a foreign country! We did not have to learn a new language or experience an entirely different culture. We were practically still at home! So what�s going on here? What�s with all of the �missions-minded� attitudes?
In my support letter, I mentioned �using every opportunity to evangelize and be a servant of the Gospel in the area.� This, my friends, ought to be our attitude everywhere we go. If anything, we are ALWAYS on a �missions trip� because we are ALWAYS being a witness whether we like it or not. You are being either a good witness or a bad witness, but you are nonetheless a witness of Christ to those around you. Friends, we should always be open to evangelizing for there is no excuse. In fact, we can be the most effective right here in our very own cities because we do not have any language or cultural barriers. That is one difference I noticed between Paraguay and Arizona. You can develop much more meaningful relationships and be more effective right here in your own country (SO JOIN ARTESIA OUTREACH!).
In closing, I remember on one of the trash pick-up days, I was working with a guy named Min. He had moved to Phoenix from Korea just a year ago, and he was expressing how much he disliked Arizona. He complained of the heat, terrible food, and lack of activities in the area. Basically, he did not like the desert because it just straight up sucked. I could not disagree with the guy. I thought about the undesirable conditions and how even animals know better than to live in a place like Arizona. Then I realized that the desert is kind of like an unregenerated heart. We all once had hearts that were infinitely worse than deserts before God. Who would want to dwell or even change our desert-like hearts? Thanks be to God for His sacrificial love so that our hearts could also become a place that bears fruit. All the more reason for us to go out and plant seeds in other desert-like hearts. Join me on this mission!
Thought of the Day: D-DAY.
Song of the Day: Kevin Max-Existence
