Have you counted your blessings?
Oct 12, 11
David Chia on his recent Couriers trip (15-21 Sep) to Sri Lanka, Colombo, for a great ‘Harvest event’
This trip to Sri-Lanka has come nothing short of a great eye-opener for me, especially to the living conditions and state of well-being of the Sri Lankans. Living in a comfortable and rich environment like in Singapore, the phrase “Count your blessings” takes on a deeper meaning than before. Having said, what truly appalled me wasn’t so much of the contrast in affleunce or comfort level between both countries. Instead, it was the contrast of the manifestion of God’s grace, faith and mercy through the simplicity of life of the church and people in Sri Lanka that greatly impacted me. Indeed in Singapore, we are considered to have much in every natural or material aspect of life. However, in terms of Kingdom aspects, do we really have more?
Toiling with the youth leaders from AMPLIFIED (a youth ministry by Brookside Church) to reach out to the young pre-believers of Sri Lanka was a humbling experience. Seeing them participate in simple games and winning simple prizes made me realized that we, as city dwellers, need to learn how to approach God in the simplest and purest way. And it’s in this experience that I felt God was drawing me closer to Him by saying, “Put off all your busy schedules and come closer to Me. Come to Me with your purest heart and approach me with your most innocent child-like faith.” Through the harvest event, there were 2 salvations and I thank God for that. I believe that we have planted a good seed and we pray for God’s increase for AMPLIFIED! (I Cor. 3:5-9)
Harvest Event - Ready to respond to what God's gonna do
Sharing a heart-felt message to the youths
Praying for the emerging generation
Another experience that firmly etched in my memory was our visit to Rainbow Orphanage. I remembered the day when we were supposed to visit the orphange, we were late due to some bad traffic conditions. Some of us felt apologetic even as we were on our way to the orphanage as we thought our hosts might be upset with us. However, what surprised us was that upon our arrival, we were greeted with the most heartwarming little faces that beamed with excitement and expectancy!
"We are strong and mighty in God."
We played games, sang, ministered, laid hands and prayed for every single child. It was an awesome time where Father God was filling up what was missing in the hearts of many of these little ones, whose parents either passed away or have been abandoned by them.The presence of the Lord was so evident and I knew at the instance when we prayed, God had so touched and embraced them. My eyes became wet and I just praised and thanked Father God for the wonderful work! As we thought about what had been done by the Lord after we left, the whole team agreed that the 1+hr traveling time was definitely more than worthwhile!
Amazing artwork!
Desiring "Papa's" touch
All in all, this trip reminded me of God’s unfailing promises , faithfulness and goodness. He reminded me to count my blessings daily and thank Him for His mercies which are new every morning. I yearn to be a better father to my children; that I would be more involved in their lives than before. More importantly, I want to be a better son to my Heavenly Father.
May God continue to bless the people of Sri Lanka, and all praise and glory belong to our Lord Jesus Christ!
