Reading the Bible - A Dangerous Thing

'J', ASM 2008-09. Posted on 8 June 2009.

Reading the Bible can be a dangerous thing! It can change your life, especially when you believe, like I do, that it is God's own words to us as His children. The more I read and ponder God's commands to us, the more I see that He does not want us to keep the good news of the Gospel to ourselves. It is meant to be contagious, to spread from person to person. We are all called to participate in missions. This is not just something for extraordinary "super-Christians." We are all called to participate, some to send and some to go. I pray that you will each earnestly seek for what God has called you to do and where. That is what I have done and continue to do. It's a real adventure!

I have felt a real call to love Chinese people, especially children. At first the call was to Chinese people in my own country, but later I felt called to serve in China, where I am now. It is scary to think about moving from your comfortable home into the unknown, but to me it is even scarier to disobey God. I did some research and found Antioch Missions - Chinese Church Support Ministries to be an organization truly serving the Chinese Church in China. They have enabled me to find out how God wants me to serve in China and how to start doing it together with others.

Right now I am a student in AM-CCSM's Antioch School of Missions. This is a year-long program conducted in China. Its aim is to help people define their call, and to train dedicated Christians to serve Chinese people and to reach them with the Gospel. It is a wonderful program! The teachers are dedicated and well prepared. They have a lot of field experience, so they give practical help and pray with you. The whole course is designed to give needed knowledge and skills to help you succeed in fulfilling your call. Through it you will also be challenged to work out with God where you are with Him and His call to mission.

When I first started ASM, I was immediately struck by the loving, supportive atmosphere. I was accepted for who I was, and felt free to ask others for help, just as I would ask family members back home. I was encouraged to ask others to pray for my needs, and to also pray for others in the group. No one expected me to be a perfect Christian, but to be an ordinary Christian who loves our Lord and is willing to grow. I have been growing stronger through sharing my weaknesses and trusting God to transform me. We start our day with personal quiet time; then after breakfast have group worship and praise time. Having worship every day helps refresh us, renew us and reconnect us to God and His purposes. It also draws us together as a team. Because we are a diverse team of different ages and from many different countries and church backgrounds, our worship styles are all different and our perspectives on issues are also different, enabling us to learn from each other.

Besides the coursework on culture and missions, we also enrolled at a local university to study the Chinese language. I am greatly encouraged that now I am much more able to communicate with ordinary Chinese people around me. There is still more that I want to say to them, so I am spurred on to study even harder and to keep practicing my language skills. My Chinese teacher is not a Christian, and she has been intensely curious about why I would leave my comfortable life-style to come and be a student in China. I have told her that I really care about Chinese people and that I am a Christian. Even learning to speak the language and learning the culture helps our witness, as it shows that we identify with the people. The more I learn, the more I want to learn in order to be able to share the Gospel more fully.

ASM has really impacted my life. I feel like I have given up some material things that have hindered me from serving God more fully, but I have also gained a lot. I have a more global perspective now. I see my call much more clearly, and I also see how my call is linked to everyone else's call. I am not carrying the burden of reaching souls all by myself, but am part of a team, a family who are doing it together. Their success is also my success. We are each doing our small part, and encouraging others in their parts. I have also learned a lot about mission strategy, and about prayer. I have always prayed, but now understand even more how vital prayer is to accomplishing God's purposes here through us. I have learned that prayer needs to undergird everything I do, and that I need to take time to really listen to God's voice.

Different people have found different parts of ASM to be challenging. Learning to live in community with others in a totally different culture is difficult. I have found learning the language to be really challenging for me. There are also many things I want to learn but only so much time, so time management is another challenge. In all of this, God has been with me, helping me through these challenges. My assumptions about the right way to worship and to serve God have been challenged, which sends me back to Scripture to see what God really does say.

So who should come to ASM? Anyone who has a heart for China who wants to explore how God is calling them. It is for those who really love the Lord and are willing to obey Him. Don't say "no" because it sounds too hard. It is very challenging, but people will be there for you, helping with so many of those things that might seem impossible for you to manage yourself - school enrolment, housing, visa, finding Christian fellowship and ways to serve. In addition to those practical helps, ASM really helps you over personal and spiritual hurdles and teaches you how to draw on God's strength. God is calling, but He won't force you. I challenge you to really pray about how God wants you to fulfil His command to "go and make disciples of all nations."

The next Antioch School of Missions course will start in August 2010. Contact your local AM-CCSM base to find out more.