Thankfulness

This post is from Yuemin:

Because Thanksgiving is coming up this Thursday, I would like to say thank you to those of people and events.

I would like to thank you for IFI organization. I came to Christ in January 2013 through attending IFI in Cincinnati. Thanks to Julie Rhine’s huge assist for my spiritual growth. I found out about the IFI internship program in Columbus, applied and was accepted.  Thanks to Estera for her thorough planning for ISEED program, which is intensive discipleship program. her devotion to the program make it more structured and meaningful.

I would like to thanks Linworth Baptist Church. I started attending Linworth in August, and getting more involved in the local church ministry. I thank God for this opportunity to develop both my professional and spiritual growth. With this gift, I work as a financial intern at IFI and also involved as an ISEED trainee.I am also thankful that Linworth has chosen to sponsor me for this program through a gift from one of their members, Russ Paine, who is now with the Lord.

I want to thank Gene & Phyllis Greene for their hospitality in allowing me to become a part of their family and treat me as one of their children. Besides my parents, nobody treat me that well.

Without those helps, the dream of being a qualified accountant and doing ministry among Chinese students will delay and being flawed. Your generosity also encourage me, if I would be financially affluent in the future, I would also support him or her for pursuing him or her dream and their spiritually growth. 

Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving

“Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can declare all His praise?” Psalm 106:1-2

Since it is thanksgiving week, I thought I would share with you one or two things I am thankful for. I am most thankful, that my Creator loved me enough to send His Son, Jesus Christ, so that I might have life, and have it abundantly. I find hope and joy in God’s promises. The LORD has led me through so many ups and down, valleys and mountains from a very young age. Oftentimes, I wondered why God had allowed certain painful memories in my life but now as I look back, I truly believe that it was for a great purpose. Now I’ve come to realize that my hardest times have absolutely lead to the greatest moments of my life thus far. Hence, I am very thankful that God never sends any of us into a situation alone but rather he sends his grace along and he knows we can endure. It has been incredible experiencing God’s power in my life as well as the lives of my loved ones. Without God, I would have given up on life long time ago (haha). But through his son Jesus Christ, my strength and courage have been renewed over the past few years.

            As any international student would tell you, my first year here in the US was quite a YEAR! It was challenging in numerous ways to the point where I felt like I wanted to hop onto the next plane to and go back Rwanda. But God being God, he stepped in and saw me through what I call a “roller coaster ride”. I cannot thank the Lord enough for the many ways he has blessed me throughout the past five years.  He helped me overcome low self-esteem, shyness, feeling inadequate and many cultural challenges.  I am grateful for Wofford College and its international students’ office for the love and care they showered me with during the course of my college education.  Wofford College has been a great support system to me since day 1! They connected me with an international student ministry in Spartanburg, SC through which I have grown both spiritually and emotionally. I am very thankful for everyone who is involved in any kind of international students’ ministry (IFI and many other organizations). Words can never be enough to express how grateful I am for people who have a heart to tirelessly serve international students. You all are investing into eternity. Thank you so much for taking care of us and providing a home away from home to many internationals in this country.  May you all be richly be blessed for all you do. Thanks for investing your time, resources, energy and everything in order to reach out to as many internationals as possible. Last but not least, thank you  Estera Pirosca for all you do for the ISEED program. 

Personal spiritual retreat

After struggling about whether to go for a retreat I scheduled one month ago, I decided to drag my tired body to drive for 2 hours to Cincinnati.

So here I am: surrounded by woods!

Here I was able to have a prayer walk, enjoy the nature and praise God.

I am planning to go back to China and I believer the Lord called me to do so.

Occasionally I would be anxious about what will happen when I go back. What if my dad push me to get married? What if my dad is preparing for the documents for me to immigrate? What if I can't find the fellowship similar to the one I enjoy here? What if I am asked to do some unethical things at work?

Oh Lord! Please help me! Apart from you I can truly do nothing. Even thinking about the future can create headache...

The Lord commands, "Amity, be still and know that I am God."

Here I am, not yet home, but is weary already. When can I learn to be still? When can I go rest in Him? When can I stop being obsessed with doing something? When can I say no to "self-sufficiency?

"In quietness and confidence would be your strength....."

Thankfully this prayer retreat helped me shift the focus back to God and ask for His wisdom.
Here I learned to slow down and hear what God has to say. I trust that within God's moral will, I can make the decision boldly sometimes knowing that He will bless me and the decision.

On the way back to Columbus, a thought came to my mind. It is fun to have an adventure with God the Father! Unknowns can be exciting! Hey...and we already know who will win!

Now, when I reflected on my faith journey after the retreat, I can see the seed of peace and patience has grown up a little bit more. Only He can do it!