Next step of faith

Christians often talk about the importance of spending time both with believers for fellowship and non-believers for outreach. Currently I spend lots of time with both believers and non-believers, but I have started to realize that my time with non-believers did not so much serve the purpose of outreach as simply having a good time together. I say so because in the past a few months, I have become good friends with two students, whom I often comfortably work out and eat with under the façade of outreach, without actually doing anything that challenges me and them. Although I do include a good amount of my Christian beliefs in our conversations, I have not challenged them enough to take the next step of faith.  Just when I came to understand my lack of initiation and students’ stagnant growth of faith, I also came across a prayer quote, saying “Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.” This quote immediately reminded me of Jesus saying “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother…” In Basic Christianity, we read about Jesus’s absolute self-centeredness of his teaching and Jesus’s absolute unself-centeredness of his behavior. As someone who believes that we should try to do what Jesus did, I am better at serving others than confronting them with the “dangerous” message from Jesus. Of course, we don’t want to challenge people beyond what their faith can take, or more than what they are willing to sacrifice for our relationship with them, but in my case, I should have long ago made my step of faith to encourage other to make their step of faith. I have been fearful, but God gives me courage and strength. 

The multiplication of dumplings and tea eggs

The multiplication of dumplings and tea eggs

Has it ever happened to you to pray with all your strength for something and remain amazed when you receive what you have asked for? That’s exactly what happened to me last week during the Lunar New Year organized by IFI. As the Event Coordinator, I had the blessing to coordinate several areas and to work with great volunteers who took charge to lead various tasks. I started reviewing last year notes and prepare for this event almost three months ago. I really wanted it to be a success and put all my efforts to manage every detail. In this way, things were ready to go one week before the party and only small things needed to be done in the last day. But (there is always a but!) contingencies are always behind your door! So, on Friday, the number of students registered increased more and more and the quantity of food available remained almost the same. “What will I do?” I asked my husband that morning “I have already done everything possible”. “Then we will trust God to do the impossible” he said. Whit that promise in my heart, I went to the office confident that the party was in God's hands, that the reason behind it was to give Him glory and to make Him know among the Nations.

Then, a text arrived: "I won't be able to join the Lunar New Year tonight. My brother is in the ER and I need to run to him". The key volunteer in charge of food couldn't make it for very serious personal reasons. 

So many bed and unpredictable things were happening and there I realized that God had something great in store for us that night but that the Devil wanted to mess things up and take away my joy with stress. I immediately stopped and prayed with Heran, another ISEEDer, and we asked God to take full control of our emotions and show us miracles. We prayed again at the Agriculture Building, with the kitchen team. The food was not enough, so we asked for the Lord to multiply the food and to bring those who were sincerelly searching for Him.

At the beginning of the event I asked the servers to serve small portions, in order to give some food to everyone. Then, after everyone was served, there was still food, so we called for the tables again, and again a third time! At the end, not only everybody was full, but there was plenty to take home!! We filled more than 20 ziplock bags with dumplings, tea eggs, and noodles!

Does it remind you of any story?? The same power that multiplied five loaves of bread and two fish is effective today! God is still Jehovah Jared, the God who provides, and not only He provides but He does it in a very abundant way!

A volunteer serving at the IFI Lunar New Year

To 2017: more of You and less of me

King of the World - Natalie Grant

I wish 2016 could've had an easier ending.

It didn't.

Instead, so much has happened in the last month that I've struggled to put everything into words. How could I accurately describe it to you, except that it was a pretty wild ride?
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As I'm half way done with unpacking in my new apartment, for the first time in over a month, I feel settled and at ease.

There were actually a lot of good things that happened, like the students I got to engage with, the new connections that were made, and the relationships that got deeper. They are worth so much praise!

But somehow, the challenges that were thrown in my way seem to be a lot bigger and overshadowed the joy from seeing fruits in ministry that I've been hoping for a long time.

So much of my own strength has gone into troubleshooting that when the ministry opportunities finally came, I found little left in me to rely on.

I was confused.

Isn't it what you have called me here to do, God? If so, then why has it been so unnecessarily hard?
I remember myself thinking,

How did I get to where I am?
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One of my biggest fear as a Christian is that faith alone couldn't sustain me.

Surely I need Christ and His salvation.

But on this side of heaven, I also need a roof over my head, a job that provides financial stability, fulfilling relationships with people that matter in my life - and so much more! These are just basic human needs to survive, right?

Every time when something I put my identity on fails, I would find myself returning to Him, disappointed and questioning His goodness.

If He is ultimately good, then why bad things happen in this world?
Have you asked this question before?
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It wasn't the blocks of stone on my path that overwhelmed me, it was the doubt that entered into my heart. How little faith I have!

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But I forgot that it was the world that was broken, and it was me that was the sinner.

After being a Christian for a few years, I think I'm finally having a grasp on the concept of sin and brokenness, something I've always rejected deep in my heart. I find the disconnection grows stronger and stronger especially after I start to share the gospel more and more with non-believers.

After all, how do I tell people, that behind all the beautiful decorations and smiling faces, Christianity is not for perfect rule-keepers and "nice people," - it was the brokenness and His redemption that united all of us?

Didn't the hopeless idealist in me for a moment believe that humans can achieve love and peace in the world with our own strength alone?
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In the midst of confusions, a friend shared this passage with me. It was 2 Corinthians 11: 16-33, where Paul boasted about his sufferings.

As I read through the scripture, I'm deeply touched and encouraged by his confidence in Christ in the midst of all the troubles that makes mine look small.

As put in his own words,

"Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The Lord and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I'm not lying."
2 Corinthians 11:29-31

Would I be able to boast about my weakness, like Paul?

When everything else falls, would I be able to hold onto His truth, and declaring Christ alone is enough for me? Can I say He is the ultimate source of my joy and peace?

When I pass through the deepest of waters, can I trust that He is with me?

I was left with all these questions.
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January 1st doesn't have magic itself. Struggles won't just go away. Relationships still take time to build. Resolutions need determination to carry on.

I know that I will face just as much highs and lows 2017, if not more, comparing with 2016.

Maybe this time, I can do better, with more of Christ and less of me. Let my faith be independent from my circumstances - that's my prayer for new year.

:)

77 times

One day in November, my host housemate Bruce and I went to throw away a used toilet into a neighborhood dumpster. The toilet was so heavy that we did not have a firm grip of it after we lifted it up above the edge of the dumpster. As the toilet tilted, rain water that had accumulated in it from previous days poured out onto Bruce. Having had his left sleeve drenched, Bruce joked, “How many times can I forgive you?” Without a thought, I said 77 times. Since I was confident that Bruce was well aware of Jesus’s saying of forgive others for 77 times, I did not explain my answer. And we both laughed.   

            This incident would not have been noteworthy, if it had not sparked a clear thought inside me

-I felt as if Jesus was telling me to forgive a specific person called Shaogui. My relationship with 

Shaogui was having problem at that time. He had been contacting me with phone calls and text 

messages, but I chose to neither pick up his phone calls nor reply to his messages. In almost 2 

months, he sent me about 30 text messages, but I did not say a single thing back to him. Certainly I 

knew not replying to him was not right, but I simply did not want to deal with him anymore.  In the 

past 2 years, he had put my patience to the ultimate test, often calling me more than 10 times a day, 

complaining to me about his life from bad dining hall food to unfair professors, waking me up at 3 

AM to tell me that he couldn’t fall asleep, asking me to escort him to McDonald’s late at night 

because the streets were dangerous, and saying he wanted to burn the name-inscribed Bible I gifted 

him because the Bible brought bad luck…As life moves on, old troubles are replaced by new ones, 

but his state of being in trouble never changes, neither does his desperate need to talk to me. The last 

time we talked, I left my church congregational teaching to pick up his phone call, and yet he 

scolded me for not having good phone signal. My life is not without troubles, and this time around, 

when his insatiable needs for consolation-with no signs of any improvement over the years- came on 

top of my own troubles, I decided to ignore him.

Shaogui is an important person in my spiritual journey. I met him at my first university class. In my freshman year, I gave him some advice, of which all fell into deaf ears. However, after I stopped bothering to talk to him, my ex-roommate, who played a significant part leading me to Christ, befriended him and cared for him. After my ex-roommate graduated, I felt responsible for keeping the heritage of love and for caring for Shaogui. This is how my story with Shaogui described in the past paragraph started. Through his barrage of complaints and needs, God has been teaching me patience, meekness, and love. Who would have thought that one week after having said he wanted to burn his Bible, Shaogui called me again, saying he now put the Bible next to his pillow as an amulet of luck? Who would have thought that one time after I prayed for him and asked him to pray, he started his prayer saying Jesus my Lord and Savior? Who would have thought that when he, with no bitterness, but a plain sense of loss, told me that he did not have a single photo of his college days, I cried profusely in compassion and in thanksgiving of God giving us this friendship?

The Bible tells us that “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.” But back in October and November, when I gave up talking to Shaogui, I was led not by the Spirit, but lies of hopelessness and an unending trial in which God put me to walk by myself. With my mind focused on current troubles, I failed to remember how God held my hand and walked me through the trials in the past.

Ever since I stopped talking to Shaogui, I felt my conscience constantly being stirred up, guilty and anxious. It was not until I said 77 times to my housemate that I felt clear instruction from the Spirit to confront and forgive Shaogui, although I needed him to forgive my deliberate denials just as much as I needed to forgive him. Not long after that day, I once again opened up my text message correspondence with Shaogui…

On New Year’s Day, I received a message from Shaogui. He wished me Happy New Year, and that God keep our friendship and quoted the folk song Old Lang Syne. Interestingly, Old Lang Syne was my high school dormitory alarm clock ringtone, but it never spoke to my heart like this time: “Is thy sweet Heart now grown so cold, that loving Breast of thine; That thou canst never once reflect On old long syne." How will my love for God change in the years to come? I pray God keep my heart ablaze for Him, in the pinnacle of success, in the depth of trial, and in the vast majority of seemingly mundane daily life.

God controls

I was really stressed out recently since I have been studying very hard on my English tests, thus I was not very willing when I was challenged to follow up several wives and meet them in person who went to the hocking hills trip. 

It is so challenging to me to meet them directly in person so that I decided to compromise and email them first. And fortunately after two days, one of the three wives replied. She is the one that I met when I was helping check students in. Her name is Cici and we had good conversations through email. Then I prayed again for the other two wives to reply or that I can find ways to reach them. On the second day I met the Cici in the community center and got to know that she is doing her GMAT test and she told me she will join the wives group after the test. And she indeed joined the wives' group last week and said that she id interested in coming again. In the next week after I met Cici, I met an Iranian when I was doing exercise in the gym. Through conversation I found that she knows the other Iranian lady that I was trying to reach. Moreover, she told me that she is doing her TOEFL test, and we found a time to meet again since she wants me to share some experience about how to prepare for the test. 

I feel that God is so willing to help me when I was even only showing a tiny amount of initiation. This also encourages me to be more initiative in the future. 

The meaning of Christmas

In Italy, the Country I am from, when someone mentions Christmas the first image that comes to mind is a little baby in a manger, surrounded by Mary, Joseph, an ox, and a donkey. Then, you will start thinking of a man dressed in red with a white beard and you will immediately freak out because the list of presents you were supposed to buy is getting longer and longer and you haven’t started shopping!

But what is really Christmas all about?
Last week IFI partnered with Grace Polaris Church in order to promote “The Living Christmas Trees”. I have been there for three years in a row, and I think calling it just a Christmas play is reductive! The great presentation, the presence of live animals during the play, the high artistic level of the cast members made it the best evangelistic show I have ever seen.
The story develops in two parallel parts. The first tells the story of the crew members of a cruse sheep, while the second deals with the story of Jesus.

During the trip, they have to face a strong storm, which makes them wonder about the choices they have made, their priorities and the realization that life is like a ship: you can live on it, party and enjoy, but you are not really in total control of it, as you are not the one holding the rudder. But what should you do in the midst of a storm? How do you find directions? As well as when we drive and we get lost, even in our daily life we need a compass. That is why the protagonists start reading the Bible, that contains the information necessary to know who you are, where you are going and how to make sure your existence in the right hands.

In this way the characters begin reading the story of the first Christmas, the birth of the Messiah, his ministry and miracles. But it didn’t end here. Because the reason Jesus was born, the point of celebrating Christmas is that he was not only a lovely child, a great prophet, but he came to die, to pay the price for our sins, to make a way of reconciliation between us and God.
We had fallen short and walked away from God, there was nothing we could do to repair this damage. But Jesus took the initiative and came to Earth and he, the perfect Lamb, sacrificed himself, washing away our sins.

The Bible tells us that “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) and that “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). But there is even more! In fact, three days after his death, Jesus rose from the death: “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1Cor. 15:20, 22).

Now you see why I love this play? It wisely connects the dots! It does not focus on one part or the other, but tells you the complete meaning of Christmas! Make sure you see it this year, or write to me if you have questions!

Merry Christmas everyone!

What is your world view?

What is your world view?

During the month on November we had the privilege to have a special teacher in our Iseeders course, Ellen Foell , who taught us one of the best classes I have attended so far. The topic was “World view”. “What is a world view?” you may ask. It is the filter throughout we look at the world around us, the sum of our values and beliefs. A world view cannot be kept, as it impacts the way we respond to the events, people and situations in our life.

When I accepted God in my life and decided to follow Him, I choose to put on a new pair of glasses, in order to see things through a new prospective. I accepted the fact that we live in a fallen world. The reason why you want to turn off the tv every time it’s on, is because people decided to turn their back to God. But together with the awareness of sin I also embraced a filter of grace and love:
“ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).
So, I started thinking about my world view and questioning if when people look at me they could see what I believe. Is my faith in Jesus clear in my actions? Are my words filled with compassion and truth? How do I react when people go too slowly when I am in a hurry or cut my road on the highway?

The Bible gives us the example of four men who kept faith to their world views and honored God even when the situation was hard and their own existence was threatened. They are Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Their world view was based on the Law of Moses, which prescribed to eat only certain foods and to worship only Jehovah. This led them to say no to the culinary delicacies of the court of Nebuchadnezzar and not to fall down and worship the statue of the king. They were ready to make sacrifices in order to defend what they believed in, despite the circumstances.

Are my choices showing who I believe in? What am I watching, saying, thinking? Am I ready to give up things that are not healthy in my life?

As the Apostol Paul says “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ” (Phil. 3:7,8).