Spurred on to Love Others
posted by Navigators on July 2nd, 2019 in Evangelism | Gospel
By Daryl Goh, International Student Ministry, first published in Compass, Winter 2019.
I’ve been a part of the Navigators International Student Ministry (ISM) with “Aunty” Sharon and “Uncle” Andrew for the past year, along with other first-year international medical students at Monash University. In this time, I have been able to see God’s provision in many ways.
I was thankful to have found a place where I could continue to study and hear God’s Word.
Being a new international student, I was thankful to have found a place where I could continue to study and hear God’s Word. Our weekly dinner and Bible study sessions gave me many new insights into passages I’d read dozens of times and, more importantly, taught me how to listen when God was speaking. (The food was amazing, too. Thanks Aunty!)
But beyond the routine, Aunty Sharon and Uncle Andrew always reminded us of our call to reach out to others. In our situation in life, it’s easy to be tempted to leave fulfilling the Great Commission to others. But they were anxious to equip us to reach out where God had placed us, and to spur us to find opportunities to be witnesses.
I learned a lot about reaching out from them – about why we do it, how we do it, how God acts in it and what we experience when we do it, how to pray, and the multitude of ways God uses people to bring the gospel to the lost. But I’ll admit I was quite doubtful when they suggested we plan an outreach to our schoolmates.
… I was doubtful when they suggested we plan an outreach to our schoolmates.
We didn’t aim to do much. We blessed our course-mates with dinner to mark the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, played some trivia, and left out conversation starters to get people talking – some more casual, some about deeper topics. But in our obvious weakness, we were able to see God acting. There was somehow enough food to feed everyone. People actually used the conversation starters and enjoyed talking about things they didn’t often get to discuss. Some were curious to know more about who we were and what we did.
And all in all, we saw God’s hand in how this came together even when all of us felt somewhat under-prepared and ill-equipped.
I think God put us in a rare position – to be part of this ministry together as course-mates and to have a group of international course-mates we had ready access to. And the fact that we did this together meant we could share our own perspectives and edify each other with our own testimonies.
I’m grateful to God and to Aunty Sharon and Uncle Andrew for the past year. As we move into the coming year, I’m excited to see what and who God will put in our paths – things to learn, people to walk with, and chances to grow closer to Him.
… the fact that we did this together meant we could … edify each other with our own testimonies.