Loving the one

So sorry for not writing for a few weeks, it has been BUSY but EXCITING time at Ray of Hope's crisis pregnancy centre!  

When I came to ROH in July we did not have any pregnant moms with us.  Then one mom moved in and a few weeks afterwards two other moms moved in as well.  So I have been spending most of my time as one of the live-in staff members for these three pregnant moms.  This involves staying with them 24 hours/day, planning and cooking meals with them, cleaning, taking them shopping, and organizing games and activities for them during the day.  At first I didn't think this would be difficult for me but then I realized all of my limitations with the language and the culture.  Although I'm trying to learn Mandarin, I can't speak much right now and the moms don't speak any English.  And though I love cooking and baking, I realized that the Taiwanese don't have much appetite for western food and I don't know much about Taiwanese cooking.  Plus, there is the added difficulty of reaching out to these moms and gaining their trust since many of them have experienced much hurt and brokenness in their lives.  The first mom was quiet, closed-off, and disinterested with everything that I tried.  So for the first several days I was both discouraged and frustrated because there was so much I wanted to say and do, and yet couldn't! 

When we are weak, God is strong.  So I turned to God and asked Him for help.  He told me to stop trying in my own efforts and just to trust Him and lean on Him and He would give me the wisdom that I needed.  It's so awesome because when we ask God for help, He's always so faithful to help us!  

Afterwards, I started being able to communicate with the moms a little bit more each day using Google Translate on my cell phone (Thank you Jesus for Google Translate - it is a lifesaver!).  God started giving me different ideas for meals and for activities to do with the first mom.  He showed me how to teach her, how to build her up and encourage her, but also how to confront  and correct her in a loving way when necessary.  I shared my testimony of why I chose to become a Christian and how Jesus redeemed me from my broken past.  We started reading the Bible together and discussing how God is a loving father and not an angry God.  Even though she didn't seem super interested at the time, I chose to believe that I was making a difference in her life.  Last week, as time drew near to her delivery date, she was so uncomfortable and wanted to have her baby sooner than later and so she half-jokingly asked me to pray for her.  So I did.  I didn't think much about it until our staff took her to the hospital for her regular check-up.  After the doctor told her that it was now time to deliver her baby she asked our staff if she could talk to me on the phone.  When she called, I could hear the voice of a scared little girl on the other end as she burst into tears and started sobbing.  In my broken Chinese, all I could tell her is not to be afraid, that she is not alone, that God is with her, that Jesus loves her, that I love her and that it's going to be okay.  In her time of need, she stepped out in faith and asked me to pray for her.   As I prayed the Holy Spirit ministered to her and calmed her soul.  In a just a short moment she overcame her fear and ceased crying.  When I hung up the phone, I realized that God had been working in her heart this whole time and was showing her just how real He is.  Wow.  That same night the staff reported back that she was so strong and courageous throughout her entire delivery and now she is the proud mama of a healthy, cute, little baby boy!  Another wonderful thing is that one of the other moms, who has become her good friend, also gave birth to her baby boy on the same day.   So these two moms have been able to share this experience and spend their recovery time together.  God is so good!

Your life and everywhere you go is ministry.  It's not constrained to having a huge gathering or a successful program, it's about touching the life of every person and meeting them where they are at.  I'm humbled daily at how God goes above and beyond to show His love to just one person.  And He asks us to do the same.  Perhaps that one person is someone in our family like our father, mother, brother, sister, son, or daughter.  Perhaps that one person is a friend, a classmate or a coworker.  Or perhaps that one person is a perfect stranger whom you've never met before.  

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 
Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.