STSM HIGHLIGHTS (PART 5 of 7)
This is part five of our new seven-part series: “STSM Highlights”. We’ll be sharing the testimonies of every mission trainee sent out by KCM last year through our STSM program. Stay tuned as we post one country per week!
Featured below are the testimonies of two students from the Nicaragua team: Sarah Chang and Charles Yoo. For the full collection of Nicaragua testimonies, click here. (To quickly search for a specific student on the Google Doc, click View > Show Document Outline)
SARAH CHANG // UCR // SOPHOMORE
Initially, I never had any strong desire to go to Nicaragua, or any speck of interest at all. Rather, I was strongly opposed to the idea of it. I thought that my high maintenance personality was not cut out for a place as physically enduring as Nicaragua, and my selfish inclinations were always telling me that this country wasn’t fit for me.
In my freshman year of college, KCM held an all campus event called Mission Rally Night, and while I didn’t have any conviction to go on STSM that year, the idea of missions interested me. While going over the different countries, God vividly placed the country of Nicaragua in my head. Selfishly, I kept pushing this idea out that God so blatantly placed in my heart.
A few minutes later, one of my close friends who also attended the event, texted me saying that God told her that I should go to Nicaragua. Realizing this, I was shocked, and this was a moment from God that I couldn’t deny. Going through the rest of my freshman and sophomore year while considering STSM, I always prioritized the country Japan due to my selfishness of comfort and security. But as the time got closer, and I started talking to more friends, God slowly but surely opened my heart to the country of Nicaragua. I honestly still didn’t want to go, but if it was God’s will, then I wanted to obediently obey His calling with joy.
Before going to Nicaragua, I knew that I would struggle physically with different conditions. While I anticipated this, I still encountered difficult experiences and was weighed down by physical and spiritual battles. I often questioned whether I made the right choice by committing to Nicaragua. I learned that it was through my suffering where I learned to rely on God and not on my own strength. Through my own sufferings, God’s glory was magnified immensely, and without Him, I was so weak.
I realized that if we were consistently placed in a life of comfort, then we would not be continuously seeking God, because we would have no reason to. While difficult and painful at the time, I am grateful for all of the struggles and battles I went through because it allowed me to realize how much I consistently need God in my life; not only when I am joyful, but in times of hardship as well.
Romans 5:3-5 exemplifies this, and it says, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Through this, I learned to count all my sufferings as hidden blessings.
Another thing that God had opened my heart up to during this trip was the need for long-term missions in unreached parts of the world. In the U.S., I believe that we are so blinded; we have so many luxuries that we don’t consider the need for the gospel in other parts of the world. Although I do not believe that I have been firmly called to go on long-term missions, I am grateful that God has opened at least a small piece of my heart to the idea of it.
In one instance in Nicaragua, I believe that I saw a glimpse of God’s vision for missions. A few of us had the opportunity to play bass for praise, and while doing so, we had the opportunity to sing the song “How Great Thou Art” in English, Korean and Spanish. We sang it altogether, and that in itself was so powerful and beautiful to me, almost bringing tears to my eyes. In that moment I got to witness a small part of God’s vision for missions. Regardless of different cultures or people, our God is a universal God.
Through all that I’ve been learning throughout this trip, my hope for myself is that I would not slip into my old habits of comfort but would continue to strive to praise and rely on Him throughout all aspects of my life.
CHARLES YOO // UCI // FRESHMAN
Coming on missions was not as easy as I had planned. Starting from small things such as cleanliness, no shower for a week, janky toilets, being around people for too long. These were all things that started to worry me even before the mission began. To add on top of that, couple days before our departure date I sprained my ankle terribly. At this point my family didn’t want me to go anymore. I wasn’t able to reach the full $3,600 and thoughts of becoming a burden to the team consumed my mind.
Everything mentally made sense for me not to go. Everyone around me was telling me that I shouldn’t go. But for some odd reason, somewhere deep in my heart I had a strong conviction to go. Who knows? It might have been my pride, but I took the leap of faith to go despite my family’s wishes. Now here I am writing my testimony. I believe God is sovereign over all things. He knew every decision before I even conceived the thought of it.
So the fact that I have come back from missions was by the grace of God and it was ultimately part of God’s sovereign plan. I was taught many lessons through two main seasons during the missions. The first season was a season of physical discomfort. I can’t really say I suffered because I count everything a blessing and joy for being able to even partake in this missions, however for logistical reasons I will state facts that actually occurred. My hurt ankle prohibited me from participating in a lot of the ministry.
While the team was able to help with the kids and the locals, I felt useless. I felt even less than a luggage bag, I was just being transported from place to place taking up food, water and space but could not even serve the purpose that once so passionately drove me from America to Nicaragua. In this period of regret and grumbling, I came to God in prayer and asked him why I came. I never got the “God Moment” that I was expecting. Some time after this I ended up with constant diarrhea. My pains were great and all I wanted to do was return back to America.
But during one random morning devotional, one of my team leaders said that our tiredness and discomforts here on Earth, not just in Nicaragua, is the cross that we must pick up and carry daily. Every day is a struggle, that’s why it is described as a fight in the Bible: To fight the good fight, to fight the pleasures of the flesh and to fight to pursue God first above all things. This really encouraged me to seek first the kingdom of God while in my state of tiredness and pains and all else really were added onto me. My ankle was healed and my diarrhea went away. This was what I learned in my physical discomforts.
In my mental season, I learned that we are all one body under the headship of Christ and that I should not create dissensions among believers. Some time in our ministry, we were able to work with another church. This is when I went through my struggles because I had a hard time adjusting to the new leadership and to the people of that church. Harboring negative thoughts towards these people I learned that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.
I am no greater than they and it really hit me hard that I was preaching the gospel of love and grace and forgiveness and yet I could not love, forgive and show grace to my fellow brothers. These struggles revealed to me how hypocritical I am and how filthy of a sinner I was. During this short yet arduous month, God and the people of Nicaragua really blessed me much more than I have been a blessing to them.
In my unfaithfulness and possibly ill intentions, God renewed my heart and gave me an opportunity to serve his people and it was truly a blessing. It was a never-ending joy but the Christian walk is not easy. Therefore I must pick up my cross and carry it daily by seeking first the kingdom of God in the hopes of being at our true home with Christ in heaven.
STSM 2K18 applications are live! The online portion is due March 16th, and the physical portion is due March 25th. #GO
