Praise the Lord for giving me a chance to participate in a mission’s trip organized by Medicarer during Christmas 2005 where I visited students in mainland China . We visited Gufu Town Middle School in Xingshan County and spent time interacting with junior middle school students. Most of all, I thank the Lord for preparing liked-minded brothers and sisters who were willing to serve and participate in this event.

It was slightly less than a month before Christmas when I signed up to join this trip, and yet so much had to be prepared – teaching material and song sheets for English classes, lesson plans and teaching aids, etc. All this preparation could be very draining for each one of us since we all have a full-time job. But once again I praise the Lord – “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”. He is our Lord who is in control of everything. It was with God’s mighty hands that the preparation work went very smoothly. I was touched by how brothers and sisters had come together to serve in one heart, in one mind and in one soul. Mainland China had recently tightened its policy on missionary activities, so before we were off for the trip, we were told that the focus of the trip would be English-teaching and cultural exchange rather than a missionary trip as such. But deep in our hearts, each of us kept praying that our Lord would open doors for us to spread His gospel.

The weather was very cold when we reached Gufu, but it did not dampen the excitement all the students and teachers felt towards our arrival. In the course of the following three days, we sang, learnt and played games with the students, and most importantly, through these activities and interaction with students and teachers, we had the opportunity to show both the teachers and the children God’s love. The genuine and natural friendship we built with them was very touching. During classes, we would make use of every opening to introduce to students who Jesus is and what God’s love meant. During the session when I taught my class about “Christmas”, I gave a brief account of the meaning of Christmas – God so love us that He sent His only son Jesus Christ to Earth on this special day more than 2,000 years ago. And the only reason why God sent His only son to us 2,000 odd years ago was that Jesus was to die on the cross for us. Christmas signifies God’s wholesome love for each and every one of us. And indeed, we traveled all the way from Hong Kong to Gufu because this very reason – “We love because He first loved us”. If we do not have “God’s love” in our hearts when we serve, we would simply be resounding gongs or clanging cymbals and our serving would not have any meaning.

On the last day we held a Christmas party and before the students started enjoying the feast we prepared for them, I was deeply moved by the Holy Spirit and all in a sudden had the courage to lead them in a short prayer in Mandarin. In my prayer, I thanked the Lord for bringing us to the Gufu Middle School where we could learn and interact with the students, and most of all to experience the sincere friendship and mutual love we had for each other.

We couldn’t fight back out tears when we finally had to say goodbye to the students on our last day; but I truly believe that those tears were filled with love, filled with a friendship that is most pure and genuine. As I bid farewell to the students in my class, each and every one of them was crying and tears started swelling up in my eyes too. At that moment, a boy who was quite shy in class suddenly stood up and said to me, “Ms. Wong, I would like to sing you a song.” Then he stood up, fought back his tears and sang a few lines from a Chinese pop-song call “Fairy Tale” which went “I would rather become a fairy tale, the angel that you love, spreading open his wings protecting you. You have to believe, believe that you will be like the fairy tale, where the ending will be love and happiness.” Listening to his singing, I could no longer hold back my tears. Still choking with tears, the boy then said to his classmates, “Come. Let us pray for Ms. Wong and Ms Chan.” Then he openly prayed for God to bless our work in Hong Kong and give us strength and good health. That was surely one of the simplest yet most powerful prayer I had ever heard.

In their thank-you letters, many students thank us over and again for travelling all the way to Gufu to teach them English, to sing and play with them, and to share with them the love from God. As I see it, I have learnt a even more precious lesson from these students – the determination to learn and acquire knowledge, and most importantly is the simple heart to love and relate.

I learnt the importance of serving during this trip. Our Lord Jesus came to Earth not in the form of a humble servant, to serve others around Him. As Christians, we have to live a life worthy of His calling and be more like Jesus every day – by living out His love and touching the lives of people around us. God clearly commands us in the Bible that we should remember those “in need”, to be the light and the salt in the World through spreading God’s love and the gospel. Surely the almighty God would use His faithful servants to do great work. Even though this was only a three-day visit, many students wrote in their letters thanking God for leading us to them, and that they truly felt God’s love through us. Praise the Lord! That the seeds of the gospel were sowed in the hearts of these students.

2 Timothy 4:2 says “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.” May the Lord touch the hearts of brothers and sisters in Christ to reach out and serve those in need, and bring to them the Good News.

O Lord, “Here am I. Send me!”

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感謝神！讓我有機會在聖誕節期間參與由醫療關懷舉辦的國內學生聖誕活動，探訪興山縣古夫鎮中學，與國內初中生交流。更感謝天父為我們預備了一班志同道合的弟兄姊妹，同心合意去参與這次事工。

從報名參加這次事工到出發成行，當中只有不足一個月的籌備時間。要準備的事項卻着實不少 – 編寫教學用的英文材料及歌本、安排教學流程 、 預備教具等。這一切工作，對於我們一班日間要上班的弟兄姊妹來說，都非常吃力。但感謝主，在我們看來不可能的事，主都一一掌管﹔在主的保守帶領下，籌備工作進行得非常順利。弟兄姊妹同心合意，同感一靈的事奉，實在令我非常感動。由於最近大陸政府對宣教活動方面的政策收緊，我們本來也抱着以英語交流為主的心態去參與這次事工。但暗地裏，我們都不斷禱告，祈求得着傳福音的機會。

到達古夫，天氣仍然非常寒冷。對於我們的探訪，同學和老師們均感到非常雀躍和興奮。在三天的活動中，我們一起唱歌、遊戲、學習，並有機會透過話劇和其它日常接觸把主的愛帶到老師和同學當中。這份真摯的友誼深深地打動我們。在上課的時候，我們都把握每個機會向同學們介紹耶穌及從上帝而來的那份愛。在我班的課程中，其中一節課的主題是聖誕節，我簡單的向同學們介紹了聖誕節的起源 – 在 2000 多年前，天父因為愛我們，差衪獨生子耶穌降生來世上，最後為我們被釘十字架。聖誕節象徵了神對我們這份完全的愛。我們一班弟兄姊妹在嚴冬裹千里迢迢去到古夫中學，也只是本着一個信念 – 我們愛，因為神先愛我們。在侍奉中若沒有愛，我們也就 成了鳴的鑼、響的鈸，我們的侍奉也就失去了意義。

在最後一天的聖誕聯歡會中，在同學們享用我們預備的食物之先，我突然領受感動，鼓起勇氣用普通話與同學們作一個簡短的禱告 – 感謝神帶領我們一班弟兄姊妹到古夫中學，與同學們一起學習交流，其中最重要的，是那份真摯的情誼並彼此相愛的心。

到了最後一天我們不得已要向同學們道別時，大家都禁不住哭了起來﹔但我深信，這是滿有愛的淚水，隱含着每位同學與我們一班弟兄姊妹那份最真摰最純潔的情誼。我在教室裏跟同學們話別，看見他們每一個不論男生女生都在哭，我也禁不住熱淚盈眶。就在這個時候，班上一個平時挺害羞的男生突然站起來對我說﹕「王老師，我想送幾句歌給你。 」然後，他忍着淚水唱了一首叫「童話」的國語歌曲的 其中幾句 - 「 我愿变成童话里，你爱的那个天使张开双手变成翅膀守护你 。 你要相信，相信 你們 会像童话故事里 ， 幸福和快乐是结局 。 」聽着他的歌聲，我的淚水再也忍不住了。這位同學接着對其他哭成一團的同 學們說﹕「讓我們一起來為老師禱告。」然後他就大聲的開口向天父祈禱，祝願我們回香港 後工作順利，身體健康。這是我所領受過的最單純真摯的禱告。

很多同學在感謝信中，一次又一次多謝我們不遠千里去到古夫教他們英文，和他們一起唱歌遊戲，分享從神而來的那份愛。在我看來，我們從同學們身上卻學習了更寶貴的功課 –對求學認真執着的態度和排除萬難的決心﹔更重要的，是一顆皎潔單純與人相交的愛心。

這次的事工，亦令我深深體會到服侍的重要。我們的主耶穌來到世上，也是謙卑的服侍旁人。我們亦應學習耶穌的樣式，活出基督的愛，以自己的生命去照亮其他人的生命，把神的愛傳到地極。聖經清楚地告訴我們要記念身邊有需要的人，以神的愛燃點生命，並藉此把福音廣傳開去。萬軍的耶和華必會使用順服他的僕人成就奇妙的大事。今次的活動雖然只有短短三天的時間，但很多學生都在信中提到感謝上帝帶領我們到他們中間，並感受到神的大愛。感謝主，把福音的種子撒在同學們心中。

聖經提摩太後書 4章２節說「務要傳道，無論得時不得時、總要專心」 –願神興起每个弟兄姊妹向旁人服侍及向外宣教的心。

主啊！我在這裏，請差遣我！