30 March 2009
15 March 2009
reflections on serving at little lights
dear friends & family,
hello and thanks for all of your support prayerfully and financially! I was so blessed by being a part of little lights ministry and community this past week. if you ask any of the other mates on my team they'll tell you that it was a life changing experience--and I agree.. it was more than I could have asked for when I prayed for change & forward motion from where I'd been.
what we did
each day varied to certain degrees in terms of our schedule. wake up around 8am or 9am, eat a lavishly prepared breakfast thanks mainly to two members of our team who were very proactive about providing hearty meals, then receive training from one of the LLUM staff about programs for the day.. do some miscellaneous admin work like write addresses on envelopes or carry boxes.. from 4-6 or 4-8 we'd see the kids at their after school programs. the programs that the kids came to took place in a rented church sanctuary where we'd either help them with homework, reading, math--split up with breaks where we'd play board games/game cube/play station/ take them to the park. other days included programs where we'd have bible study or choir with the kids.
several days a week our schedule would include prayer meetings/spiritual development with the staff where we'd just lift each other up in prayer, share some prayer requests, and have a time of praise. there were a few nights where we'd go walk around DC and see monuments and eat out. the week was a really good balance of working hard, spiritual feeding, belly filling, and pure fun.
what I learned
there are a few things that I believe God impressed upon my heart during the trip—things I need to live by and consciously work on. one of these come from micah 6:8. I think we hear this passage a lot when it comes to talking about missions/injustice.. but the last line is the one that I find replaying in my head as a reminder of how I am to live..
"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
working with the kids in the inner city really humbled me. there was this time when I was playing with legos at a table with some students and one of them, damian (right), started asking questions one after another about stuff like, if I've ever gone clubbing, do I drink beer, have I ever smoked.. etc.. and though my response to these questions were negative, the discomfort I felt being questioned by him paralyzed me and I was speechless.
I had prided myself in not having done anything so "sinful" like many others in my life stage, and put myself above them in effect. the interaction with damian put me in my rightful place...because abstaining from all of those things alone was meaningless. being unable to use it to speak truth or life, or bring glory to God had no honor or righteousness in it. so began the process of me really understanding my sinfulness... something that really needed to take place in my life. praise God for that alone.
the other thing I've been discovering is what it is to be free in Christ. Galatians 5:1 says, "it is for freedom that Christ has set us free." I didn't even know that I was bound until God revealed it to me.
since my time in DC I find myself aching to live by these two words from scripture. to live in the freedom that Christ has given, and to walk humbly with our God.
thank you all so much for sending me through your prayers and financial support. know that you played a crucial role in my service at little lights, and I am so grateful to be surrounded by such a strong body of believers.
In Christ's Love,
Esther Chang