It was a low period in my life.
My mother passed away seven months ago in March 2024. As it neared my birthday, memories of her flooded my mind, leaving deep feelings of grief and loss.
At that time, I pretended that I was strong and doing well, yet inside I was very broken, and didn’t know how my brokenness would heal.
Two options for briefly leaving the country were presented to me – either a leisure trip with friends or a missions trip to Cambodia with a team from the Healing Ministry.
I’ve always had fears regarding safety. I am also very timid, afraid of even lizards, much less the bigger uncertainty that comes with missions trips. Would I really be alright on this trip?
Fears crept up on me, but I heard a voice telling me to stop dwelling on my grief and get up to do something. After much deliberation, I decided to join the missions trip team. My prayer was for God to help me focus more on helping people instead of my pain.
“ I heard a voice telling me to stop dwelling on my grief and get up to do something ”
I went there thinking I could bless them by speaking healing into their lives. But God had so much more in store for me.
God’s Tender Touch
On one particular day, the team was to visit Location A to pray for children, adults, and the elderly. But there was a miscommunication, and our drivers brought us to Location B instead, where there were only children.
In light of the situation, Pastor Matthew suggested that we minister to the children there and pray for them while waiting for further instructions. So I rallied the children, took out the cookies and biscuits we had prepared, and was just about to pray for anyone with physical pain when Ps Matthew piped up.
“Before we pray, why don’t all the children give Auntie Dolly a hug first?”
The children approached me, one by one, throwing their tiny arms over my shoulders. These kids longed for love, yet they uninhibitedly poured their love into me, a total stranger to them. A deep sense of love flooded my heart as they embraced me, and tears of joy sprang to my eyes.
This was a genuine, tender, wordless exchange of love and tears, and in that moment, I knew that the Lord had touched me deeply. He had seen my pain and was assuring me of His love for me , which I needed at that point in my life.
“ He had seen my pain and was assuring me of His love for me ”
God continued to renew my inner being through the healing of an old lady who was blind. After Pastor Matthew prayed for her, she was so happy because she could finally see and recognise the faces of the people she knew by voice.
It dawned upon me then, that in the same way God has given this lady a new lens to see the world, so will He also give me a new lens to see my life very differently.
The old lady walked away rejoicing at her own healing, and so did I, because God enabled me to see things in a brighter way. I could sense a renewed joy in my heart that chased away the gloom of the past.
“ I could sense a renewed joy in my heart that chased away the gloom of the past. ”
Never The Same
Ever since God used this healing missions trip to heal me emotionally, I’ve received a greater calling and a greater purpose in life. My emotions may fluctuate and there are times I feel inadequate. But God reminded me that He loves me, and I’m precious to Him. If He can use a donkey, He can use me too.
I’m also more convinced that there is power in God’s healing, and want others to feel the same joy I felt when God touched me! God has changed the timid me into someone enthusiastic about reaching out to more people so that they can experience God’s healing.
Beyond my personal encounter with the Lord, the missions trip was filled with miracles too. Lots of locals approached us with pain in their joints, legs, and arms, and they were healed after praying in the name of Jesus. They were so hungry for an encounter with the Lord. Witnessing the joy in their faces when healing happened was truly remarkable.
It actually made me reflect on our faith in Singapore. Living in a first-world nation, complacency tends to kick in because we have access to medical care and the Gospel. But seeing the hunger that the Cambodians have for God made me pause. Are we as hungry for God as they are?
Going on missions has deepened my faith in God too. He makes the impossible, possible! Whatever He says in the Bible is indeed true – when He says the lame shall walk, I saw the lame walk! When He says the blind shall see, I saw the blind see. When He says the deaf shall hear, I saw the deaf hear.
“ He makes the impossible, possible! ”
Seeing the smiles on the Cambodians’ faces and their joy upon being healed, it is evident that God is real and working in our world.
CALL TO ACTION:
Today, as you’re reading this article, I encourage you to make missions trips a priority in your life! Don’t wait for time in your schedule. Make time for God to work in and through you.
Will you partner with Jesus to reach more for Him?
- Give to missions: your time and finances will go a long way, both locally and overseas.
- Pray for missions: pray for our mission partners and the work there.
- Go for missions: be God’s hands and feet to a world yet to know Him.
