Experiencing God's Presence | 经历神的同在

Hello, my name is Frances, an incoming first-year university student who had the opportunity to travel with the Living Hope Global Ministries Team to Taiwan to host a 2-week Character Building English Camp for the Bunun Children in Wuling, Taiwan.

When I was first told about this mission trip, I was hesitant to accept since I would be entering university and many of my peers were using their summer to upscale their skills in preparation for the rigorous academic challenges we would be facing. Furthermore, if I had decided to go on this trip, I would not be able to find a summer job, which was one of my top priorities. 

 Additionally, the previous summer, I worked a two-month, 40-hour/week job as a summer camp coordinator at a local Christian Community Centre. Although the experience taught me a lot, I silently promised to have as limited interactions with children as possible. Still, my mother encouraged me to think about it, labeling it as a ‘graduation gift’ and before I knew it, I had already agreed to participate in this mission trip.

In the back of my head, I knew that the actual reason I agreed to go on this trip was because my relationship with God had been distancing. From the end of my mission trip to Honduras in 2022 to the end of my senior year, I had been on a non-stop grind, studying constantly, applying for universities, maintaining a healthy social life, moving churches, and other events. This had taken a toll on my priorities, and although my relationship with God had changed for the better due to my Honduras mission trip, I was slowly relapsing back into the cycle of school, studying, eating, and sleeping. So, as summer approached and I was given this opportunity in hopes of reconnecting with God, I ended up saying yes.

When told the purpose of this mission trip, to hold a 2-week camp for children, it didn’t worry me much at all. If I could survive 2 months of 7 am to 4 pm, Monday to Friday camp shifts for 40 children with a team of 8, I could easily hold a 2-week camp. My Chinese wasn’t bad either, I could converse in Mandarin, and I believed this camp should go smoothly. My actual worries were about the group of youth going on this trip. Before Taiwan, I had probably spoken to the other members of the Canada team a total of three times, despite knowing them for half a year, and I worried that this would affect our teamwork, however, God showed me that He is present in any circumstance, whether it be the hardships of a mission trip or even just breaking the ice with my team members.

Arriving in Taiwan, the immediate adjustment to its hot and humid weather was a struggle. Used to colder climates, the weather sapped all my energy and I was constantly tire due to the intense rays from the sun. With little time to rest, camp started. In full honesty, the first few days of camp were a struggle. The children in Wuling had so much energy that there was never a time where they were tired. Whether it be during lessons, craft time, or morning worship, the children were always very very active, and very very very vocal. There was a learning curve and God taught me extreme patience when teaching the children who struggled to learn English or even with fellow team members. 

Every time I felt like something was not working out, I was brought back to God and reminded that He is omniscient, He knows my struggles. There were times I felt like a broken telephone, repetitively teaching one word or song, over and over again, like how it was “old McDonald had a farm” and not “old McDonald had a star”, but eventually, I gave up, content that at least they learnt that Old McDonald had something.

Still, watching the children proudly sing in English, when prior all they knew was ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’, made me believe that this camp wasn’t for nothing. There was further proof that these children wanted to learn English, hearing the team members converse with each other in English, they would ask what different words meant, and on multiple occasions, such as making thank you cards during craft time, the children would come up and ask to translate entire sentences to English. Through these moments, I wasn’t just teaching English to them, I was learning about their family as well. One girl came up to me and told me she was making a Father’s Day card and asked to help translate: “Dad, you are my best friend. I wish that you would stop drinking, stop smoking, stop playing card games, and stop sleeping late. You provide so much for us.” Later on, the pastor taught us that drinking was a serious issue within the Indigenous culture and it often was a generational problem. I couldn’t do much at the time except translate for her, but on my own, I prayed for her family, hoping that through the card she was making, her dad could come to God instead of these temporary things for satisfaction.

At the start of the camp, I could not put any name of the child to any face, but by the end of the camp, I knew all the names of the first and second graders (definitely could not write it out in Chinese), and instead of pointing at them to answer a question, I could confidently call them up. This was not just for my convenience, but because I tried to reflect God’s love. As God knows every one of us by the strands of our hair, I should try to know every child by their name. The character-building English camp was successful, not only teaching the children important character traits to grow by but also reminding us of the importance of applying these traits, like taking responsibility when we misplaced the borrowed church guitar and broke it.

The final worship service we attended at Wuling Church was truly inspiring. It was entirely led by the youth of Wuling, leaving a deep impression on me. One hymn in particular stood out: "Father, I Call Out to You." I had heard this song many times before, but this time, its lyrics resonated deeply with my entire experience in Taiwan:“祢知道我最深的意念，祢明了我内心的一切；但祢从不定罪，满有怜悯和恩惠；温柔的光照亮我心扉。”In English, it translates to:“Lord, You know my every inmost thought, everything within me that goes on; You’d be right to judge me, yet You overflow with grace: Lord, Your gentle light shines on my heart.” God is omniscient and perfect, so He has every right to judge us. Yet, He chooses to treat us with love and grace. This is the deeper understanding and love I gained for God through this journey.
That Sunday, we were invited to Pastor Pan’s home to share a dinner, and he gave us a prayer of blessing and guidance, catered towards our current concerns. My concerns revolved around the societal pressures I may face in university. The Pastor’s Wife was gifted by God with the ability to envision a prayer every time the Pastor prayed, and she told me that instead of being swayed by these pressures, I should instead be a light to encourage my peers to come to fellowship with me.

 After the prayer, each of us drew a card from a stack containing different words of encouragement. The card I picked had a message that said:“没有一个重担是我不能背负的，没有一个痛苦是我不能担当的。我是你的救赎主，我对你是不离不弃的，我爱你，我要祝福你。” In English, it reads: “There is no burden that I cannot bear, and there is no pain that I cannot endure. I am your Savior; I will never leave you. I love you, and I want to bless you.” Drawing this card felt like a miraculous coincidence to me because it echoed the message of the hymn that had moved me earlier during the service. At that moment, I knew it was more than just a coincidence. It was something I was meant to learn on this journey—not just witnessing an inspiring reconnection with God or seeing a miraculous turning of hearts towards Him, but understanding that no matter what situation or stage of life we are in, God is always with us. He can bear all our burdens and will never leave us, as long as we turn to Him first.

大家好，我叫 Frances，是一名即将入学的大一新生。今年夏天，我有幸与“新希望全球事工“团队一起前往台湾，为武陵的布农族儿童举办了为期两周的品格塑造英语夏令营。

当我第一次得知这次短宣之旅时，我犹豫是否参加。因为我即将进入大学，许多同龄人都在利用这个暑假提升自己的技能，迎接即将到来的学业挑战。此外，如果我决定参加这个短宣，我就无法找到一份暑期工作，而这才是我这个暑假原本的首要任务之一。

另外，去年夏天，我曾在本地基督教社区中心担任为期两个月的夏令营协调员。每周工作40小时。尽管这段经历让我学到了很多，但结束后我暗暗地发誓以后要尽量减少与孩子们的接触。然而，我的母亲鼓励我，要我认真地考虑去参加这次的台湾短宣，甚至称其为一份“毕业礼物”。也不知怎么的，我竟然就答应了。

在我的潜意识里，我知道自己同意参加这次短宣的真正原因是因为我与神的关系在逐渐疏远。从2022年洪都拉斯短宣结束到今年高中毕业，我一直忙个不停，学习、申请大学、社交、更换教会，以及应对其他事情。这种忙碌让我的优先事项发生了改变。尽管洪都拉斯的短宣曾让我与神的关系有了积极的变化，但我后来却逐渐回到了学校、学习、吃饭、睡觉的循环中。因此，当暑假临近，看到这个重新与神建立关系的机会时，我最终选择了答应。

当我得知这次短宣是为孩子们举办一个为期两周的夏令营时，我并没有太过担心，因为我曾经帮助完成了为期两个月的夏令营，那次我们是8个人组成的团队，周一到周五，早上7点到下午4点，带领夏令营40名孩子。那么这次举办一个两周的营会对我来说应该是轻而易举的。况且我的中文也还不错，可以用普通话进行交流，所以我相信这个营会应该会很顺利。

真正让我担忧的反而是这次短宣队的其他青少年。尽管我们已经认识了半年，但我大概只和他们说过三次话。我担心这会影响我们在台湾的合作。然而，神向我显明，无论是在短宣的挑战中，还是在与队员破冰的过程中，祂都始终与我们同在。

抵达台湾后，立刻面临适应炎热潮湿天气的挑战。习惯了冷气温的我，完全被台湾大太阳的炽烈高温耗尽了能量，总是感到疲惫。然而，几乎没有休息的我们需要马上开始夏令营的准备和运作了。坦白说，营会的头几天真的很艰难。武陵的孩子们精力充沛，几乎从不感到疲倦。无论是在课堂上、手工时间还是晨间敬拜中，孩子们总是非常非常活跃，且极其极其极其吵闹。神借此机会教导我在教那些学习英语有困难的孩子时，及在与队员相处时，要学会极大的耐心。

每当我觉得事情进展得不顺利时，神就让我回到祂面前，提醒我祂什么都知道，祂知道我所有的挣扎。有时，我感觉自己像一个坏了的复读机，不断重复教一个单词或歌曲。例如一遍遍教孩子们唱“老麦当劳有一个农场”，而不是“老麦当劳有一颗星星”。最终，我放弃纠正他们了，他们至少知道老麦当劳有个什么东西。

还好，看到孩子们从最初只会用英语说“你好”和“再见”，到最后能够自豪地唱英语歌曲时，我相信这次营会还是很有意义的，孩子们渴望学习英语的热情，在夏令营无处不见，在与队员用英语交流时，孩子们会主动询问单词的含义。在多次活动中，比如手工时间制作感谢卡时，孩子们会跑来请我们帮忙把整句话翻译成英语。在这些时刻，我不仅在教他们英语，同时也了解了他们的家庭。一个女孩跑过来告诉我，她正在为父亲节制作一张卡片，并请我帮她翻译：“爸爸，你是我最好的朋友。我希望你能戒酒、戒烟、不再打牌，也不要熬夜。你为我们付出了很多。”  后来，牧师告诉我们，酗酒是当地原住民一个严重的问题，往往代际传递。当时我除了帮她翻译，其他我也帮助不了她做什么，但我在心中为她的家庭祷告，希望通过这张感谢卡，她的父亲能寻找到神，而不是依赖这些短暂的物质得到满足。

在营会刚开始时，我无法把任何一个孩子的名字与他们的脸对上号，但在营会结束时，我已经记住了一年级和二年级所有孩子的名字（尽管我不肯定能用中文写出来他们的名字?）。我不再需要指着他们，叫他们上来回答问题，而是可以自信地叫出他们的中文名字。这不仅是为了自己的方便，而是因为我要努力去表现出神对他们的爱。正如神数过我们的每一根头发，我也要尽力记住每个孩子的名字。 这次品格塑造英语夏令营取得了成功，不仅教导孩子们成长中的重要品格，还提醒我们自己要实践这些品格。例如，当我们不慎把借来的教会的吉他放错了位置，摔坏了，我们就要承担这个责任。

我们参加的最后一场武陵教会敬拜令人鼓舞，整个敬拜都是由武陵的年轻人主领的，给我留下了深刻的印象，尤其是一首圣诗让我印象深刻：“父啊，我向祢呼求”。我已经听过这首歌很多次了，但这一次，歌词与我在台湾的整个经历产生了共鸣：“祢知道我最深的意念，祢明了我内心的一切；但祢从不定罪，满有怜悯和恩惠；温柔的光照亮我心扉。”用英文表达就是：“Lord, You know my ev'ry inmost thought, Ev'rything within me that goes on; You'd be right to judge me, Yet You overflow with grace: Lord, Your gentle light shines on my heart.”上帝是无所不知的，祂是完美的，所以祂有权审判我们，但祂却选择以爱待我们，充满恩典地对待我们。这就是我在这次旅程中更加深刻认识和所爱的上帝。

那个周日，我们应邀去潘牧师家共进晚餐，潘牧师针对我们目前所关心的问题，为我们做了辅导和祝福祷告。我的担忧主要是进入大学后可能面临的社会压力。牧师的妻子蒙上帝恩赐，每当牧师祷告时，她都能在灵里得到启示。她告诉我，与其被这些压力所动摇，不如成为一束光，鼓励我的同龄人与我一同参加团契，走近神。

祷告结束后，我们每个人从一叠写有不同鼓励话语的卡片中抽取一张。在我抽到的卡片中，其中一部分写道：“没有一个重担是我不能背负的，没有一个痛苦是我不能担当的。我是你的救赎主，我对你是不离不弃的，我爱你，我要祝福你。”用英文表达就是：“There is no burden that I cannot bear, and there is no pain that I cannot bear. I am your saviour, I will never leave you, I love you, and I want to bless you。”这张卡片对我来说简直是一种神奇的抽取，因为它正反映了我当天早些时候在教会礼拜中感动我的那首歌的内容。那一刻我知道这不仅仅是巧合。这是我在这次旅程中应该学习的东西。不仅仅是见证一个鼓舞人心的与上帝的重新连接，或是一个让许多人转向上帝的奇迹，而是无论我们处于什么情况或生命阶段，上帝都会与我们同在。祂可以承担我们所有的重担，祂永远不会离开我们，只要我们首先转向祂。