ECM Trip - Sonia (Pt. 2)

"To be little with God is to be little for God." - E.M. Bounds

During this trip the Lord was really impressing on my heart to focus more on spending quality time with Him and interceding for the broken and the lost. We must spend more time with Him if we wish to do great things for Him. 
As we spent more time working and praying together I felt that the rest of the team had the same burden as well. Even if it was only to close my eyes, take a breath, and remove myself from distractions for a moment to praise my Savior and thank Him for loving me then it was time well spent. You never know how a whispered prayer has the power to transform your day.

As we continued to prepare for the last part of the trip, this was my prayer...

Lord, May we all have a burden to pray, mourn, and fast for our people who are in captivity. Spiritual bondage is the most miserable. May my heart be full of Christ's compassionate love. May our prayers be filled with an anguish for the lost and spiritually dead.

revive us, again!

- Amen 

In preparation for Bongdong English Camp we felt more limitations than at Taein Camp. We felt a few obstacles when it came to presenting the Gospel to the children but we were able to take advantage of every opportunity we had to share Christ to the children of atheists, Buddhists, and more. 

A popular saying in South Korea is, "If it happens it happens." so we learned that no matter how detailed of a schedule we had mapped out as long as the main event occurred then it was OK. This took some getting used to but we just went along with the flow. 

Since we never knew if our Bible hour would be shortened or cut out completely several of us took the time to tell Bible stories during our English classes, encourage discussion on Biblical topics, or just take the time to tell them of Jesus. One day in Morgan's class he took an hour to talk about the Flood, the result of sin, and salvation. Towards the end he had been challenged by an atheist boy but took the time to kneel down and speak to him one on one. By the time he finished one or two boys had tears in their eyes. 

Ruth and I spent a few classes going over the Bible Story from the day before to our PreK-Kindergarten Class. Many times we felt the language barrier so strong and it seemed as if we could make no progress with English or the Gospel but we continued to smile, teach, and laugh with the children. We knew that God was still able to work in their hearts and pray that He continues to do so. 

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Lord, may our simple teaching style be enough to bring a searching soul to You!
- Amen

We had up to 40-50 children every day during the Bongdong Camp so it was always bursting with energy (and sometimes chaos!) when they were all together. One of my favorite parts was teaching the songs to the kids. We taught them how to say the words, what they meant, and why we praise the Lord.

​We sang the songs, Building up the Temple, Father Abraham, He Made the Whole World in His Hands, Hallelujah-Praise Ye the Lord, and my all-time favorite Making Melodies in my Heart! It didn't matter how silly I felt doing the crazy action songs, I knew that they needed to understand that we were willing to get to their level and lay aside our pride in order to reach out to them. 

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Our mission doesn't end in South Korea but continues when we go home. The following verse was the text of one of the devotions I shared with the group and it continues to remind me where our help and strength comes from... 

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Through God we shall do valiantly. 
- Psalm 60:12b

We ought not to focus so much on what we are able to do but on how we are able to do it. "Through God..." 
Yet, not only are we able to accomplish tasks through God but we are promised it will be done valiantly! Now, THAT is awesome!


Thanks for taking the time to read about our experiences. Feel free to leave thoughts or comments. You can also check out blogs from our previous trips here...