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Restore the joy of my salvation (Psalm 51:14) |
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Written by Susanna
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Monday, 01 February 2010 21:35 |
I’m sure many of you would know that THS recently went on a mission trip to Taiwan and Hong Kong. I was very blessed to be able to join the Taiwan leg. This was my 2nd THS mission trip and our gracious God always teaches me so much on each trip.
We were in Taiwan for 4 full days and the schedule was definitely a hectic one! Each day would start off with Morning Prayer followed by daily mass and on weekdays, our prayer meetings would start at 7.30pm while the weekend ones would start in the afternoon at 1.30pm. In the 4 days, we had travelled across half of Taiwan starting from 盧洲 to 虎尾鎮 to 台中市 and to 台北市. Despite the travelling and the late night finishes, each prayer meeting was so special and such a privilege to be part of.
By the guidance of the Holy Spirit, each prayer meeting always opens my spiritual eyes to God’s great love for His people when I pray over our dear brothers and sisters in Christ. I remember speaking to one of my fellow mission team members and she precisely described the love of our God as being like an eternal fountain that flows endlessly. As St John had written, “This is love: not that we loved God but that he first loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Experiencing this and the joy of knowing that we are all His precious children is sometimes so overwhelming that tears just flow down their cheeks.
Each prayer meeting also magnified God’s greatness. I truly can relate to our Mother Mary when she declared “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God my saviour!” (Luke1:46-47) The joy of being able to witness God’s glory is indescribable. During our prayer meeting in 虎尾鎮, an old lady came up to us and asked to pray over her shoulder. After awhile when we finished praying for her, she began speaking to us again and continued pointing at her shoulder. We were alittle confused – did she want us to pray for her more? As she was speaking in Taiwanese, we had some communication difficulties but another lady turned to us and translated in Mandarin to let us know that the old lady’s shoulder feels much better and the pain is gone. I just turned to my fellow team member and couldn’t say anything but “Praise God!!”
Praises flowed continuously throughout our prayer meetings. I remember in 耶穌救主總堂(台中市), there were a bounty of praises lifted up to our Lord during our praise and worship with thanks to the Holy Spirit. The cathedral was filled with people and every person were lifting their hands up to our Lord and offering all their praises to Him. I felt that our Lord was so honoured and so pleased to receive all our praises and worship.
During this mission trip, how much joy did I experience in being a witness of God’s greatness! For myself, our theme for this mission trip “Restore the joy of my salvation!” (Psalm 51:14) was truly highlighted.
Before I left for Taiwan, my friends said to me – “Wow, what a short trip! Only away for 6 days in total?!?”. Yes - although it was short, every moment was so blessed. I remember one of the Gospel readings in one of the masses I attended prior to departing for Taiwan was the Miracle of Feeding the Five Thousand (Mark 6:34-44). I was very moved by Father’s homily that day as he said that one of the key aspects of the Gospel reading was the concept of multiplication. With 5 loaves and 2 fishes Jesus was able to multiply the food to feed five thousand people. One small blessing will be multiplied into an abundant of blessings by the power of God. It was such a privilege and blessing for me to be in Taiwan and be able to pray over our dear brothers and sisters in Christ. How great is it to know that with God’s power and only with His power, a short blessed trip for myself will be multiplied into an abundant of blessings for others!
Thank you for all your prayers for the THS mission trip! The power of prayer is so amazing and I know that God received them all as God had already prepared the way even before we had arrived. Praise God forever and God bless!
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Restore the joy of my salvation (Psalm 51:14)
