No More Stalling

　　I decided to come to faith in the Lord at an evangelistic meeting when I was in junior high school. Later on, my classmate brought me to the fellowship and worship services of their church, and I began to have a regular church life. I was baptized into the church in 1997 and began to try different service positions. I am thankful that in the following days, I experienced God’s graciousness in my work, love, marriage, and parenthood, which greatly strengthened my faith in God.

“Perhaps Later”

　　The idea of equipping myself to become a minister came to me in 2015 when I participated in a mission trip to Cambodia. When we visited the missionary in Cambodia with a group of brothers and sisters from our church, he not only took us to the local church to understand the needs of the ministry but also invited us to his home to listen to the sharing of a group of missionaries and to pray together. I felt their passion for evangelism and their devotion to the Lord. After the gathering, as I was sitting in the tuk-tuk staring at the sunset on the way back to our lodging place, there was a voice in my heart asking, “Are you ready for this?” which I answered, “Perhaps later.”

　　In the days afterward, I had the opportunity to participate in mission work in other places. Whether it was joining the church choir to share hymns at the churches in Mainland China during Christmas or working with brothers and sisters to organize English classes in Mainland China during summer vacation, all these made me realize the need for evangelism. Then the verse, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few,” suddenly popped into my mind. In the summer of 2019, I joined a mission trip to northern Thailand and eastern Myanmar organized by the Hong Kong Baptist Mission. One of the most memorable moments of the trip was visiting a church in rural Myanmar, where I sang and played in the meadow with local children, whose smiling faces were deeply imprinted in my mind. At that moment, I asked myself, “Would you get equipped to serve with all your heart?” But, in my heart, I still said, “Perhaps later.”

　　Then came the local social unrest, the COVID pandemic, the civil war in Myanmar, and so on. All of these made me realize that every good thing could be lost in the blink of an eye and that people and things that I used to take for granted could be gone all of the sudden. The deaths and partings in the church also made me recognize that “time waits for no one.”

“Stop!”

　　Changes in my job caused me to further reflect on whether I was pursuing earthly comforts or pining for heavenly things. At that time, I was working in a foreign bank and primarily responsible for customer service, creating a stable life. In mid-2023, when I learned that my company was going to reorganize, the nature of my work would change, and my colleagues whom I had been working with would have to change positions, I was very upset and troubled. On the evening of August 18, I went jogging, with my mind in turmoil. Halfway to my destination, I heard a voice say to me, “Stop!” Jesus’ call to Matthew the tax collector came to my mind. I stopped. Although there were tears streaming down my face, in my heart, there was an extraordinary peace and quiet.

　　At that moment, I thought, “Is this the call of God? Do You really want me to stop, leave everything, and serve as a full-time minister? Can I commit myself to preaching the Gospel without any regrets? Do I have the ability to do so?” I prayed earnestly to God on all of these questions and asked Him to show me the way I should go. In addition to sharing this with my wife, I told my pastor, brothers, and sisters about this experience and asked them to pray for me. Certainly I hoped to receive confirmation that it was His call and not just my wishful thinking.

The Answer and the Action

　　Thank God for His prompt answer. On August 20, Chaplain Cheung from the Shatin Hospital’s Chaplaincy Ministry came to our church to preach. She not only shared her own testimony of God’s calling but also gave a message from Exodus 36 to encourage us. On August 27, Pastor Lee from the Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service gave a sermon on the parable of the ten virgins, and God reminded me once again to get ready with all my heart. So I resigned in September, left my job in November, and started looking for a seminary that suited me while enrolling in some evening courses for lay believers. At the end of February 2024, I attended the Experiencing Seminary Life Day Camp at the Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary. Apart from talking with the professors, there were also students sharing their testimonies of God’s calling and their lives on campus, which was very helpful to me.

　　My experiences on mission trips gave me a strong sense of commitment to mission work. But, I know that I have to go step by step and build a solid foundation: not only do I need to learn theological knowledge, but I also need to accumulate pastoral experience in order to cope with all sorts of challenges. I hope to build up a group of brothers and sisters with shared aspirations through my pastoral ministry so that together we can fulfill the Great Commission God has given us.

　　I am looking forward to not only acquiring theological knowledge and pastoral skills at the seminary but also building up fellowship with my fellow students and supporting each other to meet the challenges of pastoral work in the future, so as to become a worthy worker for the Lord.