Hey everyone, I'm finally back home after 5 months and it feels great to be back! I want to thank everyone for your prayer and financial support, I would not have been able to do anything without you all. The song I chose today reflects the type of community that you represent to me. The song is about how the rappers have a community of brothers and sisters that will always be there for them in joy and in suffering and I feel as if this rung true with those of you who have been supporting me the past 5 months. This blog will be about how it felt coming back to the States, debriefing with the other missions teams, and re-entering my home life.
A Brief Debrief & Relief
As we returned to Chico, California I had really missed one thing: fast food. The food we ate on missions was generally quite healthy and I craved a destructive meal not only to my stomach but my overall health. So to my joy my team ate out at a Chinese buffet as one of our final meals together. I am proud to say that I ate so much that I threw up! All jokes aside, it was great to be back in the States to be reunited with not only the rest of my classmates that went on different mission trips than me, but also the families who also went to different parts of the world. As we shared our testimonies and different ministries we took part in, I was struck by the miracles and fruit that each missions team bore on their trip. We had teams go to Madagascar to share the gospel in prisons, Thailand to put on children's ministries in local villages, Mexico to build houses for the unhoused, Arizona to tear down stigmas and build relationships with the indigenous Hopi nation. My favorite part of my debrief week was during our graduation when I had the opportunity to sing Our God is An Awesome God in Korean along with 6 other languages, it was amazing to sing and worship the same God in multiple different languages! Leaving was extremely bittersweet as I had made lifelong bonds and friendships in my time here, but at the same time I knew it was time to head home.
Plane Ride to Plain Life
I knew that my experience at YWAM forever changed my relationship with God when I found myself asking God at the airport to highlight someone I could share my testimony or just pray over. The opportunity came when I happened to sit next to a Korean mother on the plane and had a chance to converse with her about my journey the past 5 months and ended the plane ride by praying for her and encouraging her to attend church again as she had stopped going because of the "busyness" of life. I was so blessed that God gave me the experience and boldness to continue to share His love to others even outside of YWAM. Another fear that I had leaving the missions field was that I would slide comfortably back into a normal routine and would lose my desire for evangelism. Thankfully, God responded to my fear by opening up doors to share the gospel with someone close by. Shortly after coming home, I found that one of our neighbors was Ukrainian and so I visited her. We had a brief time of sharing about our experiences in Ukraine and had some time of prayer over the country. My last fear was that I would have a hard time adjusting back to my home church community. But not only was I warmly welcomed back , I also had the honor of sharing a testimony about the four G's (how God is great, glorious, gracious, and good). God took into account all of my fears of reentry into my home town and showed me that I had nothing to fear.
Quod Erat Demonstrandum
The abbreviation Q.E.D (quod erat demonstrandum) is usually used in the conclusion of arguments to demonstrate that it has been proven. I am just using it because I saw it in a movie and thought it looked cool and couldn't think of a good ending title. But I guess I could say that if there was one thing that was proven this past 5 months from my blogs is that God undeniably was moving in my life. The miracles I was a witness to and the closeness I had with my friends and family are a huge testimony to realness of God. I'm not quite sure what's next for me in the next couple of years, but I know that whatever I do, God will be the one pushing me forward. If I end up back onto the missions field, I will try my best to reach out to everyone who supported me on my journey so far and see if you would be interested in listening to my story again! The last thing I wanted to ask is that I would still be able to live out a missional life here at home. That I would be able to continue to apply everything I learned the past 5 months here. Thank you for everything and all glory to Jesus. To bring an end to an amazing 5 months please enjoy me shaking my rear end in public ~ ❤
Love,
Heymin
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