Reflections

郭冠中

信主以前脾氣不好，容易發火，因為小孩比較頑劣，經常對他發火，甚至動手打他。自從今年夏天決志以後，對小孩發脾氣的次數減少了，基本也不動手了，慢慢的發現他也沒有那麼頑皮了。

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郭敏

我來美國已有二十多年，其中也去過幾個教會，對我們的神和聖經也知道一些，但並不相信這世上有神或者其他的什麼神仙，也沒有要成為基督徒的想法，總覺得自己很能幹，再苦再難的事情都能自己解決，在人生的旅途中也一次次的克服了重重困難，所以更確認了自己的想法。

今年9月的一天，在自家的客廳摔了一跤，竟把我的小腿兩根骨頭都跌斷了，至今還沒好，也吃了不少苦，我在康復中心時，朋友說讓潘牧師來看看你，為你禱告。我說好吧，如果上帝能讓我這次順利好轉，我就做基督徒。潘牧師說，你不能和上帝做交易，你要先相信上帝是唯一的真神，在他面前放下自己，向他禱告，求神醫治你。

自從受傷後，一直有個聲音在心中迴盪，“是成為基督徒的時候了”，當場在潘牧師的面前我就決志成了基督徒。信主後，姊妹們都來康復中心給我上課，我已完成了重生與成長扶立課程，也決定12月11日接受洗禮，成為全新的人。

親愛的天父，我願意聽從聖靈的話，依靠聖靈的力量來過基督徒的生活，天父讓我明白人不是萬事都能的，只有放下自己，聽從主的教導，時刻被聖靈管理，順服聖靈的指引，走永生的路。
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By Howard Fong

For the past eight years, I have had the privilege of leading short-term mission teams to visit the same cities in Southeast Asia once or twice year. I will not bore you with a “ministry report”. Instead, please allow me to share with you a few God sightings and lessons learned.

1. Building trusting relationships

I think in many cultures, but especially in the Asian culture, it takes time to build up a trusting relationship. There is a tendency for STM teams to go to a new place every year because the needs around the world are so great. However, I believe it is much more effective to commit to a single region or a city for a longer period.

I remember trying to organize a camp for Christian professionals in 2009 and inviting several church leaders in the target city for a planning session. Some did show up with questions and suggestions, but there was no commitment to promote the event at their respective churches, much less a willingness to co-sponsor the camp.  It was obvious that they did not trust me, and for very understandable reasons. But after a few years of sending a team to the same city around the same time every year, the leaders realized we truly cared for them and were committed to them. From that point on, we have had their full appreciation and cooperation.
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