Summer of South Asian Ministry
In some ways this summer was my summer for significant South Asian ministry, and in many ways a summer of answered prayers for clarity in my role as a minister to South Asians.
I directed the 2014 Bangladesh GUP, and here are a few of my reflections: Being the director of this GUP after serving as a staff for the past two years was adramatic change. Suddenly, I was the one people looked to for answers; I was responsible for booking flights, determining program with our hosts and making sure our team raised all their funds. There were aspects that I loved and aspects that I hated.
LOVED
• Working with a new staff team and figuring out how to free them to lead with their strengths and grow in their weaknesses
• Renewing and deepening relationships with BSFB staff and students
• Relying on God in new ways and seeing the ways He would meet me and call me to trust and partner with Him
HATED
• Making tough decisions on behalf of the team and the ways that would affect relationships between the team and myself
• The all-consuming thoughts about the GUP and the loneliness of leadership
• Needing to always be thinking on my feet and making quick changes due to unforeseen variables
But, now as I look back on the experience, I am grateful for the things that our team learned and experienced, how well we partnered with BSFB, and the ways that I grew as a leader. You can read more of my Bangladesh GUP reflections here.
I also took two Ryerson students with me to the 3rd South Asian InterVarsity Leadership Institute hosted by InterVarsity USA in Boston this August.
To be honest, I was not looking forward to this conference. I believed this would be a deeply enriching experience for the students, but I was tired from the GUP and other summer responsibilities and was sacrificing being part of some significant events in Toronto that week. But, our God is a gracious God. In all the places of need I felt, He met me with abundance. I felt a deep richness of partnership with my colleagues, I was empowered to lead and refueled after a long season of fruitful but tiring work. And I was amazed at what happened for my students. S, a recent graduate, told
me this story on the bus ride home: “I’m a Pastor’s son and have been a Christian my entire life but I NEVER talk about my faith with people. Even when my friends were thinking about becoming a Christian, I wouldn’t talk to them until after they made a decision to follow Christ. I always found talking about my faith awkward. But when we were in Boston sharing our faith with strangers, I realized it’s always awkward when you start but you have to get over it. So I did, and it was amazing!”After S got home, he had started a new job, and within 20 minutes of meeting his
supervisor he shared his faith and asked him to follow Jesus! And N was so excited to reach out to South Asians on our campus. He felt inspired by the ways he can easily build relationships with nonbelieving South Asians and be a witness. Since returning to campus, we have had more South Asians be involved in our ministries than ever before! Praise God!
New Wineskin
And who would patch an old garment with unshrunk cloth? For the new patch shrinks and pulls away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger hole than before. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. The wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine needs new wineskins. Mark 2:21-22 NLT
Often in my walk, God will place me in circumstances that mirror past circumstances, to show where growth has happened or offer opportunities for something new.
This happened recently. My laptop of 4 years and I have had a hard go of things. I had to send it for for extensive repairs over the past few years; and last year my hard drive completely fried. We’ve recently had a long process of me trying to add programs to help my productivity, and laptop deciding that it will not cooperate, or will in the most minimal sense of the word.
After a few too many close calls, I decided to get a new laptop. As I began the slow process of setting up my new laptop, I was reminded of the time when I had to reprogram my former laptop when its hard drive fried. Since I had to “start over” in many regards, I wanted to set my laptop up with the faster upgrades of the software I’d come to know and love. Long story short, it wasn’t possible at the time for the software upgrades, the best I could do was replace what was running before my hard-drive fried. The upgrades would have resulted in slower operation of the laptop and frequent crashes, as the operating system was not powerful enough to run the upgrades smoothly.
Back to the present day, after the slow process of setting up my laptop, when the time came for the installation of my program software, I was pleased to find out the my new laptop’s operating system was much better equipped to run my desired graphic programs, and I was able to install the software upgrades that I hadn’t been able to do with my former laptop!
I was reminded of the passage in Mark that I cited at the beginning of this post. In many ways my software and computer are my wine and wineskins. As much as I tried to upgrade my former computer, it wasn’t possible, it would “burst”. In order for the upgrade to happen, I needed a new wineskin.
This parable also speaks to how I see my current life as an off-campus Campus Minister. In some ways, the learning and teachings I’ve received needed to happen while I was not on campus, in order for transformation to happen. If these lessons had been crammed in amidst my chaotic schedule, I would burst before true transformation. The distance from campus needed to happen to allow God’s work of healing and grace, so that my transformation will be testimony of His great work.
The Arch 