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!
Mirrors
The song that Fiona and I would spend time listening to in our room was Justin Timberlake’s Mirrors. It had become one of my new summer jams, and I was pleased to find out Fiona liked it too, and had it on her phone. On days where we needed to recharge and have a bit of a room dance party, we’d put this song on.
One of the lines repeated in the song is, “It’s like you’re my mirror, my mirror staring back at me”. I found this happened more than once with the students on the GUP. I would hear them vulnerably bear their souls, and name their fears and places where they lacked hope; and couldn’t see the thing that God was doing or was offering them. And so, with boldness and more than a little trepidation, I shared my own stories. The ones that I was nowhere near done processing, and ones that I still questioned God about. Ones that I would more than willingly share, when I felt more resolution about the state they were in. But there I found myself, sharing these unprocessed, unfinished stories and in doing so, did the thing they haven’t always clearly done for me; give hope. The hope that God works in mysterious ways in the midst of our unfinished stories. Sharing these stories of struggle and pain helped me see that 1, they are still not resolved, and 2, God still wants to use those stories, even when they are unfinished. And, the things you don’t want to deal with, and stories you wish were finished, are the very ones that follow you places, and stare back at you, and its up to you how you respond.
Fiona and !
The Arch 