sorry for the delay!! Shirls asked me how come i tell story tell half way… hehee.. now the continuation
The moment had come for me to tell my parents that I wanted to go to Chile. It was nerve racking. I knew that in order for me to convince my dad, I must first convince my mom (woman’s power =P) . I started to drop hints that I wanted to go overseas. As the days drew nearing, the hints became more and more obvious.
One night, when my mom was in a good mood, I brought this up to her again. Initially her response was a big fat “No”. I told her all the benefits of me going. Like I am still young, I should travel now to “experience” the world and learn to be independent. Also things like when I go over, I can pick up new life skills and a new language. When I come back, these experiences and language may be an asset in my job. I assured her that I have friends over there who have been living there for 5 years and they are still alive and doing well. And finally I told her that I have decided to go to Chile.
She was still adjusting to the news in the first two weeks and she was pretty closed up about it. She even asked my sister to call me in the office to convince me not to go. In the end, I persuaded my sister and got her to convince my mom instead. My mom later on, realized that I was quite firm about it, started to change her strategy. She used the “soft approach” instead. She told me one night “Do you know why I don’t want you to go? That is because “wo bu she de ni, ni zhi dao ma?”, Do you know that I will miss you?” Wow… that coming from my mom really break my heart. I told her that I would miss her too and explained to her why I wanted to go. I assured her that I would return =) Finally, she relented.
Preparations before the trip.
I attended the church planting course, spent extended time praying, hearing from God and watching teaching tapes from our founder. I tried to preclude the challenges and struggles I might face as well. For example, I knew that I was a messy person and I was used to having my own room. But I would be sharing room and bed with another person in Chile. (Thank God for Cindy! She was a very pleasant & tolerant room-mate =)) I pre-amped that there would be differences, storming and crying. In fact, Ps Dinah told me that all this are normal. Not to have them, are abnormal.
In fact, there were many uncertainties prior to my departure date. My initial departure date was in Feb. I was all geared up for it and even told my family about them. Later on, after some discussion, the date was postponed. And after that, the dates were changed again. I felt quite frustrated at times as I didn’t have control over many things. Nevertheless, these uncertainties were good preparations for me. I was reminded that I had to get use to this as there would be even more changes and uncertainties in the field. (It’s so true! I learn to be more flexible and respond to changes better over here)
I had intensive Spanish lessons 3 months before I leave. I started re-learning my guitar and learn cooking from my dad. On top of that, I tried to visit some adults CG to see how they were run. (However, after coming here, I think that it’s more useful to learn the language here. Its cheaper and you can learn faster.) I also worked out the finance with my parents. I planned it out in such a way that my savings could cover my insurance and stuffs.
Yup… ok… the above were just some preparations I could remember…
A few nights ago, I had a very vivid dream. In the dream, I was in a prayer meeting, praying for Chile. I prayed that God would use us as His salt and light on this earth. That was the reason for our existence and that we would not forget the reason why we were here. There were many people who hadn’t heard of the Good News. I ended the prayer with “Here, we are, send us. Lord.”, “Here, I am, send me.” I woke up with these words echoed in my heart. This dream kinda shook me up and reminded me the purpose of my existence.
If you are reading this, perhaps you can take a moment to ask God, what He wants to do in your life. Not what you want to do but what He wants to do in your life. Let’s pray like how Isaiah prayed “Here am I Lord, send me.”
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mi vida 