As I entered UCI this year, I did not expect to be a part of KCM let alone go on STSM (Short Term Summer Missions). Being involved with KCM allowed me to see how God was working in college campuses and to see how God was using college students to make an impact for His kingdom. Being able to witness this and also be a part of this myself helped me to believe in KCM’s vision and the work it has been doing over the years. I have always had a passion for missions and this summer seemed like the perfect opportunity to go. However, my church did not have a missions trip this summer and because of my experience with KCM the past school year, I started to consider KCM STSM as an option. After talking to previous mission trainees, members of my church, my pastor, and my family, I was convinced that maybe this was an opportunity God wanted me to take. After this consideration, I decided to apply not entirely knowing what I would be getting myself into.
“I realized that God has blessed me in so many ways this year, but would I be able to say the same if God took those things away from me?”
Going to Uganda was not the most ideal situation for me. As the day of departure slowly arrived I started to question why God wanted me to go. I struggled with the fact that even though God called me to do ministry here in America through church, my friends, and my family, he still wanted me to give all those things up and go to a foreign country with people I did not really know too well and do ministry which in the grand scheme of things would not really make a difference to a country where the majority of its citizens are already Christian. However, during intensive retreat I remember Pastor Richard saying in his sermon that one of the reasons God calls us on short term mission trips is because God wants us to fast the things back home and to really be able to say that God is good even when those things are taken away from us. I realized that God has blessed me in so many ways this year, but would I be able to say the same if God took those things away from me? As I arrived at Uganda, God continued to pull me away from my comforts. The type of ministry we did, the people we ministered to, forced me to step out of what I was used to and challenged me to love in ways that I did not think I was able.
Being on this trip helped me to realize one main thing: that in order to be obedient to God we must depend on Him. Here in our world, obedience revolves on the things we can do or the things we desire to do. Our world tells us that obedience can be obtained through sacrifice, hard work, and loyalty. While it is true that Christ desires sacrifice and hard work in our obedience, I was able to see more deeply that true obedience in Christ comes through dependence on Him alone and having faith in Christ as He work in our lives. In times where it became hard to love or when I became anxious because the comforts in my life seemed so far away I was reminded that because of who Christ is and His faithfulness that I am able to be obedient. On this trip there were many times where I was not obedient as Christ called me to be, but through everything I was able to see a glimpse of the kind of obedience that Christ calls his disciples to. I’m not entirely sure of what Christ has called me to back at home, but my prayer is that I would not forget what God has shown me in the past month and through it I would be able to serve Him faithfully and to constantly be in devotion to Him.
-Minhoh Han
“While it is true that Christ desires sacrifice and hard work in our obedience, I was able to see more deeply that true obedience in Christ comes through dependence on Him alone and having faith in Christ as He work in our lives.”
