Lillian Hsiao

How can anyone make an impact on someone’s life in three short days? Lillian shares how obedience and the unity in Christ has taught her to trust in our faithful God who is at work. She challenges each of us to listen to God’s calling.

My name is Lillian Hsiao and this year was my 4th time going to YSMP. I’m happy to be here today to share a little bit about my experience and how I saw God at work. 

At this YSMP, I had two main responsibilities: I had to help lead morning crafts for the children and I was also a co-teacher, along with JT and Yujun, for the Youth Bible Study.

Leading Youth Bible Study was something that I haven’t done at YSMP before. In fact, before this trip, I had never been a YSMP teacher or TA for just one class. In the past, I had always done either games or crafts where I get around 20 minutes with each grade level every day. This year, I was pretty excited to be with the youth because I would be able to see the same faces for a longer time every day and hopefully develop a deeper connection with them. I was also excited to work with JT and Yujun, whom I did not know very well before the trip.

Learning to trust Him with obedience

On Day 1 of VBS, we had our first Bible study and the youth were very shy. This was expected. From what I can remember, every year at YSMP, the local Pastor, Pastor Hoyt, and his wife, Paula, always make a special note about the youth. They say that the youth at Whiteriver are going through the toughest times of their lives and are struggling with broken families, alcoholism, drug abuse, and more. Statistically, the Native American youth are also the ethnic group in the US with the highest suicide rates. The challenges they are facing makes it harder for a lot of them to open up. So, I expected them to be shy… but it still left me a bit discouraged. I started wondering in my head, “How are we even supposed to make an impact if we only have 3 days of Bible study? It will take 3 days and more to get the youth to even trust us.” During the debrief, Paula encouraged the group saying that often the church at Whiteriver sees the fruit of YSMP after we leave. For example, they might see the people who attended VBS and Bible study continue to go to church. I recognized what she said in my mind, but I still felt a bit doubtful in my heart. Exactly how meaningful is the work that we are doing? I prayed for God to help me trust in Him more.

Praise God, on the second day, I felt so much more encouraged. God used some of the suggestions we received at the debrief to help me, JT, and Yujun find more ways to engage the youth. This time, we split the youth off into small groups separated between boys and girls. This helped them feel more open to talking. I was also able to have more one-on-one interactions with them. In one conversation with a youth girl named Bailey, Bailey shared with me that she remembered doing crafts with me from three years ago! God used that as a big encouragement to me and reminded me that He is working. Even if we don’t see the fruit we expected, our obedience is not in vain. I saw that by coming consistently, year by year, the Apache people were learning to trust us and were able to see Jesus’ love for them through our love and commitment towards them.

Praise God that by Day 3, the last day of Bible study, we were able to share a comprehensive view of the good news of Jesus from creation to redemption. We also invited the youth to think about where they are in their relationship with God through the parable of the good soil. That night, a few of them were able to share honestly about how they felt about God and the challenges they faced with coming to church. It was through God’s power that they were able to open up a little more every night and I know that He is still working in ways we can’t see yet.

With this experience, I think God taught me to trust in him more: to trust that He is working even when I am flawed, even when I don’t know how to engage the youth, even when the youth are facing difficult circumstances, and even when we are limited by the time we have with them. Even when I have little faith, God is faithful and He is at work.

Partners in Christ

Throughout this trip, I also saw unity in Christ in bringing three churches together to partner for His work. Today, as we testify about God’s work in YSMP, we even have our partners from ACBC here with us at CBCWLA. I’m so happy to be able to see them again. I saw unity in Christ at work as we worshiped God together in three different languages: English, Mandarin, and Apache. I saw this as we shared different cultural foods from popcorn chicken and dumplings to Indian fry bread and acorn stew, serving each other through the time and effort of cooking. I saw this as all three churches prepared and served in VBS together. I saw this as everyone came together to complete the art projects. 

This year’s YSMP theme emphasized supporting and serving the local churches. It came from Exodus 17:12 which says, “But Moses’ hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and He sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set.” During the opening rally, the speaker explained that likewise, our role going to the mission sites was to support the local church in their ministries. We were to be like Aaron and Hur supporting Moses. This theme of partnership was present in my mind throughout the trip, reminding me that the mission isn’t a one-sided project or an opportunity for us to feel good about ourselves. Instead, YSMP is an opportunity for us to partner with the other churches and the local Christians to do God’s work. It is a partnership enabled by God’s grace and we are all depending on God. It is a partnership that is blessed by the unity we have in Christ which surpasses our cultural differences, age differences, personal differences, and more.

Challenged to listen to His calling

Finally, I want to share a more personal takeaway I received from this trip. On Wednesday night after the last debrief, a few of us from the team had a long conversation with Pastor Hoyt and Paula about missions. They talked about a lot of insightful things, but the one I want to emphasize here is about calling. Paula shared that receiving a calling from God was very important. She shared that it took her years at the church before the Native people began trusting her enough to bring their struggles to her. She said it was a spiritual victory just stepping into their house by the church when they first moved in. She said that if God had not called her for this role, she would not be able to survive and remain sustained doing ministry at the reservation.

That conversation kept replaying in my mind and it made me think about what God’s calling might be for me. It challenged me to be more prayerful about how God wants to use me. 

At the closing rally back in Phoenix, we sang a song that said “Make me a vessel. Make me an offering. Make me whatever You want me to be.” God has a unique purpose for each of our lives and my prayer is that I will be able to discern what his calling is for me and to follow wholeheartedly wherever that may lead. 

I want to encourage those of you here today to also listen to how God is calling you. Maybe He is calling you to next year’s YSMP, or to reach out to a neighbor on your street. Or He could be calling you to choose or change your career for him. Whatever it is, may God give us an open and obedient heart to see how He wants to use us for his kingdom.

在短宣中學習信靠神

我是 Lillian。這是我第四次去YSMP短宣。我很高興和大家分享這次短宣中我的經歷和神的作為。

這次的YSMP我負責兩個項目：一，我帶兒童做一些手工；二，我和家田、予君一起帶領青少年的查經。

我以前沒有在YSMP帶領查經的經驗， 也沒有負責某一個班級，只是作為助教，幫每個班級的小朋友做手工。今年我期待在青少年班有更多與年輕人互動的時間，也期待能與家田和予君一起同工。其實在YSMP之前我並不很認識他們。

越順服，越信靠

在查經的第一晚，來參加的青少年都很害羞，而我對此並不驚訝。當地的Jon Hoyt牧師和Paula師母對青少年很有負擔，他們說這群青少年正在面對人生最艱難的一段，他們中的很多人在破碎的家庭中長大，也經受喝酒、毒品的試探，美國的印第安青少年自殺率相當高。因此他們不太能向別人有坦白的分享。

雖然對他們有少許了解，我一開始心裡還是有疑惑：只有三天的查經，真的能有什麼效果嗎？但是Paula師母鼓勵我們說，他們教會常是在YSMP短宣隊離開之後才看到服事的果子。有些人因為來了YSMP的活動就繼續固定來教會。我聽了就向神祈求，讓我對祂有更多的信心。

感謝主！第二天的情況就有好轉。神藉著同工的意見幫助我、家田、和予君更有效力地與青少年們交流。當我們把大家分成弟兄組和姊妹組的時候，他們就比較願意開口分享了。我也有機會和女生有一對一的交流。有一位叫Baily的女孩認出我，說我三年前有帶過她做手工！神透過這個經驗鼓勵我，讓我看到祂有在不停地動工。就算我們暫時還看不到福音的果子，我們順服神不是枉然的。從每年YSMP短宣隊的付出，Apache印第安人漸漸信任了我們，也看到耶穌對他們的愛。

在第三天，也就是最後一次的查經，我們從神創世到十字架成就的救贖，很完整地分享了耶穌的福音。我們鼓勵青少年們思考，他們與神的關係目前是什麼樣的狀態。他們跟我們分享了自己對神的想法，以及有什麼事攔阻他們來教會。他們願意這樣向我們坦誠，其實是神的作為。我也相信神會繼續動工。

在基督裡同工

這次的短宣中，我也看三個教會一起同工，有在主裡的合一。當我們同時用英文、中文和Apache三種語言敬拜讚美的時候，我看到這合一；在我們分享自己文化的食物時（鹽酥雞，Apache的橡子牛肉湯），我看到這合一。這主內的合一也在於三個教會的同工們一起在VBS服事，在於短宣隊與社區一起完成了好幾個藝術作品。

今年YSMP的主題是出於出埃及記17:12：「 但摩西的手發沉，他們就搬石頭來，放在他以下，他就坐在上面。亞倫與戶珥扶著他的手，一個在這邊，一個在那邊，他的手就穩住，直到日落的時候。」我們短宣隊就像亞倫和戶珥，是去支持當地教會的福音事工，去宣道不是一個單方面的任務，也不是叫自己覺得很屬靈的機會。YSMP是一個與當地教會一起來做主工的機會。只有靠著神的恩典，靠神服事才能同心合意一起同工。我們在基督裡的合一使我們跨越自己原來的宗族、文化和年齡的差異。

尋求神的呼召

最後，我想分享一個比較個人的得著。在星期三的晚上，我們幾位和Jon牧師與Paula師母有機會比較久地分享關於宣道的事。牧師和師母在這方面有很豐富的經驗和看見。我今天就分享一個，就是領受神呼召的重要性。師母說領受神的呼召十分重要：「做宣教士需要有從神而來的忍耐。」她是來到了當地許多年之後，這些印地安人才開始信任她，願意跟她分享自己所面對的試煉。她和牧師能在印第安的保留區住下來也是一場勝仗。若沒有真的從神而來的呼召，她不可能堅持在那裡宣道這麼久。師母的分享讓我思想神對我的呼召是什麼。我會更認真地尋求神為我安排的旨意，讓我知道祂要如何使用我。

弟兄姊妹們， 我也鼓勵你們學習聽神的呼召。或許祂是叫你去明年的YSMP，或許祂要你對職業規畫做一些調整 。無論神給每個人的計畫是什麼，願主幫助我們能明白也願意順服祂的呼召。