News > North America

Springfield UBF, US
April 4, 2014

“…but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

2014 Vision and Strategy

My key verse for 2014 is “…but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31

I chose this key verse because at times I felt like I was getting burnt out with ministry. There were many students coming but there were only a few of us to take care of them. It seemed that we were being stretched out and at times I wondered if what I was doing was worth it. But I see God was bringing more workers to the harvest field and saw our need. I hope that when the semester starts up again I can have a renewed strength and keep my hope in the Lord. When I try to be a father, minister or doctor through my own strength, I often stumble. But when I rely on his perfect strength, I can soar on wings like eagles and run and not grow weary.

I pray that in the new semester we can really raise disciples out of our students. Also, we have a good number of people on Sunday and Bible studies, we need to help them to take stewardship. I hope that God can raise many of them to become leaders. I also pray that our men’s and women’s small group can be blessed in the new semester. We stopped doing small group for about a year because we wanted to focus on 1 to 1 Bible study. We couldn’t help as many people as we wanted too. But those we did study with 1 to 1 really remained faithful and grew deeply. We plan to do a men’s series Bible study and I’m praying that our guys can really grow through it. We’ve always done scripture study, not a topical Bible study. So this will be new for us.

Also I pray that God may bless the women’s small group and they can grow in their prayer and love for each other. Most of all, I pray that we can balance having another meeting through the week. Having 1 to 1s, small group, prayer meetings and Sunday service is quite a lot. But I pray that God will give us wisdom about how to manage those things and allow students to also take stewardship. So ultimately my prayer topic is that we may really raise disciples and have wisdom on how to do that.

I also pray that I can be more involved in the spiritual upbringing of my children. I am sorry that I haven’t been as involved as my wife in raising my three children Timmy, Ruthy and Josh. Focusing on students and my job have often been higher on my priority. But I pray that I can be faithful in teaching them the Bible and having a godly influence on them.
May God also help me to be a more godly influence in the work place. I tried to bring people to church at work but failed miserably. So I gave up trying. I just tried to get done with my work as soon as possible and go straight home without having a relationship with them. I also got upset at times toward people who work there because they often can talk in a rude way toward me. At times I snapped back at them. But I learned over the past year about how my influence is still important. I often want to be friends and loving toward people at church. But the people I see everyday at my clinic I would rather just ignore them. I pray though that I can somehow draw them to Christ through my good example and the way I carry myself at work.
In conclusion, I pray that God may help me to balance all things in terms of family life, ministry and work. May he help our students to grow as disciples and take stewardship. May God also help us to continue to grow in our love toward our wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ: Alex, Victoria, Nirosh.

One Word: Those who hope in the Lord renew their strength

Dr. John Lee