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The key verse that I have chosen for my trip is Philippians 3:10. This is also my key verse for the year 2011 “I want to know Christ to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death”

Part one. A brief life testimony

I grew up in the UBF ministry. I was taught from CBF that I was a sinner. But I didn't understand this deeply. I started to live a double life from middle school. Then I experienced that sin really makes me miserable. Through 1:1 Bible study, I realized that Christian life is not about looking good to church people but to have a right relationship with God. This became my prayer topic as I entered college. But I didn't really put it into practice. And instead of pursuing God, I pursued fun and pleasure, and I fell into all kinds of sins. I tried to convince myself that I was fine, and that everything was going well for me. But I couldn't deny that something big was missing in my life. It was only at this past Easter Conference that it really hit me. My problem was that I did not have a real relationship with God. God helped me be honest about this and through various events this year, he helped me to come back to him.

After the Easter bible conference, I lost my two beloved friends because of my mistake due to drunkenness. I could not believe that I hurt my friends’ hearts. I was sad that I lost my friends and felt very lonely. I was guilty and became depressed. At that time, I was able to study the bible with Dr. John Jun. I did not ask him but he asked me to study the bible together. I believed that God sent Dr. John as my bible teacher. Through bible study, I believed that God heard my prayer when I prayed at the Easter bible conference. God taught me how disgusting sinner I am through my mistake. I accepted that I am a lustful, selfish and proud sinner before God. I was hopeless and worthless sinner.

I was in shambles when I came to God. But he covered me with his grace. When I accepted Jesus’ love and grace, I was full of joy and peace. Through Jesus’ blood, I could be saved. I began to love him because of his love. I wanted to express my love for him. I wanted to grow in a real relationship with him. So I decided to give every morning to God by praying and doing daily bread. And I decided to be faithful to fellowship meeting. God helped me to be faithful to this and helped me gain spiritual strength through it.

In the midst of pursuing God like this, I realized that as Jesus told Peter to feed his sheep, the best way to express my love for Jesus is to feed his sheep. God gave me a fresh desire to be a bible teacher for God’s flock. I had a sudden conviction to go as a short term missionary. So I told this to Dr. John Jun, and he suggested Bolivia as a mission field. I prayed about it and decided to go.

Part two. Mission trip

I really thank God that he blessed me in the year 2010 to know Him. The power of Jesus' blood became very real to me. I thank Jesus who came to me humbly to have a relationship with me. So as I thought about my new year’s key verse and the mission trip, I chose Philippians 3:10: I want to know Christ, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. The reason I chose this verse is very simple. It is because I really want to know Jesus better and want to be like Jesus. I want to be like Jesus whom I love the most. I want to be like Jesus who is humble, full of love and grace. I want to live like Jesus who lived such a beautiful life. I pray that God may help me to do so. And I pray that God may bless my short term mission trip to Bolivia where I could meet Jesus newly and get to know him better. I am not worthy to be a bible teacher. I am just a worthless sinner before God. But by God’s one sided grace, I can go there as a bible teacher. I pray that I may share the good news to the people in Bolivia boldly and learn Jesus’ heart.

Prayer Topics:

1. To see the work of God in Bolivia
2. To grow in my relationship with God
3. To have God’s love for Bolivian students
4. To be a good bible teacher and teach the 9 step bible study well
5. To learn to serve and be a good co worker to missionary Esteban Cho’s family