In Genesis 1:26, God said, “Let US make mankind in OUR image, in OUR likeness.” This is the first place where God gives us a glimpse of His triune character. This is quite important because it reveals God’s relational character between the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit. If this is true, which many believe, then we are also created for relationships.

This is our 1^st post from Southeast Asia, Singapore to be exact. We left U.S. on Sunday the 6^th, and we are here at the OMF International headquarters for 3-1/2 weeks of training. The past month or so has been paved with many emotions, last minute wrap-ups & spiritual attacks. Believe it or not, we were involved in 2 car accidents in the past 3 weeks. We got rear ended twice while standing at the intersection. Although insurance took care of everything, you can’t help but to sense our enemy’s attempts to disrupt & discourage our spirits. Neither occurred. In fact, they became validation that we are moving closer to the will of God.

What helped us move forward without much glitch has been first our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ who is faithful, who is always in control & who has already won the victory for us. Nothing in life or beyond can change that. Second, it was because our beloved brothers & sisters in Christ are praying for us & loving us.

These relationships… I clearly do not deserve but enjoy due to the grace of our Lord. These relationships have encouraged & touched our spirits with kindness, generosity & friendship.

Even until the last night before our departure, we had to reshuffle our bags so that we do not exceed the weight limit. All of us had to give up more of our personal stuff. Even for me, I tried my hardest to fit my new books that I was going to read in Taiwan, had to make room for other essentials… books I can always buy once I’m there. But you know, now that we are here in Singapore, the only thing that I miss are my friends & family. Nothing else matters.

God who is relational created us for relationships. Relationships are what we left behind in U.S., relationships are what we will be pursuing in Asia, and relationships are what we will celebrate when we are finally in the presence of our Creator.

ALL RELATIONSHIPS both good & bad, uplifting & discouraging, and remedial & hurtful, season us & make us better children of God who created us in His image. It is this wide spectrum of people ranging from those who inspire us to those who challenge us that compels us to walk through emotions, circumstances & conclusions that we would otherwise never enter & come to. I wish that I had treasured & valued all relationships more.

I have been defining missions throughout my past blogs, but today let me define it this way. Missions is about building, influencing & empowering relationships through the gospel of Jesus Christ, nothing more or nothing less. In true missions, much that we look for & come to expect will not be there. What we will find are hearts opening to the truth of God, minds renewing & transforming, and spirits being joyful in hope. And this will all take place at a lowly & humble place away from spotlights. It is a place where Jesus truly becomes enough.

So far not everyone arrived in OMF headquarters for orientation course, but already we have met families from the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Canada, Northern Ireland, U.S. of course, but teachers from Switzerland & Germany as well. Why would they come from so far away? It is because of relationships they will build in Christ.

That is our prayer that our relationship with Jesus Christ will touch & transform new relationships here in Southeast Asia.