The Commissioning: Foreign Missions Edition
When Jesus gave his last command to his disciples: to go therefore, and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19), he meant that as a personal call to each of us. Starting in the early 2000s, Acts2Network has sent waves of church planting teams across California and the West Coast and finally to the East Coast and Midwest in 2017 and 2021. But this year we will be finally making the move across oceans and send out our first crop of teams to seven countries in Asia: Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Cambodia, and China!
Our foreign mission team we’re sending out from Boston this spring 2024. From left to right: (Top) Winston, Caleb, Ben, Serena, Wilson, Pastor Manny (not part of the team) // (Bottom) Sunny (not part of the team), Christine, Elizabeth, Rosa.
From RCC, we will be sending out eight of our mentors to three different countries: Five to Vietnam, two to Japan, and one to Thailand. We officially said goodbye to them earlier this month and also had a commissioning service on Rosa and Wilson’s last Sunday with us back in February. We’ve captured some of their lessons and sharings in this blog as they reflected over the past 10 years, from moving to Maryland in 2017, Boston in 2021, and now to Vietnam in 2024.
Rosa: From wretched sinner to redeemed daughter
Wilson and I started dating in 2014. In one of our earliest conversations, he asked me if I would be willing to go with him to start a church plant in Vietnam. Maybe I thought he was testing me and maybe I responded out of pride or youthful idealism but I just said, “Sure!” It has been about 10 years since that conversation, and we are now preparing to leave the states to lead a team for foreign missions in Vietnam. When I think about these past 10 years, I can see how God has been leading me through different experiences, preparing me, growing me so that I would be able to have enough faith to not just say, “Sure” halfheartedly but to say, “Yes!” wholeheartedly when not Wilson but God asked.
There were several moments these past 10 years when I felt like I did not have faith to move forward and wanted to give up, but every time, I went back to the primary colors of the Gospel and God gave me strength to take another step. Looking back, I see how those steps built on top of each other. I remember back in 2017 when we first moved to Maryland, Sunny told some of us to not allow this step to leave Texas to come to Maryland to be the ceiling but we need to keep taking greater steps of faith to continue to grow into the vision that God has for us. But it really was as I simply trusted and obeyed, God took this broken sinner and turned me into someone who could actually bless others and bring the good news to a place like Vietnam.
Wilson: What it looks like to deepen your trust in God
When I asked Rosa out on our first date, I wanted to see how serious she was about ministry so I asked her the wildest thing I could think of at the time: “Would you be willing to go with me to Vietnam to start a church?” Again — I had no idea what I was doing but I realize now that God takes even our youthful zeal seriously… and it’s these early commitments, these “putting my yes on the table” moments that helped me to deepen in my trust toward God when the future opportunities came. And those opportunities definitely came! In 2017 the call went out to go on our first wave of East Coast Church Planting, dubbed “The Great Scattering”. At this opportunity I am thankful I married Rosa because she signed up with much more zeal than I did, which challenged me to sign up as well.
circa 2017: the UMD church planting team
circa 2017: team preparing many pounds of meet for a Kick Off night.
In all honesty, 2017 was a tough year for me as it was the year that I lost my father… he died of sudden heart failure while out at sea on a fishing trip. In many ways I wanted to stay back in Austin to care for my family as they mourned the loss of our father. It was then that I remembered God’s Word speaking to me through a verse that is near to my heart
Jeremiah 31:3
…the Lord appeared to [me] from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
Through much prayer and encouragement through the church, God reassured me that He loves my family far more than I ever could… God showed me that good can come of even something as tragic as my dad’s passing if it causes people to seek Him out.
Besides this… there are many people who have yet to hear the gospel on the East Coast — so how could I not go, knowing the reality of life and death hangs in the balance? How could I not go, knowing that I received life from the sacrifice of others who laid down their lives to share the gospel with me?
As I look back on the past 10 years, a conclusion that I can confidently draw is this: A blessed life is a life on Mission. I wouldn’t have believed it if you’d told me around that campfire 10 years ago but I am so glad that I put my verbal yes on the table.
Commissioning service for Rosa, Wilson, and the foreign mission team.
When we put our “yes” on the table, regardless of how capable or ready we feel, God is able to take that small bit of trust we give Him and use it for our own flourishing while also using us to accomplish His great redemptive work in the world.