¡ã A Congolese baby dancing to the groove. Those African children really know how to shake their booty.

When I went to Africa this year, for my second time, I was prepared for some extravagant event with great expectations. I admit a little, I was somewhat expecting God to put on a show for me with miracles and casting out demons like the spiritual Olympics or something, but it was all in good faith. Instead, what He showed me was by far more awesome and satisfying than I could have imagined for on this trip. First of all, there were less than half the amount of people on this mission as last year, and a large chunk of it were "jib-san-nim's" of the mature age group. No room to goof around, I thought. Then I learned that the children's VBS program rested on my unsuspecting shoulders. Without an ounce of VBS preparation, nor a real enthusiasm to baby-sit clamorous groups of hungry African children, I clenched my eyes and told God, "It's all You, Sir." And it was all Him, through and through, delivering my small group of young short-term missionaries in the face of the ravenous crowds. We preached like pros, we sang like divas, we danced like idiots. We gave our voices, energy, and souls to them along with pieces of candy and plastic rulers. With only about twenty dollars worth of paper and markers as teaching aids to subdue the 600-some heads in Congo, I really saw how God loved these children and how they were hungry for Him. There were times when it was difficult to distinguish individuals among the sea of faces, and got overwhelming when they began to lose control as an ominous mass of swarming bodies. It just reminded me how powerful and compelling manpower is if united in the spirit of truth, but in contrast how destructive it can be in a spirit of chaos or fear.
To my slight dismay, we all ate and slept very well on this mission trip, almost to the point where the sight of food was repelling. Everywhere we went, there were grateful Africans who rather lavishly offered us mouth watering African cuisine and our choice of Fanta (a staple to their diets). The food is mostly simple with rice, boiled cabbage, and richly flavored chicken or goat meat, but the real gold lies in their fruit and produce. The size of one avocado could feed our entire team (about 15) in one sitting, and their pineapples and bananas were like sundaes. The best part is that they cost only about twenty to thirty cents each, so we helped ourselves to as much fruit as we wanted. By the end of the trip I'd say we all gained a few pounds but also our skin improved dramatically. So much for thousands of dollars on synthetic skincare and dermatologists.
The important things I learned on this trip were private internal battles, as most spiritual warfare is. Since the environment of a mission trip forces its members to endure intense spiritual and sometimes physical fitness, we often lack the needed rest and pampering we would receive otherwise at home. Everything is about God, and one can't rely on anything but God. I learned to ride on the wave of the Spirit, and not my own abilities or energy. I learned to have great expectations for God, but not specific ones. I learned to give to the needy as if I was giving to Jesus Christ himself, although they may be corrupt, deceitful, or undeserving in my own eyes. I learned to recognize when the Father was disciplining me, and not to throw a tantrum and disrupt my brothers and sisters around me. Most importantly, my eyes finally opened to the true meaning of unconditional love, ever forgiving and ever healing. It is so easy for us to grasp this concept rationally, or relate them to personal experiences that define our understanding of it. But to be unified with it spiritually, I discovered, is an entirely new experience. One jib-san-nim on the trip helped me out one time as I was struggling with some mission group members. Opening to 1 Corinthians 13, using the passage about love and a single mathematical trick, she explained that God is love, and Jesus is God, therefore Jesus is love. Replacing the word, "love" with the word, "Jesus"  allows us to understand what He is like. Now, she continued, after you have accepted His blood, God now sees Jesus in the place of yourself, and you can replace the word "Jesus" with "(your name)"  1 Cor. 13:4-7. As I stifled my groans and gave it an honest ponder, it struck me that what she said is true because I have died to myself and am living as a member of Christ. I now am a spirit of love, of God, and the sooner I surrender to that the sooner I'm free. It's what we signed up for, right?
unified with it spiritually, I discovered, is an entirely new experience. One jib-san--Nim on the trip helped me out one time as I was struggling with some mission group members. Opening to 1 Corinthians 13, using the passage about love and a single mathematical trick, she explained that God is love, and Jesus is God, therefore Jesus is love. Replacing the word, "love" with the word, "Jesus"  allows us to understand what He is like. Now, she continued, after you have accepted His blood, God now sees Jesus in the place of yourself, and you can replace the word "Jesus" with "(your name)"  1 Cor. 13:4-7. As I stifled my groans and gave it an honest ponder, it struck me that what she said is true because I have died to myself and am living as a member of Christ. I now am a spirit of love, of God, and the sooner I surrender to that the sooner I'm free. It's what we signed up for, right? Thank God for allowing us to reach out to our African brothers, and giving us a spiritual workout and wisdom. I feel a hundred years older, but there's infinity more to go here in the spiritual world.

The important things I learned on this trip were private internal battles, as most spiritual warfare is. Since the environment of a mission trip forces its members to endure intense spiritual and sometimes physical fitness, we often lack the needed rest and pampering we would receive otherwise at home. Everything is about God, and one can't rely on anything but God. I learned to ride on the wave of the Spirit, and not my own abilities or energy. I learned to have great expectations for God, but not specific ones. I learned to give to the needy as if I was giving to Jesus Christ himself, although they may be corrupt, deceitful, or undeserving in my own eyes. I learned to recognize when the Father was disciplining me, and not to throw a tantrum and disrupt my brothers and sisters around me. Most importantly, my eyes finally opened to the true meaning of unconditional love, ever forgiving and ever healing. It is so easy for us to grasp this concept rationally, or relate them to personal experiences that define our understanding of it. But to be unified with it spiritually, I discovered, is an entirely new experience. One jib-san-nim on the trip helped me out one time as I was struggling with some mission group members. Opening to 1 Corinthians 13, using the passage about love and a single mathematical trick, she explained that God is love, and Jesus is God, therefore Jesus is love. Replacing the word, "love" with the word, "Jesus"  allows us to understand what He is like. Now, she continued, after you have accepted His blood, God now sees Jesus in the place of yourself, and you can replace the word "Jesus" with "(your name)"  1 Cor. 13:4-7. As I stifled my groans and gave it an honest ponder, it struck me that what she said is true because I have died to myself and am living as a member of Christ. I now am a spirit of love, of God, and the sooner I surrender to that the sooner I'm free. It's what we signed up for, right? Thank God for allowing us to reach out to our African brothers, and giving us a spiritual workout and wisdom. I feel a hundred years older, but there's infinity more to go here in the spiritual world.

     ¡å Our car got a flat tire on the road to the pygmy village, with nothing for miles on each side.
Missionary Paul Kim silently ponders over his options, and saves the day once again.