Greeting. May the peace of the Lord
be with you.
The reason that I joined the
disciple class was to understand more about God. As it was an English Disciple class, I had a
hard time understanding some of the scripture and study manual. On some
occasion, I did not even know what I had read and listened. Nevertheless, with the
power of God, I persevered and managed to come to an end after three semesters.
May all the glory and honor be with God.
There are a few lessons that I had
learnt from the disciple class. Firstly, I have learned to be faithful. Joining
disciple class implied that I needed to allocate time specifically to read Bible
and attend classes. At first, this was
very challenging as I had to spend more time understanding the verses and
scriptures. Instead of having entertainment on Sunday, I had to spend time
attending the disciple classes, even when the mid-term or final exams were
around the corner. I remember there was one semester that I did not scored well
in one of my mid-term test. I blamed and grumbled against God for not blessing
me in my test. I was upset and distressed with my result. Fortunately, I was
reminded by one of the brothers in the cell group meeting, saying that no
matter what circumstances, never lose faith in God. Then I realized how small
my faith was after being a Christian for so many years. It was embarrassing. It
showed that I am only an ‘almost’ Christian. Therefore, I started changing my
attitude and remaining faithful in God. At the end of that semester, my result
was better than that in the first year and was granted award. Undoubtedly, this
was God’s work and grace. May all the glory and honor be with God.
Secondly, I have learned to be
grateful, no matter in what circumstances. Recall the three semesters that I
had been through, the grace of God was abundant. Before studying in Curtin
University, I was aspired to study overseas. I asked God to grant my wish, but
it did not happen. I was upset and struggled for one year even though I had a
scholarship granted to study at Curtin. However, through disciple class, it
reminded me that I was just like the Israelites, disobedient and ungrateful.
When I began to obey God’s will, God started to bless me. Over the past three
semesters, I was blessed by the Lord in every final exams and assignments. I
did not know how to deal with the exams and assignments, but He blessed me with
His wisdom. God did not change my circumstances or granted what I asked for,
but He transformed my heart and mind to be submissive to Him. God’s grace is
sufficient for me, for His strength is made perfect in my weaknesses. May all
the honor be with Him.
During the disciple course, I have participated
in a long house mission trip on 28th-29th June 2014,
which was the date after the university final exam. In that mission trip, I was assigned to do the
youth evangelism. Due to final examination, I did not really focus on the
preparation for the mission trip. I only
spent three days preparing for the mission trip after the exam. Since it was my
first time to share the gospel using Bahasa Melayu, I encountered language
barrier when I was preaching the gospel to the indigenous youth. In the first
day when I was presenting before them, I panicked and my mind went blank. I did
not know how to communicate effectively with them. Nevertheless, by God’s grace I managed to
reach out to three youth during the gospel-sharing session, though did not
achieve my targeted number. I felt that I
kind of had failed in that mission trip. But on the second day, during our group devotion
time, I was reminded that our God values the process rather than just the
result. Very often I merely focus on the
result. That morning, I have learned
that I have to try my best to preach the gospel but leave
the result to God, as He is the one who is in control.
Finally,
I would like to share with you the verses in the Bible.
Proverbs 3: 5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your
understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your
paths”. Let us not rely on our own ability, but always be obsequious and
faithful to God.
