The second semester at the University of New South Wales has begun again, and our campus fellowship, EMBS (Enrich Mandarin Bible Study), is also launching a new round of activities.
The challenge is that, according to the university’s arrangements, Orientation Week now only provides one day for student societies to set up booths and promote their groups. On top of that, we were allocated only half a booth—essentially half a table. Even more surprisingly, the student society sharing the same table with EMBS was a Buddhist student group!
I believe that many of our ministry co-workers and student committee members felt the same way I did—somewhat anxious and concerned. On the one hand, with only a single day available, we wondered how many new students we would actually be able to connect with. On the other hand, would sharing a table with a Buddhist society create misunderstandings? We had neither the time nor the opportunity to request any changes from the university, so we simply had to work with the arrangements that had been given to us.
Thankfully, God had already prepared the way. We were able to meet quite a number of new students, and we also got along well with our “neighbours.” In His mercy toward my weak faith, God gave me a particularly memorable experience.
While chatting with one of the students from the Buddhist society, I invited her to participate in a game at the EMBS booth and told her she could choose whichever gift she liked from our selection. We had donuts, chocolates, bookmarks, folders, and various other small gifts. After looking through everything, she told me that none of those items interested her. Instead, she wanted a copy of the Gospel of John that was displayed at our booth!
I was both surprised and delighted. I immediately gave her the Gospel of John and exchanged contact details with her. Although I do not know whether we will have further opportunities to talk and share in the future, at that moment I knew that God was reminding me that He understands and is in control of all things. Even in situations that seem impossible from our perspective, God is still at work in His own way.
God once said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9a).
One blessing of serving in ministry is that it helps us see our own weaknesses. Our small faith, limited abilities, doubts, confusion, fears, weariness, and disappointments all become opportunities for us to learn what it means not to rely on ourselves, but on Christ alone.
I thank God that through serving in ministry, He allows us to experience these small but precious moments, and through them to witness His faithfulness and power.
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新南大學第二學期又開始了。**我們的校園社團 EMBS（Enrich Mandarin Bible Study）也要展開新一輪的活動。
挑戰的是，按照學校安排，原本的迎新週（Orientation Week），現在學校只提供一天可以公開擺設攤位、推廣社團。而且我們只有半個攤位，其實只是半張桌子。更誇張的是，這次和我們 EMBS 社團共用一張桌子的「鄰居」，竟然是一個學生佛教社團！
我相信許多同工和社團委員會的學生都和我一樣，心裡多少有些忐忑和擔憂。一方面，這有限的一天，不知道能接觸到多少新學生；另一方面，和佛教社團共用一張桌子做推廣，會不會引起什麼誤解？我們也沒有時間和機會向學校申請任何調整，只能按照學校的安排進行。
感謝神，當天在祂的預備下，我們接觸到不少新同學，而與我們的「鄰居」也算相處愉快。神憐憫我的小信，還給了我一個特別的經歷：當我和佛教社團的一位學生聊天時，我邀請她參與我們 EMBS 攤位的小遊戲，並讓她從各種小禮物中挑選自己喜歡的。我們有甜甜圈、巧克力、書籤、文件夾等等。她看了一圈後告訴我，她對這些小禮物都沒有興趣；但是，她想要我們攤位上的《約翰福音》（單行本）！
這讓我既驚訝又欣喜，立刻把《約翰福音》送給她，也和她交換了聯絡方式。雖然我不知道接下來是否還有機會與她聊天分享，但就在那一刻，我知道神在告訴我：祂明白並掌管一切。即使在我們認為不可能的處境裡，神也有祂自己的作為！
神曾對保羅說：「我的恩典夠你用的，因為我的能力是在人的軟弱上顯得完全。」（林後 12:9 上）
參與事工的一個收穫，就是讓我們看見自己的軟弱。我們微小的信心、不足的能力、懷疑、困惑、膽怯、疲憊、失望……這些軟弱使我們有機會經歷什麼叫作不靠自己，只靠基督。
感謝神，讓我們因著參與事工而有這些點點滴滴的經歷，並因此見證神的信實與大能。
