...Even before I went to America for Urbana 06, I didn't want to leave Mongolia because of all of the unresolved issues that had arisen throughout the semester. It really seemed like the enemy was attacking strongly. But God is faithful and did some great things over the winter break. I came back to hear many great stories of how He was working in students' lives, in student leaders' lives through our Leadership Training Conference in early January, in other Christian students' lives through our winter retreat, and in new students' lives through a Korean InterVarsity Fellowship (IVF) outreach camp.
I’ll share about one guy, Hurlee. Hurlee has been in our fellowship for two years but had a very difficult time last year. His parents got divorced, he isolated himself from some of his Christian friends, and he went through a lot of loneliness. But soon after I returned to Mongolia, Hurlee was eager to meet with me. We talked a lot about how he grew over the break and how his relationships with other guys in FCS grew as well. He was saying things like, "teacher, I really want to learn how to study the Bible deeper, can you help me?" And, "I really want to know more what it means to be a man of God." And, "I want to serve FCS students, and new students well this semester." And Hurlee wasn't the only one. I met with a few other students who were saying similar things.
So this was incredibly encouraging and strengthening for me in two ways. One was in remembering that God actually doesn't need me here for Him to do something great in our students' lives. But secondly, that He does want to use me to help our students grow closer to Him. Meeting with these students again affirmed my calling here and helped me realize (again) that it is ultimately Christ who will change our students, not me. So praise God for His work in Hurlee and many of our other student's lives over the winter break.
