Willing and Sent | 甘心顺服，蒙召而去

Over the past 16 years of my life, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to Honduras around 30 times.  It has become a place that is super near to my heart.  Outside of God and my parents, it’s been the thing that has shaped my life the most.  Each time I lead a team, God teaches me something new that carries out into the rest of my life, and it is beautiful.  I’ve also created lifelong friendships with the people of Honduras, who are now my extended family.

This year, we had the opportunity to work with Living Hope AND the Church of the Nazarene.  One of the Pastors, Pastor Ignacio, whom I met many years ago, has a heart and vision to reach people in all the surrounding villages.  Over the years, I’ve gotten to be on many trips with him, and he is like a second Dad to me.  In fact, my own Dad and I have worked closely with him, and both have helped me become a better Pastor.  As I’ve watched him lead, the thing I’ve appreciated the most is how much he pours into and believes in the Next Generation.  He never takes the spotlight and always helps platform young people into positions to lead…and it is beautiful.

This trip, I wound up spending the majority of my time in a dental office, as one of our young team members needed a root canal.  In some ways, as the leader, I felt like God kind of “benched” me.  However, because I couldn’t participate in most of the ministry days, I had to empower the younger leaders around me to lead the things I usually lead.  While it was hard to step out, what I ended up experiencing was beautiful.  I was able to watch what happens when you empower the Next Generation.

On the last day of our trip, I had the opportunity to walk around a village with a young adult who is a new Christian and a few of my Honduran friends, inviting people to our clinic.  It was in those moments that I had a front row seat to all the work our young people had been doing without me there for most of the week.  They led, they gained confidence, and they became significant difference makers for the Kingdom.  That’s when I realized it.  God was allowing me, in my middle-aged years, to do what Pastor Ignacio and my Dad had done for me many years ago…teach and empower the younger generation to lead.

My life has been radically changed because of leaders that allowed me to lead.  And now, I get the privilege of passing that on to the Next Gen.  I am so grateful that God took me to my favorite place on earth (Honduras), sat me in one of my least favorite places (the dentist's office), to remind me just how important it is to let our young people lead.  

And it was beyond beautiful.

在我过去16年的人生中，我大约有30次机会前往洪都拉斯。那里已经成为我心中无比珍贵的地方。除了上帝和我的父母之外，它是塑造我生命最深刻的一件事。每一次带领团队前往那里，上帝都会教导我一些新的功课，而这些功课也会延续并影响我生活的每一个层面，这一切都无比美好。同时，我也与洪都拉斯当地的人们建立了终生的友谊，他们如今已经成为我生命中的大家庭。

今年，我们有机会与“新希望“ 宣教机构以及当地的拿撒勒教会（Church of the Nazarene）一同服事。其中有一位牧师——Pastor Ignacio，我在很多年前就认识了他。他怀着一颗火热的心，也拥有清晰的异象，希望将福音带到周围所有的村庄。多年来，我曾多次与他一同服事，他就像我的第二位父亲一样。事实上，我的父亲和我都曾与他紧密合作，他们帮助我成为更好的牧师。在观察他带领团队的过程中，我最欣赏的一点，就是他是如此愿意投入并相信下一代。他从不把聚光灯留给自己，总是把年轻人推到前面，给他们机会站上领导的岗位。这一切，真的非常美好。

这次短宣期间，我大部分时间都待在牙科诊所，因为我们团队中一位年轻成员需要接受根管治疗。从某种意义上来说，作为领队，我觉得上帝好像让我成为了替补队员。然而，也正因为我无法参与大多数的服事，我不得不把平时由我负责的工作交给身边年轻的领袖们去承担。虽然退到幕后并不容易，但我最终所经历的，却是无比美好的。我亲眼见证了，当你愿意赋予下一代机会和责任时，会发生怎样奇妙的事情。

在行程的最后一天，我有机会与一位刚信主不久的年轻人，以及几位洪都拉斯的朋友，一起走遍村庄，邀请村民来参加我们的义诊。在那段时间里，我仿佛坐在了最佳观众席上，亲眼看见了这一整周以来，那些年轻人在没有我陪伴的情况下所完成的一切。他们勇敢带领，他们越来越有信心，他们成为了天国里真正带来改变的人。就在那一刻，我终于明白了：上帝正在让我，在自己步入中年的时候，去做当年Ignacio牧师和我父亲为我所做的事——教导年轻一代，并放权让他们去做，让他们成为领袖。

我的生命之所以发生如此巨大的改变，是因为曾经有一些领袖愿意给我机会去带领。而如今，我也有这样的荣幸，把这份托付传承给下一代。我满心感恩，上帝把我带到了这个世界上我最爱的地方——洪都拉斯；却又让我坐在我最不喜欢的地方——牙科诊所，只为了再次提醒我：让年轻人站出来带领，是何等重要的一件事。

而这一切，都美得超乎想象。