2024.04｜English Version
March flew by in the blink of an eye, especially as we were prepared for the mission and actively engaged on the mission trip. I deeply resonated with Barbara's words when she told us that time would pass quickly after Christmas. Before I knew it, April was already coming to an end.
I felt like I was compressed throughout the whole of March, undergoing an uncomfortable process, and then suddenly emerging from it. It's a bit funny to describe it this way, almost like going through an amusement park where everything suddenly makes sense when you come out, but you're still recalling what happened during the process. Honestly, I don't enjoy amusement parks. I don't like anything tall or fast rides. I'm nervous as can be before going up, and it's all over once I come down.
In March, I chose to attend the Dream Interpretation(AMT) and also sat in on another called Prophetic Receptors. Interestingly, during the period when I chose the Dream Interpretation, I didn't have many dreams.
Through the Dream Interpretation, I learned that dreams we have at night are one of the ways in which God speaks to us. Dreams come in various forms; sometimes they are related to our daytime experiences, sometimes they are truly revelations from God, and sometimes they are just nightmares.
However, the Prophetic Receptors I sat in on had many activities that I found fascinating. I was surprised to discover that I could receive prophecies through different kind of receptors and learn how to record and manage the prophecies I received.
Before the mission trip, I remember being in a state of uncertainty about what was about to happen. After all, having led mission teams in Taiwan due to work, I was accustomed to various preparations for what needed to be done at different times. But this time, I simply followed my leader and teammates, doing whatever they said to do whenever they said to do it!
What struck me as particularly special was that although I knew rationally that I was an adult, I found myself trailing behind everyone like a child. Looking back now, I realize I might have been in a state of receptivity.
Being in Norway and Denmark, I was stimulated by European culture, and it was also my first time spending 24 hours with a group, all speaking English. (Because my roommate was from Singapore. I didn't have the experience of having my brain constantly functioning for 24 hours.)
When we arrived in Norway, the local church leader informed us about the characteristics of the ethnic group we were about to serve. She mentioned that they might appear very serious on the outside but are deeply passionate on the inside, so she advised us not to be intimidated by their expressions. Honestly, as we prophesied for them, what I mostly felt was their emotional richness.
You could sense a deep hunger for the work of the Holy Spirit in the European churches, but it was a phase of getting to know each other. Initially, during worship, the impression I received was that they might not be quite ready to accept worshiping God through dance. However, several of us dancers strongly felt the leading of the Holy Spirit to dance. We had to exert self-control to refrain from starting to dance. But it made me realize that I longed to express worship to God through movement, something I hadn't noticed before.
Then, my teammate Sydney asked Barbara if we could dance at the Holy Spirit Night. It was also on that day that I felt I needed to bring my flags with me. I'm truly grateful to Sydney for bravely asking! Afterwards, with Barbara's permission and the approval of the church pastor, we began to do this. I remember that day in the Norwegian church; we switched something on, with the Holy Spirit, I could feel Him doing something very different as I danced.
We focused solely on God, not on how we danced, but I felt the joy from God spreading among the congregation! As the congregation joined in worshiping and dancing together, I felt many things being shaken off, and people's hearts quickly leapt into the flow of the Holy Spirit. Through Barbara's sharing, prophesying, and our team members stepping up to prophesy, I witnessed God blessing and healing these people.
During the mission trip in Norway and Denmark, we would go to different churches every day for ministry, mostly involving prophetic activities and hosting Holy Spirit Nights. During Holy Spirit Nights, I mostly served by dancing during worship.
During the prophetic dances throughout the mission trip, everything seemed to happen very spontaneously. Our team didn't assign anyone to be in charge of the dance; everyone was willing, so I thought whoever felt moved could lead. However, Sydney often felt that I should lead for the day. I remember the first time, my reaction was like, "What? Me? Are you sure it's not you?" But after a few times, I felt that God was really telling me what to do during worship, and I'm grateful that during the mission, the dancers were willing to coordinate with each other. When someone felt moved by God to lead us in certain movements, we all offered ourselves to God without reservation.
Honestly, I didn't initially think it was anything special until Barbara specifically mentioned it, and then I realized that God had done something very special through us. Because the local churches understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit was still evolving, there was no foundation for understanding prophetic dance. Seeing dance during worship in the local churches was very rare. Moreover, the entire congregation joining in worshiping and dancing along with the worship team and dancers, willing to dance without reservation in worship, was a beautiful sign.
I find it quite funny that it wasn't until after the mission trip that I considered myself a dancer. I also want to thank my friend Apinan from Thailand for reminding me with his words: 'You don't need to dance perfectly; you just need to be willing to be there, and that's enough!'
Upon returning from the mission trip to RG, I received notice that I would be leading a dance that day. I only found out that morning, and I felt a lot of pressure. However, later on, I felt that God was asking me to let go of those fears and just dance with Him. I asked Margretta and Jerubba to join me and invited Frederik as well. That day, I felt that what God wanted me to serve with was offering our gratitude, regardless of what happened during the mission trip or what would happen next after graduation. God wanted us to cast aside all worries and offer thanks to Him alone. My dance moves were as simple as they could be, and I even felt a bit lost in the middle. But after I finished dancing, I didn't criticize myself at all. I knew I had accomplished what God wanted me to do, and then I left room125. That feeling was truly wonderful!
Looking back at how God guided me to encounter Him in dancing, I realized that He shattered my perfectionism. I eagerly anticipated dancing with my classmates; all I wanted was His presence. I began to pray for people through dance, witnessing God personally ministering to their needs. Through dancing, I wanted to let God know that I desired only to draw closer to Him. During the debrief at the end of the mission trip, Barbara even mentioned that she thought I had danced before. In Taiwan, I had never been exposed to prophetic dance or received formal dance training. I am grateful to God for allowing me to draw closer to Him through dance this year.
During the mission trip, I actually felt quite helpless, despite experiencing a breakthrough in language during the pre-mission meetings. But during the mission itself, the packed schedule and physical exhaustion gradually started to weigh on me. I realized that when we were serving, I couldn't even speak a complete English sentence properly. It was heartbreaking when I struggled to articulate prophetic words for others. Because of this exhaustion, I found it difficult to share with my team members properly in the evenings. For a few days, I started to feel afraid of communicating in English, and I even felt like I could dance but couldn't prophesy.
The frustration reached a point where one evening, I ended up crying while talking to my friend on the phone. She told me she was very proud of me and reassured me that I was brave. From that day on, I began to stop fearing others' reactions. Even if I spoke slowly, those around me were willing to slow down and understand me. It was then that I realized I had been expecting my English to be as fluent as a native speaker's, but I needed to learn to encourage myself. I made progress every day and learned not to fear others' reactions or expressions.
The day after returning from the mission trip, I actually had a dream. In the dream, I was pregnant with a huge belly, and it felt so real that I even felt like I was about to give birth! When I shared this with my friend, she told me that this was a promise from God. The promise is about to come to fruition! From the time I took the Prophetic Receptors until mission trip, we had a prophetic activities where we asked God about our favorite biblical character and what God wanted to say through that character. It didn't matter if we got it wrong because God could be blessing us through the biblical character chosen by the other person or speaking to us about our season. I encountered three different people at different times who told me the same biblical character, and their revelations were all the same. I kept this in my heart, hoping that God would reveal to me what He wanted me to understand. It wasn't until the women's night in April, through Leslie's sharing, that I began to have a semblance of understanding. I was excited to share these experiences with Barbara after women's night, and she told me she felt that I was carrying twins. Then I remembered why my belly was so big in the dream! I am still praying about all of this, and I look forward to God revealing more to me in my second year! And, yes! I passed the second-year interview!!!
It's currently a season of farewells and welcoming the next chapter, and as I mentioned, I'm actually quite afraid of saying goodbye to people. I just want to express my gratitude to everyone I've met on this journey this year. Even though the school year is coming to an end in a few weeks, I know that some relationships and some people are always worth investing in.
I want to thank every friend who blessed and encouraged me in Taiwan. Every message and phone call provided me with immense support. Thank you to every friend who supported me in going on the mission trip to Denmark. It's because of you that I had the opportunity to participate in ministry in Europe's revival.
I'm grateful to God for opening this door for me and showing me that our God is great, powerful, and loves us deeply. If God is knocking on your door, I encourage you to respond to Him.
Although there are still things I want to say, it's quite late here! I'll save them for next time when I'm more organized!
