Hey all! It’s been a while =)
When I was younger, I recall people saying things like, “Don’t waste your food. You have to finish. Think of the children in Africa!” If you live in America, you probably had someone tell you something like this before. WELL, now that I am here…I can say YES, it’s true. People here always finish their food. There are no leftovers. There is never food thrown away. When people give me food, I HAVE to finish it no matter how full I feel. What am I getting at?
This principle applies spiritually as well. God has been faithful to me ever since the day I was born. Whether I come to the King’s table or NOT, God has ALWAYS prepared fresh food for me DAILY. He gives us what is best according to His love and wisdom. You see, I realized that most of my life…I have “not finished” the “food” given to me. As a matter of fact, I have wasted it. I can only imagine what those who have not yet been set free would do with the TRUTHS and REVELATIONS I have wasted by not “finishing”. What I am saying is this (my confession): I’ve just been satisfied with receiving quote-worthy, meaty, spirit-tickling revelations and concluding that I have been “walking in intimacy with God”. Maybe I’m being too hard on myself. I’m not saying receiving revelations are not a sign of intimacy. What I am saying is that I have been receiving revelations, but not going deep into them, and not letting them transform my life, and not obeying and following through with the convictions within them. I realized that I only take the “first bite” of the fresh, powerful, amazing truths and revelations God provides, and then “waste” the rest by moving on to seek more revelations. Something new. Something “more profound”. Something “different”. As if I was some kind of spiritual Peter Parker or something. God has revealed to me that I need to stick with the revelations that God has ALREADY revealed to me, rather than seeking new ones for the sake of having something awesome and amazing to share/preach/teach. So yea, this is where I am at right now. Time to stop collecting. Time to go deep. Time to stop settling for spiritual tickles. Time to be transformed. Time to stop “wasting food”. I pray that for all of us, we would go deep with the graced revelations God has personally given us. I tell you, THERE ARE “HUNGERING” PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT WOULD DEVOUR THE “FOOD” THAT WE WASTE!
For those who have been following me through this blog, you may know these personal revelations I have shared in my early months here. Let’s just say I’m going to be thankful and stick with these. I have yet to walk in the FULLNESS of these revelations. Actually, it seems like it has become so much harder to walk in these than before. No surprise, I feel the enemy trying to steal them from me, or paralyze me from walking in them. More specifically, I’m talking about my personal revelation I received on walking in Holiness: purity in flesh, purity in thought, purity in MOTIVES, etc. And also, my desire to walk in supernatural thankfulness. Yup, this is how I am doing personally/spiritually. It ain’t smooth sailin, its wrestling, being refined, pre-cross-the river-purposeful desert time for me. PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!
It has been a while since my last update. Well, it’s been REAL busy. Time has been going TOO fast, and a LOT has happened. AKA my mind is confused as to how I’m going to update with this blog post. So I’m just going to spill out random things in bullet points =)
- ODPC Short-term team – I want to THANK my ODPC family for sending me the greatest care package ever: the team! I enjoyed and was blessed by every second of their presence here, and I definitely felt rejuvenated and encouraged. I was particularly undone by my little sister, Priscilla, being here. (Jihyun, thank you for coming! I love you and am so proud of you. Pure grace to witness what God is doing in your life). Thank you ODPC!
- CGN TV – 2 people from a Christian Broadcasting channel from Korea came here to do a 3 part documentary (Mali, Senegal, Gambia) to show on national TV in Korea. It was a priviledge to be a part of it. I was really blessed to be able to talk to them. They shared with me that through this project, God transformed their hearts and they were awakened to WHO GOD REALLY IS! Praise God! I’ll let you all know where to watch the documentary when it is finished!
- 24/7 prayer team – A team from Busan, Korea came here for 2 weeks. They are from a 24/7 prayer ministry called “Nehemiah 52 prayer”. As I got to burn with them and prayer march with them, I was incredibly blessed and encouraged. In that short time, we really got to connect and go deep in our relationships with each other. God used ALL OF US to give many confirming words/prophetic words to one another. I felt like I was part of the team =) And yes, it was all in Korean. So my Korean has gotten a lot better! I miss them dearly…
- Bakary & Serreh’s wedding – I got to be part of a Gambian wedding for the first time. Over here, it’s BIG DEAL especially in the Christian community because its REALLY difficult to find 2 Christians getting married. Most of the time it’s a Christian and a Muslim, which ends up failing. But these 2 were both believers. I tell you, the level of thankfulness/joy/celebration at this wedding was indescribable. Dancing and celebrating overnight. Pray for them please!
- Kabafita Primary School update – A couple teams have come and prayed in my classroom and fought in pray for the school. My relationships with other teachers, headmaster, and staff is slowly growing. God has blessed me with favorable relationships with majority of the children in the school. As for my students, MAN I LOVE THEM. Slowly, they are learning values of Christ, learning how to walk in love, and slowly understanding that Jesus loves all, even Muslims (which they refused to believe before). Please continue to pray for these kids!
- CTI – this ministry HAS to be straight up relational and prayer as its foundation. It is literally farming. I can say I do my best to teach what I can and how I can to the best of my ability. But at the end of the day, if I’m not fighting for them in prayer, then I’m just giving them religion. Last week I taught on the purpose and beginnings of Satan, what he is doing now, and what Christians believe in terms of authority, power, identity, and conquering fear. Currently I am in a teaching series of the “life of Jesus”. I am teaching on His birth, prophecies about Jesus, and Jesus’ ministry. The following week we will watch the Passion of the Christ. Please pray for the CTI students!
- Tuberculosis – There are 65 people living in this camp, and this one boy got Tuberculosis (TB). Unfortunately, the TB has spread. The whole camp got tested and 25 of us tested positive for TB. Yes, US. 23 of the kids, Missionary Han, and myself. We all have TB. We all feel normal, and no symptoms have shown, which means the disease is dormant? Anyways, we have to take these meds for a long time daily. No big deal, no panic. Please pray for us in Jesus name!
Well, I think that’s a LOT for you all to read. Please feel free to shoot me a hello or even an encouragement if the Lord leads. Please feel free to email me at un4shamed@gmail.com or call me at 220-787-8811 =) I miss you all a lot.
I update with pictures on Facebook, so feel free to check those out!
Thank you JESUS for the Grace to breathe and walk in this exciting life with You. What an amazing privilege to be a part of this glorious Kingdom. Glory be to God in the HIGHEST PRAISE!
Love in Him,
John Park