– COCM MISSIONS OPPORTUNITY
Angie Bowman
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)
This bible verse reminds us that we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and I believe that the Chinese Overseas Christian Mission (COCM) missionaries have been chosen to do a special job. They are not part of the Royal family, but they are a part of the royal priesthood. They have dedicated their lives to serving the king of kings and working with Him in the extension of His kingdom in Europe. They have been working hard sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with Chinese residents in the United Kingdom (UK) and discipleship them so they can become a holy nation; one that continues with the command of Jesus to go and make disciples to all the nations (Mathew28:19). The vision of Henry Lu, director of COCM, is to reach the Chinese people in the UK, so they can go and reach further nations. In doing this, the Chinese people can become God’s own possession. They are the ones who speak of the wonderful acts of our God, who called them out of the darkness, to the amazing light; they are the ones who become God’s people who shall receive and extend mercy.
This past summer, I had the privilege to go and serve together with these missionaries in their annual family camp. I served in the children’s ministry area, along with Kylie Birkhimer and a team from Canada. Like any other mission trip, we were motivated to go and be a blessing to the ones we served and those on our team. But the reality is that we were the ones who were more blessed by those we went to serve. We were blessed to see children coming to Jesus. We were blessed to hear that adults came to Jesus. We were blessed to hear the testimonies of people who just came to Jesus through the ministry of COCM and see them working hard in the camp to accommodate the needs of the campers. We were blessed to hear the personal testimonies of the missionaries at the COCM meetings. Learning how God called them to the field, how they learned to depend on God and live their lives by faith. It was a blessing and truly an inspiration.
It was not only a blessing to hear what God is doing in their lives and in their ministries, but also an eye-opening experience to hear about their needs. For example, there is a need for urgent and consistent prayer; in addition, there is also a need to raise more fund to cover their salaries. There is a big need for Sunday school teachers and youth leadership training. All of them ask to pray for these needs, knowing that God answers our prayers and that He is faithful.
We are a chosen race, we are to be God’s community of people who work together to extend His kingdom on earth. Therefore I encourage you to support our brothers and sisters in the UK in prayer but also by going or sending people to the different camps that they have during the year. I believe that each Christian must be involved in one of the three aspects of missions: go, send or pray. Some of us have been called to go, some of us have been called to send – which means to give to the ones who go, and some of us have been called to pray for the ones who go. Which one is your calling?
I am very grateful that God gave me the opportunity to serve the children at COCM this year and connect with brothers and sisters who came from Massachusetts, North Carolina, California and Canada who worked together like the body of Christ that we are. I am grateful to our church who partnered with COCM and was able to send me and Kylie to help them.
Glory to the God of all nations forever!
