Dear Apostles, Just as we touch the lives of strangers in our encounters with different people we meet, share and help, many of us are in turn touched by the experience.
I would like to share with you a true story, which was told to me recently.
“A certain gentleman who mentored one of our secular youth missions which we started shared with me this true account.
Just a couple of days having returned to Singapore, he received an SMS from a Cambodian medical student who had helped as a translator in Poipet, a border town. In it he asked Joseph, “If you were wearing your favourite shirt a dear friend gave you, would you take it off and give it to an old homeless man shivering in the cold?”
Puzzled by this strange query, Joseph texted in reply “Why did you ask the question?”
The Cambodian youth replied saying that he had indeed been mulling over the idea of collecting clothes for the homeless because it was very cold in Cambodia last December. While cycling down a street he has seen an old man and a couple of boys hunched together. When he went back to his dormitory and told his friends about the recent scene, upon which without any prompting, the group collected all their spare clothing and gave it the homeless. They gave everything they had including the precious mission T-shirts their new friends from Singapore had given them.
Touched by their spontaneous gesture, Joseph asked where the Cambodian youth got his idea from, to which the youth replied simply – he was inspired by the love of the Singaporeans.”
I have seen thousands of youths touched in similar ways. It reminds me of the song “it only takes a spark to get the fire going….” which we are all familiar with. If you ever wonder how you have touched the lives of others, well, here is a life in which you have made a difference.
This issue is a contemplation of ACTS’ impact as we continue to walk in HIS spirit, heeding simply a call to share.
You will read about why a man’s return to mission in Manila mean so much more to him today, the full account of the rigor and joy of a complete ACT mission in Cambodia, Typhoon Haiyan – what ACTS has done, the simplest gift of our presence in Vietnam, news from Chress, Siem Reap and of course the experience of mission outreach with CGS.
Wishing one and all a meaningful and blessed Easter.
Always in His love
John Lee-Dr(Doctor John Lee is the current Vice President of the F.I.A.M.C.)
