I’m writing this on the flight back from Seattle to Toronto, and reflecting on how God has been at work over the past four months. I’ll be referencing a lot from my previous blog, When the Clouds Roll In, so I highly recommend giving that a read first!
The Prayer from Waterloo
When I accepted my internship back in the fall, I was super grateful! The situation was quite similar to my previous internship, where I got a job that I didn’t deserve! This was such a huge opportunity, and to say I was excited would be an understatement. Yet, my heart was burdened.
“Seattle? That’s quite the Godless city!” all my friends and pastors noted. Yes, the Seattle known for being a heavily liberal-leaning city, concentrated with pro-abortion, mind-body dualist (stemming from gnostic) views — which are the root of pro-LGBTQ+ views. The Seattle, where only less than 25% people identify themselves as “Christians” (and really, maybe less than 5% are practicing, faithful Christians). The Seattle, notorious for its homelessness, drug and crime problems, so much so that I was regularly warned by Seattle natives to avoid the sketchy places underneath the bridges in downtown Seattle, or the McDonalds (dubbed, “McStabby”, for all the crime that happened there) located on Third, between Pike and Pine.
So what should I look forward to do? I could live a little for myself: tour around and eat lavishly — and that would have been so easy to do, especially since I had all my housing covered, and I was earning more than my parents combined. While it was tempting, I couldn’t bring myself to do that. I thought back to the many missions trips I’ve been on, where I had the opportunity to serve those living with poverty on the streets of Philadelphia and Toronto. “This would be the perfect opportunity!” I thought to myself, realizing that it had been years since I last served a stranger in need on the streets. But with a David Platt sermon in mind, I knew that this wasn’t enough. It would never be enough to just provide for the physical needs of others. Platt said something to the effect of, “We can’t just give what people need physically and ignore the spiritual! If we don’t share the gospel, it’s as if we are sending people nicely clothed with full bellies straight to hell!” We cannot be hypocrites, but we also must make sure that what is needed spiritually is also given!
And so being strongly convicted to go out into the streets of Seattle to provide for the physical needs of those who are living with poverty and to boldly share the gospel of Jesus Christ, I started to pray. Well actually, we started to pray. In a few of our prayer meetings back in the fall term, we made it an emphasis to pray for the cities that we were going to be in for the winter term. We prayed for the needs of Seattle. We prayed that we would go out into the world by faith, sharing the gospel.
My Time in Seattle
A Church to Be With
In search of a church, I asked Steph Hsu for some recommendations (thanks Steph 😄). That very first Sunday, I booked it straight to Downtown Cornerstone Church (DCC), where I found gospel-centric preaching! I decided to lean in and get to know more about the church through the community. And so that same Thursday, I was quickly welcomed to a community group! As my time went on with DCC, I got to know more about their beliefs and core convictions through their “foundations” class, and got super plugged in with weekly community, discipleship and bible study groups!
What I found most encouraging was that, even though the majority of my community group worked in tech, we all gathered together regularly because of our love for the gospel and the preached Word! While on the surface, it may seem that we’re all the same, with well-paying jobs and an awesome church to be with, underneath the surface was a variety of past church experiences and tough real-life situations. Yet, we all wanted to know and love God more! It’s only because of the faithful preaching of God’s Word that we gathered together to live life out as a community; and that is by discipling and encouraging one another. Who knew that getting out of the CCF bubble was going to be so fruitful 😅 (this is why I highly recommend being involved with a church)!
While the preaching and the community were wonderful, I was still looking for a way to serve…
Brothers to Witness
Thankfully, DCC had connections with a wonderful organization called Union Gospel Mission (UGM), which ministers to those living with poverty. They primarily focus on homelessness and recovery, and they do so in a bold way: by having their ministry be centred around the gospel! In all their programs, they make a huge emphasis on the gospel, and firmly believe that it will truly change lives. And this approach has helped a whopping 80% of the people that went through their programs stay off the streets! Talk about an amazing testimony to the world!
And it was this that I was so excited to take part in! It was a bit hard to find time in my schedule, but I ended up serving at the men’s shelter for Saturday dinners regularly. I was hoping to serve by cooking and then praying with the men after service. But things didn’t go according to my plan. Instead, I ended up just plating food at the hot table and handing it out as people passed by. While not the most exciting, I was able to build up relationships because I came nearly every single week (and it wasn’t hard, since I was often the only volunteer — I always got the, “Shouldn’t you be doing something a little more exciting on a Saturday evening, young man?”, from both the staff and men from the shelter, which I found quite funny). In the process, I really got to know a few of the guys who were on the “work-recovery” stage of their program (finding regular work, and sticking to it, instead of wasting time) in the kitchen. I often got to witness deep brotherhood unfold in front of me, as those in the kitchen shared passionately about the most recent devotional they went through with those in line!
While not everyone who comes through their programs become Christians, those who do have an insane amount of fervor! I found out that many of the guys attend DCC — and how awesome is that? There is a huge variety of people: people in tech earning the top 1% of salaries, and right beside them, people who are going through recovery programs and trying to get their feet planted once again, all worshipping and loving the same, mighty and powerful God! One guy in particular graduated from their recovery program not too long ago, and by the way he speaks and shares about Christ, you could tell how humble he was and how strong of a conviction he has to continue to be sanctified. He is currently working with UGM as an intern, has the opportunity to share how his life has been transformed by Christ with those going through the program, and is working to get certified to do counseling in this area. This just goes to show you that God is indeed alive and at work in even the most broken of places, and He is slowly reviving this city, one soul at a time. All of this really blew my mind, and showed me how awesome God is!
Of course, this was super cool to witness, but I was still wondering who I would witness to…
A Different Plan to Unfold
While my original plan of wanting to share the gospel with strangers on the street didn’t work out, God had different plans. I still wanted to be bold in sharing, but I didn’t exactly know what that would look like.
Over the course of my internship, I got really close with the other interns working in Seattle (especially at my company). With some, I got the chance to bring them to my church’s young professionals events (to show that Christians aren’t actually weird 🤣), and with others, I was able to have a spontaneous dinner and share my testimony and the gospel! And God still had bigger plans to blow my mind…
If I told you that I was able to bring a friend (okay, maybe acquaintance is more accurate), who was only barely interested in Christianity (not out of their own volition), to church, and have them convert within two weeks, you’d be shocked and ask, “How?! What did you do or say??”, to which I’d reply, “Absolutely nothing!”, with a large grin on my face 😁!
You see, at the start of the term, my CG was challenged to pray for 3–5 people that we knew in Seattle that we wanted to share the gospel with. One of the people I mentioned was a “friend” that just so happened to be from my cohort (I’ve known about him since my very first school term in Waterloo), was on the same larger team at my company, and even sat beside me at work! I was trying to invite him out to church as much as possible, but was often met with a reluctant, “Yeah, I should. I’ll check it out some day. It’s just that I’ve got so many other things to do, and it’s quite early in the day for me.”
Then, March rolled around, and DCC was running an introduction to Christianity class with free lunch! I quickly sent another message inviting my friend to come out, and I was met with, “You know what, that sounds right up my alley, I’ll dedicate myself to all four sessions!”. I met with him after the four classes (since I was gone for the second half) to catch up and get his thoughts. He mentioned that during the very first class, the pastor who was leading the class had said something very profound — he realized the weight of his sin and the true basis of morality in front of the Holy God! By the second class, he was fully convinced that He needed to follow Christ!
You see, God was already at work in his life well before this, through his life experiences and his Christian girlfriend. It just so happened that, with sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ accurately and lovingly, this was the right time for him to be saved!
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6, ESV)
We spent the rest of the time chatting to get to actually know each other over dinner. And I could tell that his heart had truly been revived, by his passion and zeal to know God more!
Unfortunately, I had to leave, while he would stay for another four months in Seattle. But, just by how he’s gotten to know the pastors, and with the support of the community, I’m sure that his knowledge and love for God will abound. All I can do is continue to pray for him!
Sightseeing in Seattle (The Most Beautiful Thing)
One of my friends who is a Seattle native always asked me and my roommate if we went to any new places or did any new and exciting things whenever she swung by our apartment. She always teased us, “You guys are the stereotypical ECEs; you never go out and do anything interesting!”. My weeks were always packed, with nearly every day being some church-related group. But in retrospect, I got to see and experience the most beautiful thing in Seattle: the hand of God at work in this very broken city.
One Friday night, one of the regular church attendees and I decided to help out with UGM’s “Search + Rescue (S+R)”, where we hopped on a van and drove around the Seattle area, finding folks on the streets that need supplies, or just someone to chat with and pray. I was hoping to chat more with the people we interacted with, since I didn’t get a lot of that at the men’s shelter, but what I didn’t realize was that one of the guys who were in the van with us needed just as much ministering to!
As we drove around, he shared all the rough and terrible encounters with people in his life, that led him to where he was now, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. After we finished up with S+R, I ended up taking the bus back home with him for part of the way. On that very short ride, I reminded him that, despite his jaded and doubtful heart, the church existed for so much more: it exists not to raise its own flag, but to raise the flag of God’s soon-to-come kingdom on Earth. To do this, the church has to continue to faithfully and accurately preach the Word, be present in this world and with its people, and witness to them through prayer. I tried to share all that I had learned about ministry while in Seattle with him in a very simplified way.
And somehow, he understood it! “You know, I feel very ministered to right now, thanks for that,” he replied.
I wish that I followed up with him before I left. But it seems like he is still continuing to lean in — cautious, but still hopeful and wanting to be more fully known by God.
And this was one of the many wonderful encounters I had, in seeing how God works in the hearts and lives of people: It’s a mystery! Like I mentioned in my last blog, there is nothing that we can say or do to change people’s hearts! What we can do however, is be present and available, regularly praying with and for others, so that when God acts, we call it out immediately and invite others to explore and to celebrate God! We will continue to faithfully watch and wait.
I could never live for myself if I wanted to participate in this watching and waiting. I could never make my time in Seattle solely about my internship (the career experience, and money that comes with it), nor about chasing after experiences. I realized that I couldn’t faithfully watch and wait if all I wanted was to have (things). Instead, I needed to be.
If I were to give some sort of anthem to summarize this, it would be My Worth is not In What I Own. It’s a song I listened to every day before coming to Seattle, and also while in Seattle. I was constantly reminded to live for eternity. It’s a wonderful song, and I hope you give it a listen, in any tempting situation where you just want to live for yourself and have things.
My worth is not in what I own
Not in the strength of flesh and bone
But in the costly wounds of love
At the crossMy worth is not in skill or name
In win or lose, in pride or shame
But in the blood of Christ that flowed
At the crossI rejoice in my redeemer
Greatest treasure
Wellspring of my soul
And I will trust in him, no other
My soul is satisfied in him alone
Returning to Waterloo
I’m now writing this last section by the lake in Waterloo Park. My term had a pretty rough start: I landed back in Toronto and got back home Saturday night, to briefly unpack, organize and sleep at 12:30 AM, to then wake up at 6 AM to pack, eat breakfast, and drive up to Waterloo for church at 9 AM. That first Sunday back felt like a complete slugfest, packed with lots of cleaning and driving around for supplies. This totally affected my mood for quite a few days, as I just felt so exhausted and weary, especially with the tough coursework to come (and falling behind because of conflicting commitments 😶).
But what I needed the most was to pause and reset. This morning, as I finally got back into my rhythm of doing devotionals at 6 AM, I was reminded once again to live for eternity.
In my last weeks in Seattle, my pastor started preaching through 1 Thessalonians. He had a preamble to the series, giving some context about Thessalonica, and that it was the trade capital of the region (where many people came and went, because of work), filled with a mix of different spiritual belief systems. He claimed that Seattle was like the modern-day Thessalonica, where the exact same happens: people from all over the world come to Seattle because of work (mainly because of technology, but also finance and healthcare), and they come with their different beliefs. At that moment, my heart could only break for Seattle, as I invested so much there. I could only think, “God, it’s been a while ever since I really cared for a city’s well-being. Are you prompting me to come back and invest in Seattle?” But I was still unsure of it all, especially with no way of getting back to Seattle (I needed some sort of job offer).
But I knew I had to shift my sights to what I did dedicate to: Waterloo.
Really, Waterloo is also like Thessalonica — people from all over the world come to Waterloo for school, with their different beliefs, in pursuit of their future prospects.
To the Christian students on campus in Waterloo, do you not realize that you have the largest opportunity to witness on behalf of Christ? Every missionary goes out to various countries in the world. Yet, the world comes to us. How much better can you get than that?? And not only that, we as students have an advantage that no local church has — we’re students that can reach fellow students! Don’t waste this in pursuit of having your own things in life!
Instead, I invite you to be: be present, be available, be watching, be waiting. To come alongside the people around you, and to witness to them in prayer with and for them, always fully depending on the mystery of God to work in their hearts. Your worth is not in what you own.
