CityLife Church Melbourne Australia

John 15:5 - “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” This is the verse that I believed God has given me when I went on a World Impact Short Term Missions trip to Cambodia. And so I went relying on God to lead the way; there were several occasions where we don’t really know what the day will look like. One such was the trip to a small village in Tarsu to run a children program for 170 children. My role was to tell a Bible story and to run the salvation bracelet craft. I had a rough plan in mind (story of Zacchaeus) but God orchestrated something amazing. God tugged at my heart to tell a story about His power (as illustrated through Jesus calming the storm) as many of these kids may not be church kids so they would not really know who Jesus is. I had a chat with Amanda (our team leader) she suggested that I could do 2 stories instead of one. The one I planned and the one that was tugging at my heart. So I told the story about Jesus calming the storm to show them that Jesus is God and is powerful. Then I told them the story about Zaccheus, which was my planned story. I told them about Zaccheus wanting to meet Jesus and from there I shared about our sins, separation from God, forgiveness and being with Jesus in heaven. I also taught them how to make the salvation bracelet and explained the meaning for each coloured bead. After I started to finish sharing, I noticed that the team were still getting their stations ready for the different activities. So I thought to play a game so that the kids don’t get restless waiting for the next activity. A number game came to mind. It wasn’t even really a game, just simple Maths addition questions. I asked them, “What is 1+1, then 2+2, then 4+4, then 8+8, 16+16,” all the way until we got the answer at 512. The older kids are pretty good as the number got bigger. It was during this game that God showed me that this is how his kingdom grows!!!! I then quickly told the kids that this is how God’s kingdom grow, one friend tell another, then 2, then 4, then 8…. because God wants everyone to go to heaven and it is only through his powerful act of salvation (as share through the stories of Zacchaeus and the storm). How amazing was God! He certainly bought these stories together and orchestrated it all. In fact, I hadn’t planned on the number game at all. The children, all 170 of them, sat and listen so attentively the whole time. I then prayed over them: that God’s words whenever spoken to them will take root in their young hearts. To God be the glory.

Posted in May 2025

Abide in Christ