Missions and Evangelism Is for All
Ethan Lam was a part of the young adults team that went on a missions trip to a city in Asia. He reflects on how preparing for this trip, and going on it has grown him in his personal evangelism and understanding of missions.
Pre Trip
Evangelism was not something I took seriously since I became a Christian. I had always registered in the back of my head that all Christians should evangelise, but I was unable to intentionally turn that head knowledge into practice. I did not see the need to go out and intentionally share the gospel with random people I met, where in fact there is a great need for the gospel in the whole world; many people have not personally received the greatest gift of salvation that is through Jesus (Matt 9:37). That should spur in our hearts the desire to go out and tell other humans whom God created about the gospel, because it really means so much to us.
At the start of 2025, I started to take my personal evangelism more seriously, by participating in more group ‘walkups’ initiated by some of our church members, and tried to be more intentional when talking to my unbelieving friends I have in school. Although most of the time, I was really unintentional with evangelism, and even frustrated with it as there was not much fruit from my efforts.
When I was approached to go for a month-long mission trip to a city in Asia, it did not take much deliberation to sign up for it as I thought that it would be a faithful use of my summer to proclaim the good news of Jesus to a place where there is limited gospel presence. In fact, what a privilege it was!
Trip
Difficult aspects
The first few days doing this work were challenging and exhausting. It was a struggle for me to keep up with the routine of attending language classes in the morning then heading to campus to talk to new people. It was also common for the students whom we met to reject our requests to meet up again. In fact, rejection was the most difficult aspect that I had to face on this trip.
Eventually, a student we met was somewhat interested in reading the Bible with us after we managed to share the gospel with him, and I was excited at that moment. We managed to read the first chapter of Mark over 2 sessions. He was also interested in coming to church, and I brought him to his first ever church service. He found the service very strange and foreign. He also mentioned that after reading the first chapter of Mark, he did not intend to continue reading with us anymore as he struggled to think that the events and stories were real and if they indeed happened, or if they were all just made up and Jesus did not really do all of these miracles. It was difficult as I experienced first-hand the rejection of the gospel.
Rewarding aspects
Working with a team of like-minded Christians, partnering with them to share the gospel was something that I had not experienced before. It was so encouraging to see everyone so eager to share the gospel and to encourage each other to be bold despite setbacks and challenges which we might each face. The partnership was a huge motivation to keep on meeting people and sharing the gospel as we were intentional in praying for each other and pointing each other towards Jesus, whom we are serving.
Sharing the gospel with people who have not heard about it was also rewarding for me. Even though most of the time the conversation got really awkward, it is still a joy as they have finally got to hear the gospel. Indeed how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news (Rom 10:15).
Personal Reflections
It is God who gives the growth. This passage in 1 Corinthians 3 struck me. It is not my own efforts that convince others of the gospel, but it is God who works in their hearts through the Holy Spirit. We are just His labourers who faithfully plant and water. Growth can only happen through God. So despite the seemingly lack of fruit, we can be confident in God’s timing and will as we have done our part proclaiming the gospel. This also made me realise my self-reliance, not seeking God and praying to Him regularly, rather trusting in my abilities to do this work.
After this trip, it has spurred me to want to continue to do similar work more regularly back in my university campus, to continue to intentionally share the good news with strangers. Missions and evangelism are not just for the “good” Christians, it is for all Christians who love Jesus.
"What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labour. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.”
1 Corinthians 3:5-9