"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)"

Four years ago, I hit rock bottom. I was going through a very rough time in my life. God reached out to me one morning through the devotional book, Streams of the Desert.  The day and timing for the message from God was absolutely perfect. This helped me a lot in getting through that rough time. 

The verse of the devotion was "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)". 

It talked about the question that is often asked about 'Why didn't God help me sooner?' The devotion then began to explain that "God will not act on your schedule" and "desires to change you through the trouble and cause you to learn a lesson from it." I thought about this and began to realize that it wasn't God that was going to change me. It was me and my will to change for Him. I continued reading and the verse that most stuck out to me the most was "He will be with you in trouble all day and through the night. Afterward he will take you out of it, but not until you have stopped being restless and worried over it and have become calm and quiet. Then He will say, It is enough." I began to think about what I just read. Through all the troubles I had experienced, I had finally realized that I had nothing to worry about anymore and I was excited about the next chapter in my life that God had planned for me.

I wasn't nervous or scared anymore because I didn't need to be. I was now calm and ready and I was prepared to accept whatever God wanted me to do. I continued to read the rest of the devotion about trials. "There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is simply to try to get rid of the trial, and then to be thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever before experienced, and to accept it with delight as an opportunity of receiving a greater measure of God's divine grace." From my experience, I chose option number two. For what I believe, the trials and hardships He put me through was a test. If I truly changed my heart for Him, then that was all He wanted from me. It was a test to show that I couldn't survive life on my own, and that everything I did had to be for Him and not myself. It was a challenge to prove that God's love and grace will win over anything. I was hopeless without God and God proved to me that I truly needed Him in my life. 

Relying on Christ

"This is my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples'" (John 15:8)

Today, I spent time with the Lord doing my Masterlife section titled 'Relying on Christ'. If I really want to be like Christ and put Christ in the center of my life, I will be His disciple. And by being a disciple, there really is no excuse for not witnessing! 

Last week, I pulled up in a shopping center and parked my car. As I got out of my car, a homeless man yelled at me from across the lot. He asked if I had anything to buy food. At first, I pretty much brushed him off and replied something very quickly, not giving him any attention. Then I thought to myself, I do have a granola snack that I had brought to the gym. I thought to myself, God doesn't teach us to let our neighbors starve. I knew I could spare this granola for someone who really needed it. I reached back into my car and approached the man with this granola and told him it was for him. After that I quickly turned away, not asking for anything in return. The next thing you know, he was asking other people in the parking lot for food. I proceeded to go inside the store. I thought to myself as I was walking around. I totally missed a chance to witness to this man! I could have said something as simple as "Jesus loves you" and it could have changed the slightest thing in his heart. I couldn't believe I didn't think about this before. 

As I left the store, he was gone. I asked God why this incident happened. Even though I wasn't able to directly witness to this man, God prepared me with this incident to always be ready. There are going to situations when we are totally unprepared and God will suddenly place a situation in our lives. We always need to be ready to be witnesses of our Lord and disciples of His love and mercy. 

In my Masterlife time today, I read about Acts 8:26-40. The Lord had sent Philip to "Go south along the desert road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza." (V.26) On the road, the spirit told Philip to catch up with a chariot. He ended up meeting an important Ethiopian official who had gone to Jerusalem to worship and was now heading home. The man had been reading the book from Isaiah and Philip asked if the man knew if he understood what he was reading. The man replied that he needed someone to help him understand what he had been reading. The passage talked about how Jesus was led like a sheep on its way to be killed, treated like a nobody and did not receive a fair trial. Philip proceeded to this this man about the good news of Jesus Christ. Soon after, they came to a place where there was water. The man had asked Philip to be baptized and the man was saved. This story showed the importance of listening to the Spirit and being prepared to witness at all times.  

Preparing for this upcoming missions trip to Shanghai, I know I will need to listen to the Lord and be prepared at all times. Knowing our team will be facing cultural and language barriers, I know that it will be harder witnessing to the locals verbally. There will be people that have never heard of the gospel before. I need to continue to trust in the Lord that He will deliver. I need to trust the Lord that these opportunities will be opportunities to witness no matter what circumstances we are placed in. All it takes is witnessing to one man's life and hundreds will be able to follow after. 

Love and Family

Traveling to Shanghai in January was truly an eye-opening experience. One night, we we had the privilege to take our orphan and disabled friends out to dinner. I could only imagine how they felt like growing up with no parents. Its hard to think that they probably will never know their real parents too. They don't know what it feels like to be raised in a supportive, loving family. They don't know how its like to live in a house with clean water, air-conditioning, and dinner to be served from a loving mother or father. They showed me pictures of the village they grew up in and it was very saddening to see the living situations they were born in. 

What amazed me the most was that even though they faced these obstacles and hardships in their lives, they were all laughing, enjoying each other's company, and embracing one each other. This is who they had, this is who they were, and despite all of the things in their lives, they were happy to be where they were today. Despite the cultural barriers, I was still able to see the boldness and love of these young women. They were strong and were held accountable by each other. It made me feel better knowing that they had each other as a family. 

Growing up in the United States has shown me just how fortunate I really am. We take for granted so many things in this world while we get frustrated at the smallest things. We get mad for having to do the dishes, doing the laundry, or not being able to eat at the restaurant we want to eat at. We should be fortunate for even having dishes to eat off of, having clothes to wash, and having food at our connivence. We could be in living in far worst situations and the bigger problems in this world are what we don't get mad about. We don't get mad for knowing that children are starving, suffering, and sleeping on dirt every single day. We are so closed-minded, that most of the time, we do not realize that people are struggling to find food, shelter, care, or even employment. Its a vast and ambiguous world and I have learned that opening my eyes to the bigger important things is where it starts. I am glad I had the opportunity to meet these orphan and disabled women that night and for having the chance to go back and help them again. 

For more information about abandoned girls in China, please take a look at this amazing story: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/ft/2011/08/lost_and_found.html

The Tragic Tale of China's Orphanages...

Please take a look at this article below. It provides more information on the social problems that we will be helping and the story behind China's orphanages!

Click Here to Read the Article:

The tragic tale of China’s orphanages: 98% of abandoned children have disabilities

Hello Everyone!

 “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required…” [Luke 12:48]

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see. It’s amazing to witness the grace of God, yet alone experience it. I’ll be the first person to admit it. I was a wretch. My soul was lost and I was very-well blind. But through the grace of our Heavenly Father, I can now see.

Over the last year, I have grown tremendously in my faith, personal life, and professional career. Leaving college, I was still a broken individual. I was a lost sheep who wandered in a field with no direction. I was stubborn in believing I could do everything on my own will. I had no shepherd. I was very dissatisfied and I had become a very negative person. Everything changed when I accepted Jesus Christ back into my life. My values started to change. I became happier and I finally had direction in my life. As I continued to trust in the Lord more and more, His plans for me became clearer.

Trusting in the Lord has allowed me to utilize and grow upon the abilities He has given me. By taking on personal training, I have been able to teach one of my biggest passions in life, fitness. It has given me the chance to better someone else’s life by re-shaping and transforming themselves physically and mentally. It has been an encouraging challenge to help them reach their goals. Trusting in the Lord had also prepared my heart for a mission’s trip to Shanghai, China this past January. Traveling to Shanghai has opened up an entirely new perspective of the suffering and hardships that exist in Asia. Being able to visit a baby orphanage and seeing babies who were abandoned simply because of their deformities or disabilities was truly saddening. Being able to meet orphan and disabled woman from Gao Yao was very eye-opening. I was very encouraged to see how much they embraced each other despite learning about the hardships, neglect, and difficulties they faced as abandoned children growing up with limited opportunities. The Shanghai trip has shown me a greater problem that exists in this world and has allowed me to envision a greater purpose that God has in store for me.

Through the recent growth within my faith, professional life, and perspective, the Lord has prepared me with the passion, ambition, and heart to co-found ‘Renewal Cards’, a card company that strives to make social changes in the Shanghai, China community. Our company seeks to empower orphan and disabled individuals through workshops, mentorship, and employment opportunities of hand-crafted Chinese paper-cut cards. I believe God has led me in the direction to help fulfill spiritual, mental, physical, and employment needs of the lost, broken, and underprivileged community who have yet to be exposed of the love of Jesus Christ. By preparing me through personal training, I believe God has given me the ability to teach these orphan and disabled individuals about exercising, stretching, and basic workouts in which will improve their overall health mentally and physically. Disabilities have hindered these individuals from obtaining physically demanding jobs. By giving them opportunities of feasible employment like card making, we will be able to fulfill one of the great needs of their community. By teaching, supporting, and providing for these individuals, we will be able to show the love of Jesus Christ in China. 

As someone who is 23 years old, I believe that God will continue to open more doors for me. On behalf of Renewal Missions Inc. we seek to continue working with pastors, house churches, and orphanages in Shanghai, China. We are currently developing workshops in which will teach locals, Christians, and non-Christians about the need to mentor and provide for the orphan and disabled individuals in the Shanghai community. In June, we will be making a trip back to Shanghai, China. We will be working with the orphanage, house church, and we will be volunteering at a fitness camp to witness to the locals in Shanghai. We seek to create an long-term program in which will continue to benefit these individuals needs mentally, physically, professionally, and spiritually. We believe we will be able to spread God’s grace to those who are lost, blind and have yet to see.

In His Name,

Josh Kuey