Every month we leave a
country, I wonder if we’ve left a legacy of faith that will last
long after we have left. I wonder if we’ve left as indelible of
footprints as they have left in our lives. I wonder if we will be
remembered as a team in love with God and His people in their
country.
At some point in time,
generally around the mid-life crisis, we start to think about the
legacy we will leave and wonder if we’ve done enough. Most people
want to be remembered and honored for their time on earth. We give
special honor and prestige to those who have made a public impact.
Yet many of the most honorable men and women are only known to the
few who knew their everyday acts of kindness, their smile that could
light up anyones day, or their words of encouragement and optimism.
Still the legacy I want to leave is one in which I will quickly be
forgotten. I do not want to be remembered for being the Chinese girl
from America, who spent some time with us. I would rather that I be
forgotten altogether. I did not come all this way, half way across
the world, to talk about me and stroke my own ego or put notches in
my belt. I did hope to come half way across the world to empower
locals to believe in the possibilities with God and begin to actively
improve their communities independent of “foreign aid.”
Foreign aid does not even compare to having the God who created you
and loves you so much that He would sacrifice His only son on your
side.
I hope that long after I
have left these places, long after the name of Priscilla Cheng is
forgotten, there will still be local people fighting for justice,
loving mercy, and seeking to be a part of the church for the
betterment of their communities because God’s heart is for wholeness
and health. I hope that long after I have left Iringa, Tanzania,
children’s Sunday school will draw children from the neighborhood to
fall in love with Jesus. I hope that English classes for adults will
be continued by local church members, Anthony and Rebecca, and that
the church will develop a mentorship program for an open exchange of
skills in different trades and crafts. I hope that local church
members will visit the local orphanage, a short uphill trek from the
church, to share the love of Jesus with those He called us to love
and care for. I hope that long after I have left, God’s work will
continue through the local church as it lives out the commission from
God to love our neighbors and bless those who curse us. The legacy I
hope to leave is one in which I am forgotten, but where the local
church has been encouraged to live out and actively pursue the
betterment of their community in keeping with God’s heart for people.
The legacy I hope I leave
is one of faith. Faith is believing that God’s promises are true –
that when His word says “Nothing is impossible with God”
(Luke 1:37), I can trust that He makes things that seem impossible,
possible. Faith is believing that God desires healing for
communities and cares for the poor, the orphaned, widows, and those
marginalized by society and made a way through His church to set
people free from their bondage (Isaiah 61). Hebrews 11:1 say “Now
faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not
see.” I hope that my faith and my story will inspire others to
live by faith to pursue the things of God and believe that “with
God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
