THIS body…
… loves to dance.
… has outrageously beautiful hair.
… is broken and constantly healing.
… has a distinct aroma and presence.
… knows its Maker.
… is the strongest body in the world.
… can move in ways you’ve never seen a body move.
… can give of itself freely without selling itself.
… is dirty and clean.
… can heal other bodies.
… can love in a way that moves you to tears.
… is richer than any other.
… can make you laugh until you pee your pants.
… grows everyday and experiences growing pains.
… has too many body parts to count.
… is not African or Asian or Latin American; it’s African and Asian and Latin American.
… is not male or female; it’s male and female.
… is human, but it’s superhuman and supernatural, too.
Friends, this isn’t just any body.
It’s the body of Christ. If you haven’t experienced the fullness of the body of Christ, let me tell you that all of the above are completely true and stated from repeated personal experience. And I pray that you will soon discover the same and more for yourself.
Recently, God has been reminding me of the power in the working body.
First Body Part:
On our last night in Thika, Kenya, a few of us ladies from Team DoZ (Daughters of Zion) had dinner with a missionary family from the States. We’d just bumped into Sam at the supermarket a few days prior, and he invited us over to chat with the family he has been living and serving with. Sage, Jackie, and I went and were amazed and encouraged by the Richardsons. They have a beautiful story, and I love that they have been through it all; they know what it means to be ‘roughing it’ and their faith has been stretched over and over to be where they are. This couple with three lovely young children and several Kenyan foster children are living in a compound built almost from scratch by the husband. They are about to open a children’s home and a pizza shop this year, and they love having guests (especially fellow missionaries) over. We loved connecting with them and we gained wisdom, insight, hugs, and laughter from this divine encounter. They understand us. They get the weird stares and cultural misunderstandings with locals (I get called ‘China’ or ‘Korea’ and he gets called ‘Osama bin Laden’). They get that it’s normal for us to talk about bodily functions at the dinner table! Seriously, though, I’m convinced that if for nothing else, God had us stay a week longer than expected in Thika just so we could unite with them. And it turns out we were a huge blessing to them as well! They were in need of prayer and encouragement, since they lack good community and people who pour into them as long-term missionaries.
Second Body Part:
At month 8 debrief in Karen, Kenya, Jesus spoke to me via so many amazing conversations. Through squadmates and mentor figures, He gave me more hints about my future. He also affirmed my identity as an Asian-American and showed me that I’ve been neglecting and even denying the importance of it throughout the Race. I realized that I had inadvertently claimed control and deemed unimportant what the Lord has already set a purpose for in my life. He is an intentional God, so even the fact that I’m a Korean-American on L Squad in this moment has meaning and purpose. I’ve had cultural identity crisis without even knowing it, as a lot of Asians in America do. But God cares that I’ve been affected by my cultures. He’s nudging me to support and interact with other Asian Racers (past, present, future) and missionaries in general.
Also at debrief, the body of L Squad was divinely appointed to be with K Squad and was thereby multiplied. Though I’m sad our squad wasn’t able to go to India due to visa issues, it was all in God’s plan. Had we gone to India last month, we could not have had a joint debrief with K Squad! It was so cool to worship with them and share stories, to love and laugh with different people who still get the Race culture and lingo. Jesus blessed me with an amazing K Squad buddy named Libby, who is also from NJ, and we were able to exchange stories. She said Jesus must have put us together as encouragement buddies because our life and Race stories totally complemented each other’s!
Third Body Part:
At the Thika School for the Blind, there is a student named John. This kid basically breathes art. He’s an extremely talented and shy 15-year-old who hung out with us even during his winter break because he lived nearby. John shared his artwork with us all the time, which inspired me to start sketching again! I remembered how much I loved drawing when I was younger, and I wondered why I’d stopped. I felt a desire to redeem what I used to do to gain praise and approval, to achieve ‘perfection’ in the past. God has turned around the role of music in my life from achieving to worshiping, so why not with art, too? So I’d been sketching more in my journal, and I had this random urge to draw a round hut one day. It had a cone-shaped roof and a door, nothing elaborate. It wasn’t inspired by anything I saw in Kenya, because Thika didn’t have huts. But a week later, I saw hundreds of these huts as we drove from Kampala to Lira, our current ministry location. They looked shockingly similar to what I’d drawn. It was incredible to see my seemingly random journal sketch come to life over and over. I remember exclaiming in my mind, Is this prophetic art?! Well, even if it never happens again, I’m content in the awesomeness it was! And all of that came to pass because I was moved by a teenage kid who loves Jesus and loves art.
Fourth Body Part:
Here in Lira, Uganda, we spent the first few days of ministry with people from Antioch Church in Waco, TX who are involved with a discipleship school. Travis (from our partner team Day 3) had connections with them, so we knew coming in that we’d be meeting them. But we had no idea just how impactful they would be. Honestly, if nothing else phenomenal happened the rest of this month in Uganda, I’d consider our time here so uplifting just because of those few days spent with them. God had already used them to do crazy things in Lira, like heal the sick, make/grow disciples, and baptize new believers. They invited us to join them in worship and prayer, and they brought us out to town to partner with them in street ministry/discipleship. The Holy Spirit breathed crazy life, energy, and encouragement into us through them. The first day, they prophesied over us and instilled new hope in us! The Spirit was tangible as one girl spoke from the mouth of God to me. I starting weeping without warning. I went to my new team leader Shari and broke down, blubbering I don’t even know why I’m crying, but I can’t stop! I didn’t even know I needed the encouragement until they gave it! Month 9, still going strong, feeling even better than first half of the Race in many ways, I thought. But wow, receiving that truth was like eating chocolate for the first time in forever, after having forgotten what it tastes like. The Antioch family even celebrated us as Racers by cheering and shouting around us for a good 3 minutes straight. Again, I wept. I was blown away by the intense love emanating from these people I’d never met but felt an immediate bond with through the Holy Spirit. Wow. Epitome of ‘life-giving.’ Moreover, they were somehow filled and blessed by our presence, our stories, our perseverance. Though it felt like I’d given almost nothing and taken so much, we’d somehow exchanged a whole lot.
Fifth Body Part:
Being with Team Day 3 has been wonderful for my team. We’ve been worshiping together and adopting the Antioch culture- which is really just true Kingdom culture- of encouraging and prophesying over each other as a norm during worship. What an answer to prayer! I’d been craving this kind of daily prophetic worship. We’re so blessed to be have a space to fellowship and to be expressive and free in worship. We’re blessed to have 14 others around us who will rush to our side if we say a mere three words: I need prayer. Even within our separate teams, we’re operating as a microcosm of the body, which is so amazing! I see the unique talents and passions the Lord has given my sisters in DoZ, and I can’t help but love them a little more each time I see them thriving in the way He made them and taking us along in it. We’re beautifully different and beautifully similar, like asymmetrical body parts with unique abilities. I press guitar strings with my left hand but slice an apple with my right, and the Lord knows that I couldn’t do it the other way around!
8365372914th Body Part:
And on and on it goes. I love that the body parts are virtually infinite. I love the way the body of Christ works, and I love that there’s absolutely nothing in the world like it. Thank you, Jesus, for being the head of the body and giving us life and purpose! We are broken yet renewed, and imperfect yet perfect by you.
… If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be?
…If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
