Hello, my name is Minji Lee, and I participated this year’s Arise as a full timer.

This year, I was able to participate full time as I was transitioning to a new job and therefore was able to adjust my schedule to accommodate.
Albeit small, it was my way of doing what God likes as a way of showing Him my thanks and love. However, after I agreed to participate, I was actually filled with feelings of dread and worry. As an introvert, I am not the best at engaging in conversation, and though I do say that I love God, the reality of my life is that I am incapable of leading a holy life, to the point that I did not think I deserved to evangelise.

However, I gained strength and encouragement from the words of my fellow Arise team members. That evangelism is ultimately something done by God, and so all I needed to do was to trust Him and His greatness. So I decided that I would not focus on my own sins, but focus only on God, and the cross that saved me.

Goldhill is a church that is situated in a small village north of London. I was moved by the love shown to us by the pastor and the congregation when we arrived. Such love felt foreign to somebody who lived in a society of competition and self-interest. What was even more intriguing was that I wished that more people could feel what I felt as well. And with this in mind, we began the door to door ministry on our second day.

There were four pastors at Goldhill, and for three of the days there I was in a team with 2 of them. On the first day of door to door ministry, we prayed while marching up and down on the street that we were about to begin the ministry. I was so nervous that I wanted to march at least another 2 times but we finished after just one. However, once I actually began, everybody who opened their doors to us were incredibly friendly, and all answered our questions to the best of their ability. Even when we asked about their faith or spoke of Jesus, they were friendly in their response. I believe that this was also by God’s grace.

When we first began the ministry, we were told by the Goldhill pastors that the purpose was plant seeds. We built a lot of relationships as we went around and spoke about Jesus and Christianity. We visited many roads both north and south of where the church was located. With just one week of service, my perspective of the village changed – I saw it as a place filled with souls that God loves. I will continue to pray for these souls so that the seeds that we have sown will bear fruit.

I cannot say that I have become proficient at evangelism after having participated in Arise. I am still no different from how I was before going to Arise. However, I believe this time I have been trained by God, to trust him. In the future, I will continue to do my best to rely on God alone whether it be during the Saturday outreach sessions or in my everyday life.