This year’s Arise program was my second time participating in Arise. Around this time last year, after being offered a role of cell leader, I impulsively signed up because I wanted to gain courage to evangelise. Despite the challenges of door-to-door evangelism, I found myself determined to do it again next year. However, after focusing on my own life for a year, I needed more courage than last year to sign up again. But because God placed a strong conviction in my heart, I prayed for courage and to be obedient, and by His guidance, I was able to go.
During the initial three-day training period, the most memorable thing was a simple yet practical statement from evangelist Mickey: “The gospel is not about something, but about someone.” This message resonated with me personally and helped me focus on Jesus Christ, the central figure of the gospel. Also, as I meditated daily on the life of the evangelist Paul from Acts, I felt great respect while reading about the path he walked before us. Having Paul as a mentor who walked this path before us provided great comfort and strength.
The church we went to, City Hill Church, had several years of experience serving as a host church for Arise and partnering with it. Pastor Ambrose focused not on visiting as many houses as possible but on meeting the people whom God had prepared, guiding us in prayer and preparation for this purpose. The entire congregation served our team with incredible dedication. Each member was truly sincere about the Gospel, and they actively practiced and made efforts toward the evangelization of their community. Being in fellowship with such people was a blessing in itself, and we gained strong partners in ministry.
Throughout the week, we served the community in various ways, including door-to-door visits, street evangelism, evangelizing in front of stations and shopping malls, praying for Basildon in different locations, homeless ministry and hosting a Sunday barbecue.
I found it particularly challenging to approach people and talk about Jesus in the shopping mall, but I learned a lot by observing Spence, who was on our team. Spence, despite feeling insecure, boldly engaged people in conversation and shared Jesus when he did. It felt like I was witnessing a future evangelist in the making 🙂 Being close to him, I could clearly see the personal struggles he was going through, yet seeing him set aside himself for the Lord’s will was so inspiring. It was a time that made me realize even more how great God is in using our weaknesses for His strength.
Personally, the biggest difference and advantage I felt compared to last year’s Arise was the very calm and everyday atmosphere. Participating in a mission/evangelism campaign like Arise itself is a great learning experience, but I realized after last year’s Arise that it’s not easy to continue this in everyday life. However, this year’s Arise instilled in me many thoughts and a heart to evangelise in my daily life. So, I pray that going forward, I can continue to pray for and share the gospel with the people around me and in the places where I am.
