Macao Short-term Mission

Kitty Ma

When I ask a high school student, "What will you do when you finish high school?", and he says, "I will apply to UC Berkeley, UC Davis, or Biola," I know he is most likely from the United States. If a student answers, "I will apply to universities in the United States, Canada, and Australia," he is from Hong Kong. If a student answers, "I will look for a job" or "I will apply to universities in China", or "I will apply to the one and only university here," he is from the Macao Toi Shan area.

This summer was my third year leading a short-term mission team to Macao. Our outreach was mainly through teaching English from 1st through 12th grades in the Macao Toi Shan and Sun Kui areas. Most students were from middle and low income families, whose parents had a Buddhist background. Some students had attended Catholic school. Other than English classes, we also offered guitar, craft, and dessert-cooking classes. We also held two street evangelism meetings.

Our team consisted of 14 members. Some went for two weeks; some full-time, which is one month. Some were ABCs (American-born Chinese), and some OBCs (Overseas-born Chinese). We tried to pair up one of each to teach. As our missionary told us, ABC teachers can attract more students to join classes and, of course, their English pronunciation is more accurate. But students found it much easier to communicate with OBCs.

Each morning, we had group devotions. We then prepared lessons or practiced a skit for street evangelism. After lunch, we went to the spiritual battlefield to teach and share the Gospel. Every Friday, we shared the Gospel or a Bible story with the students in the classroom. But the best opportunity to sow and reap was through personal evangelism. We invited students to come before or after class so we could share with them. By God's grace, all the parents of the students that we asked allowed their children to come early or leave late. We discovered the best place for sharing the Gospel was McDonald's-it was as big as three to four McDonalds' in San Francisco. I led five kids to Christ there. The students were open to the Gospel and listened sincerely. A total of 18 students accepted Christ. I also helped the youth leaders by doing Bible studies with them and giving them words of encouragement.

I thank the Lord that our team was very enthusiastic. In the class in the Sun Kui area, five people accepted Christ. At the end of the teaching program, we invited the students to come back the next afternoon for a small evangelistic meeting. An additional five accepted Christ.

On two Sunday nights, we had street evangelisms. We sang, gave personal testimonies, performed a skit and preached a short message. Two accepted Christ. It was a great encouragement to me to see the ABCs work so hard in practicing Cantonese for the skit and for the Lord. And it was fun too. We also had opportunities to visit a nursery, orphanage, a death center and CCM Macao.

During this short-term mission, a total of 31 people accepted Christ. But we talked to only about 65 students. There are about 600,000 people in Macao and about 3,000 Christians. I encourage you to go on a short-term mission with us to Macao, for there are many opportunities to share the Gospel. The students listen. They are around all the time. They are friendly.

If you have already gone to Macao for short-term mission, I urge you to go again. I want to close with the following experience.

I led a student to Christ last year. Jennifer, the missionary who invited us to lead a team to Macao, said that the student had started to slow down in coming to church. He had met a non-Christian girl friend. She asked me to talk to him when I came. We did meet, and he accepted my invitation to have a devotional/Bible study with him everyday while I was in Macao. Then I asked him to invite his girl friend.

Back and forth the invitation went until finally she was willing to see me. We had lunch together. After we finished the meal, she knew that I would share the Gospel and immediately said, " It will take me a long time to think about being a Christian. I will not accept Christ easily." I answered, "Since I've come from so far away, I still would like to ask for the opportunity to share the Good News with you. It is something that I think is so good." She did not say "no," so I proceeded.

At least half an hour must have passed. I saw that she was really listening and receptive. I said, "I still would like to ask you if you would like to accept Christ to be your personal Savior." She bowed down her head, then smiled and said, "yes." It was such a surprise and a great moment. I invited her to pray with me. My student friend was so happy that his girl friend had accepted Christ, and as we prayed, he sneaked out to pay the bill!

So go a second time, a third time-the Lord will use you. It is an encouragement to the students in Macao that you go again. When you return, they will know you better. They will talk to you. Opportunities to share the Gospel with those you have already met on the previous trips will arise. So, go, go, go for the Lord, He will use you again and again. "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few."

(Challenger December/January 2000)