Bless and be blessed, Transformation – May Li
I have had the desire to serve the needy for many years and I believe God has put this desire in my heart. In the past, I have served the elderly, orphan, refugees and some low-income groups through different NGOs and Christian Associations. The experiences were all good, but I did not feel the calling to continue serving while still having an inmost desire to “serve the needy”. I would consider myself as a “neat freak” kind of a person, so even when I am on public transportation, I would rather not sit on the seats where people have sat on when I commute on my own. I had never thought about serving the homeless especially after suffering for a prolonged period from a scary nightmare I had when I was a kid, in which I was chased by a beggar.
Last September, I came across the webpage of “Hope of the City” (HOC) on Facebook, and I noticed that they serve many different vulnerable groups of people in Hong Kong, and the homeless in Sham Shui Po were one out of the many. After feeling prompted by the Holy Spirit to join, I spent a month in prayer before deciding to join since the program required an eight week long commitment. At our first week of outreach, we gathered at the Hope of the City Centre before going to Tung Chau Park, the Director of HOC asked us to write down our personal goal, and what we want to achieve after completing the 8 week program, so I wrote “Bless and be blessed, Transformation” on the paper.
At our first week of outreach, we gathered at the Hope of the City Centre before going to Tung Chau Park, the Director of HOC asked us to write down our personal goal, and what we want to achieve after completing the 8 week program, so I wrote “Bless and be blessed, Transformation” on the paper.
It has been over half a year now since I started serving the homeless and I feel so grateful for what God is doing in me during these last six months. On my first visit, I was very scared of the homeless and would keep a far distance from them, but God opened my eyes to see how much HE loved the homeless even when many were often overlooked by the society and the government. When I continued serving, I really didn’t know where I could have the courage to talk to them. Although we didn’t talk much, I could establish a relationship with a few whom were willing to tell me their story in bits and pieces every time.
We even worship God altogether with other volunteers outside the park. God seemed to have removed all my fears from the nightmare I had when I was a kid, and transformed me step-by-step into the person HE wants me to be. God also did a miracle at my workplace when the whole world was going into recession because of COVID-19. HE greatly blessed me at my workplace to the point where I could miraculously achieve the whole year’s target at the end of March this year. My boss even gave me $3,000 to contribute to the Christmas celebration for the homeless last year because of the good business result I did.
In Roman 8:27, it says, “All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God's people.” God knows everyone’s heart and HE will answer our prayer according to His will, and His Holy Spirit will guide us as we partner with Him to accomplish His will. God transformed me during this serving opportunity. HE not only blessed me, but HE blessed other through me so His name may be honored. May all the glory be to the Lord our God.
