FOR SUCH A CALLING AS THIS

By Jane Wong-Chin

“Sometimes life takes us places we never expected to go. And in those places God writes a story we never thought would be ours.” - Renee Swope 

Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. That was my piece of the world, my legacy and where my story began. My parents were Toisanese. Traditional. Hard-working. Strict and very poor. They immigrated to the United States, the land of opportunity for the poor to make a living and a place where the American dream was open to everyone. I had never moved from our Massachusetts home. Never ventured or travelled until God called – with a dream to be His and a calling to “Go.” That was the beginning of God’s plan for rewriting my story and opening a new chapter for His Calling.

God had plans to send me not West but back East to begin a new legacy in Asia. I love that God calls us out of darkness and then calls us to a greater purpose. He calls us to be saved and He then calls us to save others. But to “save my people,” I had much to consider, “For Such a Calling as This.”

For Such a Love as This

Mordecai, who raised Esther as his daughter when her father and mother died, sent strong words in the face of the proclamation of death to the Jewish race. Mordecai sensed Esther’s hesitation and her possibly misreading the dire circumstances of the Jews. So he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” – Esther 4:13-14 

Esther essentially was called to leave her ivory tower although she had every right to remain secluded in the comfortable, safe and opulent castle – living for herself and on the pleasures of the entire kingdom. She would be served, coddled and denied nothing in such a royal position. But she chose to leave behind the ivory walls of self-centeredness, a calloused heart, shallow dreams, royal comforts and arrogant security in achievements. Esther faced her calling, “for such a love as this.”

A love walk does not come easily or without personal sacrifice. Each time we choose to love someone, we choose to surrender a part of ourselves. Love costs us something we never thought to give up. Love makes us terribly vulnerable to rejection, hurt and disappointment. To love as Jesus loved means moving away from our physical, emotional, relational and spiritual comfort zones. Love means moving towards the cross and, when we get there, to stay.

When I became a disciple in the Boston Church as a college student, there were not many Chinese in the church. As college students, we shared BIG dreams to impact people’s lives and go out into all the nations to preach the good news of Jesus. My discipler asked me to consider why God chose me to be Chinese; to be a disciple “for such a time as this?” Why had God orchestrated my parents to immigrate to the United States before the 1949 China borders were closed because of the communist revolution? Why did they escape at just the right time when so many others did not? I believe this was so that I could become a disciple, go back and save my people.

When the Boston Church made the official announcement of a Hong Kong Mission Team in late 1984, my heart wanted to go but my mom did NOT. Since becoming a Christian, my mom relentlessly persecuted me. I lived at home and always had been an “obedient good girl.” We had a family laundry business, which was my life after school. But after becoming a disciple, my mom neither understood nor accepted what she viewed as “divided loyalty.” In the Chinese culture, family ties and devotion are the top priority because children owe everything to their parents – time, wishes, relationships, money, obedience and, yes, your very life. So with the demands of an academic scholarship, university clubs, a part-time job and a full church schedule of Bible talks, studies, college devotionals, midweeks and worship services, there was very little time for helping my mom at our laundry. Despite her verbal persecution, I remained committed to putting God first and never missed a meeting with the church body. I did my very best juggling responsibilities on all fronts, but my mother’s disappointment and anger remained. Therefore, when I signed up for the Hong Kong Mission devotional, I specifically laid out a “Gideon fleece.” If God was really calling me to “go” then He would need to make his plans for my life clear and obvious. I prayed that I would be able to help a Hong Kong girl become a disciple. A short time later, I was introduced to twin girls of Hong Kong and Vietnamese descent. They both studied the Bible and became disciples. You would think okay, that was a direct answer. But then I thought, Gideon had a second fleece prayer. This time, I asked for the impossible. 

My mom was not a disciple, which weighed heavily on my heart. She practiced ancestral worship faithfully, with an altar set up in our house. So if God really is calling me to “go,” then God would save my mom. A few months later, in early spring 1985, my mom fell down a few stairs and broke her foot while carrying the chicken she just had used for ancestral worship. This was the turn of my mom’s heart towards God. She turned her anger toward the idols, whom she had just worshipped but were unable protect her and prevent the fall. The injury forced my mom to stop working and close her beloved laundry business for three months for the first time in more than 30 years! She could now only lie in bed and reflect. I gave her a Bible and, during the next few months, she studied the Bible, repented, built her faith in God and was baptized, becoming a disciple and my sister in Christ in late June. God had made His calling irrefutably clear. 

In September 1987, I left home for this very purpose in response to a love that God held for the people of Hong Kong, Taiwan and China; a chance by grace to save them spiritually from the darkness. I have seen over the past 30 years, how many of these “Esthers” became disciples and then left their ivory towers to bring God’s love and the gospel to the lost. Some of my best friends and dear sisters have moved their families to be the missionaries that God dared them to be. 

As disciples, sisters, wives and mothers today, we must ask ourselves “Is being a disciple all about me?” Are we secluded in our ivory towers, surrounded by comfort, our feelings, our pursuits, our desires and our purposes? What are the ways God is calling you to love others? How are you remaining mission‑focused with a deep love for the lost? How are you sacrificing for the needs of your sisters? 

For Such a Time as This

To you, is God always early, late or exactly on time? While right timing is often elusive, bad timing always shows up as intrusive, annoying and inconvenient. We are on edge, anxious, disturbed, sleepless and frustrated. Usually, when we finally feel spiritually settled and our journey becomes smooth and straight, God’s timing brings an unexpected curve and seeming chaos to our well-scheduled and ordered lives. 

 “And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. … And the king gave a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his nobles and officials.” – Esther 2:15b, 18 

Esther was at the right place, in the right circumstance, and at the right time. FINALLY! She was a foreigner and an orphan, deprived of a “normal” family life. But then God intervened in the form of an unexpected and impossible fairy tale – from peasant to queen. She was favored by all; enough so, that a banquet was held in the Kingdom to celebrate her reign. This was the height of her newfound fortune. All was very well. But then, just as blessings flowed her way, the “bad” news came alongside “bad” timing. What we see is not just timing, but God’s perfect timing. God’s timing gives us a timely heart check and trust check. When we feel settled, we often are called to move. When we have just experienced a mountain top moment, we often are brought down to the valley of discouragement. When we have just celebrated our peace, we often are called to war. Timing will test what we choose to hold onto and what we, by faith, are willing to let go. Esther was humble in spirit and in sync with God’s timing. 

When Esther received the blunt words from Mordecai in Esther 4:13-14, despite the tone and timing of the disturbing message, she did not respond by protecting herself. She neither reacted emotionally with a victim mindset, nor rationalized or defended herself. Esther simply gave a humble and timely response. Surrendering to God’s timing was choosing to trust God’s timing, take the advice of her uncle and take action. Esther’s humility gave her incredible power to really hear the truth and follow God’s will. She was not afraid to lose her position, prestige or palace for such a time as this. Her reaction left an indelible spiritual impact on the women around her and, ultimately, on the salvation of her people.

When we felt settled in Hong Kong, we were sent to Taipei in 1991. After we planted the church and our family in Taipei, we were sent back to the United States in 1996. We returned to Taipei in 1999, and then were asked to serve in Hong Kong in 2007. We wanted to respond to the need but the timing seemed all wrong for our family. My two oldest daughters were in their turbulent teen high school years. Asya had just become a disciple in Taipei in August 2006. I was afraid that uprooting my children from their Taipei church family, friends, schools, language and everything familiar to them would ruin their chances for becoming disciples and staying faithful. The timing felt as though we were asked to “catch a falling knife” along with the many voices predicting this move would not end well for our family. Would this change shatter their security, tarnish their view of God and plant bitterness in their hearts?

We came back to prayer and grounded our faith in our God, who has never failed us on this wilderness journey with His timing and with the details. Asya and Chyna decided to take a school year in the United States and stayed with our other family, Kelcy & JaLaine Hahn. In the meantime, we faithfully started our process of applying for our working visas in October 2006. On January 3, 2007, we arrived with our suitcases, our daughter Xiana and our trust intact. However, in mid-February, our working visas were denied. And without a working visa, Xiana was unable to attend school. My doubts about the timing came boiling to the surface again.

By August, as KC Chan was appealing the denial of our visas, he suggested that we bring the girls back to Taipei so their education would not continue to be interrupted. We had no idea when or if the working visas would be granted. With a heavy heart, I settled my daughters into their elementary, junior high and high schools, and placed them in three different disciples’ homes. I am deeply grateful to these families for opening their homes and lovingly embracing us. Near the end of November, after a 13‑month wait, our working visas were granted. Xiana was able to enter third grade in Hong Kong without going through second grade and the older girls settled into the Hong Kong secondary school system. Three schools, three languages and three homes later, God has made perfect sense of it all, orchestrated through His perfect timing.

During these past 10 years in Hong Kong, God has blessed our family and our faithful move immeasurably more than we could have ever imagined. Under His perfect timing, God brought about Chyna’s baptism in 2008 in Hong Kong and Xiana’s baptism in Boston in 2016. We also have celebrated the marriages of Chyna and Asya.  Today, with their spouses, they are a part of China missions. Equally so, we have been incredibly and indelibly blessed with the opportunity to serve the Hong Kong Church, and gifted with a deep passion and partnership with the many heroes and friends of the faith along our journey here. 

God has chosen us not to be settled but to be sent. How did Esther’s willingness to put aside the control of her life, allow her to bring greater glory to God? How can we build a deeper trust in God’s timing of unexpected circumstances and challenges? How can we trust God’s timing from a broader, deeper and long-term perspective? 

For Such a Courage as This 

Life is full of hard realities and choices, especially with fears, hopelessness and the potential for death in that mix. For Esther, part of the response to God’s calling was incredible courage. Sometimes God doesn’t change your circumstances or your trials because He wants to change your character. Esther shows “such a courage as this,” while facing adversity and persecution. 

“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” – Esther 4:16 

Esther’s course of courage directed her towards a firm faith in God alone. Do you have a courage driven by faith? When facing the very real possibility of her own death, Esther called everyone to refocus on God and not the crisis. She gathered the women around her and created a spiritual haven of fasting and prayer. Her choice to embrace faith over fear gave her the inner spirit to surrender her life even if that meant death. It takes more courage to be submissive than fearful. It takes more trust to be still than take matters into your own hands. Esther maintained her spiritual and “set apart” identity with God even among a foreign community and in the midst of an overwhelming crisis. Esther, along with other spiritual heroes, were not perfect but they were courageously faithful in their worship of God rather than man. Neither did they give way to fear through many injustices, insults and injuries. I am personally grateful for the example of Jesus’ courage to walk the way of the cross and stay on the cross, which echoes the words, “if I perish, I perish.”

Persecution and trials come in many forms. Persecution came in the form of a storm that hit our global movement and our churches. It was a storm that would burn away at our idealism and our unity. This firestorm set us on a course to test our deeply held beliefs, core convictions, unified mission, discipling practices and our close fellowship. It was a dark time for the disciples when Satan tested our resolve and God tested our hearts. Like Esther and the Jews, as a people under fire, God called us to an “if I perish, I perish,” courage. This was my response in an open sharing to my spiritual family for such a devastating crisis in our family of churches: 

To the family of my heart...so grateful, so touched and so, so humbled, that we have met, loved, laughed, cried, embraced, fought, stumbled, repented, surrendered, matured, forgiven and dreamed under the Cross. You are a testimony to our true Hero who taught us about how to live and  how to die ... Isaiah 53. It has been a very faith- testing period for all of us, but maybe God knew we needed it to grow even more in our reliance on Him and in our humility and courage. 

I know that it has been tough for you and all of us to watch what has transpired, but I am confident that as time and heavy emotions pass, it will only serve to reveal our personal walk with God as well as our personal faith, trust and perseverance in Christ and to wait on Him in prayer. I have witnessed the consequences of taking our eyes, heart, dedication and trust off God – whether unintentionally or intentionally – leaving gaping holes where apathy, mistrust, disunity, bitterness, worldliness and judgmental attitudes fester into fear and perish our faith. I am very much at peace and full of faith about what is happening because I believe with my whole heart that God has chosen this timeframe and this way to reveal His will. The church always has been His and He will bring glory to Himself for His purposes. I have always held firmly to this belief. When we get in the way, God will purify us as He should so that the church will inspire the next generation of disciples and draw in lost souls. 

The Bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament, recounts so much of what we see today – disunity, doubt, division, the chaos and sinners, such as we are, repeating history. Each of us must guard our own hearts as Proverbs 4:23 implores and make decisions by courage and conviction for which we will personally and spiritually be responsible, and accountable before God. Going through the Word study has reminded me again of the Bible’s power, as well as its prophecies in what we inevitably choose to listen to and claim for our lives. It is a personal response to God and His authority; obedience to Him is sacred. 

I have come to realize that, in this humanistic age, how rare it is that I and others are willing to courageously stand up for God and His Name, His truth, His will, and His reputation. We stand up for the rights and feeling of others when we perceive injustices, unfairness, hurts and wrongs but how often do we stand up for the love of God and His honor? With humility and reflection, I come back to the cross and understand to whom I belong and to whom I worship only. 

Although these times are heart-breaking, they are faith‑building, unavoidable steps to even greater things as we personally examine the who, what and how of our relationship with God, the Word, our convictions, and our lives. I love that God is so patient, loving and forgiving that He gives us family and friends to get us through the fires of faith, sacrifice, courage and challenge on this journey. I am grateful that we are fellow partners, friends and sisters in the gospel and that we share one heart, purpose and spirit as we prayerfully head home in the same direction. 

As we face the trials of life, as disciples, how can the courage of Esther inspire us to grow forward in our faith? How can humility consistently keep our walk to be about God and not about circumstances, crises, fears and insecurities? Do we have spiritual relationships that we can lean into when the storms of life come? 

For Such a Calling as This

God uses our deepest fears and daring dreams to launch us towards our greatest calling. Where He could have left Esther alone, God chose to rewrite herstory. No longer was she an orphan and obscure; no longer was she poor and purposelessness. God brought Esther to the forefront of His cause for salvation. Her story changed, and so did her calling. She strove to live a righteous life among these Gentiles. She loved her people with fierce courage and wisdom and not with cheap sentimentality. Esther’s love contained no cowardliness and no defensiveness with regard  to being hurt or losing her crown. She humbly sought and leaned into a godly reliance on the only one who could save her and her people for such a calling as this. Likewise, your journey has molded you for your greater good exactly as it should be. Do not think you have lost time. It took every event you have encountered to bring you to this moment. And this moment is your calling from God. 

Be inspired to bring “glory to God alone.”

“Soli Deo Honor et Gloria”

Author’s profile of spiritual highlights:
Jane Wong-Chin was baptized in the Boston campus ministry in July 1982, served as an intern in the Boston Church (1985-1986), and married Steve Chin in August 1987.  Jane and Steve have served in the Greater China churches since 1987. They were on the Hong Kong Mission Team in September 1987 and planted the Taipei Church in January 1991. They have three daughters – Asiana, Chyna and Xiana, who are faithful disciples. 

Motto: ‘Soli Deo Honor et Gloria’ all honor and glory to God