Burning Bushes

Last week I talked about the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit that comes on this group of people. Remember, 500 people watching fly up into the sky. 380 decide, hey, actually, sorry, it was pretty cool. I'm just going to go back to my normal life. 120 said, I can't turn back now. There's something here that I cannot unsee. And so I have to do something. And 120 of them said that. And they said, well, where should we go? Well, let's go find a room. Let's go find the upper room and let's just pray there. How long should we pray there? For a few hours?

Let's do that more than that. Let's do a day. No, let's do more than that. So two, three, four, five, 10 days, this group of 120 pray going, God, we cannot go back. Can you send us the Holy Spirit? And after 10 days, finally, he comes and boom.

And what we saw was in Genesis 11, the Tower of Babel, God sees the pride of man trying to make a name for themselves. So he confuses them and gives them lots of different languages. So they start talking to each other in different languages and they can't understand each other. So they can't build this big tower.

So they have to scatter and do what God asked them to do. Fill the earth with my glory. Go instead of build your own tower.

And you see, at Pentecost, there's a beautiful redemption, reversal of that curse, because now they do understand each other because of the Holy Spirit.

And what's being shared? The good news of Jesus Christ, the mighty works of God.

This reversal of the Tower of Babel is just beautiful.

And then, of course, we talked about the Passover, which is when Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments, with these two tablets.

And he himself came down with the law. But now at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes down on everyone.

How beautiful is that? And back then, 3,000 people died because of what they did that was wrong.

But now at Pentecost, 3,000 people are saved. Another reversal, another redemption of what happened in the past.

The Holy Spirit is doing something, moving amongst his people.

And so they scatter out. They start going and they start speaking these languages they don't understand themselves.

And people in the streets are like, why are you speaking my language? How do you know what to say to me?

God speaks in my language? That's crazy.

And so the gospel, the church, is born that day. That is the church's birthday.

And so as they're talking, then what happens is people are like, what is going on?

And then Peter stands up and says, hey, guys, they're not drunk. It's nine o'clock in the morning.

Actually, they've not even finished fasting yet, so they've definitely not drank anything.

This is something else.

And then he shares this passage here that we're going to read a little bit of today.

And he starts to quote the prophet Joel.

And he says, in the last days, his spirit will pour out on who? On all.

So Moses went up to the mountain by himself to meet God by himself.

But now the spirit is on all.

And I asked the question, hey, imagine if Moses was at Pentecost.

This Moses, who was so keen to see God, he was like, God, let me see you.

And God says, you can't see me. If you saw me, you would die.

But I'll hide behind this cleft, hide behind my hand, and you'll catch a glimpse of me.

And that'll be enough.

So that was Moses.

And so when he went up to the mountain, there was fire.

And so he would have seen God at this the most incredible way.

The burning bush, this bush that should have been consumed by fire, was just there burning.

And Moses got to see, basically meet with God.

So he, imagine him at Pentecost, he would have been like, guys, you guys, do you realize what you've got?

Only I could go up and I was terrified.

But now you guys have him living inside you.

And I pitched the question to all of us.

Imagine if we were all, each individually, a burning bush.

That's what we are.

Imagine Moses stepping into here, is what I said.

He'd be like, you guys all have the burning bush inside you, and yet you're just sat there.

Not living the life that you're supposed to live.

And then I said, well, what about if you feel that way?

You feel stale.

You don't feel as though you're really connected to God.

You're not on fire.

What do you do?

And I said, go find someone who is on fire and sit next to them.

Catch their fire.

Sit next to them and you will feel that fire burn and it will inspire you.

Today, I have the pleasure of having a conversation in front of you with actually one of my burning bushes.

So this lady that I'm going to introduce you to, she is incredible.

You sit with her for 30 minutes, for just an hour about, and to hear what she does, you'll be like, this lady is a superhero.

But before she comes up, I want to tell you, she is not a superhero.

And she will tell you she's a not superhero.

Because often, where you're sat, you might think, well, do you know that missions life?

That go make disciples of all nations?

That preach the gospel?

It's for people who are pastors.

It's for people who are missionaries.

It's for people who are willing to go to Africa and do crazy things.

I'm not that person.

I'm just a banker.

I'm just a physio.

Just a moment of silence there for our physios.

Only joking, I love my physio.

He's so good.

But what I'm here to tell you is, this lady I'm about to introduce you will seem like a superhero.

But first and foremost, I want to tell you that she's just my friend.

She's my friend who said a simple yes to God.

And then she said another simple yes and another simple yes.

So we're going to go on a journey together.

And she's got some pictures that she's going to show us.

About what she does.

And I'm super excited for this.

So can I invite you just to give a round of applause for Joyce to come up and join me.

Hey Joyce.

Hello.

Do you want to take a seat anywhere?

While you get ready, let me just do this.

I have to hijack this.

I'm so proud of your pastor, James and Christina.

I'm bursting with pride.

And I'm so glad that you have them.

And I know you'll appreciate them.

But they make...

I just want to honor them for a minute.

They make sacrifices that you and I don't know.

They and their family.

So I just love on them.

And then I think you guys are so blessed to have them.

So I want you to give all your support to them.

Even before they ask you, you go and volunteer.

Because they are amazing.

And you can see it.

God's hand is on them.

God's anointed them.

And it's so exciting.

I'm just so thrilled to be here today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

No more nice things.

This is supposed to be the pulpit where we open up the word of God.

But I really do believe that this is...

This is actually something that I think that God has his hand in.

And what I hope that as we have this conversation with you is...

You ask yourself, what's your simple yes?

But if you would allow me to give me five minutes to recount my story,

with Joyce, because it's a crazy one.

Which leads us to where we're at right now.

Because when did you first meet Christina and I?

Tell people that.

When they were 18 and someone had hair.

Lots of it.

Too much of it.

And I wasted it.

And so the Lord punished me.

Yeah, so we grew up in the Chinese church.

I told you that.

The Chinese church that was, you know, typical Chinese church.

But when we went to university, we bumped into someone who said,

oh, what church are you going to go to?

And we said, oh, we're probably going to go to the Chinese church.

And then someone said, well, hey, have you heard of Hope City?

And we didn't really know what it was.

We said, oh, okay.

Sunday, come and try out on a Sunday evening.

So we went to this church, which is an Aussie church,

which is called Hope City.

Just the two of us.

And we were shocked.

And I told you this before.

Because it was like, worship actually sounds good.

Like, the people sing in tune.

And there's this thing called a synth pad, which covers all your mistakes.

And we were like, Christians are cool.

And this was when Christina and I had first started dating.

Yes.

And so you knew us way before, way before.

And Joyce, you were just part of that journey

and just showing us a different side of Christianity, right?

Do you remember anything about us?

Oh, I remember two really good-looking people showing up at our house

with my husband where I was.

We were on furlough, I think.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

We've got three kids.

So the first one was born.

And then I went back to the UK to give birth to the second and the third one.

So I think it's that period because of childbearing reasons that we've got to meet.

That's not a bad.

Okay, let's keep going.

And so imagine Christina and I, 18 and 19, we go to...

To our cell group.

You were at our cell group, yeah.

And we go to their house.

And we actually, because you lived in Sheffield,

which is just a godforsaken land, we stayed over.

I remember that.

And then I was looking...

I don't remember that.

And then I was looking through a photo album.

I don't know why you even gave me a photo album to look at.

And then I saw a picture of this teenager in there.

And I was like, how do you know Victor?

Who was actually maybe a kid that through my relatives in Hong Kong

had gone to UK for boarding school

and ended up staying at our house

because our parents were being guardians for them.

And I said, Joyce, how do you know Victor?

My cousin.

And then I was like, whoa, that's a crazy different connection.

Fast forward a few years,

we go back to Birmingham where our church was.

And we were interning there.

And then you...

Yeah, so like I said, we've got three kids.

So you'll soon find out that I basically live in Africa.

And our three kids were...

I had to homeschool them.

And I'm very proud that they're all still alive.

They've survived my homeschooling.

And then so the...

And then since then, God,

when they went to secondary school,

God blessed all of them with scholarships

in boarding schools in the UK.

So we had to have guardians.

And we were visiting the guardians of my firstborn.

They were my school friends in university.

And they said, we've got a surprise for you.

And I was like, ta-da!

Like, oh, there's a new pastor who's interning at our church.

He's called James.

And she's like, what?

I know James when he was 18,

when he had lots of hair.

And so we ended up meeting in Birmingham.

And we were just having lunch.

And we were like, hey, actually,

we feel called to go to Hong Kong.

This was a few years into it.

And she was like, oh, we're in Hong Kong.

I said, well, there's this church called...

Wait for it.

KFC.

Because no one knows KFC outside of Hong Kong.

And she was like, oh, Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is one of our biggest supporting churches.

And then your brother's in-laws

were at our house trying to...

It is a crazy story.

Are you keeping up?

Or you're lost?

You're lost.

You're lost.

Anyway, it's just crazy coincidence

that our lives just keep overlapping one another

across, what, three countries?

Yeah.

Three countries?

And final one.

And then Christina starts working

in this international school,

Yiu Cheng.

And she sits down at her desk for the first time.

And then there's a flyer on her desk.

And what is it?

It's New Site Congo.

And somehow you were involved

in the school that we were in,

the church that we came to,

the old church that we were in,

and the university,

and the church that we were in.

So you can see this is just a story

that has been going full circle.

And last Tuesday,

we just caught up for a little bit.

And I was like, you know what?

Are you free on Sunday?

Let's talk.

Because I've sat with you for 30 minutes,

and I feel like I'm on fire again,

which is exactly what I talked about last week.

And so maybe you need to hear

a little bit of this story.

But Joyce, I want you to tell people

a little bit about you and Hong Kong.

You grew up here.

Yeah.

What school did you go to?

I don't want to say anything.

How you can.

I went to a school called

Darsus and Girls School,

commonly known as DGS.

And then I went to a school

called United World College,

UWC, which is in the UK.

And then I went to University of Edinburgh,

where I studied medicine.

Where you studied medicine.

And then that's when you,

oh, actually, we can put some pictures up.

By the way, I have no idea

what slides he's putting up.

So this is as much a surprise to you as to me.

Well, it's a surprise to them

because they don't usually get slides.

So this is already.

Oh, okay.

So next picture.

So you grew up in Hong Kong.

You became a doctor.

Next picture.

That's when you became a doctor.

Yes, that was when I had black hair too.

Where was this?

This was in Gabon,

which was where I did the elective

during medical school.

So I had this really well thought out plan.

So like I said, I was in,

I can just talk, right?

Yeah.

Okay, you just stop me

when I talk too much.

Okay, good, good.

So I was in University of Edinburgh

and I've always had a sense of calling

that God wanted me to go to Africa,

even though I'm not actually very adventurous.

Actually, put it differently.

I was not adventurous.

I don't like camping.

I don't really like insects or anything like that,

but I just felt I was supposed to go to Africa.

So I had four months

where I could go anywhere in the world

for my electives.

So that was a really good plan.

The first two months,

I was going to go to Africa,

to a country called Gabon,

where I was going to see whether or not

there's some God meat in it, you know?

And then my second half

was probably more important to me at the time,

was to go back to Hong Kong

on a very serious mission,

which was to find a Chinese Christian boyfriend.

Because in Edinburgh,

back then, it was a desert,

like,

you want a Chinese and a Christian?

That was like,

you've got to come home to find a boy.

So I packed up my big,

you know,

rucksack,

and I had lots of donated medicine.

I was a druggie,

you know,

medicine.

Bring it to this mission hospital,

and that's where I was.

Wow.

Yeah,

in the middle of a rainforest.

Like,

yeah,

it was crazy.

And you don't end up finding

a Chinese Christian boyfriend?

No, I didn't.

Because you end up finding,

next slide,

Henri.

The best looking man

to live on planet Earth!

Yes!

Praise God!

God does miracles.

Well,

can you tell us how you met Henri?

Oh,

so,

yeah,

so when I was in

this mission hospital,

I met literally

the words that you're using,

superheroes.

These American-Canadian missionaries.

I thought,

oh my gosh,

they're like those people

you read in biographies.

They're like,

super tough,

super brave,

super strong,

super spiritual,

super kind,

super patient,

like,

nothing ever faces them.

They're like superheroes

doing these superhero feats

that you can't even imagine.

And I was miserable.

I was miserable

because I was like,

look at me,

like,

there's no way on Earth

I'm going to be a missionary.

Like,

I just,

I just can't do even remotely

what they do.

And so,

I started having this

conversation with God

that was really boring

that just replayed

several thousand times

which consisted of God

saying to me,

Joyce,

I want you to go to Africa

to serve me.

And we're like,

who,

me?

And,

no,

someone else,

you know,

God would say,

Joyce,

I want you to go serve me

in Africa.

And I was like,

you've got to be kidding.

This is like the worst thing ever.

Like,

it's never going to work.

And one day,

I actually literally repeated

that same conversation

on a beach

from eight in the morning

to three in the afternoon.

And then finally,

at three in the afternoon,

it suddenly dawned on me

that God's really stubborn.

He's not going to change his mind.

And I either am a Christian

or I'm not.

It was as simple as that.

I either really believe God

to be who he says he is

or I don't.

And if I really do believe

that he is the God

that we read here,

there's only one way

to live this life

and that's to follow him

and trust him

and obey him

even when it didn't make

any sense to me at all.

So next to my journal

where I had actually listed out

to God

seven big fat reasons

why I should never be allowed

to be a missionary,

the three words

lose your life.

And I said yes

to God's call to Africa.

And I would really encourage you

like someone once said to me

you need to sign a contract with God.

When you say yes

to being a Christian,

they said what you're actually signing

in that contract.

I know there's some lawyers here.

So you say whatever,

wherever,

however,

whenever

and you just sign it

because you don't know

where God's going to take you.

But you have,

it's either you're a Christian

or you're not

and you say yes or not.

But I do get to my point.

My point is

on my way back

from that beach,

I met the best looking man

to ever walk on planet Earth.

And that's how I met him.

And I,

he thanks God

every day for me

and the fact that I met him

the day after I said

yes to Africa

because

he's originally from Gabon.

He's British,

British Gabonese.

And if I had,

I think the timing

was really interesting

because I think

if I met him first,

I might have felt

that I said,

I will say yes to Africa

because of him.

But as it turned out,

I can't blame him for anything.

I've got to deal with God.

Can you guys see

where we get some of our,

like actually,

a few years after that

when Christina and I,

we'd met them,

gone through university,

got married,

started working.

I was a teacher.

She was a cardiac physiologist.

And it was the same thing

when we felt God say,

hey,

quit your jobs

and go into ministry.

And at that point,

she was pregnant with Ruben.

And it was the same thing

that we were saying.

We're like,

well,

how do we do this?

Why would we quit our jobs

and then go here?

But who's going to look

after our kid?

And then it became

the same question.

It's either you're a Christian

or you're not.

It's either you say yes to God

and we talked about this

the other day.

It's pretty black and white.

Either we believe God

and we trust him

and we'll just say yes

to everything

or actually we just stop

going to church full stop.

It was a very simple thing.

And now looking back

at these,

I'm like,

oh,

I may have actually

caught that from you.

Here's a picture of Henri.

Of course,

he's an eye doctor.

Next picture.

So that's him.

Yeah,

so I think this photo

is Henri operating.

So he does mainly eye surgeries

and I'm a family medicine

by training

but I've always just done things

that I thought would be useful

for Africa.

So I've done things

like infectious diseases,

HIV and obstetrics,

gynecology.

And just the next picture

of her family.

So these are the three kids.

Can you tell us their names?

So Charissa is 19

and Ezra is 16

and Charissa is 14

and that's the best looking man

on earth again.

Wow.

So good.

Can I tell people our calling?

You can.

Because our family

because I think

when I see it

that like I just,

I think God really

calls us as families

and not just us as individuals.

So our children,

our whole family's calling,

you know,

they're growing up now

but our calling comes

from Luke 10, 9

that says,

heal the sick

and tell them

the kingdom of God

is near you.

So for us,

we are passionate

about using medicine

as a vehicle

to bring people to Christ

and the way we see ourselves

is like,

just like a room here

where, you know,

there were in the Bible

where there's on the roof

there were four crazy friends

who lifted the ceiling off

and created access

to bring people to Jesus.

So a lot of people

would never set foot

in a church

or, you know,

an evangelical meeting

but they would come

to our hospital

and so we're like

the crazy friends

who have to do something

that people don't necessarily

approve of.

Like, I think if I lift

your roof off right now,

that might challenge

our friendship.

But to bring people

to Christ

and so that's what

we're really passionate about.

Which is all nice to hear

when we say it here

in our own context.

It's all fun and games

until you actually

have to do it.

And the next slide

is actually a picture

of you guys

at the airport.

Now, you haven't talked

about this picture

but this reminds me

of a picture that I have

but tell us

what this picture is.

That's when they were

6, 3 and 1

and we moved

from the UK

to the Republic of Congo

so our first place

was really remote

and I've never been there

so it was really

literally like,

you know,

saying yes to God

and not really

understanding

what it would involve.

Like, we kind of knew

but, you know,

sometimes you just don't know

until you're there, right?

And those who have said yes

and I'm looking actually

at my brother here,

I remember when he first

said yes to God

and he went to,

I think it was Zambia

and that first night

when you were there

and it was like,

oh my goodness,

I need to get on the plane

and go home.

This picture reminds me

of me and my family

when we were just about

to fly seven years ago

to Hong Kong.

Now,

I even have

kind of just physical feelings

just come up

as I remember

just not knowing

what would be

on the other side

of this plane journey.

Now, I've since found out

that the other side

of the plane journey

for me

is Pacific Place.

Which is

quite fine, thank you.

But of course,

you went to Congo

which is a whole different place.

Yeah, it's really

in the middle of a rainforest.

Actually,

this was just the beginning

of the journey.

So once we got to the capital,

back then,

not now,

if you visit us now

we're not there anymore

but the first place

we went to

was literally

in the middle of a jungle

where there's like

no roads to there.

So it's either taking a plane

or going on a boat ride

that would take three weeks

but there's no bathroom.

So we wait for the plane.

And the plane,

we had tickets

but we had to wait 19 days.

So we just arrived

in this country

where we knew no one

and every day

we'll pack up everything

with the three kids,

six, three and one.

So like your little one

just moving around

and then we would go

to the airport

and they'll say,

sorry,

the plane's not flying today

and we'll go home.

And the next day

we'll do it again

and we did that

for 19 days.

And then finally

on the last day

they said,

okay,

you can fly today

but you're not allowed

any luggage.

So I'm going now

to this rainforest

with a baby

still in nappies.

And I was like,

no,

no luggage.

They said,

yeah,

don't worry,

it'll come on the next plane.

And then I did

what any sane woman

would do.

I bursted crying

at the reception

and then they're like,

okay,

they call me white

because even though

I'm obviously not white

but to Africans

I'm white.

Like,

white woman crying,

okay,

let her have

two suitcases.

So we survived

in this,

we arrived at the place

we were going to

on two suitcases

and of course

the luggage took 28 days

to arrive.

but it was like Christmas

after that

like when we got it.

Now we're heading

into the territory

where you're going to start

being tempted

to see Joyce

as a superwoman

and I want to keep

reminding you

she's just my friend.

Who cried every night

for the first year.

Yeah.

Like,

I'm kind of normal.

You would cry.

I wouldn't say you're normal

but she is

just a person.

We're going to

share a few slides

of the stuff that you do

because this is

really incredible.

This is quite fun

because I don't know

what's coming up.

Next slide.

Tell us about what's happening here.

this is Henri

sharing the gospel

so that's part of our calling

about sharing

just bringing Christ

to people.

Which is incredible

because there is work

that you do

when you go out

and you literally

just heal the sick

but your calling Luke 10

is to heal the sick

and of course

to bring the good news

of Jesus Christ to them.

Yes.

So that's important.

Next slide.

Just another one.

That's the church

in the forest.

That is incredible.

It makes us feel really good

that our seats are comfortable.

But he's again

still sharing the gospel here.

And then,

of course,

you've come back to Hong Kong

to update a lot of us

about something

that's exciting.

You started in the rainforest

with nothing

but show the next slide.

You ended up now,

fast forward,

you've built this.

Yeah.

Can you tell us

about what this is?

This is crazy.

This looks like

the Avengers headquarters.

Tell us about it.

So,

we were in this

middle of nowhere

for a while

and then my husband

went to,

any of you heard

of Mercy Ship?

It's the biggest floating,

yeah,

it's the biggest floating

hospital in the world

used to be run

by Youth of the Mission.

So my husband

went there

to operate

for about three months.

He comes home

and he said,

Joyce,

we cannot stay

where we are

because if we stay

where it's so remote,

we can only help

the people

in the vicinity.

He said,

we need to go somewhere

that is more

accessible to patients.

And I said,

no.

I didn't even say,

let's pray about it.

I was like,

no!

Because it's taken us

like,

what,

four or five years

to actually start

feeling human

in the middle of nowhere

because it was really hard.

I'm talking about,

you know,

we only had electricity

three times a week

for three hours at a time.

But we found a way

to do it

and then I was like,

I don't want to go

somewhere new.

But then God just,

I mean,

honestly,

if we're here,

like,

you know,

we'll be here

all day,

all week

just to tell you

the amazing things

God has done

and the way

he's brought us.

But God showed us

to go to this new place

called Westo

and he said,

I want you to go

and build a hospital

and create space

so that God can bring

other people

like yourselves

to come and do

what God's placed

in their hearts.

And then the first time,

so what actually happened

was my husband and I

were on the same

dining table

that you probably

would have eaten off.

We prayed

and we put down

every single thing

we know that community needs

and we trust God

to bring it to pass.

Not just us,

but like other people,

generations,

kiddies,

to come and do.

And then we took

that piece of paper

to an American engineer

and asked him,

how much land

do you think

we're going to need?

And he said,

five hectares.

And then so we took it

to the government

and asked them

if we could buy

a piece of land

for five hectares

and they gave us

a six,

one for free.

Some people said,

why didn't they just

give it to you for free?

The whole lot.

We're like,

well,

because I don't want

to run into

the risk of them

saying I'm going

to take the land

back,

et cetera.

And then the engineer

said,

okay,

I'm going to calculate

for you how much

we think this is going

to take.

And he said,

five million US dollars.

And I literally,

literally like this,

I fell off the chair.

I was like,

no,

like I can just

about manage to do

what I could.

And honestly,

since then to see

this place happen,

it's just,

it's amazing.

And so I know

some of you here

has been with us

on this journey.

It really is nothing

short of the act of God.

And we say it all the time.

Sometimes like you,

I think you want me

to convey the message.

Like honestly,

if you know me

a little bit better,

you will definitely know

I am far from a superhero

or anything extraordinary

about me at all.

If you see,

if you look us up

at Newside Congo

or at the Samutus,

which is our surname,

and you see any,

any good in us,

it's not because of us.

It's in spite of us.

And if you speak Cantonese,

even we mess things up,

okay,

and we cause chaos,

actually.

It's like,

you know,

your kids try to help

and you actually

just make things worse.

They're very helpful.

They're very helpful.

So like,

we're not,

we don't help God,

but God allows us

this amazing privilege

to be like just there

and let him do his crazy moves.

And so we're about to move in.

So you can come visit.

I'm going to show you

some pictures

and what they do.

Before I do that,

doctors,

if you're a doctor here,

I want you to ask yourself,

oh,

what is the Lord asking of me?

If you're actually

of any profession here.

any profession.

Actually,

she'll say.

Handyman,

administrators,

we have a huge children

and youth ministry

that is already,

we're already partnering

with 30 schools

and we have a magazine

that has 22,000 readers.

We're looking for someone

to come and bring this,

you know,

really grow this.

Like right now,

we have a chance

every year

to go into school

90 times

to preach the gospel.

And I don't get

let out of the jungle a lot,

so I have to tell you,

I've got 90 times

I can go into school

and tell them

about what Jesus

has done for us

and what he can do

for these kids.

And I'm,

my husband and I

are unable

to go 90 times

because we're too busy

doing other things.

We've got,

right now,

our magazine reaches probably,

we probably have about

660,000 times a year

to have the gospel

in people's homes.

And there's a hunger

for more.

So I'm just telling you now,

if your heart is stirring

a little bit,

don't ignore it.

Just get in touch.

We need people.

We really,

really need people.

Okay.

Quick fire round.

I'm going to show you pictures.

You're going to tell us

one story about these pictures

and we're going to go.

Next one.

So tell us a little bit

about what this is.

This is the inside

of the hospital.

So everything was,

it really was like

from nothing

to something just crazy.

You can go to the next one.

Next one.

This is what it looks like now.

Woo!

Come on!

You guys,

you've guys not been to Africa.

You don't realize

how crazy this thing is.

Honestly.

You guys got to come.

You got to see it.

And where did you get this stuff?

So a lot of it

is from Hong Kong.

We physically went

and lifted these things

because they're so pretty brand new

but people didn't want them.

Or we go to Alibaba

and pull bull,

Pang Lang Zeng.

Yes.

Next one.

There's lots of pictures.

Pick one and tell us about it.

So there's like 40 visitors.

We hosted 40 visitors

to come and do

all sorts of things.

And I think one of the

really special things

that we love about

our ministry is

God brings families

and young people

to come.

And God's really,

the name is New Sight

which is to help people

see physically and spiritually

but now we realize

it's not just for people in Congo.

It's for all of us.

Like my husband and I,

first and foremost,

our sight has been transformed

to see who we really are

in Christ

and who God really is.

So we love having visitors.

Next one.

It's not just doctors.

Yeah, engineers and handyman

and like if you come,

everybody says,

what can I do?

If you know how to Google

and you know how to WhatsApp

to ask for help,

then you're miles ahead

of my team

and you will come

and you will train someone.

You will teach someone

whatever you need to do

and if you don't know

how to do something,

God will,

just because you don't know

how to do something

doesn't mean that

you're not going to learn.

So, you know,

I'm a doctor.

I really, honestly,

I'm trained to be a doctor.

I don't know how to do anything else.

So I would say probably

97% of my time

I'm trying to learn something,

do something

and so can you.

So we really do need people to come.

One of the special rooms

that I can imagine

I would be in.

What's here?

Yeah, yeah.

So on the top

is the Pastors Resource Center.

So a lot of pastors

just haven't had the opportunity

to go to seminary

or even sit under

great Bible teaching.

So some of this thinking

is a little skewed.

So I'll give you an example.

Like one of the ladies

had a tummy ache

and then she ended

with a hoarse voice

and I said,

what's happened to your voice?

And she said,

oh, my pastor told me

I have to pray

and I have to cry louder

and louder and louder

so God can hear me.

Or, you know,

they would still think

that if you have like

a lot of illnesses

to cast out demons, etc.

So that's why

we're so passionate

about education

and empowering

the local community.

So that Pastors Resource Center,

we want to build

relationship with the pastors

because they're the first people

along with which doctors

and traditional healers

people will go to

when they're sick.

So if we can help them

have some basic health knowledge

and then they can help us

reach the community.

And it's just incredible

that actually it's not just

become an eye hospital now,

it's actually much bigger than that.

Yeah, so we're not just looking

for eye medical professionals,

we're looking for anyone

and everyone

because that is the dream

that I, and I know,

and I say it like this,

I know some of you are called.

I know some of you are called

right in this room.

I'm not just blankly,

you know, saying

I know some of you are called

and you just need to

get with God

and decide whether or not

what is more important to you.

Some of you are called.

You need to take that seriously

because I always,

Andre and I always say

I'm pretty sure,

we're pretty sure

we're not God's first choice.

The only thing is

we said yes

and that's it.

And actually,

I want to fast forward

a couple of slides, Bev,

to, keep going,

keep going,

this one,

oh no, the building,

the building with the nice slides,

like just,

you shared about this one

and I just wanted to

hear you say it here and here.

I don't know what to say.

So part of it is,

honestly,

if you go to where we live,

Africa is a big continent,

okay,

so some African countries

are a lot more advanced

but where I am,

you just won't see

a building like this.

So a lot of our patients

and community,

when they come,

they literally tell us,

I have to pinch my cheeks,

I feel like I'm in Europe.

And then,

so for us,

it's kind of like

God showing off,

it's really like

in your face.

Like we didn't go,

we didn't even go start out

wanting a ministry,

actually,

like let alone build a building.

Like Newset was born kind of,

for those of you

who are old enough

and there's not that many,

you know,

have you heard of Forrest Gump,

the movie?

Okay,

I'm like Forrest Gump.

Like I don't know

what's happening half the time

and I'm like,

oh,

okay,

okay,

okay.

So how it started was like,

we just thought,

we're missionaries,

we're going to be somewhere

really quiet

and we wouldn't do,

you know,

any fundraising

or whatnot kind of thing.

But by default,

because basically,

actually it's because

we couldn't get any funding

for our project,

but we still felt

God was asking us to go,

that we had some friends

who just said,

hey,

look,

you know,

we don't have a lot of money

but what we have,

we'd like to donate to you

and we're like,

thank you.

They said,

so can we have a tax receipt?

And I'm like,

how do you do that?

And then they said,

you need to become a charity

and we're like,

how do you do that?

And then so,

they did that

and finally,

oh,

no,

I know what you want me to talk about.

You want me to talk about

how we found the money for this?

No,

no,

no.

Oh,

Maya,

okay.

Actually,

my main thing was,

you said something

where when people show up,

they pinch themselves

and they're like,

whoa,

this is like Europe.

And it made me think,

well,

actually,

this for them

is the glimpse of heaven

that they actually

don't get to see

and this is their chance to see.

And hope.

And what's impossible

can be made possible.

If you grow up in a place,

and you young people,

you wouldn't understand

just how,

you think that you,

you know,

you think you can do

anything,

everything.

For people who are

from our community,

it's so hard.

You have 41% young,

youth unemployment rate.

67% live below

the poverty line.

49% live in absolute poverty.

Like,

it's,

life is so hard.

No matter how hard you try,

it's so hard to break through

what,

how everybody lives.

And then you see this

and say,

wow,

life can be different.

And it's the same thing

with how life can be different.

It's not just

the practical terms

that allow you to live

and function

and flourish.

It's also the spiritual need

because that place

is dark.

It's dark in a different,

the world is dark.

Everywhere.

But it's a,

it's dark in a different

kind of way where they are

because people are

very suspicious

and cannot trust

other people.

A lot of our patients

will come

and they wouldn't even

tell their spouses

that they are

having surgery

because they're worried

that someone will

place a curse on them.

So it's,

it's a lot of bondage

and things like that.

Joyce says,

some of you are called.

I think you are called.

And it might not be to Congo.

Yeah,

it might not be to Congo.

It might be to the most

radical place.

Well, actually,

all of you are called.

All of us.

They are all called.

Some of them to the Congo.

Yes.

Others might to be

the radical,

radically far place

called Central

or Causeway Bay.

Yeah,

yeah,

those are scary places.

There are scary places.

Yeah,

very scary.

It just,

are you willing to be

that burning bush

and to go into that place

that God has called you to?

We've seen the building.

I want to see some people.

Next slide.

Oessa,

this is where it is.

Here.

Yeah,

go back to the picture

of the people.

Just there.

Yeah,

so these people were all blind

and now they can see.

Praise God.

Can I just,

can we just pause there

for a second?

Like just,

they were blind

but now they see.

Like what does that even mean?

Just,

sometimes I see a blind person

just navigating

the streets of Hong Kong

and I'm just,

I don't even know

what to think.

I can't compute

what they're trying to do.

I mean,

I can see them.

Sometimes I still struggle

to find the right place.

But they were blind

but actually,

what you said,

this is where,

this is what really got me going,

okay,

you need to come up

and say this

because some of the stuff

that they do,

they're like,

oh yeah,

we did this with this.

She just said it so casually.

Oh,

they're blind

but now they see.

And actually,

it was really simple.

I said,

Joyce,

that's not simple.

That's life changing.

But to her,

on the most part,

it is.

Because why?

Because it's just a simple yes.

It's just God,

use me.

I'll just do whatever it is.

You're the one who's doing it.

I'm just here just to say yes.

Right?

Yes,

yes.

And just keep saying yes

and be a stubbornness goddess,

I think.

And pre-decide,

pre-decide,

like decide now

is going to be a yes,

regardless.

One of our mentors,

he's now in his 80s

and he's,

you know,

I won't be surprised

if he gets nominated

for a Nobel Prize

for his contribution to medicine

because he's amazing.

He's on these things

for river blindness

and one day we were talking to him

and asking for advice

and he was saying like,

oh yeah,

and then I did this

and that didn't work

and I did that

and oh,

that didn't go so well.

Oh,

then that was a disaster.

And like sometimes

literally what you're saying

about superheroes,

you just see all these

amazing things they did

and you don't think about

all the setbacks

and all the things

that you'd rather not remember.

And,

but it,

that's how,

how life is

and we just say,

yes,

and I think it's,

it is really dumb

when I do it myself

that I just think about,

we're focusing on the wrong thing.

Yeah.

Tell us about this little girl.

Next slide.

So,

this is Shirelle.

She's 35 years old.

She started having eye problems

when she was 11

and then she became completely blind

by the time she was in her 30s.

So,

as a result,

her husband

was no longer able to work

as a carpenter

because he had to stay home now

to look after her.

So,

she felt pretty miserable

and she came to,

you can take the next slide,

I think probably,

oh no,

just stay here,

stay please.

So,

then we were able to operate on her

and she's able to see,

and she's able to see her baby,

her own baby for the first time

and her husband returned to work.

She can also work on implantations,

like their whole lives

are completely changed

but more importantly,

she said yes to Jesus.

Her whole family

and it's just,

that's what we're there to do.

Most importantly.

Thank you.

We're going to hear a few more of these

but my encouragement to you

is just,

these are real life testimonies

about what is happening.

We don't do hard things.

It's not hard.

It's very simple.

I think,

I do it anyway.

I overcomplicate things.

Show us the next one.

Next slide.

Oh,

so these are like,

we've got so many befores and afters

of people who can see funny stories,

people who have not seen

their spouses for like 10,

20 years

and get a shocker

and it's like,

oh my,

you've aged.

Next one.

This is a little video.

Oh yeah.

Can you,

can you hear the sound?

Oh,

I don't know if we can hear the sound.

Maybe not.

Yeah.

Just talk us,

talk us through it.

So this little boy,

he was born blind.

So this is the moment

when he can see the world

for the first time.

Mmm.

Yeah,

he went,

mmm.

He's just,

he's so amazing.

I,

I,

I always watch the,

I've seen this thousands of times

but every time I see it,

it's just,

it's just amazing

like,

that we get to do this.

Can you just tell us

the medical condition?

Why was he born blind?

He had cataracts.

That was it?

That was it,

yeah.

In Hong Kong,

he would have been operated earlier.

But because of where he is?

Yeah,

because there's,

there's not been,

we've got some of these kids

who were born blind

who are now in university.

so we're,

it's just,

I can't believe like,

we just do what we can

and yeah,

it's simple.

Incredible,

incredible.

Next slide.

And that's the photos

of our consultation.

I think you can keep,

okay,

there's a,

before you,

before you go to the next slide,

if anyone who is,

is worried about gory pictures,

then look away

for the next bit.

It's just another quick slide.

Next one,

look away.

This one,

this is okay.

Then you,

then the next bit will be bad.

So,

she's a little girl

who was playing in the forest

when she had an eye injury

and so,

because she lived in the forest

and her parents didn't have

the financial means

to take her to the town,

they put sugar on her eye

to try help it

and people are like,

what did they think

the sugar will help?

And I think,

it's not necessarily

they thought that the sugar

would help but like,

you just feel so helpless,

you've got to do something.

So she,

that injury was like three,

and then three weeks later,

so you can show the next one

but if you don't like seeing gory.

Look away,

if you don't want,

yeah.

So that was what she looked like

and it's not just gory,

we were really worried

because by then

she was already in septic shock,

she was,

looked like she was developing

signs of meningitis

and you can show the next slide please

and just with some

simple antibiotics

and simple wound care,

we were able to save her sight

and her life.

Simple yeses.

Simple.

Simple yeses.

That's all it is

and I think it breaks my heart

when we sit here and go,

oh God,

what do you want me to do?

It's going to be something

incredible and big

and it's just,

oh but I'm not ready.

Just simple yeses.

Can you just stick

to the simple yeses?

Next slide.

I want to hear

about your daughter

and the glasses

because one of the big problems is...

Yeah,

so before we went there,

if you,

who wears glasses here?

Quite a few of you.

So how long does it take you

on average

to get your glasses back

if you need a new pair?

A few days?

Something like that?

So back in Congo,

if you need a pair of glasses,

you would need to send

the prescription

to another country

and then they'll send it back.

So you can take

the next slide please.

I think,

I'm guessing.

Maybe that's your daughter.

Oh yeah,

yeah,

yeah,

there.

So what's her name?

Rosette,

Rosette,

Rosette's 11

and her mom saved up

for a few years.

Can you imagine

waiting for a few years?

600多 times.

Okay,

pretty bad.

So she's,

her mom saved up

for a few years

and then borrowed money

from the older brother

just so that they could get

this pair of glasses

for her

from abroad.

And after a few years,

the prescription was wrong

and then can you see

what's wrong with it?

Can you see what's wrong

with this?

Can you see it's all

scratched?

So it would be hard

to see

and if you look

on the bottom,

can you see the difference

between those two pairs

of glasses?

Anyone can see

what's the difference

between those two pairs

of glasses?

There's no,

yeah,

that's right,

there's no arms

to those glasses

so she's literally

going to school

like this

and so

our daughter,

that's our oldest one,

she was 17 then,

she learned

from an optician

chain here

in Hong Kong

how to make

glasses

and then she went back

and then she wrote

a training manual

and then

in French

because that's the language

we use there

and if you're worried

like,

I don't speak French,

well,

one,

you can learn

and two,

there are these things

called apps

and AI

and they really help you

but my daughter

wrote this manual

in French

and she trained

the whole team

so under Hong Kong

$100

we were able to help

this little girl

so like I said,

it's simple

we don't do things

that are like

rocket science

but just simple

simple

of course

you say simple now

and you haven't got time

to tell people

all the stories

about how you got

to this point

but you did,

I want to finish here

because you actually

also wrote

the 10 things

that you've learnt

since doing

all of this stuff

and as I looked

at that list

I was like

I wish we had time

to go through

all of them

but we don't

but there's a few

that I'm like

we can't finish

so if we're going

to go fast forward

to slide 35

it's the orange

type slide

there we go

tell us about this one

how did you get here?