This is my latest update that I emailed out...it's a summary of my trip. More detailed updates to come!
Hi Friends and Family!
I’m home safely from Asia!! And I had an ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC MONTH! It was phenomenal. Grab a cup of coffee cause this one isn’t short!
Here is how I’m planning to tell you about my trip. I’m going to write a brief summary in this email. Then for a more in-depth description and more stories, I’ll write on the blog. (That may take another week or so though…sorry for you curious few!)
One of the coolest things about this month was that God used this time in Asia to re-fuel my love for different cultures and for missions. I hadn’t been out of America for 2 whole years, so I LOVED experiencing new cultures again!
My first stop was in INDONESIA. My friend/leader Raquel and I had a great time visiting our outreach team on the island of Borneo in the town of Pontianak. It was a rather rural area and it reminded me so much of Ghana! It has been 2 years since I was in Ghana and it was a sweet reminder of a place that I love dearly. The team was doing so well! Working well as a team and loving each other while ministering in super rural villages for weeks at a time. It was really fun to sit down with them and hear their stories and what God was teaching them.
Here is my favorite Indonesia experience: The day I was leaving Indonesia, I was not feeling well and I was a little nervous about the travels ahead of me. I wasn’t sure how to get from the Hong Kong airport to my next destination in East Asia. I prayed that God would bring some friends to help me. And did He ever! In the Jakarta airport, a older gentleman named Eric started talking to me while we waited for the flight. He was a Christian who traveled frequently throughout Asia on business and his English was perfect. We were on the same flight and he assured me that he would help me find where I needed to go in Hong Kong. He also let me call my parents on his phone! (Which was wonderful because they were a tad worried because I could not communicate with them.) When we arrived in Hong Kong, I got separated from Eric in Immigration. But finding the bus was so easy! I bought my ticket and went to the ATM while I waited to leave. At the ATM I ran into Eric! He had been looking for me to make sure I was ok. He bought me a bottle of water and then gave me the equivalent of $25 when the ATM didn’t work. He made sure I felt good about my bus and then headed on his way. How good is God?! He knew exactly what I needed and was faithful to provide beyond my need!!! I was so thankful.
I made it safely to EAST ASIA where my dear friend (we'll call her "Angel" cause that's what her Mama calls her) picked me up at the airport. My week with her was amazing! I spent time with her team of missionaries, met many of her local disciples, went to her language class, and experienced her everyday world. One of the highlights of East Asia was an Evangelism Party that "Angel" and her 2 teammates hosted for students they had met on campus. We had 8 local girls come to the dorm for a beauty themed party. We talked, got to know each other (they all loved practicing their English!), ate American snacks, painted nails, looked at magazines, and then "Angel" gave a Gospel presentation using a beauty analogy. It was awesome! All of the girls said they wanted to know more about Jesus. I was in awe. God is working in East Asia and I got to see a tiny piece of it. It was amazing. I really loved East Asia! And my visa is good until next April so I’m praying I get to go back soon!!
Next stop: TAIWAN! Upon my arrival, I was met by our YWAM Honolulu base director Vivian who is Taiwanese. We spent the week reconnecting with her church friends in Taipei, visiting a missionary couple she used to work with in a smaller town outside the city, and just exploring Taiwan. The week was not what I expected, but it was great nonetheless! My favorite part was visiting the missionaries, Gregg and Eva in the town of Tofun. They have been in Taiwan for over 20 years! They are working among the Hakka people who are considered “unreached” because less than 1% of Hakkas are Evangelical Christians (according to joshuaproject.net). We spent a few days in Tofun and I loved experiencing the work going on there. I sat in on a couple prayer meetings with local believers, toured around on a moped, and went to the Hakka church that Gregg and Eva pastor. It was cool to see what missions among an unreached people can look like. I loved it!!
Last but definitely not least: HONG KONG and the Call 2 All conference. I cannot say enough about this week (but I’ll try to keep it short). It was INCREDIBLE! Around 4,000 mission-minded Christians from over 100 countries gathered together to talk about the status of the world: how many people still haven’t heard the Gospel? How can we reach them? What is God saying and doing? It was absolutely incredible!!!! In my estimate, between 1/4 and 1/3 of the attendees were from "East Asia". The whole thing was just too incredible to be true. My friend Melissa was there with me and we said over and over to each other: “Is this real?”
The first afternoon, we focused on how many people still haven’t heard the Gospel. There are 3,000 people groups who are still “unreached”. 639 of those groups have a population over 100,000. We had a map on the floor that was 160 feet wide by 80 feet deep (that’s 3 basketball courts!). We spent hours walking bare-footed on the map and praying over the nations and worshiping. There was no shortage of dancing, singing, even crying. It was surreal watching "East Asian" believers kneel and weep over both China and Israel. Then there were times when the map was so jam-packed with people praying that you could barely move. It was a really cool experience. Prayer was a HUGE focus of the conference.
Throughout the week, we had general sessions with everyone and smaller workshops. The speakers were all amazing and I learned SO MUCH! We all got so excited about what God has done, what He is doing, and what He is going to do. The leaders of major missions organizations predict that we will reach ALL people with the Gospel in our lifetime!! Maybe even the next ten years! How awesome is that! What a great time to be alive!
The last day in Hong Kong, we had a day-long meeting of YWAMers from all of Asia and the Pacific. There were about 200 people there (that’s my guess…who knows what it really was.) I was SO encouraged by meeting our leadership and seeing what awesome men and women of God I’m serving under. It was also cool to be reminded that this thing that I’m a part of is so much bigger than I realize. YWAM has over 18,000 full time staff right now—and many, many more students and short term workers. It’s exciting to think about what God is doing in the world right now and that my “tribe” (as our founder likes to call us) is playing a part.
I left Hong Kong incredibly encouraged and excited. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I am SO thankful that I had this opportunity.
So there are the “brief” summaries. It’s difficult to summarize a life altering month! I hope I didn’t lose too many of you. Thank you for being a part of this with me! Thank you for praying and for giving generously!
I will be home in Georgia most of the month of July. Please email me if you’d like to get together! Or if you would like me to share with your church, cell group, youth group, etc. I would love to pass on what God taught me in this month and what He is doing in the nations!
For HIS Glory,
Tatum
Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"
