Karen Tung
In 2020, Pastor Henson was invited to be the speaker of my local church camp, with the theme “Kingdom Quest”. However, it was cancelled due to Covid-19. I was disappointed but God knew my heart desires. He opened up an opportunity for me to attend the AAA Webinar (via zoom) in March 2021. Being awakened by the messages taught in the seminar, I decided to attend AWE2021 in May 2021 to continue the pursuit of discovering my kingdom assignment and learn about the Alignment Check. I did struggle with time constraints but when I look back now, I thank God for helping me make the right decision then.
Having been a believer for many years, I often ask God about my calling, the task He wants me to accomplish, the destiny He has in store for me. After the seminar, I asked Him what my kingdom assignment is. I have come to recognise that all these mean the same thing after all.
One of the lessons I learned at AWE2021 is that kingdom assignment does not start with me. It starts with God. It is not about me and my assignment. It is all about Him and what He wants to accomplish through me. It is a shift of perspective from me-focus to GOD-focus.
Being a task-oriented person, in the pursuit of my kingdom assignment, I often think about what I can do for the Lord. Far too easily, I would fall into the performance-driven trap and forget the One who will appraise my performance ultimately. Or even when I serve the Lord, I tend to serve Him for His love rather than from His love. Obviously, this is one of the misalignments the Lord highlighted for me. Through the teachings at AWE2021, Pastor Henson directed me back to my personal relationship with the Lord. He reminded me that in order to fulfil my kingdom assignment, I must start with love because God first loved us. Our expression of loving Father God is through obedience to Him. I sensed the Lord is calling me into a deeper love in and devotion to Him!
To pursue kingdom assignment, I was often asked what gifts, talents and abilities I possess and what things I enjoy doing the most. I had believed the Lord would match the parameters and assign the right task to me accordingly. All these seemed logical and were aligned with what I had learnt before. However, this is found to be another misalignment. Pastor Henson reminded us that our abilities do not dictate our assignment but rather, they facilitate the fulfilling of our assignment. He encouraged us to put our abilities aside but first and foremost, submit them to the Lord and let Him do the assigning. And while He employs our strengths, He also excels in our weaknesses through His grace and empowerment. What an amazing lesson I have learnt in correcting my heart posture towards kingdom assignment!
In my circle of Christian friends, I hardly find many with whom I can talk about the kingdom. At AWE2021, Pastor Henson encouraged us to be in a kingdom community of people with kingdom minds and hearts, that we may encourage one another in moving on our kingdom assignments and cheer one another on in the successes as well as in the struggles. I am grateful to the Lord for He has led me to find this kingdom community, the community of Archippuses!!
Although I have missed the 2020 church camp, I have not missed the Kingdom Quest. I am not alone. I am Archippus!