by Mattana Chan.  Summer, 2005

Mattana is a member of Evangel Chinese Baptist Church in Edmonton

This summer God sent me to Zurich, Switzerland, to serve Him for two weeks. I participated in Operation Mobilization’s Global Challenge program, with twelve others (mostly young adults) from Switzerland, Germany, America and Canada. Our team also consisted of eight Global Action Zurich staff (made up of local Swiss as well as international members), whose work term is between seven months and two years. Together, the twenty-one of us shared a very powerful ministry experience.

Now, to give you some background about Zurich. It is a very cosmopolitan and international area, as well as Switzerland’s biggest city, and known for its tourism and banking. To see the city for what it truly is, however, one must look past the seeming prestige and success. Over the last few decades, many middle-class citizens have left the city to live outside, including many Christians. Immigrants and the sex trade shape the face of the city today, and many of the churches are struggling, some even shutting down.

This was our mission field – specifically, the red light district of Zurich, the inner city, in which prostitution, homelessness and drug addiction are widespread and glaringly obvious. Our team’s outreach was focused on bringing hope to this area, specifically through children’s ministry and street work.

One would think that with a two-week mission trip, the time would be tight and the workload would be overwhelming. In reality, however, things were much more relaxed than I originally anticipated. Each day consisted of worship, prayer, devotions, small group, three meals, kitchen and clean up duties, and time for rest and relaxation. The main objectives and activities of the first week were getting to know one another, becoming familiar with the area in which we lived and would be ministering (including doing surveys of Zurich residents about their knowledge of Christianity and the Bible), evangelism training and also planning for the second week, when we did more hands-on ministry.

The Global Challenge team was divided into two ministry areas – five chose the street work, which involved ministering to homeless, prostitutes and drug addicts in the parks and shelters, while I and seven others concentrated on leading a week-long kids camp, in partnership with the city-ministry group of the Methodist church in which we were staying.

The kids camp was held for two hours every weekday afternoon of the second week, in the park right beside the church. The target population was those aged 6-12 who lived in the neighborhood, most of whom were refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. Our program of songs, stories, skits, crafts, games and sports was built around the theme “Vie ist Jesus?” (Who is Jesus?). We taught the children on different days that Jesus is our Friend, Helper, Forgiver, Doctor, and King. At the end of the week, we held a BBQ and sharing time, where the kids could show their parents what they had learned.

Each day after camp was over, our team would sit together to pray extensively and talk about the day’s events – what went well, what could be improved, and what was on our hearts. Our emotions were twofold: we quickly built rapport and fell in love with the 15-30 children who attended each day, and were touched by their affection, respect and laughter. Yet this joy was mixed with outrage and disgust, as we constantly saw the handfuls of men who waited in and around the park before, during and after the program each day to snatch kids and prostitute them. It didn’t seem right that children had to live constantly in fear, even while playing in the park, something that should be part of a normal childhood. Thankfully, nothing happened that week, but none of us will ever forget the ugly reality or the anger we felt.

In particular, there were three things during this outreach that struck me:

-The power of prayer. We prayed before, during and after each activity each and every day. Members from both the children’s and street teams would sign up, then pray and prayer walk for the ministries while the work was going on. We also prayed for one another in our small groups. And I can confidently say that it was because praying was non-stop that things turned out the way they did: There was a perfect mix of spiritual gifts and abilities on each team; no interpersonal conflicts between team members (just increased unity and genuine fellowship as the days went by); communication despite certain language barriers and the ability to learn the language (German) as needed; good weather; safety; good health etc. etc. I have never prayed so much in my whole life!! I have now grown to love and value incessant prayer like never before.

-God is bigger than anything and everything we face. The outreach was emotionally draining, as we encountered situations of frustration and circumstances beyond our control, He showed us that our faith in Him was enough, that His presence and sovereign power would carry us through. With the men in the park, for instance, he allowed us to feel angry, so that we would be motivated in our mission to reach the kids, yet He also multiplied our compassion. Sure, these men’s behavior is despicable, but they are no worse sinners than we are, and need the gospel, too. If we judge people, we have no time to love them.

-Fur Gott ist alles moglich (With God, all things are possible). Several days into the outreach, the girls from our team were sent out into the streets around the church to minister to prostitutes (while the guys mostly prayed but also tried to minister to the men). Prostitution in Zurich is even worse than in Amsterdam. For instance, within this 3-6 block radius, there are about 3000 legal prostitutes, as well as at least 1000 illegals, many of whom sell their bodies for drugs. We gave out roses and chocolates attached to Scriptures to these teens and women, many of whom were surprised and delighted to be treated as human beings and given something for free. There were, however, some who refused what we gave, even when we told them we were, in fact, sharing more than a rose, but God’s love. It was a heartbreaking task for me, not only to see so many women in the business, but because some of the women wore wooden, emotionless expressions, and you could tell they had given up on life and couldn’t see a way out.

If you had told me before this outreach that I would be part of a team that worked with prostitutes, I would have refused immediately and said it was impossible. It was unexplainable, then, and definitely a miracle that, that evening when we went into the streets, God took away any fear that I might have had, and replaced with a heart for the women and this ministry. He gave me a desire to go back and continue with the work, a desire that remains today. God transformed my weakness into strength, and showed me that my only participation in this was to say “Yes” when He called.

Whatever the mission He calls me to next, I know what my answer will be.