Tell us a bit about yourself
Hello, I’m Regina! Currently going into my 4th and final year at UofT, studying Criminology, Human Resources, and Sociology (I know, it’s a mouthful). I’m an international student from Indonesia, Chinese by blood, but I’d say I’d identify with an amalgam of cultures because I grew up in an international school and travel a lot. I’ve been to ~15 countries and my favourites are Australia and New Zealand. People would say I’m highly social but deep down I’m an introvert (INFJ) at heart. In my spare time, I love to explore cafes and bookstores in Toronto, engage in deep convos with friends, sit by the Harbourfront, and go through my To Read list (I have a goal of 50 books/year!).
How has being a Christian impacted the way you made plans this summer?
Being a Christian and striving to live a lifestyle that is Christ-like means that I see my time and energy as investments to build God’s Kingdom. As I’m graduating next year, I knew that I’d have to form my post-grad plans soon enough. I’m torn between going into full-time ministry and working as an HR professional in a secular environment. Going into the summer, I decided that I’d invest my time and energy into experiences and environments where God would mould my heart toward His will for me — it could be either of those two or something else.
One of my highlights from this summer was joining Zoe Toronto’s (a microchurch) Greenhouse Program. Greenhouse is a summer program for accelerated spiritual growth. For 1.5 months, we received training, invested in deep relationships with one another, and were challenged to reorient our lives toward living missionally daily. Besides that, I did an internship at a fintech company because I wanted to explore what working as an HR professional in a secular environment is like and if it’s something I’d pursue post-grad. At the beginning of the summer, my heart was pretty much 50-50 between working in full-time ministry and as an HR professional in a secular environment. Now that the summer is closing, I feel that God has drawn my heart closer to one of them. We’ll have to wait until next year to see if that’s where God will direct me!
Did you have any frustrations in your missional journey this summer? How did you find hope in the midst of it?
Early this year, I deeply wanted to go on a mission trip with Power to Change (P2C), a student ministry I’m involved with at UofT (and I still do). I knew my parents would be hard to convince so I typed up an 8-page formal proposal on reasons why I wanted to go, the logistics of the trip, and addressed potential counterarguments. I felt a deep conviction to go and was very convinced my parents wouldn’t turn down my proposal. They called me a few days later to tell me that I couldn’t go. It was the most painful experience I experienced this year — I cried a lot, I was angry, and I felt that my parents were putting a roadblock on my journey toward God’s calling for me.
Thankfully, God surrounded me with the Body of Christ which affirmed and encouraged me. It took time to heal and understand. After mourning the possibility of what could have been, I realized a few things: 1) I could desire a God-honouring and Biblical thing, but that doesn’t mean that God will give me the thing when I want it the most, 2) God’s “not yet” does not always mean a “no” and God is constantly preparing me for the “yes” that I desire, 3) I learned a lot about forgiveness, reconciliation, humility, and trust through this experience. Ultimately, I found hope in the midst of it all by recognizing my hope does not come from any opportunity I have to serve Him, but that my hope comes from Him who says “yes,” “no,” and “not yet” according to His good and perfect will.
As summer comes to an end, what are you hopeful for moving forward?
I’m hopeful for the work that God is continuing to do in my heart, community, and life! God is so good and amazing. Going into my last year of school, I’m excited to continue serving at P2C. This year, my leadership role involves a lot of vision-casting and vision-implementing for the student ministry as a whole. Not only that, but strategizing, planning, and disciple-making — all that I love to do! Being in a position of leadership entails spending a lot of time with God to seek His direction and steering the ministry toward that direction.
I trust that God will equip our ministry to live out the vision He has entrusted through my co-leader and I. Not only that, I’m hopeful that He will provide us with the joy of seeing its fruitfulness. Another thing that my co-leader and I are focusing on this school year is building up the next generation of leaders. We want to provide them with the environment, culture, and resources to grow up as followers of Jesus and as fruitful leaders. That way, when we graduate and leave the student ministry, God can continue the work He is doing on our campus, through them!
