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No Position? No Problem

An interview with Yen-Sha Lim

WIM: You have such a fascinating story. First, tell our readers about your upbringing and your journey to the United States.

Lim: I grew up in Bangladesh. My parents were not Christians. My father didn’t like that I began attending Sunday School at an Assemblies of God church. As early as age 12, I sensed God’s call on my life. A missionary in Bangladesh had a Central Bible College (CBC) yearbook, and as I read it, God impressed on me that this was the school I would attend. People laughed when I talked about God’s call on my life and my desire to study at Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri.

“Your father will never let you go,” they said to me. But I was confident, and full of faith that I would go. As predicted, my dad said, “No.” After high school graduation, I went to a Catholic teaching training school, and then taught “classics” (junior high students) while I waited. But I knew this teaching position wasn’t forever. I took initiative while I waited. I started working through some of the missionary’s books that were still being used at CBC. I did not waste time.

I came to the United States when I was 18-years old through a series of miraculous events. The missionary presented a slideshow, as many missionaries do, as he itinerated in the U.S. When he showed a slide of me as a teenager, he casually said to his audience, “This girl wants to come and study at CBC.” A businessman came up after the service and said, “I want to help pay her way.” He and his wife sponsored me to come to the U.S. This was significant, not only because he helped pay my tuition, but also because I needed a sponsor to have the government’s permission to leave the country and come to the United States.

A verse that meant a lot to me was Revelation 3:8, “See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.” This verse sustained me when I faced my father’s refusal, government restrictions to exit Bangladesh, and lack of finances to pay for school.

Although the businessman and his wife helped me pay half of the tuition for school, I was responsible for all other expenses. Many times money unexpectedly came in my mailbox. Sometimes the registrar’s office would inform me, “Your bill has been paid by an anonymous donor.” When I graduated from CBC, I didn’t owe any money!

WIM: I understand that you didn’t wait for college graduation to find ministry opportunities. How did you engage in ministry while still a student?

Lim: I believed in getting experience. I didn’t wait for invitations to minister; I asked for opportunities.

My first internship was in New York at a Chinese Christian church where I started a youth group. My second internship was in San Francisco where I started preaching on Sundays among other things. A third internship was in Los Angeles, California. I wanted to intern at a small Chinese church, even though they didn’t feel they had anything to offer me. I felt it was God’s call, so they said, “Okay, come.”

I didn’t wait for someone to give me something to do. I worked with whatever there was and was bold in my faith as a young woman. I canvassed the neighborhoods and started a children’s ministry with a handful of kids meeting once a week. I also started a Bible study for youth. While in college, I ministered at a ministry outstation, a senior citizens’ home, and interned in Hawaii. Some students say, “When I get out there, then I will have a ministry.” But I say, “Don’t wait. Take initiative. ”

WIM: What would you say to a young woman, or any woman for that matter, who senses God calling her into ministry, but feels frustrated that opportunities of ministry don’t seem readily available to her?

Lim: You must keep your heart open to whatever door God opens for you. God may give you a ministry you never thought of. Take a step of faith and risk. Be receptive. Although it may not be what you imagined it to be, one day the door you dreamed of may open. All your experiences can develop and prepare you for that one thing. A lot of different little things add up.

Remember, too, that God’s calling is not for a position. Because you don’t have a position doesn’t mean your ministry is invalid. Be creative and proactive about God’s call. Don’t wait for something to land in your lap. One cannot sit still while waiting for “that position.”

Make personal ministry a priority as well. I have counseled friends and acquaintances over the phone, even people from out of state. Personal ministry is important to me.

A definite sense of God’s call will carry you through the hard times. Even though doors didn’t open up right away for me while I was in Bangladesh, I knew God had called me. His call is the impetus that will keep you going.

WIM: Where did your ministry journey take you after graduation from CBC?

Lim: After graduation, I went to teach at a Christian school in Orange County, California. I met and married Stephen Lim, a minister, who was a graduate of the University of California at Berkley and Fuller Theological Seminary. After we married, we pastored a little home missions church in Los Angeles — the same church that told me as an intern they didn’t have any ministry opportunities to offer me. We spent 5 years there, then we went to pastor a church in San Francisco for over 25 years, which happened to be another missions church at which I had interned. I was on staff at the church as a bivocational minister while working at a bank for most of those ministry years.

We lived frugally in those early years. I remember buying chicken bones for 19 cents a pound and cans of tuna for 10 cents. I would cook tuna with onions and serve them over rice. My father would have been horrified! As a child, I grew up in a home with servants and a chauffeur. We told my father little about our circumstances. Marrying someone with wealth, pursuing education, the job one held — all these things were important in our Chinese culture. But God was faithful and performed many miracles for us!

WIM: Sometimes God’s call means moving to a new city to pursue a ministry opportunity. What did you experience when you and Stephen moved to Springfield, Missouri? How did ministry change for you?

Lim: We moved to Springfield 6 years ago when Stephen came to teach at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. At first, I felt I didn’t have a ministry anymore. I served as the interim pastor at the church in San Francisco for a year, then later served as occasional interim pastor there, 6-8 weeks at a time.

When I first arrived in Springfield, I had to find a new hair stylist. The stylist I went to happened to be an Assemblies of God member. While in the stylist’s chair, I shared what we were doing here. He said, “Would you like to come and speak to the women at my church? I’m going to recommend you to our Women’s Ministries director.” She called and asked me to come and speak. I was an unknown person here, but God encouraged me, “See, I can open doors for you.”

God has provided ministry opportunities! I have been invited to speak at conferences in Tanzania, Nepal, and Belize. I used to hate to travel. In fact, my husband was surprised to hear me say, “Yes, I’ll go.” But if God calls, I will put aside my human inclinations. God opened up ministry I never dreamed of. God has different ways; we must accept His plan for different seasons. I don’t know what’s in the future, but God knows!

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