This was my second trip with the Go and Love Foundation.

Our group of seven people arrived in Jinghong on March 30, 2008. Among us, there was one board member and one staff member of Go and Love, one architect to provide interior drawings for the community center, a professional photographer, and a “first comer,” who has been attracted by Go and Love’s works. Another member and I were there to provide mental health training.

From the very beginning, my mind was filled with anxiety and questions. Since a new education bureau official was assigned to work with Go and Love, I thought there would be no schedule on the mental health talks till we could meet with this new person. In faith and submission, therefore, I left Toronto for Jinghong…, found out later, for a wonderful journey.

On the first day, we were to meet with the new official and his staff. With a relaxed mood, I sat down and took a quick look at the paper that a teacher had just left for me. Much to my delight, in front of me was actually the mental health workshop schedule for that week! The first one was set in the afternoon, and the next one was in the evening at another high school. Additional schedules were also planned for the next three consecutive days of mental health workshops to be held in other schools. To my surprise, not only were workshops set up for teachers; concurrent workshops were set up for students as well. This level of planning was, in fact, a major achievement of Go and Love in that it showed a sign of trust in and recognition of our work after the last trip. In less than three hours, my teammate and I had to rearrange and refine the PowerPoint presentation material we would use at the workshop. Because both the teacher and the student workshops were to be conducted at the same time, we also needed to make a quick change and adjustment from co-facilitation to individual presentation. What was I thinking and feeling at that very moment? There was only one thought in my mind: Oh Lord, your way is not my way. It is higher and beyond my understanding. With the certainty that God was about to bring me into His mighty presence, peace and anticipation overflowed in my heart.

In four consecutive days, we visited five high schools and conducted ten workshops. Altogether we provided mental health education to175 teachers and 571 students. Contents for the teachers’ workshop included these subjects: stress management and self-care, myths and reasonable expectation for teachers, effective communication with students, and concepts on emotional/social/adversity quotient. For students, the workshop focused mainly on cognitive behavior approach on emotional health; effective preparation for the College Entrance Exam, and its stress/adversity management. There was also some informal small group or individual consultation time with both students and teachers after the workshop. Discussions on the more localized issues within different schools allowed us to gain a better understanding of the schools’ day-to-day challenges and difficulties. During these exchanges, we provided the teachers and students with our support and encouragement.

Most of the responses we received from the evaluation forms were positive. The majority of the students and teachers found the workshop content relevant and were hoping for more and in-depth training on different mental health issues. Suggestions were made for us to use case studies to help them better understand the concepts taught and their applications. These were certainly all valuable input for the planning of the next trip on mental health talks. But I was even more grateful for their open and appreciative response to our workshops. We did not have any direct gospel sharing opportunities with any student or teacher during the trip. But to live out the love of Christ, to have this love felt by others through our actions, is in itself a seed-planting act in the name of faith.

For me, this was indeed a life-enriching journey. The experience of love and the mighty presence of our God, the opportunity to share what I have learned, and the sense of connection with those we have met were all so precious!

(The author is a Social Worker of Hong Fook Mental Health Association, Canada)