Your Justice Flows Like the Ocean's Tide

Some of my family :)

2011-09-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

And the transition begins...

2010-07-08T18:20:00.000-07:00

I knew it would be hard to leave my old neighborhood...but I did not expect that some of the people I would say my "last good-byes" to on my move-out/cleaning day would be forced in a 5 minute timeframe due to cleaning, returning a vacuum back to a friend that let us borrow it, trying to figure out if our neighbor down the street could take the stove we had, and then leaving early to go watch a play involving some of the youth from our church. Phew! There was this sense that I did not have the proper closure that I had hoped for...even though I knew that I would go back and visit with some of my neighbors (as I do intend to)...even though they live only 5 minutes away, it's different not having them as my immediate neighbors now. It sunk in a little more when one the kids next door to us was surprised when she found out we were moving, and got really sad, and started crying. I did not realize that we had been that meaningful for her. I know that I can continue to pray for these families, and get to go visit from time to time at my old apartment. But I know it just won't be the same.

One good-bye that I did really appreciate and treasure happened earlier in the week by a woman who has consistently encouraged me in my faith in the Lord. The grandmother/mother of one our neighbors at our previous apartment would come to visit the mother/son from time to time for birthdays, car rides to visit cousins, car rides to take the mom to work, and just to be present with her family. This lady is a strong Christian believer, and would constantly bring me good words to hear that I needed at the time. As the days were approaching closer to our move and I had not been able to say some good-byes yet to some neighbors, and was getting more nervous about the transition, and the sadness of leaving that particular neighborhood. This grandmother, who I bumped into randomly one day, was talking with me, sharing that she heard that we were moving. She reminded me that as God's workers, we are called to be in some places for a short amount of time to plant seeds and pour God's blessings onto those around us...and then continue on, "scatter", and further God's kingdom. She thanked me for being around and being a blessing to her daughter and grandson...but truly, I feel that she was a huge blessing for me in my 2 years there. It was the reminder that I needed....that even though I knew it was going to be difficult to leave the area that I had invested in, built relationships with people, cared about the community....God will continue to be at work there, and is calling me to a different place for now, where His Kingdom will continue to grow also. Praise the Lord for His work and placing those people in our lives that bring God's truth and comfort when we need it most!

It has been officially 2 weeks since we have moved into our new apartment, and already I have enjoyed being here. My roomates and I have been able to spend some time together over meals, watching some TV/movies, and just hanging out...good good for all of us. :) We have gotten to know our landlord (our downstairs neighbor) more and his family, we have met with some different people in the neighborhood through different times of the day, and it is encouraging to be living near other friends from Church of the Redeemer who love this community also! Please pray that God continues to make divine appointments in which we are able to meet more people in this neighborhood and share the Good News about Jesus with those in this neighborhood.

Thanks so much for all your prayers, support, encouragement, and love! <3

Roots

2010-05-16T21:55:00.000-07:00

As a young one growing up in the High Desert, "weeding" was a common house chore. Now let me clarify, "weeding" means to use different types of gardening tools (i.e. hula hoes, rakes, etc.) to get rid of the tumbleweeds and stickerbushes (yes, those things that you see in Western movies or Looney Tunes episodes)throughout the front and back yard of the house. I never liked this chore...partly because I was out in the hot sun and not playing sports...and partly because it just didn't make any sense to me. The action used to get the tumbleweed out of the ground only got what was on the surface of the dirt, rather than cutting all the way down and pulling out the root - the underlying problem. So, later in a week, even though I had done my duty of taking care of the weeds, there would be weeds growing again...in the same spot, from the same root. GRRR! Why couldn't we just dig out the root each time...I mean, yes, that would require more work and more time, but it would get at the problem of destroying that particular weed.

I think about my Desert days, and feel like I am in this situation all over again...with the "weeds" in my own life. There have been certain issues coming up in my own life that I seem to only be tackling at the surface, and not the underlying root cause. I think I have taken care of my "duty" by moving through that issue, praying about it some....but then days, weeks, months, and years later, it comes up again and I am frustrated that I did not choose to dig out the root instead. I would rather "go play" -> move on with life, rather than take more effort, work, and time to truly invest in removing the root. I, with my own natural tendencies, do not want to take longer and put in more effort...but because of the way that God has moved in my life, He has encouraged me that there is something better to invest in by putting in more time, effort, and work...and God is with me every step of the way. God assures me that He will work as hard as me (and then some), He will put in all the effort (and more), and He will be with me for however much time it will take (and through eternity) to take that tumbleweed that is hurting me so much, dig it out to the root, and toss it as far as it will to go so that my "land" will produce better things (maybe even milk and honey....<--biblical reference). :)

So I'm inviting God into my life to help me with this tumbleweed (even though He's really been there all along and has revealed to me my dependence I need in Him to remove it)...and to really be present to remove it...pray about it...and to bring healing to this area. The Lord promises good things for His people, who chose to follow Him and trust Him. I look forward to the root-removing (to replace the weeding) in my life that I have needed for some time. Please continue to pray with me through this. Thanks! :)

"You're almost done with the internship...what are you doing next?"

2010-04-07T17:02:00.000-07:00

Yes...that is quite the question that everybody has been asking! And to answer that simply...well...a few things:

-I plan to stay living in the South LA area. I hope to continue being involved with Church of the Redeemer. There are some church visions to get more involved with the education and youth in this neighborhood...and well, if you know me, those are 2 of the things that God has been continually placed on my heart and given me a passion for! So that is exciting. Some folks from our church recently read the book "Whatever It Takes" http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GS75T4/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1932127283&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0MHR7SR1EKKP9YMK22JZ to learn some more about the importance of community, education, and what it does take to try to make things happen! It was an interesting read, and we are looking to what our church should get involved with in this community.
-I will be moving to a different apartment most likely after June. Some of my roomates are moving elsewhere (1 is going to Missouri for grad school, and 1 is moving in with our other teammates into a new house in the neighborhood)....so please be praying for the logistics of finding a new place to live...and where the Lord would have us to live...whether that is in this same street...or a new location.
-I am also looking for a new full-time job. I hopefully will be able to continue working at the charter school with the after school program until the end of the school year...but after that, I will no longer be working there...mostly because there was a recent childcare license that we received and I do not qualify since I don't have child development units. Please pray for the job search process.

So yes....I hope that helps answer some of your questions...as y'all have been encouraging throughout the internship, and I know that will continue as I finish up in June!

Another neat thing that just happened with our church....every year we host "Reel Joy". It is an opportunity for the youth group and new youth that come out during this time, to write their own scripts and film videos! It is a great time for our community to be invested in the youth in this neighborhood...and typically a lot of the youth and their families will continue to come to church and youth group....which is exciting to see people in this neighborhood be involved in wanting to know the Lord more and have Christian community! Here is a recent article that was written about the evening of the showing of the videos: http://scpr.org/news/2010/04/06/local-film-festival/ .

Please also continue to pray for my Servant Partners team...as there are some also that will be staying in this area...but some that are moving away! Please be praying for all us in these decision processes, and for continued protection and guidance from God. :-D

A picture of my Servant Partners team and staff at our retreat back in February! :) <3

***Lastly...I leave you with a quote that my pastor/Servant Partners director continuously tells us...and one that I have been meditating and praying upon: "Nothing is worthless in the Kingdom of God." I hope you receive these words as truth and love!

Better than mushy Valentine's day "love"... His name is Jesus Christ!

2010-02-12T10:22:00.000-08:00

Matters of the Heart

by Abi Christian
February 11, 2010

Every year, I find myself surprised by the sudden emergence of roses and heart-shaped chocolates a few weeks before Valentine’s Day—the bright colors contrasting with the dreary backdrop of post-Christmas winter. The decorations are an unexpected sight, sending some people into a flurry of planning, mailing cards to their list of friends, or anticipating a romantic date.

But for others, the approach of Valentine’s Day can cause mixed feelings of apprehension and insecurity. The media tends to portray the happiest people as those in romantic relationships, and pity those who are single. Story characters go through Cinderella-like transformations to become lovable, making them finally acceptable for romantic interests, deep friendships, and a positive status in society.

When Jesus came to earth, he loved people as they were, whether or not society approved. He loved unexpectedly. He sat down to eat with the tax collectors, prostitutes, and fishermen, people who appeared coarse and vulgar in a holy presence. Repeatedly, the disciples urged children, the sick, and the poor to stay away from Jesus, but Jesus reminded the disciples that his love was for everyone—even those that society did not deem worthy.

(for the rest of the article: http://www.intervarsity.org/news/matters-of-the-heart)

Ring in the new year...

2010-01-19T20:58:00.000-08:00

These past few months have been going by so quickly, I can't believe how much time flies! And through it all, God is at work and powerful and has been bringing blessings....even amongst the difficulties.

November and December were good times of growing in my position at work, learning to deal with change, and being flexible through it all. These were also some good months to spend with family and friends....both of mine and Scott's! And as for my family in every year, Christmas is a time to make baked goods and enjoy the house smelling amazing with food and goodies! It has also been a time of reflection to look on these past few months of the Servant Partners internship....look at my development plan and see how I have done with certain areas....some that I have grown in, some that I have struggled to make the time for, and some new areas that come up with new parts of life, neighbors, and relationships.

One exciting thought that had come across my time while being off for 3 weeks during the Holidays and traveling to different places, was really missing getting to be in South LA. Missing the time opportunities of being with my neighbors, wondering what they were doing for their holidays, and realizing that as much as 3 weeks sometimes didn't seem like long enough for a break, 3 weeks to be away from my new home neighborhood is a HUGE amount of time. There was so much joy as I was driving back into Los Angeles in early January....and seeing the skyscrapers as I drove westbound on the 10 freeway. I am thankful to God for His heart for the city that He shares with me everyday. I continue to pray and seek what God's call for me in the urban city is....what He wants me to do on a day-to-day basis, if He is calling me to a specific city, and what it really means to love my neighbors as myself. Please join me in my prayers through that, as well as during more time of discerning of what I will be doing after the SP internship is over.

We have 5 1/2 months left of our SP internship....it will be full of bible studies, seminars, retreats, quality time with one another, continuing to build relationships in the neighborhood, and really seeking God's calling for each of our lives. I look forward to what God has in store!

**Take a look at some of these pictures from the holidays:

My Servant Partners Internship Class and Staff :)

Scott and I hiking in San Luis Obispo

Some of my favorite high school girls! Jen, Lati, Rosie, Cor, and me at Red Robin

Familia! :) Daniel, Mom, Me, and Dad at the Grand Canyon...visiting where Daniel lives/works

Seasons...

2009-11-06T10:28:00.001-08:00

So in a more normal part of the United States, when it is the season of Fall, the leaves change colors and it's really gorgeous and pretty! I normally do not get to experience this part of the "season", since in California, it was still a hot 84 degrees earlier this week! I was fortunate to see this as I was out in Cincinnati, Ohio for the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference in mid-October. It was a really neat time of being out there with ~10 other people from my church, and being among other Christian believers who are in the mindset of community development in the the neighborhoods where we live....and trying to live out what it means to be incarnational, like Jesus was, and to really love God and love our neighbors. I also got to attend a few different workshops that were focused on education, after school programs, and identifying with the poor...all were really neat and helpful! I also connected with a lady who is from the Pasadena area, that started an after school program through one of the churches there. She was such an encouragement to me throughout the conference as I kept bumping into her and conversing about the conference. One important message that I remember from the conference, is that Bart Compolo shared that if you are going to relocate to a differnet place, you need to go with people, or you need to go and be meeting people that are already in the place you are going to. This is important for the significance of community, and how that will be helpful in a venture to a new place, and being able to be in Christian community.

Right now I am still in a transitional phase in my workplace. My position recently changed to more of a supervisor/lead teacher position. This means that I am helping with more of the administration aspect at the after school program, helping with structures/programs, and helping to support the teachers. I am enjoying it in all the newness that it is, but still adjusting to the longer hours, getting to know more of the students, and learning different systems. Please pray for my adjustment, and for good mentorship and support from co-workers as I am new into this position.

Prayer Requests for the neighborhood: With my new work schedule, it seems that I am more on a time cruch now. Please pray for time opportunities of still being able to take care of personal tasks as well as things I'm working through with my Servant Partners development plan...AND...get to spend time in the neighborhood and connect with neighbors.

I want to share some highlights of these past few months:

My parents and me at the Lighthouse Run 5k/10k in East LA! :) This is us right after Dad and I ran the races.

My birthday celebration. We celebrated my 24th birthday at Exposition Park with neighbors, Servant Partners friends, church friends, and Fullerton friends. What a joy it was to be with everybody and celebrate together. God is good!

Who doesn't celelbrate their birthday with Superman?! Ha ha :-D Here is my boyfriend, Scott, and me, along with college friends - Mia and Jojo!

A [silly] picture of my roomates and me! Liz, Regina, Sierra, and me. Please continue to pray for us, as we have lived together for 1 year, and will be staying together for until June 2010 at least! Pray for our house dynamics, for love/service to one another, for us to have more time to hang out with one another (as our lives are all pretty busy and do not always match together to spend time with one another), and for a continual presence in this community!

Summer Updates!

2009-09-02T22:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple of months since I've updated the blog....the summer has been slower as far as my workload with the students...but there's been a lot of busy and exciting things going on. The summer is winding down, and I am starting back to working with the middle school students next Tuesday, September 8th! Way excited about my new staff and the new school year and what God has in store!!!

I wanted to share some highlights for you...
-Summer Camp with my students was really neat and exciting! It was a roller coaster of ups and downs...but great overall. During the last 3 weeks, my students and I got to take art classes in visual arts and ceramics. I think it was really neat that God meet me in my desire to learn and explore more with art this summer...and he used the opportunity for me to get to do that with my students..yeah!
-The summer time for Servant Partners was for us to reflect, use tools, and ask close friends/peers/mentors to figure out what our spiritual gifts are. This was a very neat discerning process, and out of those spiritual gifts, we were trying to figure out what some long-term development plans could be....and then figured out what we could do for that within this 2nd year of the internship. 2 gifts that seem to be more of my key spiritual gifts are mercy (caring for others, empathizing, etc.) and governments (organizing, structures, etc.). I am currently finishing up my development plan and figuring out what I will be focusing on for my 2nd year. Some of my plans include learning more Spanish through meeting with a friend/neighbor and using my Spanish workbook, meeting with a mentor in the non-profit world to learn more about inner-city youth ministry, and long distance running...with an end goal of running the LA marathon in March 2010! :-D Quite exciting. Please be keeping all of those things in your prayers and follow up with me and help hold me accountable.
-Got to spend 1 week with my brother, Joel, up in Seattle. It was such a great time of rest, spending time with him, and enjoying some of the touristy sites up there! We went to the Boeing Plan in Everett, to the Underground Tour and Pikes Place Market in downtown Seattle, and whale watching up in Anacortes and got to see Orca whales in Canada (eh!). I really enjoy spending time with my family... and it was good to be fun and silly with Joel while there. We had some really great conversations and I loved it! And I almost left Seattle without some rain..but it did sprinkle on us on the drive to the airport...of course.
-My friends who have been going through some difficulty with physical illnesses have been doing well and progressing. Nick (brain injury while in S. Africa) is doing great! I met up with him for some dinner and hang out time and he's doing great. His arms are still a bit weak and need more strength, but he is going to physical theraphy, and should be back at CSUF in Spring 2010! Daniel (Hodgkin's Disease) has been doing good...the chemo has been helping to fight off the bad cells in his body. I was able to play frisbee with him a few weeks ago, and he's still been up and about, singing, dancing, and worshipping while at church! :) And Lisa (paralyzed from back in March) is doing better...her recovery is being a more slower one, but little things are improving for her through her physical therapy and through God! Thank for your prayers for these friends, and please continue to pray for them! :-D

And some things to be praying about please:
-Looking at the next 2 months, they are quite busy and full with some runs, Servant Partners meetings/retreats, and the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference in Cincinnati, Ohio (Oct. 21-25). I am really excited for all of these things. Please pray that I will continue to seek God during times of difficulty and give Him glory for the ways that He is moving in my life. :-D
-It's been 1 full year of the internship! Recently our SP team was reading in the book of Acts (book about the early church, after Jesus was crucified, and then Jesus' disciples were being persecuted for sharing their faith) about the early church and the community of taking care of needs and how beautiful that is! We want that not to just be something read about and see as neat, but we as a class want to have that lived out even more. We have grown so much as a class through ups and downs with personal lives, ministry projects, physical difficulties, and more...but God has continued to shape and mold us to loving and serving one another. Please pray that we continue to seek each other, to be vulnerable, and to meet each others' needs like the community of believers in Acts 2! :-D

In the Words of C.S. Lewis...

2009-07-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself." (CS Lewis)

*Thanks to DJ Ben for the reference! :)

My Name is Sarah...and I want to give glory to God

2009-06-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

At Church of the Redeemer, we typically have a time of testimonies. People stand up and share about how God has been at work in their lives...and as a person stands, they say, "Hi, my name is _____, and I want to give glory to God." and the rest of the church chimes in and says, "AMEN." And then the person continues on and shares about how God is at work. I always enjoy hearing these testimonies and got to share my own testimony a few weeks ago about how God has been at work in my workplace among some of the students and through a series of different things that were difficult for me emotionally, but how God has been victorious through it all, how he's been preparing me in stages, and how he's given me a calmness and peace.

I want to give God the glory for a few other things as well. I went through mostly a whole school year of working with middle school students, an age group that I never really thought I would work with, but God used this opportunity to mold and shape me more in working with youth, He humbled me, and He allowed His glory to be revealed through my weakness. I have definitely let pride get in the way while in the workplace, and especially being in a place where my teaching is being questioned by 6th graders on a regular basis was definitely difficult. God has been very clear and spoken to me through some of those difficult days and said, "Sarah...your identity is not found in this job, in these students that you work with, or your coworkers....your identity is found in God and God alone!" That promise that God is at work, whether I am having a good or bad day with my students and God's glory being revealed in the workplace and at work through the lives of my students through their improvements, and through conversations about God and faith and praying with my coworkers has been a great encouragement to me everyday. One scripture that I continually meditate on and come back to is Lamentations 3:22-23: "The Lord's lovingkindness indeed never ceases, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning, Great is thy faithfulness." Seek God in all places of your life...especially in the workplace....He will be clear and show up, even if you are not asking for it! :-D

So we have also finished our 1st year of the Servant Partners internship! I cannot believe it. Time has gone by very quickly, and I feel that I have grown so much more in the past few months with my teammates through joyful and difficult situations. This summer we will continue in our ministry projects of hosting bible studies with our neighbors. We are also going through a period of discerning our natural gifts, acquired skills, and spiritual gifts (gifts set). This will help determine what the 2nd year of the SP internship will look like, and what areas we should focus on, especially for ministry.

Something that has been more dificult for me recently is finding out heavy news about some friends. Please be in prayer for my friends for physical healing.
My college friend, Nick, that I knew through Intervarsity and Camp Titan, went to South Africa to volunteer there for the summer in hopes of figuring out more of what he wants to do with his life and such...was horseback riding, he fell off, was knocked unconscious and rushed to the hopsital. Nick had a blood clot that the doctors were able to take care of, but then had an infection in his lungs. He was taking a medication that had paralyzed his body, but he was just recently taken off of the medication and so he has been able to move his arms, legs, hands, etc....and is hopefully going to be able to speak soon. Nick is heavily sedated, and when they tried to breathe using the ventilator, he was struggling. They also just found out that he has pneumonia and is going to be treated with antibiotics. Nick is healing in God's timing...but please continue to pray for him that he will be patient and strong through this time, and that he will feel God's presence at work through this, and the power of people that are praying for him. And I want to praise God that his family has been able to go over to South Africa to be with him during this difficult time, and relay information back to us in the states through emails and facebook messages.
I also found out this past week about my friend and coworker, Daniel, who was having some coughing problems for about a month. After medicine trials and numerous tests, Daniel found out that he has a tumor in the center-left of his chest that is above the sternum and below the heart, and is about the size of a grapefruit. Some things to pray specifically for Daniel and his wife are that the tumor would be benign (cancer-free), that it would be easy to remove, that the cough supressants would help with Daniel's cough, and that he would be present and take things day by day. Daniel has shown a great sense of peace and calmness as he has shared, which has helped me to taking this in and receiving this information about a dear friend. Praise God also that He has allowed Daniel to receive so much these past months with work, in his recent marriage with his wife, and that he had received a clear word through prayer about not beginning to intern with Servant Partners until a later time.

Thank you for your prayers!!!

My friend, Nick...please pray for him!

SP Commencement for the 2nd years: my PLN buddies - Scott and Daniel...please pray for Daniel!

My SP Team - Lisa is in the middle in the wheelchair...please continue to be praying for her for physical healing and the rest of our team as we are continuing our ministry project until the end of August.

Estudio de la biblia

2009-05-13T11:14:00.000-07:00

Never did I think I would be sharing about the Spanish bible study I went to with my neighbors...but that's where I was this past Friday. I have grown to love and appreciate my friendship with Javier, Eliliana, and Sergio. I have enjoyed the silly awkward moments of "No se" because we do not know enough of each others' languages, I have enjoyed talking to them about their work and experiences in Chiappas, and just this past Friday I enjoyed seeing them be excited to study from the bible and to share openly about their prayer requests. Please continue to pray for the interactions with my friends. Pray for Sergio's father who has prostate cancer, pray for Javier's relatives who have been having trouble, and pray for Liliana to be able to sell tamales/champurrado without any difficulty....and also for her new baby! She is about 5 weeks pregnant. Please pray that they will also form new friendships with other people that attend the Spanish bible study and service at Church of the Redeemer...and that this new Christian community will be good for them.

We also are starting to have bible studies on Wednesday evenings with some of the women in our neighborhood. Please pray for the continuation of this, and that the women would be eager to come and study God's word to learn and grow more, and that this can be a place where they are free to open and share. Pray that Wednesday night will be an evening that these women look forward to, to receive God's truth and fellowship with one another. And pray for wisdom for my roomates and myself in planning, leading the bible study, and just being present during the study. Some of the youth guys have been going over to the other SP intern guys' house on Wednesday evening to spend time together in fellowship. Please pray that more young guys will attend and that they can begin to have a time of studying God's word as well. A couple of the SP intern guys also got the chance to have a bible study in Spanish with their Guatamelan neighbors, so please pray for more interactions with that as well. And please pray for the North of Jefferson team that is trying to coordinate with some other members from church to begin a bible study with neighbors.

As we are coming to the end of our 1st year of Servant Partners (I can't believe it!!!), we are attending a retreat this weekend. We will be leaving on Thursday afternoon and returning Sunday evening. It will be a good time to reflect on how we are doing emotionally, physically, and spiritually...it will be good to spend time with one another, and a good refreshing time to take some time of relaxing. Pleae pray that this will be a good time for all of my team.

Summer plans... you ask....I will continue to work at the charter school doing summer camp with the students. I plan to take a roadtrip in mid-June with my roomate, Regina, up to the UC Davis area to hang out and watch her brother's graduation. I also plan to visit my brother, Joel, in late August in Seattle. As far as Servant Partners, we have less meeting times, but it is still time for our ministry projects, so are to continue being present in the neighbordhood and continuing with our bible studies.

A picture of my neighbors and roomates at a birthday party for Liz and Regina at our apartment, back in April. From Left to Right: Javier, Liz, Regina, Eliliana, Javier, me, Sierra, and David (another SP intern)

Lyrics from "The Road Is Easy" by G-Vo

2009-05-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

I first heard G-Vo's music from my roomate, Liz (since they both went to UCLA), and later had the pleasure to see him in concert. This guy's lyrics are what moves me most.

One of my current favorite songs from him is called "The Road Is Easy"...here's some of the lyrics that I feel are most harsh...but truthful at times. And don't be misunderstood...G-Vo is Christian...but these are some things about the Christian faith that are not so highly looked upon. G-Vo challenges his audiences to really live a holistic life, a life dedicated to serving God, and a life that is more Christ-like than world-like!!!

The significance of being significant / is being of significance in your brother's predicament / Pluralistic, double minded, relativistic/ Bands of misfits, hermits, the world's biggest cynic / You Christians are actually nothing like your Christ / Cuz you preach about faith but live by western sight / It's the third world perspective, Irrespective of your feelings / Why do pastors get paid 3 million for their healings / Corporate America, yo we worship the flag / Plus a woman's worth is based on the worth of her bag / Me, my father, mother, brother, all cramped in one bed / But when you're poor you can easily put God ahead / The road was easy up until I saw a man on the ground / I tried my best to walk by him, walk directly around / I looked back and saw the man being helped by Samaritan / And realized my faith was krap, filthy religion

Enjoy online: http://www.myspace.com/gvomusic

The Steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases

2009-04-13T22:05:00.000-07:00

I couldn't understand what my roomate was telling me when I heard the words, "Lisa is in the hospital...she can't move her body and she's in the Emergency Room."

The thoughts that flooded my mind were: "What?! Lisa was just fine last night when we were at bible study...very energetic as her usual self, just a little bit of pain in her neck, but nothing huge....how could she now be....paralyzed?"

My friend and Servant Partners teammate - Lisa - entered the Emergency Room @4 am on the morning of Friday, March 13th. It was a month ago today, and there have definitely been ups and downs....but God has continued to be faithful to Lisa, to her husband - Eric (and other fellow friend/Servant Partners teammate), to her family, and to her Christian community - Servant Partners, Church of the Redeemer, and many friends. At one point, Lisa was not able to feel anything in her right arm, she was not able to eat food, and she was not able to talk. I was not present during those times with her at the hospital, but I can imagine that it was difficult for her and the people around her...especially because Lisa is quite a talkative and in-motion type of person. Amazingly and through God's presence and healing, Lisa is currently at a rehabilitation center in Pomona, in which she is doing therapy everyday. Lisa is now able to talk, she is able to eat food, she has been regaining more feeling throughout her body, and she is able to flex her left bicep and move her left arm! Praise God!!! Throughout this whole time...something that has become a shelter of peace has been to sing worship songs.....Lisa has actually also done better as there have been times of people singing worship songs while in her room....and it has been good/helpful for me to sing to come to God wit my worries and concerns, to lay them at His feet, and to find shelter in worship! Amen. I have also found this to be good for my soul in other areas of my life...to sing worship in times of praying, in times of seeking what God is doing at work in my life, and in times of worry/concern....singing worship songs have blessed me!

--
So on an unrelated note....with things going on in the neighborhood, a couple of weeks ago, my roomate - Regina - and I got to go to Liliana's house to help make tamales! It was quite the experience and I got to practice all the Spanish I had in me (including the Spanish that I didn't know I had...ha ha). Regina and I successfully made many tamales after watching and learning from Liliana. She takes about 25 minutes to make 50 tamales....I think we took about an hour...but it's all good. Her husband - Javier - , other apartmates, and friends were there while we were there, so we got to talk with them as well (some in Spanish and some in English....and overall, a lot of Spanglish!) Hopefully some time soon, we will be able to invite her over to our apartment to eat a meal.

Thanks for your continued prayer...here are some new prayer requests:
-Regina, Liz, and Edith are celebrating their birthdays this upcoming Saturday with a birthday party at our apartment and we are iniviting many neighbors in the community and are wanting to kick off a time to start a bible study for people in the neighborhood...so please pray that the planning of the party and the party goes well, as well as follow up with neighbors to be engaged more with the bible and prayer!
-More opportunities to meet and talk with Liliana and her husband and housemates, and for them to come to a Spanish service at Church of the Redeemer
-For the young adult fellowship in connection with some of the 2nd year Servant Partners interns....that they would be wanting to seek Jesus into their daily lives and for their studies (as some are in high school and college) and for them to want to be connected with the fellowship community through each other and the leaders
-LISA: For her to be encouraged during this time as it is difficult for her since she's typically such a mobile person and now she is relying on other people to do things for her, and also for continual recovery and healing through her therapy
-For work, during these last 2 months of the school year that God would continue to bring me energy, patience, compassion, and love for the students....and new mercies every morning! Also, guidance from God about a decision for what job position I will do for the following school year.

A Poem

2009-03-11T22:42:00.000-07:00

This is inspired from the poems that my students wrote at my school...well, mostly the structure of it and yeah.... here it goes...rough draft...please no tomatoes :-D

"I am from Hesperia" (rethinking the title...I know)

I am
from Hesperia
the homeland of tumbleweeds, dirt, and heat
but always a cool breeze in the evening

I am White
German, English, Native American
Proud.

I am
from parents of military fathers
the middle child
the only daughter

I am from
hamburger helper
homemade jams and jellies
and the best stuffing from scratch you've ever had

I am often associated as the child
with the brains, the looks, the athletic skills...
but that does not define Me.

I am
and always will be a runner at heart
a math nerd
a girl that is overjoyed with silly and simple jokes

I am
a daughter of God
who seeks justice for the needy
and is growing in compassion, serving, and love

I am from faithful friends,
a blessed family,
and amazing HD, Dorm, IV, and SP communities

I am from the most beautiful red words of Jesus Christo
"Your faith has saved you,
go in peace."

Refining

2009-03-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

I joined Servant Partners, my 2 year inner city ministry internship, because of many reasons....God calling me to be in the city (living and working here)...wanting to grow in compassion for those God loves...taking a step of faith into trusting God as Jehovah Jirah - thee Provider in my life...to be amidst a community of fellow Christians that care about similar things....to seek justice...to spread the gospel....to see the Kingdom of God present in a place where many think God has abandoned (but really is ever so present)...and to see where God will lead me!

BUT...I didn't know what God would be stirring in me....things that He is at work of refining in me that need to be worked through in my character. I didn't know prejudice thoughts would evolve because of 1 difficult experience on the streets of downtown LA...but God is working through that and from a sermon at church I realized that God is there to help me rewrite this "card" in my mind. I didn't think that my students would challenge me in ways that made me question my approval from them and my approval from my coworkers and my own self esteem in the work place....but really it brought me to a place where I can seek God for patience, mercy, and compassion for my students...because mine is not enough, and see the students with new mercies every morning, just as God sees His children on Earth with new mercies every morning/every day! :-D I didn't think that God would bring up something from many years back - forgiveness that I had not truly given, and how I need to seek wisdom from friends and scriptures, and to really pray and cry out to God about that. I didn't think that my fear of death of loved ones would come up again, but 1 John 4:18 says "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."....and since Jesus Christ is perfect love, I need to lean more into Him to help me take away this fear. INTERESTING....God has been doing a great deal of refining for my character, especially through some things that I was surprised about, but it has been good....what blessings from the Lord! :-D

So we are now 2 weeks in to our ministry projects that will continue for 6 months. Our end goal is to have 2 small group bible studies in this area of South LA that are in partnership with our church. So....we are just continuing to be more intentional and proactive about building relationships with our neighbors, being out in the community, sharing the gospel with people, and eventually inviting people to be a part of the small group bible studies!

I would greatly appreciate your prayers for a few things:
-There is an idol at a house close to our street (kinda like the golden calf in Exodus that the Israelites were worshipping) ...we have learned more about it and have been praying for the destruction of it...so please join us in prayer for that....and pray that we get to have conversations with the people who live there who are already open to spirituality, but show them the real God who is worthy of worship!
-Pray for continued interactions with our neighbors in this community
-Pray for reconciliation among our neighbors in our apartment complex
-Pray for Liliana (she sells tamales and champurrado...I shared about her before) that she and her husband, Javier, are able to have enough money to make ends meet and that my household and others continue to have conversations with her and that they come back to church again
-Pray for continual conversations with coworkers about Jesus and for the Kingdom of God to be very present there

Thanks so much for my supporters, prayer partners, and loved ones! :-D Remember to please email to keep me updated with things going on for y'all...and also if you get any senses/thoughts while praying for what is going on for me here in South LA. Take care and blessings!!!

Fasting and Prayer

2009-02-08T14:32:00.000-08:00

In connection to the church that I have been attending - Church of the Redeemer in South LA - and in preparations for the beginning of our upcoming ministry project in the neighborhood, we have been going through a time of 40 days of prayer and fasting. We are about 1/2 way through, as this was week 3 of that time period. During this time period, God has been bringing up many different things for me that I need to be praying through, and really just lean in to Him more for wisdom, strength, patience, and peace! Some of those things include difficulty at work and asking God for more patience, compassion, and love for the students....dealing with the difficulty of previous deaths of loved ones in my life and healing, fears, and forgiveness through that...satisfaction that I have found in food, that really needs to be changed and my satisfaction should be in God alone! ("Why do you spend money for what is nto bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance." -Isaiah 50:2) This morning at church I was reminded that as a believer in Jesus Christ, we are in a spiritual battle...in which satan will use opportune moments to try to tempt us, or make us feel worse about ourselves, or make things difficult....pretty much do anything that will take us away from furthering God's kingdom. So as it has been difficult and emotional with certain things that have been brought up in my life during this time of prayer and fasting, I am glad that God is so powerful and is right here with me and is lifting me up to press more into Him and put my full dependence to God...not myself and not others, but in the everlasting God who I can always rely and depend on! I am excited to see what God will continue to do during these 40 days of prayer and fasting, and how He has been at work through people in our church, through the neighborhood where I live, and throughout the area of South LA. :-D

Some exciting things that have been happening include being invited to our neighbors' wedding that was a few weeks ago. It was a very joyous and celebratory time to be there! It was quite funny...we were getting ready to leave because we didn't really know anybody else besides the bride/groom and another couple of neighbors that were there....but we passed by the groom's family's table, and they stopped us, insisting that we stay. When we said that we didn't really know anybody, they start introducing us to lots of people and just make us feel very welcome...and then also bring over the 8+ eligible bachelors at the wedding! Ha ha.... but it was quite a good rest of the evening getting to talk to the married couple and their relatives.

I also got to pray with one of my neighbor's also when her younger brother had been injured and they were on their way to the hospitable...in the rush of finding all that out, Ashley (our neighbor) was a bit shooken up, and I just knew that God was stirring in me to pray with her. So after going in my apartment, I went back outside and got to pray with Ashley before she headed out with her dad to the hospitable. We prayed that night that the family would return back at a reasonable hour...and it was only about 1 1/2 hours after they left, that they returned...with having to go to ER and getting stiches! I believe that was a work of God because when you go to ER, you're on a list waiting based off of priority to your injury, and getting stitches is typically not a top priority...so praise God for answering that prayer and helping to meet their family in the midst of worry and concern.

I continue to get to see Iliana (really spelled - Liliana...but it sounds like Iliana) about 1x/week on my way to work with my co-worker and fellow SP buddy, Scott. We purchase tamales, champurrado, and get to talk with her. She recently suggested that I go to her house for a meal...so please pray for wisdom and discernment about when that might happen and for the opportunity to get to know and her family better! :)

Thank you all for your continual prayers...God hears them and has been at work in this city and in my life! Please keep praying...pray for good health among my team and people at my workplace and people in the neighborhood...pray for God's spirit to be moving in our neighborhood and for people's hearts to be softened as we will be soon getting to know more people in the neighborhood and having conversations and sharing about Jesus...pray for compassion, patience, and love for me while I am at my workplace, and discernment/wisdom about what I will be doing for work during the summer and for the next school year (they are going to open a new middle school....so not too sure if I will move also and work with the middle schoolers, or stay at the elementary school where I am at)...pray for God's kingdom to come forth and for this area of LA to be a place where God's name dwells! Thanks sooo much for your prayers!!! <3 :-D

Some pictures!

People that I enjoy spending time with! Hosting some SP friends at our house
for food and prayer!

Taishia's wedding....Regina, Sierra, and me

At Taishia and Philipp's wedding...all decked out! :-D

At Daniel and Casey's LA Wedding Reception...the PLN Crew

Champurrado and Tamales!

2009-01-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

Looks good huh....that 1st image is a picture of a tamale, and the 2nd picture is champurrado, a "warm and thick Mexican" drink. :) And why am I posting these pictures...let me explain.

In the mornings I go running at the Expo Park/USC area. As I was leaving from my run on the way back to my apartment on Thursday morning, I notice that there is a lady with a shopping cart, and so I ask her what she is selling. She tells me that she is selling champurrado. I ask "Cuantos" <--How much in Spanish. She says "1 dollar". I try to ask in my broken Spanish if she will be there 'manana' so that I can buy some the following day...she says yes and proceeds to get me a drink. I say "Oh no....it's okay...Esta bien." But she still continues and hands me the cup of champurrado. Then I ask her what is in the ice chest, and she says Tamales.. "Quantos", "$1". "Okay, manana." But she insists on getting me a tamale right away. Quite generous. Then I am trying to ask what time she will be back the following day... I hear "Cinco"...I'm thinking "She gets here at 5:00 in the morning?! YIKES!" So I explain to her that I will bring money to her tomorrow morning.

I continue to walk back to my apartment with my champurrado and tamale in my hand...quite delcious. And the only words I can think of to say delicious are "Masarap" <--from the Tagalog (Filippino) language....no where close to Spanish. Hee hee. Anyways....as I keep walking, I start to hear the shopping cart behind me and I see that the lady is walking behind me. So I go back and ask "Donde viven?" She lives close to me, as we figure out through my broken Spanish and her broken English that is more advanced than my broken Spanish. And we continue to have a conversation through our broken-ness of different languagues...but we are able to have a conversation...Praise God! :) And then we eventually separate ways....but I just thought it was definitely an amazing opportunity from God to meet this lady who lives and works in my neighborhood and talk with her, get my morning breakfast, and practice my Spanish. Ha ha.

Please pray for Iliana, as this is what her job is...and she is raising 3 children by herself! Pray that God continues to provide enough resources and income for her....and that her family is well taken care of. Pray that I will get to see her again and continue to have conversations as we are both growing more in learning Spanish/English. And pray that Iliana will be curious to know more about Jesus Christ, if she does not already have faith in Him in her own life. :-D

My Refreshing 2 Weeks

2009-01-02T19:54:00.000-08:00

I have been blessed! I have a job that I was able to have 2 weeks off since I work at a school...that lined up perfectly with our Christmas break for Servant Partners...and I also had many of those days at paid holidays, which is awesome! :) Praise God!

So because of my break, I was able to go home for 2 weeks to spend time with my family, spend time with high school friends, and also get to spend some time in Fullerton for a few days! It was really good to spend time with my family...Joel flew in from Seattle and was here for a week...so it was everybody here for the Christmas (except for Chris since he's in Korea cause he's in the Air Force)...and it was really joyful and fun to spend time with everybody. I had some pretty awesome hangout times and conversations with all of my family members...especially tonight when my Dad shared more about how and my Mom met and how they dated and then eventually were engaged and married! :-D I thought it was really precious when my Dad said "I love our mom more today than I did when I married her." AWW!

I got to spend some time with high school friends...including a few that I've known since elementary school which is way awesome. It's been cool to see how God is at work among all of us and it was great that we can all still get together, despite all the different places we are living and such.

I also got to spend some time in the Fullerton area for a few days and get to spend some time with friends from the dorms, Intervarsity friends, Newsong friends, and visit my old work at the Boys and Girls Club! A huge part of my heart is in the Fullerton area...because of how God shaped/molded me while I was there...and because of the people there.

For me during my time off, I would say the most restful part of everything was just getting to spend time in God's word (which is difficult for me when I go home....I just get distracted), I was able to read some devotionals every morning as well as reading from Leviticus and Psalms...and a little bit of 2 Kings to prep for my sermon that I will be giving in February with Servant Partners (please be praying for that...eeck!). I also enjoyed getting to spend time reading my journals from when I was in the Philippines, as well as my journal from different bible studies during these past few months with Servant Partners. It's neat to see what God has been doing since I moved to LA. A couple of things that really stand out to me are that I've beeen growing of just being more culturally aware of different things and I'm learning what it means to anticipate needs and serve others .... and I'm learning more of what it looks like to be open to when God is leading me to have a conversation with a neighbor or co-worker, while not worrying about the time factor (as most of you know, I'm a big stickler for time...but God and some friends have been helping me to be more loose in this area for the sake of furthering God's kingdom). And God is definitely growing me more in compassion and patience with my 6th grade students that I work with in the after school program. My constant prayer everyday when I go to work is that as how God grants us, his children, with new mercies every morning...that I will have new mercies every morning with the students I work with. I need to not hold grudges or see the wrong that they did the previous day and hold it over their head. It's been a good prayer...and good for me to open my heart in that way...definitely difficult on certain days....but I'm just learning to see my students in the same way that God sees us as His children! And it's a beautiful picture :-D

Well...that's been my 2 weeks! Tomorrow I'm going back to Los Angeles...my new home, not just a place that I visit anymore. Here are some prayer requests for while I go back:
-These newt few months is when we will be starting our ministry project in the neighborhood...so please pray for our time in the community to be filled with good conversations and for people to be open to sharing about their lives and about the needs of the community...in order that God's work that is already existing in the neighborhood to be furthered more to meet community needs
-Pray that my apartment complex will learn to love each other and grow with one another more....not just that my roomates and I are the only ones that are trying to reach out, but that our apartment complex will come together and be a true community that God speaks about in scriptures...one that takes care of all needs!
-Pray for my work at the after school program that I can continue to build relationships with the students, that the students will seek education as something that they desire and are passionate about, and pray for my Spanish to keep improving! Also, I will be needing to make a decision about helping out with Physical Education in the mornings...so pray that God is leading that decision. Also pray for continual conversations about the Bible, faith, and ministry with my co-workers :)
-Pray for my whole team as we will finally be regularly attending Church of the Redeemer (yeah!) a local church in the area where we live, that we will be partnering with for our ministry projects
-Pray for my family: Daniel is job searching and has been having a difficult time...so guidance with that....Joel is seeking more of learning about what religion can be in his own life, so just that we can continue to have good conversations....Mom: continual patience with her work since she works with students in special education classes and for healing as she has been having pain throughout different parts of her body....Dad: he is thinking of going back to work part-time at his old work (he's been retired this past year) so just a lot of patience with that, and for him to not stress out so much...Chris: for him to come back safely from Korea and to settle in Vegas for the last 4 1/2 years of his service

And here are some lovely pictures from the 2 weeks :-D

One of my favorite streets in Fullerton during Christmas time...you can't really tell, but there are all these global lights that are hanging from the trees :-D

My favorite Taiwanese restaurant! :) Thanks Jayson :-D

Gwenstar and me at her casa...Placentia Manor...where I used to live!

Kha Kha and me at Quickly for boba and dumplings!

The cute ducks at one my favorite parks: Tri-City Park

J-Hsieh and me at CSUF!

Sears Family Pictures: Daniel, Me, and Joel

Sears Family Pictures: Daniel, Joel, Me, Mom, and Dad

Cultural Love: Jen, Cor, Lati, and me :-D

Truth from God...in the form of Switchfoot

2008-12-26T23:29:00.000-08:00

A repost of a blog repost from Steph Yu from Jason Ma:

Interestingly, that next weekend I had an interview with a rock band called "Switchfoot" for our TV show. The band had just released their first cross over secular album called "The Beautiful Letdown". When I interviewed the lead singer Jon Foreman I asked him a simple question, "Jon, why did you guys title this new album The Beautiful Letdown?" He responded, "Jaeson, that is a good question. You see, everything in this life can let you down. Right now, the chair I am sitting in could break and fail me. In a few minutes I can go up and sing on that stage to thousands of people, but when I get off the stage my health could fail and I could lose my voice forever and never be able to sing again. I have a beautiful wife, but I could go home and find out she has been unfaithful. You see, everything in this life can fail you. Everything in this life is finite, meaning it doesn't last, but only one thing is truly infinite and will last forever. Yes, everything in this life can and will let you down, but the beautiful thing about it is this, when everything lets you down in this world it leads you to the one thing that is truly beautiful..... the unfailing love of Jesus Christ."

Oswald Chambers

2008-12-22T23:22:00.000-08:00

Currently I am reading from "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers, which my lovely roomate - Liz - is letting me borrow since she brought it back after Thanksgiving break. I know it's a little late, but I really liked the reading for December 18th...as it it something that I can relate to, but I am constantly seeking God to be more faithful in Him and not anything else:

"Being faithful to Jesus Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today. We will be faithful to our work, to serving others, or to anything else; just don't ask us to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Many Christians become very impatient when we talk about faithfulness to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. We treat God as if He were a machine designed only to bless us, and we think of Jesus as just another one of the workers.

The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to His work through us. God calls us to His service and places tremendous responsiblities on us. He expects no complaning on our part and offers no explanation on His part. God wants to use as He used His own Son."

Work, Community, and Thankfullness

2008-12-02T11:31:00.000-08:00

"What shines forth and reveals God in your life is not your relative consistency to an idea of what a saint should be, but your genuine, living relationship with Jesus Christ, and your unrestrained devotion to HIm whether you are well or sick." -Oswald Chambers My Utmost For His Highest

Well....I am currently in week 4 of my new job! I am working with an after school program in the downtown LA area with a group of 6th graders along with another associate teacher and my lead teacher. It's been good, challenging, and definitely a growing time altogether. I hadn't had too much work directly with a group of middle-schoolers before, but I am growing to learn their quirks and attitudes, and grow compassion for them that God desires! I have been enjoying getting to know my co-workers as well through different conversations and staff meetings and potlucks! During my first week there, I looked outside of the playground area to the outside...to the city of where this school was placed......and it was just really neat, because this is a place that I have wanted to be for so long....working at a school in the city....and here I am! Is it everything I expected it to be....I think so, that and more....and I'm growing to love being there and and open to where God is going to lead me from here! Being at the school reminds me of Manila a bit in different ways...mostly because of the limited space of the playground area, as that was 1 thing that I was concerned about while in the Philippines and my concern for the physical activity level for the people and kids there.....so I have been thinking of ideas of what physical activity can truly look like in this small play area. :)

My Servant Partners community....we are currently reading through a book called "Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community", and it talks about Christian community. It has been neat to read through and see how different aspects of what it talks about in the book have played out in my life in Christian community, and/or how they are currently playing out with my SP team and my roomates. Every day I am growing to love my roomates more and more.....and it's not because everything is peachy and great...it's because we will have things that we are struggling with together, or we are having conflict, or we are trying to meet each others' needs through our differences....and THAT is beautiful and that is what the KINGDOM OF GOD is about. I am growing more and more to be open with my roomates and share about what is going on for me....even if there are times when I may not feel like speaking up, we will encourage one another to speak what is on our mind and such. Even among our bible studies through the book of Luke, I am speaking up more when I have a question, comment, something to say about the passage, and that has been exciting for me and helpful to voacalize what is going through my head to the rest of the group.

THANKFULNESS:.....After just partaking in Thanksgiving festivities this past weekend...including my 4 day weekend....I thought I should give thanks to a lot of differnet people and things! These are definitely my praises to God as well:
-A God that loves me through all the ups and downs in my life....and holds when my hand all the time because I cannot make it alone
-A family that through all of our ups and downs has been supportive and loving to me
-Friends from high school that can always bring smiles to my face through the most simplest of joys...like playing pool and eating rootbeer floats!
-Daniel & Scott from work and SP...they have guided me so much for my new job with the after school program and I am definitely grateful for them in my life...not just for work, but for speaking about how God is moving in our lives through different areas
-My Fullerton friends who have been able to visit and I've visited them....and as they have been patient and understanding to my time limitations with SP, but out of following God and being obedient to Him
-My SP Community....from emails & facebook groups before SP officially started...to Manila with the cockroaches, rats, and skits about the SuperMall...to finding new jobs and apartments and chillen at one another's apartments....to studying the book of Luke with 13 new lens' of the bible...to sharing more deeply and openly with one another from our past and current experiences....I have been blessed and challenged with all the ups and downs of my team and look forward to what the future holds!
-My Servant Partners Supporters...to all the people have been in prayer for me since I first mentioned the words "I might become a missionary in the inner-city", and have sent money to help support my trip to the Philippines and conferences that will occur throughout the internship.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Prayer Requests:
-More opportunities to get to talk with and know our neighbors more....we did get to meet more neighbors when we delivered Thanksgiving goodies to them...so just prayer for more open doors, and for us to be bold and to be okay being awkward to getting to know our neighbors more
-Good health...it seems that right about now is the time when people might start getting sick...so just extra blessings for good health among my teammates
-Continued prayer for the rest of my teammates who are still unemployed (3) to find jobs and wisdom in their job searches
-My family....prayer for open eyes/hearts, forgiveness, grace, reconciliation, and God's love to shine through
-Patience and compassion at work with my 6th graders....to see them through the lens of God's eyes....and see them as God's children!
-Good stewardship with the $$income that I am making now

Some pictures from Thanksgiving break:

Daniel and me on our hike

Tony Berrios and me at Panda Express

Jen, Lati, Jessica, Tony, Heather, and me chillen at Jen's place for reminiscing memories :-D

Preach the Gospel to the Poor

2008-10-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

"People often ask, 'Were you called to minister to the poor?' We are all called to minister to the poor. Such a ministry is the logical obedience of any discipline imitating the attitudes, character, and teaching of Jesus. He commands everyone to renounce all (Luke 14:33), to give to the poor, and live simply. But we would need a special call to minister primarily to the rich or middle-class, for the focus of Christian ministry is 'good news to the poor.'"

*The above quote is taken from a book I am currently reading, called "Companion to the Poor: Christ in the Urban Slums." by Viv Grigg. When I read this, I felt that it was everything I needed to read and more....that as much as I have felt a calling from God to be in the inner-city, and that might mean possibly overseas one day....that it is not just MY calling to be among the poor...but Jesus calls EVERYBODY to be with the poor...because that is what His ministry is about. We are currently also inductively studying out of the book of Luke, and it brings light to what Jesus' ministry is about from His early days:

"And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brough up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. ' And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, 'Today this scripture has been fuflilled in your hearing.'" (Luke 4:16-21)

Living in Los Angeles for the past month or so, has been quite interesting....every day has been an adventure with something always new going on....I pray a lot lot every day for the "little" things that God sees as HUGE. God cares so much for the people in Los Angeles, from those that are oppressed through homelessness, drugs and alcohol addictions, racism, unjust education systems, and many other things that are going on here. Sometimes I become so overwhelemed with learning about more and more unjust issues...but I remember that we have a God that is faithful and sees people in their needs and meets them where they are at...and He sends his people to GO and make His Kingdom here on Earth.

Here are some Praises/Prayer Requests!
PRAISES:
-God has blessed us with conversations and interactions with our neighbors
-God has blessed me with a job to work at an after school program in the downtown LA area....I will start working there once I have my clearances
-God has blessed 1/2 of our team with jobs
-God has opened my eyes to wanting to seek more what it looks like to go beyond praying, giving $, and advocating about justice issues....

PRAYER REQUESTS:
-Pray that God opens more doors to talk with our neighbors and seek friendships with them
-Pray that I will really get involved with learning Spanish, since it will help me to getting to know Spanish-speaking neighbors, and it will also help me at my job
-Continue praying for jobs for the rest of my teammates
-Pray for our team as we are figuring out finances as a team....and also for my teammates that are still fundraising money for the Servant Partners internship

Here are some pictures from my birthday party a couple of weeks ago:

People at the park having a good time talking and eating

Ingyrid and me...after the cake eating contest -> She WON! :)

Kristina and me

My birthday cake...thanks Dan Hwang and family! :)

To explain it all in words.....would take forever!

2008-10-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

Wow....so much has happened this past month since I've started interning with Servant Partners....from training, to going to the Philippines, to finding an apartment, and job searching.....but God has been so faithful and so good....so I would just like to share with y'all about some of that! :)

While we were starting training for Servant Partners, we were studying from the book of Nehemiah, which was very exciting, especially since I had never really read through Nehemiah. A few things that stood out to me is that non-believers were helping to give to Nehemiah's cause of restoring the city.....and that the city should be a place where God's name dwells. I have consistently been praying while in the Philippines and back in LA that God's name would dwell in that place....whether that be through His people, His ministry, His church, and His community!

And so the Philippines....where do I begin....I think to keep it short and simple...I will share 3 stories: my most favorite experience, my most difficult experience, and a funny/random experience:
FAVORITE: So while we were in Manila, we got to visit and stay with a host family for meal times on Saturdays and stop in whenever we had a chance. My host family had the parents: Rolando and Josephine, and 4 daughters: Jena, Jenni-paz, Ruth, and Jem-Jem. These daughters were all so adorable and way cute and fun. The oldest, Jena (10) was more quiet and reserved and would not always share as much....but one night we all of a sudden bonded! I was sitting near the doorway waiting for dinner to be ready, and Jena came out and wanted to sing with me...so we started singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and then she showed me her homework for science (her favorite subjects are science and math), and then she started showing me her math homework. We talked about multiplications...and then I started to teach her about how to multiply with her 9's using the trick of your fingers, multiplying with 0, 1, and 10. It was really cool, cause once she figured it out, I was quizzing her and all....and then later she was sharing with other people and teaching them also! It was just really neat to see that Jena and I bonded over these simple things....and since then our friendship/relationship grew with one another. :)

DIFFICULT: On Sundays, we went to different churches...the 1st 2 churches were in the community area....and then on the last Sunday, we went to a huge church in Makati City (the business district), and it was difficult. This church service was all spoken in English, and even though I was sitting amongst many Filippinos, along with a Korean family near me and some Americans....I felt that it was difficult to be there. This church and the lavishness of it reminded me so much of American churches....and I think I was just not ready to go through that reverse culture shock of experiencing what American ideals are like...and how they are so different than the Philippines...and especially of being in the urban slum (poverty at the extreme) community that we were in. I felt that being in the Philippines...simplicity was something that was just the norm....and I was so eager to learn so much from the people there...but then when I went to this church....it was not that at all...and it was difficult sitting there...and the sermon was not all that great.....and it was very uncomfortable....and I started to cry while I was sitting there at church. In my head, I was thining, "is this how God wants us to glorify Him...with all of this lavishness?...how does that make sense when God wants us to come as we are to Him....and live simple lifestyles....and to give and to care and meet each others' needs and nothing more?"....all these thoughts. I still have not quite processed through my church experience, but I do know that I am currently learning more of a simplistic lifestyle and what that looks like for my own life, and how I can share that with others.....and just take other cultural aspects from the Philippines and incorporate them into my life here in the states.

FUNNY/RANDOM: So in the Philippines, Balut is a delicacy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut . Balut is a fertilized duck egg that is not fully developed...and you eat it! I kept saying that I would not eat the balut just because I had seen it before and it did not look enjoyable at all. I had seen some of my friends/teammates eat Balut one night, and was grossed out again, and kept saying I would not eat it. Then one night I was going back to my apartment that I was staying in while in the Philippines but nobody was there and I did not have a key, so I went to a nearby neighbor where some of the guys from our team were staying with their host family. No later than 5 minutes, some random guy comes through the alley way and is selling Balut. Nobody ever does that...walking through the alleys selling anything, but this guy was selling Balut. So then everybody wanted me to eat the Balut and I did not want to and kept refusing. But then Ariel (the man of the homestay house) said to me something that I will not forget: "But, you are a missionary....and you need to be flexible" And when he said those words, I knew what he was saying was true....that as following God and going into a new culture, I would need to be flexible and willing to try new things and be flexible...so it was because of what Ariel said, that I agreed to eat the Balut...and when I did, it was not that bad! I actually kind of liked it....and then I ate another Balut the following night when our whole team ate Balut together. And somehow by me eating the Balut with Ariel and Luna, it "won their hearts over" enough...that they gave a present to me when we left! :)

So yeah...those are some stories from the Philippines...but please ask me more and I would like to share! :)

BEING BACK IN LOS ANGELES!
Every day is an adventure living in LA...and that has been really fun and enjoyable :-D So....last Tuesday my roomates and I went out to look for apartments....we drove around and looked for "For Rent" signs and then followed up with phone calls....we only got a hold of 1 apartment that was a 2 bedroom place....and we were able to see that place on Tuesday, get the credit check papers, and turn them in. Then on Wednesday night we heard back from our landlord and she said that we got the place! So exciting...and so we were able to move in some of our stuff on Thursday and the rest of it on Saturday/Sunday when our team and my parents were able to come to bring the rest of our stuff. Our landlord also has been really great and making sure that we have everything taken care of and has just been such a blessing and really hospitable for us! :) Soo exciting. So we are all pretty much settled in, and then I found out that my parents will be able to bring their extra fridge for us soon, and then all we need to get is a stove/oven and a microwave. It was just really neat to see God provide so faithfully and so quickly with our apartment!

Thanks for your continue prayer requests, here are some new ones:
-We are currently all looking for jobs, so for God to be guiding us to the jobs that He wants us to have....and so that we will also start being able to have incomes to pay things
-Opportunities to get to know our neighhbors and spend time with them and bless them in the way that Jesus would if He was here
-We will be starting to inductively study out of the book Luke, and so just that will be a good time for us, productive, and a neat learning experience from this gospel of the Bible! :)
-Continually being reminded of our experience in the Philippines....and prayer for the people that we met there and how they affected us. Also, prayer for the missonaries there: Aaron and Emma and their continual ministry in the community of Botocan.

Some pictures from the Philippines:

With Dave and Regina, riding on the Jeepney

With our host family...left to right, top to bottom: Rolando, Jena, Jenni-Paz, Eric, me, Ruth, Lisa, Josephine, Jem-Jem, and Polo (cousin)

A view of the rooftops in the Botocon community

Along with Sierra, as we are eating Balut

A group/team picture in front of the church in the Botocan community :-D <3

Philippians 4:6-7

2008-08-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God, And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Phillipians 4:6-7

So....I never fully grasped this passage before...until recently. I have always been a busy-body person, and so worrying and stressing about things was something of the norm. I understood that God wanted us to not worry about things...but how could I not worry about my grades, and my job, and my finances, and my family, and my friends! But recently....I have been going through a period of really just understanding what TRUSTING IN GOD means...allowing Him to take control of 'my' situations....and follow where He leads, and to just trust what He is doing. Within this past year, and following a decision to apply for Servant Partners, that was really totally God-led....I started to have all these worries and concerns....but I felt that I wanted to do SP also because of those concerns and worries...and to allow God to take control in my life and fill the gap and take care of those concerns. And God did prove Himself mightily (duh!)....He has taken care of my concerns of fundraising $$, concerns for my parents, and concerns of leaving my Fullerton IV/Newsong community (as He is already blessing me with my SP community). And even though I still do not have a job figured out or our housing situated yet....I have felt very at peace and I know that God will take care of me because He has already been taking care of me all along....I just had to take a risk of uncertainty, and trust God....what faith really is! I normally would be super stressed and freaking out because I don't have everything figured out....but as my friend Jayson said, God thrives in the realm of uncertainty...and that has been soo amazing and a blessing to experience, especially as I have seen God give me a peace in my heart about all of this!

So tomorrow (Friday, August 29th) I start orientation for Servant Partners. It has been good getting to spend time with people these past few days and hanging out and such.... and I feel that as I hang out with people that are closer to me....I get this stomach-ache feeling.....just kinda a sadness and uncertainty of when I will see them again....but God is with both my friends and me and the communication will continue! :) I still don't feel nervous yet.....maybe I'll feel nervous 5 minutes into our orientation...or as we're flying in the air on the way to the Philippines and I'm finding it difficult to fall asleep... but at this point...I still feel this calmness and peace about what I'm doing....I feel that is totally God!!!

Well...some prayer requests:

-For my sickness to fully heal.....and for all of my team while we are in the Philippines for good health
-Safe travels to and from the Philippines....and just for learning and reflection time while we are in the Philippines...and great training for what we are to be doing in our neighborhoods when we return to Los Angeles
-For God to be preparing a job for me when I return from Manila...I really want to work at a job that is close to where I'll be living...so I will have go out and search about for that...
-Housing....we still do not have our apartment yet.....so just that we will find an apartment/house quickly when we return from the Philippines...and for the friends that will be hosting us to receive great blessings upon them for their generosity!
-My parents...just for them to have more peace about the situation....and just trust that God is taking care of their daughter and keeping me safe!

Some pictures of my last week here in the OC....yeah :)

OG CSUF Intervarsity Crew!

The ladies at Erika and my going away celebration/party

Erika and me....off to Servant Partners soon!

Susan and me...in front of the cutest teahouse in Fullerton

Gwenstar and me at Lollicup....Happy Early Birthday! :-D

Tommy and me after Chipotle...yeah for Knes buddies!

Miscellaneous fun while at Lollicup...

No Jayson...you do not have blond hair

J-Hsieh and me....making weird faces is the norm...

Yep...Ashley hasn't changed... lol....got the chance to go back to Covenant and the COA, the sites I was serving with last year for LAUP....which started even more of the stirring for inner-city ministry work...that eventually led to Servant Partners!

Weeping...

2008-08-17T22:39:00.000-07:00

So....for those of you who know me pretty well...you know that I do not cry much. But this past Saturday....I was weeping because of something my younger brother, Daniel, sent me. He had told me a while back that he was working on a Christmas present for my brother and me but didn't really say what it was....well he emailed me with an image file attached just saying, "here's part of the present". I started to open the image in a new window....and the processing of the dial-up internet reception at my parent's house was just taking too long...I wanted to see the whole image right away...but as it started showing up...I just starting getting that feeling of wanting to cry. It is an image of a culmination of beautiful pictures of my brothers and me from when we were growing up and our many travels...all together in a collage! I began to cry....and just cry.... and then I went to my room to journal about it and I wept even more! There's this feeling of when I cry that I just get dry in the mouth and such...almost like I can't breathe....and I just cough a bit (or maybe that's cause I'm a little sick), and the tears that won't stop coming, and I get this headache pain...but only for a little bit....I hadn't experienced this kind of weeping in a while...and it all came back to me soo quickly! There were soo many memories that came to my mind through seeing those pictures: Disneyland, family reunions, our travel trailer, fighting & getting along, summer vacations, and having fun together as a family! As much as my brothers and I are all far away from each other physically/geographically, I have never felt as close to them as I have than these past week! They bring soo much light and happiness in my life and I love them so much. I recently got an email from my older brother, Joel, just saying the he misses me from when I was up in Seattle visiting him and that he hopes I can go back again and visit him and that he wants to come visit me here and meet my friends. That was soo encouraging and such a joy to read that from my brother! And then also just getting this picture from Daniel was just a blessing to receive!

So I am worried about my commitments with Servant Partners and how that will affect me getting to see them and how our relationship will be affected...but I feel that Satan is putting some of those thoughts in mind....and I just pray that God will continue to take control of our relationships with one another and keep us connected....even though we are separated by miles.

I feel that this is how God intended family relationships to be....soo good that we weep over the greatness and the love that exists among family members! I feel that weeping IS a gift from God....that it is not something to be shameful about....and that it can be used for times of difficulty in pain...but also for tears of joy when there is so much greatness that we don't know what else to do besides smile and weep, which was what I was experiencing.

Then I got to thinking about weeping....and if other mammals experience weeping and such...apparently, no other animals weep for an emotional reason... I looked it up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crying
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears#Types_of_tears

And how did God choose the emotion of crying....that salty water would leak from our eyes because we are sad or happy? There is a passage in the bible saying that "Jesus wept" and it is significant because it is the shortest verse in the New Testament....and also that it helps describe that Jesus was truly human...because He had human emotions!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_wept

So interesting what you can find on Wikipedia :)

*Here is the picture that Daniel sent me!

*Prayer Request:
-We are going to be turning in our information for our credit check soon with the apartment we are hoping to get in South LA for Servant Partners. Please be praying that everything goes smoothly...and that hopefully we can move in this weekend! :)

Rain Drops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens....

2008-08-14T00:52:00.001-07:00

I LOVE my job...I was really thinking a lot about that the other day....and as difficult as it is at times and how upset I get at the kids because they do the same thing over and over....I am reminded of God's amazing unconditional compassionate love that He just keeps loving us back....and I have to remind myself to keep loving these kids...because God has done the same for me when I mess up. I really enjoy getting to be with them and joking around and hearing their stories...sometimes they are sad and my heart just aches for them and what they're going through....and I pray that God will keep them safe and protect their families. In all my years of working with kids, I have never been moved and touched that because of the kids I work with, I wanted to have my own..... but just being with these kids and taking care of them and having to be selfless so often and just really helping them with the little and simple things and worrying about them...wow.....makes me realize how much I would love to have my own kids one day. Of course I have always wanted to have my own kids....but there's just some things that I've experienced here that allow me to want those experiences with my own kids one day even more...and I just look forward to that.

I've only got 1 1/2 weeks left working with the summer day camp....then 1 week off to really just spend time with people...and then I start orientation for Servant Partners and then we go to Manilla in the Philippines for 3 weeks!!! Yikes...life moves so fast.... but God is good :-D

Sometimes trusting that God will provide is difficult...but I have seen Him provide in my life a lot lot throughout many times in my life, but most definitely in this past year with many a things. I believe God is powerful and is Jehovah Jireh....our provider....and so I am trusting that He will provide an exact housing location that He wants my roomates and I to have soon....as well as a job that He has been preparing for me.....and to have peace about not knowing all of that right now.

Prayer Requests:
-Conversations with my roomates about our housing search situation....we would like to have our housing settled before we leave for Manilla...so just that we will find something in these next few weeks..... and that if that is not the Lord's decision to have us have a place yet, to give us peace about that
-Job Search.....I have really been slacking with this and need to revise my resumes and write up cover letters to send out...so just energy and confidence that things will go smoothly
-My Car....I might not be taking my car with me to LA....I'm still praying about this decision and will be talking more with my parents this weekend about it...it will be uncomfortable for me in many ways...but that gives me more of a reason to see that God has His hand on this thought and that He will provide again and again and again in the ways of my transportation!
-CSUF Students - They will be starting school again in a couple of weeks...so just for good conversations with students during the first 2 weeks of getting to know people, inviting them out to Intervarsity events, and getting to know people and sharing God's love and kingdom on the Fullerton campus!
-MANILLA! - I will be in Manilla, Philippines for 3 weeks! I've never been overseas..so I'm excited....pray that we will have safe travels, good health, that we will be growing and learning together as a team, and that God will be moving and showing us how to live among the poor, love, and be a community together :-D
-My Brother - Continue to have conversations....continue seeking to love him without strings...peace about difficulty conflicts in the past

Fundraising Update:
-I have raised ~$4,500 at this point and I needed to raise $4,000...so praise God! :)

Here are some lovely pictures...so enjoy:

Camp Titan Celebration Banquet Dinner :)

Yumm....why does roadtrip food always taste soo good?! Santa Barbara :-D

Shaved Ice for Mike's Going Away to Chicago!

Passages of Injustice....and of Hope

2008-07-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

So I am currently reading a book titled, "A Theology As Big as the City" by Ray Bakke. It has really been a great book to read...and just learning about dynamics of the city....and inner-city ministry work :) There were 2 bible passages that they go over that really struck out to me.

Psalm 38

O Lord do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
For your arrows have pierced me,
and your hand has come down upon me.
Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;
my bones have no soundness because of my sin.
My guilt has overwhelmed me
like a burden too heavy to bear.
My wounds fester and are loathsome
because of my sinful fully.
I am bowed down and brought very low;
all day long I go about mourning.
My back is filled with searing pain;
there is no health in my body.
I am feeble and utterly crushed;
I groan in anguish of heart.
All my longings lie before you, O Lord;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
My heart pounds, my strength fails me;
even the light has gone from my eyes.
My friends and companions avoide me because of my wounds;
my neighbors stay far away.
Those who seek my life set their traps,
those who would harm me talk of my ruin;
all day long they plot deception.
I am like a deaf man, who cannot hear,
like a mute, who cannot open his mouth;
I have become like a man who does not hear,
whose mouth can offer no reply.
I wait for you, O Lor;
you will answer, O Lord my God.
For I said, "Do not let them gloat
or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips."
For I am about to fall,
and my pain is ever with me.
I confess my iniquity;
I am trouble by my sin.
Many are those who are my vigorous enemies;
those who hate me without reason are numerous.
Those who repay my good with evil
slander me when I pursue what is good.
O Lord, do not forsake me;
be not far from me, O my God.
Come quickly to help me,
O Lord my Savior.

In the book, it states, "Now let's title it 'The Cry of an AIDS victim.'" Think about that a bit and dwell on that.... "He is alone, suffering from the abandonment of family and friends. So he offers a very personal prayer of lament. His only hope is the Lord."

And here is the other passage that brings hope!

Isiah 65: 17-25
For behold, I create
new heavens and a new earth.
And the former things will not be
remembered or come to mind.
But be glad and rejoince forever in
what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for gladness.
I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and
be glad in My people;
And there will be no longer be heard in her
The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
No longer will there be in it an infrant
who lives but a few days,
Or an old man who dos not live
out his days.
FOr the youth will die at the age of
one hundred.
And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred
Will be thought accursed.
They will build houses and inhabit them;
They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They will not build and another inhabit,
They will not plant and another eat;
For as the lifetime of a tree, so will
be the days of My people.
And My chosen ones will wear out
the work of their hands.
They will not labor in vain,
Or bear children for calamity;
For they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord,
And their descendants with them.
It will also come to pass that before they call,
I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb will graze together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox;
and dust will be the serpent's food.
They will do no evil or harm
in all My holy mountain, says the Lord.

"Remember, this was intended to be an encouragement to urban builders on their way back to renovate Jerusalem. God reminds them (and us) that the eternal city is also under construction. We will live there forever as believers."

I also remember hearing this passage at the LAUP Reunion night, and talking about how significant it is to hear that those who build houses will be able to inhabit them. Sometimes today, the people that build the homes are not able to afford them...but what hope this passage brings to the laborers...that they will be able to live in what they build...and those who work on vineyards can eat of the fruit. God totally knew of the future and brings hope for back then when this passage was written, and in today's world! What a great God we serve.

July thus far

2008-07-12T17:34:00.001-07:00

So...busy life as usual...I'll try to keep it brief. I have been to 3 weddings so far, I went to Federal Way (south of Seattle) to visit my brother for a week...while I was there, I got to see my parents for 2 days, meet my brother's friends/co-workers, meet up with Cheryl Roberts, meet with Yen-Ling, and randomly bump into Katrain Wong (friends from Hesperia, CSUF/Newsong, and IV), and then have been continuing to work with the Boys and Girls Club of Cypress. While in Seattle I got to see a lot of great sites! We went to the Space Needle, the Experience Rock Music Museum, the Sci-Fi Museum, the Wing Lake Museum (Asian-American History in the Seattle area), Pioneer Square (old old town Seattle), Pikes Place Market, the 1st ever Starbucks, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, an attempt to go whale watching and only barely saw 1 whale (but we got refunded and can go back), and...got to see fireworks for 4th of July at a park that felt like it was built in the middle of the forest cause it was soo pretty and full of beautiful tall green trees! :)

I am also now living in La Habra for the rest of the summer until I move out to Los Angeles...which will be sometime in late August. I am staying with my 2nd family...the Rodriguez famiy....I have known them for a few years, going back to when we met while doing Hurricane Katrina relief in Mississippi with church. They are really great and hospitable!!!

Here's a website I would like you to look at...it's titled "How to Buy a Child in 10 Hours" http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=5326508&page=1 It's pretty intense...if you are unaware of the human trafficking (modern-day slavery) going on, please read and continue to learn more and inform people about it...build awareness...this is not something that existed years ago...people are being forced into labor and sex slavery every single day in THIS country as well as other countries throughout the world. What can we do...what can we do as citizens, as Christians, as those who care about injustices to help with this situation? Prayer, giving money, and spreading awareness sometimes do not seem like enough....let's seek God to lead us to what He is calling us to do.

http://freethekids.org/index.php Here's a link to an organization in Haiti that is seeking to help child slaves...getting them out of their situations and helping them through orphanages.

*Here are some pictures:

Cheryl (the bride), Jen (bff since 2nd grade), and me

Kristyn, Byron, and me

Katrina Wong and me in Seattle at the Experience Rock Music Museum! Yeah for randomly bumping into each other...woo hoo!

Joel and me on top of the Space Needle

Happy 4th of July! :)

Prayer Requests:

-Healings and persistance through my conversations and relationship with my older brother

-Search for housing and jobs in the LA area

-Spirt-led conversations with my co-workers

-Trusting in God

-SP team...as we are making preparations for housing, jobs, moving, getting ready to go to Manilla in the Philippines, fundraising, prayer, support from families and friends....!

*Fundraising Update with Servant Partners: I'm at about $3,000....so $1,000 left to fundraise...and I know some more $$ is coming in from different people (but it is being sent back to my hometown and I won't able to retrieve it until my parents are back from their traveling...so if you did send $$ to Hesperia, sorry, but it will have to wait a bit for me to get the checks and then send them in to be processed). I have about 1 month left to finish fundraising the full $4,000...but God has been truly faithful thus far and I know He will provide enough $$ and even more....so praise God for that!

Camp, Cypress, and Target Parking Lots

2008-06-27T23:52:00.000-07:00

Camp Titan: was amazing :-D I had a really great time with the kids and staff and was able to take on a new role of supervising the kids and also my rescuers. It was challenging at times...but I'm glad I got more experience in this type of role. Some of the things I will miss most are all of the fun songs, the dressing up days, the random cute answers from the kids, running around the mess hall because somebody at my table didn't put a napkin on their lap, and the Camp Titan Beat clap!

Cypress: I just started working with the Boys and Girls Club in the city of Cypress. It is fun so far...although I'm losing my voice pretty quickly. It is different due to this area being a higher-income level...and I am used to working with families from a lower-income...but I know God has me in this specific place for a reason.

Target Parking Lots: Just today after work on my way in to Target, I met a homeless man named Mel. He asked for some change and I said I would get him some water when I came out. I bought some sunblock (his face was quite red....so sunblock helps!) for him, granola bars, and gatorade. Then when I came out he was talking with his friend Robert. It was soo great because Mel asked if I was Christian and when I said yes he told me about how he goes to 2 different churches...and he asked if I would pray with him. How often do you hear that? It was great.... I prayed with Robert and Mel, got to talk with them a bit, and then went over to KFC and bought them some dinner. I didn't do much....it really didn't take much time...but I know God placed me there for a reason and I felt so much of God's presence there and just that HE (GOD) was speaking through Robert with the many empowering words he had. Mel and Robert have both struggled with heroine, and are also alcoholics. Please please please be praying for them...that they will continue to go to church and seek Jesus with all their heart....and that they will become free of their addictions....and that they will start on the process to better their lives and get back into working and making things better for themselves (which they both expressed to me that they want). Also..please pray for Marty (Mel's sister) who has been having difficulty with her vision....and also for Mel's ex-wife who just passed away recently due to an overdose.... and just for his family during this time of mourning and difficulty. Please pray that God will be revealing Himself to their family and just comforting them through His love and their friends here on Earth.

Mel said that I would walk away with a story after meeting and talking with him and Robert. I feel like it's more than that, though...I feel like a piece of them is with me and just really affecting what I've been thinking about these past few hours and how much I really should be more thankful to God of the things I take for granted. When Robert prayed, "We love you, God, even though we are here on the streets...", I could hear the tears and the sniffles....and the true presence of God in the midst of our prayer circle. I need to love God a lot more in my times of difficulty, whether they are short or long term...and rely a lot more heavily on God! Gosh, I was more blessed by them than they were by the little time and food that I provided for them. Please be keeping them in your prayers!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-Obviously: Mel and Robert

-My upcoming trip to Seattle to visit my brother...travel safety and kingdom conversations with my brother

-Job search in LA for Servant Partners

-Apartment search in South Central LA for Servant Partners

-My parents...travel safety as they have been and are traveling to many places this summer

The Past 2 Weeks!

2008-06-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

Aaah...the past 2 weeks have been busy and kinda a blur cause there was so much going on, and they have been full of being busy, being joyful :) , and also a bit of burn-out :(.

So last week on Sunday night I went to UCLA for the SPAANK Concert. It was a music event, but mostly to give awareness about astrocities that are going on in North Korea. Please read up about this information: http://spaank.wordpress.com/ , http://www.libertyinnorthkorea.blogspot.com/ , and http://www.linkglobal.org/ . I continually ask God to break my heart for what breaks his....and just learning more about injustices about things like what is going in North Korea and the injustices that exist everywhere...even here in my own backyard in the city of Fullerton where I work....I realize that this world needs so much of a hope and needs to receive love that Jesus brings and wants everybody to receive! Oh, and I also won a free shirt that night which was way awesome, because there were only 12 total of those shirts printed...woo hoo!

So yeah...that was powerful and neat. Then on Tuesday night I went with Johnny and Jayson to Brendan James perform live! http://www.myspace.com/brendanjames He is amazing, and even more amazing in person singing! So that was cool and I got to meet with him and talk to him afterwards. One of my favorite songs from him is "Hero" which gives some incite about the war that is going on...kinda from a soldier's perspective. I feel that it relates to me somewhat because 1 of my brother is in the air force and he's been to Iraq to serve 2 terms before...is currently in South Korea....and just, hearing that song makes me think of him. So yes.

Brendan and me at Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles :)

Umm...Friday night was Skid Row....I was blessed to be there because it had been about a month since the last time I was there. I know that some people receive God the most through prayer or worship or other means...but for me...the street corners of Winston and Wall Streets in downtown Los Angeles is where God becomes soo real to me and I just feel His power and presence. That corner is truly Hold Ground!

Saturday was the BIG day. I helped my friend Johnny Lee with the film festival for Talent One Media (TOM). http://www.talent1media.blogspot.com/ The film festival is not competitive and is to display and showcases short films from local producers/directors, and the movies relate to biblical themes. I helped work on 1 of the movies "Coffee and Pie", and so they showed that one which was pretty neat! Doug Jones (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0427964/) was 1 of the leader actors in this film, and so he came to the film fest and signed comic books and took fun pictures. Yeah. Doug is such a great humble guy, so I was really blessed to be in his presence. So along with the films, a huge part of TOM is to promote issues of social justice, and this year the focus was mostly to bring awareness to human trafficking issues (modern-day slavery). So there were a few different organizations there which was cool! :-D I'm glad that I was a part of the film fest and that we were able to have such a good turnout. Oh, and also Hope http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=22887675 performed that night along with Slum Peasants http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=358469192 which was amazing.

Doug Jones and me with a comic book of Abe Sapien from HellBoy

Picture of the AMAZING volunteer staff crew at the TOM Film Fest :-D

Yeah....that's mostly what's been going on....this past week I got to hang out with a few friends here and there...Karina (my old supervisor with an after school program that I worked at), Luini (from small group and CSUF), Bonnie (who just came back from Thailand working with Nightlight http://www.nightlightbangkok.com/) at Lollicup, the JAC crew on Monday night for our meeting, and the IV kids at Summer IV for our ice cream gathering and DODGEBALL on the top of the parking structure late at night...that was way fun...and the Newsong/Skid Row crew for small group and Skid Row on Friday night.

Yesterday was kinda a bleh day though. I really felt all of the stuff that's been going on as just being overwhelmed and just felt burnt-out....and so today I didn't feel very motivated for anything that I was doing. So sorry if I encountered you yesterday (Saturday) and I was just not with it.... I eventually finished everything that I needed to get done and was able to go bike riding with Johnny and Jayson later, which was good and fun!

I also feel that recently I've more of "doing" things for Jesus as opposed to really just sitting with Him and praying and listening to Him and being in His world daily. I definitely have been lacking in that area and feel like I need to focus on that more now. Even though I am busy...that really is no excuse. So...I need to focus on being more of Mary than Martha. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+10:38-42 :) This was moreso reemphasized today at the church message with Darryl...just talking about really hearing God and what He has to tell us...but that Satan is against us and does not want us to hear, or wants us to hear but not understand or do anything in response to what God wants for us....so I really need to be hearing God more and what He has for my life...and responding to that!

So...fundraising update...I am at $2600...which is exciting! I have met my 1st deadline of $1500 that is due June 15th...so that is good to know. I still have about ~$1500 more to fundraise, and I know that a few other people have said that they will be partnering with me. Thanks to everybody who has partnered with me so far!!! :-D

Prayer Requests:

-Alone time with God and focus on my daily devotions.

-Camp Titan...I am leaving next Saturday to spend time with some amazing kids, but they also have come from some dificult backgrounds...so really just patience and love for the kids!

-Friends in my life that are groing through difficult times

-My new job during the Summer as a Day Camp counselor for the Boys and Girls Club :-D

Graduation

2008-05-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

So this past Sunday was graduation from Cal State Fullerton! It was a memorable, fun, and festive day! What I really enjoyed is that I was just surrounded by all these people that I am loved by and that is a great feeling to have. I had most of my immediate family there (Dad, Mom, Daniel, and Grandma Pat), friends from elementary school/high school (Jennifer, Corazon, Heather, and Ralphie), Christy from my old church, and friends from the JAC team at my current church (Johnny, Dan, Justine, and Joe). I also got to sit next to some cool kids….next to Mark Pham, Luini, and Eric for the university ceremony…and then I got to sit next to Luini, Eric, James, and Kami for the college ceremony! It really was a great time…despite the crazy heat…lol. I also got to see 2 of my favorite Kinesiology professors and introduced them to my family and took pictures with them. There were a few other celebrations throughout the week with Intervarsity friends which was really good and had many congratulations from friends and family (THANKS!)…so yeah… Thank you everybody for sharing in my excitement and accomplishment of graduation from college! :-D

The Fam: Daniel, Mom, Dad, Grandma, and me

Elementary School/High School Friends! Jen, Cor, Ralphie, and me

Forever CC La Habra/Bay St.Louis Mississippi Buddy...and "sister"/roomate :) CHRISTY!

Newsong NOC: JAC!!! Joe, Dan, Johnny, Justine, and me

The whole gang at graduation :-D

Clay and me...my mentor, supervisor,and professor...yeah! :-D

Wiersma: my professor and mentor!

Heather and me...friends from 4th grade in elementary school...living down the street from each other, taking the bus together, and exploring the fun dirt streets of Hesperia together...and going to Fratelli's pizza for Heather's bday...lol...good times :)

Mark Pham, Luini, and me...Go College of Health and Human Development!

Kami, James, and me...yeah for Kinesiology and Dorm Buddies!

Wednesday: "More Than Enough"

2008-05-16T13:44:00.000-07:00

So this past Wednesday was a very busy and crazy day for me, but God just kept reminding me throughout the day of the theme of "More than Enough"...that God provides for me in more ways than I imagined and need! It was amazing :)

I started off the day with about 4 hours of sleep since I had stayed up late the night before and woke up early to study for an exam that I had at 9:30. This final was the one I was worried about the most, because it was an essay final and I was worried that I just wouldn't remember all the information that I needed to take the final. I asked my friend, Bonnie, on Tuesday night to just pray for me for enough rest, energy, and a good memory. Well, when I woke up on Wednesday, I felt that I had enough sleep and that I was awake and feeling good...and then when I took my exam, I was remembering things that I hadn't even written down to study off of, but it was information that I remembered from my class lectures that was important to put down for the exam! How amazing...God provided me with more than enough information for the exam!

Then I went from my exam, was home for a little bit to eat real quick, and then off to work. I was concerned about work also because Wednesday is our long day with the kids, and the majority of the time, I am with different kids because we do rotations and lead the same activity for the different groups. Well, I got to work and was provided with more than enough of a cappuchino drink, a cookie, and oreo cheesecake! I was still doing well with my energy...until I started getting tired...and then when that happened, some of the kids helped cheer me up by showing me their pictures, and that helped boost me up...more than enough again!

Later that day I went home and got to spend some time with the roomates, which was good because I haven't gotten the chance to do that in a while, it definitely could have been more time, but it was enough at that time! I was able to get some studying done at my apartment and then later I got to spend time with my friends Johnny and Joe and got to talk with Will and Rodrigo at their house...while I tried to study...but mostly just hung out, talked, and ate some delicious food! :-D

God is soo good and it was just very evident on Wednesday that when I was concerned about lack of sleep, my final, and work...that God was saying "I will provide for you, and I will provide more than enough for you because I am taking care of you and I love you!" Realizing God's love for me through things like this just gives me goosebumps and allows me to see the amazing God that I am blessed to serve!

Well....besides that, I am officially DONE now...I just finished my last final a couple of hours ago! I am going to a bonfire tonight with Intevarsity friends (it's a tradition of ours), and then running a half-marathon tomorrow (please pray that I'll be okay with the heat and lack of training...lol), and then graduating on Sunday! Yeah...so exciting.

Also, for Servant Partners...fundraising has been going well...I am at $1,545, so I have met my 1st deadline...and I am still waiting on family and friends to be helping me out financially...thank you to all of you that have been helping provide for me financially so far! :-D

Here are some prayer requests:
-I'm currently trying to figure out a summer job since I may not be able to work for the YMCA due to lack of kids that have signed up for camp and because of my schedule of taking 2 weeks off (1 week for Camp Titan and 1 week to visit my brother in Seattle)...so please be praying that God will provide a job for me!
-Prayer for my Servant Partners class...we are all currently fundraising and establishing a prayer team to be praying for each of us individually...so just prayer for everybody in their efforts with that!
-Pray for Mynamar and China! It's crazy stuff going on there...with the cyclone and earthquake...please pray that God is providing enough aid for the people there...even in Mynamar if they are not letting people in currently...that the government leaders' hearts will be softened and allow people to help out there!
-Prayer for when I will be looking for an apartment/house with my future Servant Partners roomates....and also for when I will be looking for a job in the LA area (as I have been kinda currently looking....that God will just open the right doors for me!)

Thanks so much everybody! Take care and BLESSINGS!!! <3

Oh...and a cute picture for your enjoyment:

Community

2008-05-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

Intevarsity (IV) Christian Fellowship has been a place of many things for me: learning more about this amazing man named Jesus Christ and falling in love with him, meeting some crazy people who have become my best friends, many a Campus By the Sea trips at Catalina that have impacted me in many ways, listening to amazing speakers, learning about relational reconciliations and pursuing that in my own life, learning about social justice and how much God cares about compassion and love for people and figuring that out in my own life, learning more about ethnic identity and the importance of embracing one's culture as well as understanding other cultures, and really just being in the midst of great friendships and great community. I have been so blessed with this group since my freshman year...I have been in joy and I have been challenged by God's word...and I have met God in so many ways.

Even though I will be graduating college in 1 week, I know that I will continue to keep my ties and friendships that I have found through this group, because of the impact it has had on my own life. I can't wait for all of the fun upcoming Alumni gatherings....and just a chance to give back to the community that has impacted my life in so many a ways!!! :-D <3

Our usual IV PROM :-D

My IV Small Group :)

Welcome! :)

2008-04-23T22:32:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody! :) I hope everybody is doing well! :) Well, as most of you know, I am graduating soon...it's only 2 more weeks after this week of school + finals week and then I will graduate with a major in Kinesiology and minor in Psychology! :) My graduation date is Sunday, May 18th, so if you are free that day, you are totally welcome to come to my graduation at Cal State Fullerton. It will be at @9:30ish in the morning or so, but if you are willing to wake up that morning, do come! I also am hoping to have a joint graduation party with some other close friends through Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, so I will keep everybody posted about when that will be....probably sometime the week after I graduate. :)

If you are not already aware, I will be interning with Servant Partners (SP) for a 2-year commitment starting in September of this year. You can find more information about Servant Partners at this website: www.servantpartners.org But mostly, SP is about incarnational ministry living in the inner-city, living among the urban poor and loving them the way Jesus would if He is here on Earth. I have felt a calling to be in the inner-city for a while now, and after with some wrestling and good conversations with friends and God, He brought me to apply for Servant Partners and realize that I should be doing this after I graduate. It's crazy, but I am excited for what God has in store for my life through Servant Partners and what He will be teaching me and how He will be using me for His kingdom!

So even before Servant Partners, God has been working in my life through conversations with people about Servant Partners and just sharing about how God has brought me to this place! I had hesitation from my parents at first when I told them about SP, but now that they are more accepting and supportive of my decision, and even excited for me to do something about my faith and what I believe, as opposed to just talking and doing nothing. As I have been sharing with many friends, Christians and non-Christians, they have shown enthusiasm for me and just excitement about my next step in life!

I recently was refreshed about the doubts and questions that I have gotten from people about Servant Partners. I have worried that some people may see my decision to live in the inner-city and do ministry work as a "waste" or just not something that is not worthwhile...but I was reminded of how God sees this as a beautiful thing during my Spring Break while at Catalina Island. We studied out of the book of Mark and read Mark 14:3-9. This passage really touched me; it is about when Jesus is at Simon's (the leper) house, and this woman comes and brings an alabaster of oil and pours it onto Jesus....and His disciples question it and say that it is a WASTE...but Jesus says that what she is doing is a beautiful thing...and that it is what she is able to do....so to let her do it! This touched me because sometimes the decisions that I have made to follow Jesus, most specifically recently with Servant Partners, have sometimes been seen as a waste my family members and/or friends....but Jesus is saying "this is beautiful....and I honor you for what you are doing!" And Jesus also said that that interaction with the woman is to be written in scriptures...and there is some version of this story in all 4 gospels....so this was something that was very powerful to Jesus that He wanted His people to know. So yeah...this was a great reassurance to read and understand of God's love for His people that follow Him...what some may see as a waste, Jesus sees as Beautiful! :)

Well, I have also been sending out support letters to ask for support through prayer and finances. I have heard back from some people so far, and thanks to God, I have fundraised a total of $1,o00 so far! Praise God. In times when I have sent out support letters for a few different missions, I am always surprised about how giving people's hearts are to help with finances and to commit to pray! Both prayer and finaces are hugely important to me! I will definitely keep this site updated about prayer requests, praise reports, as well as how my financial support is going. I am so grateful for those that partner with me! :-D

Just some prayer requests:
-Continual fundraising for Servant Partners for me as well as the rest of my intern class with Servant Partners
-Openness to the people that I share with about Servant Partners, that God will be moving even through their hearts as I share about God's kingdom work
-The future site that I will be at....Pasadena or South LA (I still won't know until June)
-I want to learn more Spanish....for 2 reasons: it is important to learn more for where I currently work, as many of the parents of my kids do not speak any English at all....and also, just because the area where I move to, I feel that many people will be Spanish-speaking, and so it will be important to know the language. So that God will help me learn the Spanish language and to give me persistance to learn!

That's it...thanks so much everybody and have a blessed rest of the week! :)

P.S. If you would like to receive a support letter for my work with Servant Partners, please email me at sarahstoker@gmail.com with your mailing address so that I can send it out to you. Thanks :)