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."
Friday, December 26, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Oswald Chambers
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."
"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."
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Work, Community, and Thankfullness
"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.
Daniel and me on our hike
Tony Berrios and me at Panda Express
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 $$income that I am making now
-More opportunities to get to talk with and know our neighbors more....we did get to meet more neighbors when we delivered Thanksgiving goodies to them...so just prayer for more open doors, and for us to be bold and to be okay being awkward to getting to know our neighbors more
-Good health...it seems that right about now is the time when people might start getting sick...so just extra blessings for good health among my teammates
-Continued prayer for the rest of my teammates who are still unemployed (3) to find jobs and wisdom in their job searches
-My family....prayer for open eyes/hearts, forgiveness, grace, reconciliation, and God's love to shine through
-Patience and compassion at work with my 6th graders....to see them through the lens of God's eyes....and see them as God's children!
-Good stewardship with the $$income that I am making now
Some pictures from Thanksgiving break:
Daniel and me on our hikeTony Berrios and me at Panda Express
Jen, Lati, Jessica, Tony, Heather, and me chillen at Jen's place for reminiscing memories :-DThursday, October 30, 2008
Preach the Gospel to the Poor
"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! :)
*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! :)Thursday, October 9, 2008
To explain it all in words.....would take forever!
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
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
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 <3Thursday, August 28, 2008
Philippians 4:6-7
"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!
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 hairJ-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!Sunday, August 17, 2008
Weeping...
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! :)
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! :)
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