week-long edition :)
10) spending time and sharing meals with parents, like the guos and the kuos. mr. kuo is hilarious! i'm very impressed that julia and theresa can joke around in mandarin.
9) appreciating some of the quirks of taiwanese aunties at phyl's bridal shower. still intimidating, but also fun. ny.
8) celebrating stephanie's birthday 3x, including all day thursday! happy birthday stephanie!
7) intimate and missional community at the house church i've been attending
6) psalm 107 - just beautiful
5) browsing sara's books & borrowing 2 of them :)
4) seeing phyl (from CA) and louann (from TX) and sara (in ann arbor)
3) moving bo-young's things across the street. it was a lot of fun to hang out w/ bo & some of the k guys.
2) balmy cleveland weather
1) having enough food to eat
Monday, June 1, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Notes
- I love Cedar Campus. It's this place of respite & renewal for me. I had a great time with Koinonia at CFW this past year! I staffed leadership track for the first time by myself, and I am so in awe at the way God was so clear about vision & direction for us. These are exciting times!
- It's taking a few days for me to fully recover - sleepwise and spiritually. Alice was telling me about how Marc says the first 36 hours after CFW (or any retreat or conference) is when we should be praying for each other the most. Right now, I don't feel like doing very much.
- Steph & I have been trying to clean our entire apt for the last 2 days. We have almost been successful.
- I have this weird, surreal feeling that CFW is a distant memory - but it was very real, and what God did there was real. I think that I'm just getting my days mixed up - it feels like this past Saturday & Sunday were a distant memory.
- This past Sunday, the seniors graduated from college. Crazy.
- The Class of 2013 is coming to case this August. 2013!! I graduated as the Class of 2007.
Friday, May 1, 2009
church, pt. 1
i grew up in a non-denominational chinese church with baptist leanings in upstate ny. we had an english service in the early morning (~100 people) and a chinese service in the late morning (~200). our church congregation had 1st generation taiwanese people, 1st generation waisenren, 1st generation mainland chinese, 1st generation cantonese-speaking chinese from hong kong, 2nd generation taiwanese americans, 2nd generation chinese americans, and the occasional sprinkling of white americans and black americans.
i attended this church ever since i was a child. some of my most significant times spent in this church was with our youth group. we had an interesting mix of yg leaders for sunday school. they came from various backgrounds and prepared scripture studies weekly while working full-time jobs. while our parents met in the chinese service, i learned about the five points of calvinism in one season, and in the next, watched the movie versions of the left behind series. we studied through books of the bible instead of using topical formats. (props to my yg leaders!) i remember our study of galatians as being quite significant. there, i was also introduced to different worldviews (naturalism, etc), but i really didn't know what was going on.
we had 4 yg leaders rotate for teaching. (3 of them are umich alum, i might add!) they did a terrific job with us youth, us troublemakers. i think i really received the foundations of my faith there. it's also where i first came to Christ and became cognitively aware of the doctrines of the cross and justification. in 9th grade, i was asked to consider serving on our leadership team, then called the Servants Team. i accepted, and i went along with our seniors to ropes courses and servants team meetings at dave's (yg leader) house. i think i still had some cognitive dissonance at this point -- i understood the basic doctrines, but wasn't necessarily fully submitting my life to christ. the first way that this came out was through messy relationships with boys. the second was that i was a closet christian in many ways.
one way that i grew significantly while at my home church was through missions trips to major urban centers. actually, rochester wouldn't count. but i participated in week-long trips to toronto, philadelphia, and DC. during these weeks, i fell in love with God's mission in reclaiming his people... not to mention, exposure to the needs of the urban poor. i am grateful that my yg leaders were bold in bringing a group of chinese american teenagers to these cities, and in many ways, living out their commitment to the city. what a privilege to be exposed to these issues as a young person.
but, i also had some issues. growing up in a chinese church meant that there was some cultural embeddedness and entrapment. competing parents, passive-aggressive children, rebellious teenagers, ethnically unaware 2nd generation chinese americans, honor/shamed-based "100% culture", etc. in a lot of ways, cultural values were set above the values of the kingdom, and so i became slightly disillusioned with the chinese church. i definitely recognized this and didn't want to settle for more cultural entrapment when i went to college.
i have since become reconciled with my home church on this issue. there are still parents that pit their children against one another, or gossip during the sunday school hour, or use the church community primarily as a social community... but there are truly people there who love Jesus and love God's mission to the world.
my home church is one of the biggest financial and prayer supporters of my ministry. they are in love with God and are a missional church. through the former & current senior pastor's leadership, they have been reaching out to the marginalized chinese people in the rochester area... including restaurant workers who have to work on sundays. they've begun to engage the chinese community in the area by participating in festivals.
they also work hard to reconcile the chinese diaspora. the board has 2nd generation taiwanese americans, 1st gen mandarin speakers from taiwan, 1st gen mandarin speakers from mainland china, 1st gen cantonese speakers, and a red-haired pastor who is a messianic jew. i know that this is a particularly difficult set up for church leadership, but am glad that they are working hard to bridge the chinese-english speaking divide, the generational gap, and the cultural gap (mainland-taiwan-hong kong). i am thankful for their example.
...church, pt 1.
i attended this church ever since i was a child. some of my most significant times spent in this church was with our youth group. we had an interesting mix of yg leaders for sunday school. they came from various backgrounds and prepared scripture studies weekly while working full-time jobs. while our parents met in the chinese service, i learned about the five points of calvinism in one season, and in the next, watched the movie versions of the left behind series. we studied through books of the bible instead of using topical formats. (props to my yg leaders!) i remember our study of galatians as being quite significant. there, i was also introduced to different worldviews (naturalism, etc), but i really didn't know what was going on.
we had 4 yg leaders rotate for teaching. (3 of them are umich alum, i might add!) they did a terrific job with us youth, us troublemakers. i think i really received the foundations of my faith there. it's also where i first came to Christ and became cognitively aware of the doctrines of the cross and justification. in 9th grade, i was asked to consider serving on our leadership team, then called the Servants Team. i accepted, and i went along with our seniors to ropes courses and servants team meetings at dave's (yg leader) house. i think i still had some cognitive dissonance at this point -- i understood the basic doctrines, but wasn't necessarily fully submitting my life to christ. the first way that this came out was through messy relationships with boys. the second was that i was a closet christian in many ways.
one way that i grew significantly while at my home church was through missions trips to major urban centers. actually, rochester wouldn't count. but i participated in week-long trips to toronto, philadelphia, and DC. during these weeks, i fell in love with God's mission in reclaiming his people... not to mention, exposure to the needs of the urban poor. i am grateful that my yg leaders were bold in bringing a group of chinese american teenagers to these cities, and in many ways, living out their commitment to the city. what a privilege to be exposed to these issues as a young person.
but, i also had some issues. growing up in a chinese church meant that there was some cultural embeddedness and entrapment. competing parents, passive-aggressive children, rebellious teenagers, ethnically unaware 2nd generation chinese americans, honor/shamed-based "100% culture", etc. in a lot of ways, cultural values were set above the values of the kingdom, and so i became slightly disillusioned with the chinese church. i definitely recognized this and didn't want to settle for more cultural entrapment when i went to college.
i have since become reconciled with my home church on this issue. there are still parents that pit their children against one another, or gossip during the sunday school hour, or use the church community primarily as a social community... but there are truly people there who love Jesus and love God's mission to the world.
my home church is one of the biggest financial and prayer supporters of my ministry. they are in love with God and are a missional church. through the former & current senior pastor's leadership, they have been reaching out to the marginalized chinese people in the rochester area... including restaurant workers who have to work on sundays. they've begun to engage the chinese community in the area by participating in festivals.
they also work hard to reconcile the chinese diaspora. the board has 2nd generation taiwanese americans, 1st gen mandarin speakers from taiwan, 1st gen mandarin speakers from mainland china, 1st gen cantonese speakers, and a red-haired pastor who is a messianic jew. i know that this is a particularly difficult set up for church leadership, but am glad that they are working hard to bridge the chinese-english speaking divide, the generational gap, and the cultural gap (mainland-taiwan-hong kong). i am thankful for their example.
...church, pt 1.
new york, pt. 2
i guess i should comment on the last two days of my trip to new york city. it's now been two months, but for the sake of closure / completion, i'll try my best to follow through on "part 2" (i almost never do.)
people and places --
new song community church (harlem)
i went to church sarah on sunday morning. her church is just a few blocks away from the neighborhood. first, we headed over to her pastor's harlem brownstone to have breakfast with the youth group, which they have once a month. sarah led the yg kids in an inductive study of psalm 1, and talked a little bit on what it meant to have personal time in God's word. i got a chance to meet some of the college students who were involved in serving there.. they were also involved with IV at city college, so it was a good time getting to know them a little bit more.
new song was a good mix of young professionals of different ethnicities, as well as people who have been living in harlem for years and years. most everyone from her church are people from the neighborhood, which means that there are great opportunities for strong community. i love the commitment the church members show to renewing the neighborhood through the gospel. this has definitely prompted much thought about what it means to be a part of a local church, and i am coming more and more to the idea that churches should be based by neighborhood/location -- especially in a gradually more post-christian world. there's something about driving long distances to attend a megachurch that doesn't sit right with me. (ok, more thoughts on church for another day.)
last note: new song has a community development corporation.
late lunch in the upper west side
sarah and i walked through morningside park to have lunch at deluxe, which is near columbia. we were joined by my good friend sheau-yan and my brother. we had a really enjoyable conversation, ranging from personal updates, to personal opinions, to just funny conversation about current events. late lunch was pretty good too. there was a moment when a homeless woman came up to our outside seating and asked for food -- and there we were, ready to eat our huge plate of eggs benedict and home fries. sarah was both gracious and firm to say sorry.
redeemer presbyterian church
i went to church twice on sunday! (how spiritual.) i met up with my friend ivan, whom i haven't seen in a year, year and a half? we headed up from the nyu area to the main campus where tim keller preached for the 6pm service.
tim keller is a leading evangelical, and his exposition is excellent. well-tempered and steady. i think that he is well-balanced in application of the word -- preaches both the centrality of the cross to the gospel ("the true gospel" as they call it nowadays) along with kingdom theology. he spoke on romans 3 & on justification, and called out the many ways we try to justify ourselves without Jesus. he called out parents, especially, for trying to justify themselves through their children. however, there is only one way to be truly justified -- and that is through christ on the cross. he made an interesting point about how 'forgiveness' is for the negatives -- for sin, etc etc. whereas justification is a positive -- we are now raised to righteousness. sorry tim keller for butchering the summary of your sermon.
redeemer is a huge church. it's hard to get plugged into the community, and my friend has had a hard time getting connected with their small group ministries. the teaching is terrific, though. i think there is a trade-off, though. i think it would be easy to passively attend service.
korean fried chicken with ivan
hung around the nyu area, where ivan had a meeting with a casting director. i got to visit nyu & his writing studios... and there, one of the writing teachers even mistook me for a film student. people like spike lee walk around in there! crazy.
we went to each korean fried chicken, which was really delicious. we didn't go to bonchon, but to the 2nd best place. (seemed to be a trend the entire weekend.) it was really great to catch up with ivan, and just to see how we have both grown and matured.
monday rest
i slept in on monday and hung around sarah's apartment, where i journaled and had a mini-retreat. great to spend time with the Lord and reflect. i made some lists:
ktown with sam
in the afternoon, my (former) staff friend sam picked me up and we hung out in the midtown/ktown area. i got the essentials -- red mango, coffee, etc. delicious. i think all of the great lakes region people can say that staff got a lot less funny when he left.
yoga/cooking with sarah
went to yoga in the community development center at sarah's church. it's a part of their neighborhood outreach, i think. had a great time working some of my muscles and stretching. we got to spend some time cooking a delicious swiss chard/tofu stir fry, catch up, and talk honestly. i really treasured that time. she has been a great friend and accountability partner. i was glad to wind down my trip to nyc with her!
megabus at 6:45am
woke up early the next morning to take the 123 down to union station. headed to rochester, where my dad picked me up. i spent a few days at home, and even saw my brother when he returned from nyc for spring break. we definitely had some great conversations and laughs too... he kills me every time.
ah, my family. i do miss them.
so -- that's the end. i think that i have a lot more to say about nyc -- less about what i did, and more about the feelings that arose while i was there. more to do with acceptance and contentment, loving the city, funny stories, that sort of thing.
i do have to share this one funny story though -- i think this was what made me think that i would have really enjoyed going to school at columbia. i was sitting on the steps of the rotunda/library waiting for my brother to come meet me. this cool-looking guy was sitting there, pretty laid back, chillin on the steps, when suddenly, he saw somebody from afar and yelled "CAWW!!!!!!"
...3 seconds later, i heard in the distance "CAWWWW!!!!!!" him and his friend -- they were calling to each other as if they were birds!! hilarious. i enjoyed that moment.
sigh.
people and places --
new song community church (harlem)
i went to church sarah on sunday morning. her church is just a few blocks away from the neighborhood. first, we headed over to her pastor's harlem brownstone to have breakfast with the youth group, which they have once a month. sarah led the yg kids in an inductive study of psalm 1, and talked a little bit on what it meant to have personal time in God's word. i got a chance to meet some of the college students who were involved in serving there.. they were also involved with IV at city college, so it was a good time getting to know them a little bit more.
new song was a good mix of young professionals of different ethnicities, as well as people who have been living in harlem for years and years. most everyone from her church are people from the neighborhood, which means that there are great opportunities for strong community. i love the commitment the church members show to renewing the neighborhood through the gospel. this has definitely prompted much thought about what it means to be a part of a local church, and i am coming more and more to the idea that churches should be based by neighborhood/location -- especially in a gradually more post-christian world. there's something about driving long distances to attend a megachurch that doesn't sit right with me. (ok, more thoughts on church for another day.)
last note: new song has a community development corporation.
late lunch in the upper west side
sarah and i walked through morningside park to have lunch at deluxe, which is near columbia. we were joined by my good friend sheau-yan and my brother. we had a really enjoyable conversation, ranging from personal updates, to personal opinions, to just funny conversation about current events. late lunch was pretty good too. there was a moment when a homeless woman came up to our outside seating and asked for food -- and there we were, ready to eat our huge plate of eggs benedict and home fries. sarah was both gracious and firm to say sorry.
redeemer presbyterian church
i went to church twice on sunday! (how spiritual.) i met up with my friend ivan, whom i haven't seen in a year, year and a half? we headed up from the nyu area to the main campus where tim keller preached for the 6pm service.
tim keller is a leading evangelical, and his exposition is excellent. well-tempered and steady. i think that he is well-balanced in application of the word -- preaches both the centrality of the cross to the gospel ("the true gospel" as they call it nowadays) along with kingdom theology. he spoke on romans 3 & on justification, and called out the many ways we try to justify ourselves without Jesus. he called out parents, especially, for trying to justify themselves through their children. however, there is only one way to be truly justified -- and that is through christ on the cross. he made an interesting point about how 'forgiveness' is for the negatives -- for sin, etc etc. whereas justification is a positive -- we are now raised to righteousness. sorry tim keller for butchering the summary of your sermon.
redeemer is a huge church. it's hard to get plugged into the community, and my friend has had a hard time getting connected with their small group ministries. the teaching is terrific, though. i think there is a trade-off, though. i think it would be easy to passively attend service.
korean fried chicken with ivan
hung around the nyu area, where ivan had a meeting with a casting director. i got to visit nyu & his writing studios... and there, one of the writing teachers even mistook me for a film student. people like spike lee walk around in there! crazy.
we went to each korean fried chicken, which was really delicious. we didn't go to bonchon, but to the 2nd best place. (seemed to be a trend the entire weekend.) it was really great to catch up with ivan, and just to see how we have both grown and matured.
monday rest
i slept in on monday and hung around sarah's apartment, where i journaled and had a mini-retreat. great to spend time with the Lord and reflect. i made some lists:
- what i've liked about my trip to ny/nyc:
- what has been strange
- what i continue to struggle with
- what i've been thinking about
- next steps
ktown with sam
in the afternoon, my (former) staff friend sam picked me up and we hung out in the midtown/ktown area. i got the essentials -- red mango, coffee, etc. delicious. i think all of the great lakes region people can say that staff got a lot less funny when he left.
yoga/cooking with sarah
went to yoga in the community development center at sarah's church. it's a part of their neighborhood outreach, i think. had a great time working some of my muscles and stretching. we got to spend some time cooking a delicious swiss chard/tofu stir fry, catch up, and talk honestly. i really treasured that time. she has been a great friend and accountability partner. i was glad to wind down my trip to nyc with her!
megabus at 6:45am
woke up early the next morning to take the 123 down to union station. headed to rochester, where my dad picked me up. i spent a few days at home, and even saw my brother when he returned from nyc for spring break. we definitely had some great conversations and laughs too... he kills me every time.
ah, my family. i do miss them.
so -- that's the end. i think that i have a lot more to say about nyc -- less about what i did, and more about the feelings that arose while i was there. more to do with acceptance and contentment, loving the city, funny stories, that sort of thing.
i do have to share this one funny story though -- i think this was what made me think that i would have really enjoyed going to school at columbia. i was sitting on the steps of the rotunda/library waiting for my brother to come meet me. this cool-looking guy was sitting there, pretty laid back, chillin on the steps, when suddenly, he saw somebody from afar and yelled "CAWW!!!!!!"
...3 seconds later, i heard in the distance "CAWWWW!!!!!!" him and his friend -- they were calling to each other as if they were birds!! hilarious. i enjoyed that moment.
sigh.