NorCal Trip

Hey guys. Most of you guys are on the freeway right now going back down to SoCal and while you guys are going down, i decided to write a bloggg.

Thank you guys for coming up and sacrificing so much (especially you Gloria and Audrey, even when you guys have hw) for this NorCal trip. Thanks for such a blessed time to just hangout, eat, play, share, sing praise songs, and everything together once again.

For me, it honestly was weird seeing you guys up at Berkeley, especially at FiCB. It was like two different worlds clashing. But honestly, it was such a blessed time for me because it reminded me that God is still the one and only, same God. Although KCM is no more here at Berkeley, FiCB is the ministry I am to serve and to minister to and you guys coming to FiCB and even doing Obsession for the ministry was awesome. Thank you guys for your willingness to go to a fellowship and bless us with skits and your presence while we could've just went out and had fun and play around.

You guys coming up here helped me to adjust to Berkeley again too. Instead of it being a sudden change from China 2k9 to a sophomore in FiCB, it was more of integrated because both were there simultaneously. It was a physical reminder for me to see that.

Lastly, I wanted to say that God is seriously freaking awesome and crazy. All the things we've done up here, all the fun, laughs we shared to even the angers and tears, I feel that We've learned something through it all. At least I did, as I shared with you guys at marina.
:) thanks guys! have a safe drive back downnnnn <333333333 I love you guysss

we will see each other very soooooon. at the weddding!!!!
*****dont forget to bring HAWTT dates****

and i just remembered our ridiculous ride back to Berkeley from Fentons....You guys are FREAKING down. to even get lost. I like people who are down. China team is DOWN.

What's the Difference?

What's up China brothers and sisters :) Here's an entry I'm going to post on my blog tomorrow. Just wanted to share it with you all before I shared it with anyone else.

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It's been nearly two weeks since I've journeyed back from China, and I think it's fair to say that I'm rapidly becoming acclimated with American culture again. With each passing day, I find myself caught up in a torrent of to-do lists, a myriad of temptations, and the result is that I'm left with far less time and alone time than I thought I had. I've been telling myself that during my breaks, I would read more of the Bible and spend quality time with God in prayer. Unfortunately, my list of chores and responsibilities certainly isn't growing any shorter. If anything, it's constantly growing larger, line by line, which leads me to believe that I can't take any breaks -- I just have to keep chopping away at this to-do list, little by little. And before I know it, it's time to head to bed. I quickly squeeze in a couple chapters of the Bible, I say a little prayer, and I turn in for the night.

That's how I've felt over the past two weeks, especially over the past week. It's such a dramatic difference from the way I was accustomed to approaching my day during my stint in China, when we'd wake up, sing "It is Good," and spend some time delving into God's words. I consider myself fortunate, for the exclusive opportunity I had to be in China and to begin each day with a word of prayer. I was aware of how much I grew, and how much deeper my convictions became throughout and after missions. But recently, I've had doubts creep into my life. Worrying about how many things I needed to take care of led to spending less time with God, which espoused within me great anxiety and much less peace in my heart. In those moments of weakness, I could feel that I was being bombarded by temptations left and right, and I could hardly resist. I questioned myself fiercely during these past two weeks, wondering whether all the growth I experienced during the previous 31 days was really just a high, even when I was absolutely convinced that an emotional high was not what I'd been experiencing. I was tricked into believing that missions is not relevant to life (life, in the sense that we have our own lives we need to live and carry out) because we were in freaking China, apart from the world and society, apart from real-life situations, apart from temptation, with a pastor to guide us and a group of brothers and sisters to help point each other back to God. It messed with my mind that much, that when Doubt whispered into my ear, "You aren't as spiritually strong as you think you are. Phil, the house you're building is built on a foundation of sand," I would believe it -- all because I felt like I was becoming increasingly estranged from God, and even worse, that I didn't belong back in Berkeley.

I hated it.

But in a moment of clarity, I realized that the way I approached my day makes such a huge difference in how I live out the rest of my day.

"Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a crash." -- Matthew 6:24-27

Instead of trying to make time for God sometime later in the day, it's so important to wake up and spend time with God at the beginning of your morning, in the Word and in prayer. By dedicating that day to God and promising to live it for Him, we declare Him sovereign over our day and our lives. Knowing that gives me so much more peace in my heart. If I'm to do that in the morning, however, then I shouldn't be staying up so late (otherwise, I'll wake up late). Grace is a discipline, after all. Besides, there are far more temptations at night, of which I'm completely aware.

So, do you worry often? Are you anxious over little things? Then let me ask you this: are you dedicating your day to God, or are you not? Are you trying to fit him into your life, or are you entrusting each day of your life into God's hands?

TESTIMONY!

STSM China Testimony

As Christians, Jesus says this to us: “A new command I give you: Love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35). For the majority of my life, I focused on the first half of these verses, not truly understanding the meaning of this commandment. In my one month in China, the latter half became so clear to me. The latter half of this commandment points out why we should love one another: so that we can preach the gospel through actions.
China is a country where the gospel cannot be preached. We cannot verbally express the good news to anyone unless the Chinese people ask us. However, they will not ask us unless we give them a good reason why. On the second to last day of the trip, our team went to the Pearl Market next to the Temple of Heaven. In these markets, sellers try to rip off buyers by deliberately lying to them. They’ll do anything for money. Right before it was time to go, I took one final glance around to see if I wanted anything else. I saw in the corner of my eye, a little girl in a booth, lying to make money. I thought nothing of it at the time, but reflecting back, that scene is heartbreaking. This story epitomizes the heart of the Chinese people. Young and old, rich and poor are all deceived by the devil. Instead of “In God We Trust”, China’s motto is “In Learning We Trust”.
China is one of the most spiritually dark countries in this world. They truly depend on themselves and therefore have no hope. The saddest thing about Chinese people is that they think they are happy but they do not understand true happiness. By describing the lost in China, I’ve essentially described every lost person in this world. However, in China, because of the government and people, the darkness is so much more evident.
I had one month in Beijing, Hunchun, and Yincheon to save as many people as possible. Being in China, however, I felt like my God-given “ability” to share the gospel was useless. I did not understand the meaning of evangelism. To me, saving lives was a numbers game. I wanted to get as many people as possible. But on this trip, I realized that preaching the Word is not about talking about our faith, it is about acting out our faith. The latter half of John 13:34-35 became so much more powerful. We could not openly preach the gospel, but in secret, we could present the good news by loving one another and by loving the people.
I went to China and I did not save a single person. Yet I am satisfied. I was simply a planter of seeds, trusting in a God who is greater than the Chinese government and the cold hearts of the Chinese people. God is so much greater than me. He is the “righteous God, who searches minds and hearts” and he will “bring to an end the violence of the wicked” (Psalm 7:9). I thought our team was so limited in China, but in reality we were free. Free to share love so much through actions that words were not needed. Knowing that God would do His work eased all my frustration and worries about not saving a single person.
Besides learning to be a love witness, God helped me gain vision for how I could live a Christ-centered, mission-oriented life. I would not say I gained a heart for China, but I did gain a heart for the lost. Part of this trip opened my eyes to the darkness of North Korea as well. On the Chinese-North Korea border, I gazed into North Korea knowing that there was very little light in there. There is so much work to be done not only in that country but the rest of the world. I thank God for opening my eyes to the darkness in this world on this trip. “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10), yet in His perfect love and mercy, we can all be made righteous. Knowing this, let us all live accordingly. Let us all follow Christ’s new commandment no matter what country we’re in, knowing that our obedience can save souls.

Header Fail

Hey guys. I was working on making a header for this blog, but it ended up as utter FAIL. My bad. Any, hope all of you are have an awesome summer. I just finished watching Rocky 3 and 4 again for the nth time, and it still gets me. I almost cried. jk, but not really...=] Keep up the disciplines that we picked up in China, and let's continue to reflect upon our trip and all that good stuff. Goodbye!

Richard

Reasons for my smiles =)

i'm pretty sure all of you are out and about, seeing your friends you haven't seen for the past month or so, but i'm pretty much stuck at home because my mom told me that i am "too busy" this summer. frustrating, but i'm dealing with it. after having a "refreshing" talk with my mom, i found some colored string that my LA friends left at my house before the mission trip. HAHA. i think it's become a habit for me to just cut it into equal lengths, tie it together, and slip in the saftey pin and start making a bracelet. as i was making it, it seriously brought back memories of PK camp and how Matty was trying so hard to make a perfect one for Cindy, Linda and Hallelujah making atleast 50 bracelets for the rabbits, and the rest of us making it for one another, even as all the good colors were running out. LOL. i only got started and i stopped after making 10 lines because i really missed you guys, even though i saw most of you last night. i dont' really know what i'm supposed to say in this blog, but i just wanted to let you guys know that i'm really glad that we were able to spend the last month together and have a good enough time for me to think back and laugh out loud at all the memories we shared and will share together, even in the midst of my frustrations. :) I will see some of you next week, but just know that i'm still praying for you lots.

I am a noob

WOW.
I fail at this.
Mexico had to walk me step-by-step through this... and although I am terrible at these things, I will try because I love you guys.
I can't believe it's already been a week since we came back from China.
I found myself a barf buddy... how is everyone else doing?
It's amazing how easy it is to lose focus - but let's remember that IT IS GOOD TO PRAISE THE LORD, IT IS GOOD TO SING ABOUT HIS MAJESTY, to proclaim his love in the morning and his faithfulness at night! :)

Summer stuff

As the team medic, I will do my best to try to help you both spiritually and physically. MEANING if you have any spiritual problems or physical problems, please post them on this blog or email through our email thread and ill pray my heart out for you. yay. if anyone is thinking of things to do and wants to know more about God i recommend: http://www.desiringgod.org/ . Just do it.

distractions

I feel hella distracted now that I'm back home and I'm guessing a lot of you feel the same way... maybe. Pray that we stay focused on God and we stay hungry for Him. Huzzah! I miss you guys and I miss China. I keep having dreams about being in China. :O! Hope to see you guys soon! (Norcal trip or LZ's wedding or maybe even sooner!)

First-Ever Post.

Hi, everyone. :) This is Cindy blogging in our first-ever BLOGSPOT. yay! Richard and I wanted to make one so that we can all keep each other updated/accountable throughout the year and whatnot. I already miss you guys so much!!

Love, cin.

p.s. I'll facebook msg everyone with the email/pw soon. hehe