Photo from Empire and Sleep I have found myself constantly repeating the phrase, “we are the foreigners, not the Indonesians.” When it comes to doing cross-cultural missions, it is easy to see everything from a self-centered perspective. Christina and I have been feeling some of the frustrations of not being able […]
Basics of Relationship Building
In many ways starting a church from scratch is completely different than being in a church that is already established. But there are also a lot of similarities as well. In the last few days, I have been pondering on what are the basics of doing church and what are some of the peripheral […]
Jakarta Bombing Reflections
Within the first hour (as soon as the bombing hit), we received texts and phone calls from people letting us know of the situation and checking up on us. We are grateful for people who are looking out after us here in Indonesia. We have also received a lot of e-mails from people in […]
Flexibility is the Key
We are planning on getting our cell phones and SIM cards this Saturday (FINALLY). It is hard to believe that it has been about a week without a cell phone. I have been temporarily using someone else’s cell phone and another alumnus has given us another phone for our team to use. After dropping […]
Independence 2009
Since I am an Asian-American, I try my best to walk in between the two cultures. But sometimes I find myself identifying more with the American culture… I guess it depends on the situation. Even when Korea was playing the United States in the FIFA World Cup in 2002, I found […]
To Be a Man
Photo by Warners Bro. 300 Movie In our society we have been conditioned to define manhood by all the wrong factors. If you ask some people to define manhood, you would be amazed to see some of the responses. Some people would define manhood by their first sexual encounter or their […]
God’s Unborn Child
Photo by Michael Clancy The above picture is a powerful image which was taken in August 19th, 1999 during an open fetal surgery for spina bifida. The unborn baby was little over 5 months in the womb when the surgical procedure was performed. You will notice the small little hands that […]
Greener on the Other Side
Photo by Panoramio I couldn’t help but to overhear a conversation at a cafe the other day. I was working on my paper and even with the music in the background their voices carried over to my ear. I was not eavesdropping… they just had very loud voices 🙂 One guy […]
Thoughts on Michael Jackson and His Death
Photo by Sony BMG It has been pretty incredible to see all the tribute and remembrance to a man that was known as, “The King of Pop.” In the last few days, you cannot turn a channel without seeing something on Michael Jackson and the impact he has made on the […]
Father’s Day 2009 Reflection
I have always wished that there was a manual on how to be a good dad. Well, in fact there are many books out there and I have read a few of them, but my conclusion has always been – it is always easier reading about being a good dad than […]
Lessons from the Movie “UP”
Photo by Pixar Let me first start off and say that if you have not watched the movie UP and you are planning on watching it soon, then you want to stop reading this post (this is a spoiler alert). I don’t know about you but […]
Alumni Rippling Out the Vision
I have been so encouraged by many of our alumni in recent years, especially the international ones. Whenever I travel around the world and make some stops in Asia, it is always a blessing to reconnect with them in their “home turf.” In many ways, it brings a sense of fulfillment for me to […]
Hope Restored
Photo by Everyday Necessities We live in a world where hope is so desperately needed. There is a longing and an ache in the hearts of humans to live with hope. It has been said, “A person can live 40 days without food… 3 days without water… 5 minutes without air, […]
Midway Point in Life
Photo by Strength For Today Today I celebrated my 40 year birthday. I was trying really hard to allow it to slip under the radar, but to no avail because Christina threw a big 40th B-Day party with some people in church the other day. It was humbling, not only to […]