#30: Something more…

HEY SSC FOLKS!

I read this recently and was really blown away: [This was taken from the Desperation Band website www.desperationband.com]

 

“In 2008 God connected a group of passionate young people from a local church in Colorado Springs eager to fulfill God’s purpose in their generation, a silver haired, soft-hearted businessman with a vision for orphans, and an organization with a mission to rescue orphans around the world. Something called Heartwork was born.

The challenge God issued to these young people was to live James 1:27. If they could give $60,000 for orphans in Uganda, the businessman would match it dollar for dollar. The end result would be $120,000 dollars, 4 orphan homes built, and countless lives changed. Challenge accepted.

They prepared for their first offering. They talked of sacrifice and fasting. They gave up cups of trendy coffee and overstuffed burritos with friends to feed kids who had no food at all. They refused to buy designer jeans in order to clothe children who dressed everyday in rags. They committed to providing family for those whose families had been ravaged by war and AIDS.

The day arrived and students came with hearts full of hope and offerings in hand. On that first night as worship ascended into Heaven, a group of high school students descended upon the altar and gave over $15,000 dollars. With great excitement they realized what just happened. One orphan home built. 8 weeks to go.

For the next 2 months high school kids worked extra hours. Junior high girls walked door to door to scoop dog droppings out of yards. Seniors drained savings accounts created when they were elementary kids. Public school clubs partnered together with the local church. Students who graduated years earlier sent checks in the mail. Friends and families, inspired by the vision, joined in and gave freely.

After 8 weeks of sacrifice these junior high and high school students gathered to give one last offering for these kids they had never met but already loved so much. The result was $67,000 dollars given freely by a group of 12 to 18 year olds. With matching funds, they gave over $127,000 dollars in 2 months to build 4 orphan homes. But they found that as they gave to rescue the destinies of orphans, their destinies were being rescued as well. Destiny rescuing destiny. This is a story of sacrifice. This is a story of worship, This is a story of Jesus at work in a generation without fathers. This is Heartwork.

And the story has only just begun.”

Hey SSC YG… just want to challenge us and remind us that we are called to live a radical life for Jesus.  I’m blown away by how these guys came together for a great purpose and were shining the light together.  Let’s not waste our lives trying to decide whether or not to be set apart and live for Him – let’s be ones who already chose what is better and are putting our faith into action. 

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The WT would like to present:

I love Tim’s yelling in the background, Jae’s facial expressions, Joe’s relatively (and quite abnormally) calm disposition, and Sharon avoiding the cam as much as possible while racing.  Gotta love it.

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So these days, I’ve got a ton on my mind and since the summer, I haven’t been sleeping well. It’s messed up how my body has gotten used to it.  I’ve been trying to correct it without taking meds as much as possible, but to no avail.  So that’s a prayer request folks! Job update: a couple of interviews, a couple of offers… I’m struggling with some of the startying pay.. considering my graduate education was like $100k, I was hoping for something a little bit better than what I’ve been getting.. don’t get me wrong, I was very much aware of the low salaries that come with Social Work and/or counseling… they’ve just been lower than low? Does that make sense?  And people keep telling me that I should just be happy with any kind of job or offer… I dunno.. I don’t think I’ve been all that picky. Ask me about specifics and I’ll tell you. Till I find one I like, I’m a tutoring monster.  Yay.  It’s a good excuse to spend some time with church kids.  Gotta love that. Thanks for the prayers!

#29: ATTENTION SSC YG – BIBLE TRIVIA!

Dear SSC Youth group members,

Next Sunday, Octber 18th, we will be having a church-wide Bible Trivia competition.  Now, there’s been some “trash talk” about how the youth group is gonna get destroyed by everyone including the kindergartners and I would love to see us squash that with love.  So, the whole church is coming together for this event, which will focus on three categories:

Genesis
Matthew
Worship Songs

The worship song category will be interesting… must know lyrics and melody. Now ya’ll know there are a lot of parables, characters, and places in just Genesis and Matthew alone.   I highly suggest ya’ll to read up and maybe split the readings with some folks.  Let’s get some SSC YG pride going and take on our brothers and sisters from KM, EM, and CM!

Ya with me?

#28: Achey Breaky Heart?? no Back.

For the past week I’ve been trying to overcome a major back problem.  Lots of pain.  This is what my face looked like most of the week:

owwwiiiiieee

My friends that helped me through this process include: Mr. Bengay, Ms. Shock Thingy, Mr. Icy/Hot, Mr. Crutches, Mr. Capital One, Ms. ThermaCare Heat Wrap, and newly MR. ALEVE (not pictured).

My friends

 

 Mr. Capital One belongs to my brother, who upon seeing my pitiful state, gave me Mr. Capital One to order a pizza.  Sweet.  My other hero was Mingyung You, who went on several Walgreens trips to pick up my friends here. Thank you Jesus for Mingyung You.

Many thanks to all who texted me thru my boredom bc I was in bed all week and for special surprises like sushi (Thanks Heather’s Mom!), cupcakes (thanks Sarah!), cool emails, and singing voicemails. You guys rock.

Back update: It is healing, but slowly.  My new hero is Hannah Samonim, who is a rockin’ PT, and showed me what I was doing TOTALLY wrong (further putting me in pain, no wonder!) and what to do right (thank you Jesus for Hannah Samonim). So, I have high hopes that this will all correct itself very soon. Thanks for the prayers!

While I was down, I watched this several times for a chuckle.

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The job hunt was on hold while I was out. It probably will be until it doesn’t hurt to walk or sit anymore.  Debating on whether to expand the hunt outside of Illinois or just to stick it thru for something I like here. Sigh. Any advice?

#27: Blessed…

So, I just realized that #25, which was a private post, screwed me up and I went from #24 to #26 on my public posts.  Sorry, that’s my explanation.  Anyhow, #27.

So, when I was in Junior High, I heard a sermon entitled “Blessed to Be a Blessing”.  A pastor gave the message at a Missions Send-off service and basically, as the title explains, we are all blessed to bless others, not to keep our blessings for ourselves.  I am hearing this phrase a lot these days… and it’s a good reminder.  I also read this book in high school called, “Out of the Salt Shaker and Into The World” by Rebecca Pippert. One sentence summary: Basically the book was about how we, as the salt of the earth, love to hang out with other salt and remain in the “saltshaker” instead of going out into the world. It’s about evangelism, sharing the truth and love of Christ to others… and that’s what the sermon was about too.  I guess I just needed another reminder of that this week. 

The Chicago job hunt is not going as hoped.  Sigh.  I might have to branch out to other states.  However, I’m still remaining prayerful and am gonna give it another couple of weeks.  I know it also has to do with the fact that I’m picky – I’ve had a couple of offers that I declined due to different circumstances.  So, yeah.  Sigh.  Please continue to pray for me.  I’m trying my hardest to stay in Chicago.

This is one song I could not stop listening to all week.  It’s great!

#26: Blazing Challenge

So after visiting with the House of Prayer Church (Church for the Homeless), I had to leave right away with some of the Indiana kiddies… Luke, Kevin, Joe, and Esther.  Fun times.   We stopped by BW3s on the way to Joe’s. Joe decided to take the Blazing Challenge… he did alright… got thru about 3.5 wings before conceding defeat against the hot hot sauce.

Luke and Kevin decided to get in on the challenge so attempted ONE each.  the first clip is them trying to act like nothing is wrong and everything is just fine and tasty.

The second video is Luke and Kevin diving for the water.  What is not caught on camera is both of them running to the bathroom.  I say an SSC BLAZING CHALLENGE IS IN ORDER.  WHO’S WITH ME?! MUAHAHAHAHAHA.  Yo Servant Committee, we should do this for fun at the end of some Fri night or Home Group or something.  LOL.

UPDATE:
Started the job search, but I’m having a really hard time finding a job I like in Chicago.   Please pray for me… I don’t want to move just yet!  I was planning to be in Chicago for at least 2 more years! SIGH.  Pray please! Thanks!

Random: Tomorrow I’m going to buy spider spray. I’m going to spider proof my house.  Um, I’m ok with killing daddy long leg spiders… they are thin and I don’t ever touch them.  Bathroom cleaner with bleach always does the trick.  However, there is a scary black THICK spider living in my room some place and I haven’t been able to sleep there since I saw it (last week).  I’ve been crashing on the couch.. crashing for like 2 hours every night because that’s the only amount of sleep i’ve been getting every night almost all summer. RIDICULOUS. sigh need prayer.

#24: One Last Hurrah!

Today I had an awesome time with the SSC YOUTH WORSHIP TEAM.  We had a great Sunday service together – the whole worship was great.  We spent the day together afterwards.  We went to Esther’s house to surprise her with a “congrats on moving to boonieville indiana” card fro the entire youth group… she was shocked and happy so that was great.  We helped her move (see facebook pictures) and then we went for a Popeye’s run before stopping at Joe’s.  Originally we had planned to go go-karting but the weather was not agreeing with us.  That’s ok, we had tons of indoor fun!  We ended up killing some spicy fried chicken and sides, had a spontaneous band practice, and then ended the night with some wii.  Wii was HILARIOUS.  We played Mario & Sonic Beijing Olympics (awesome game) and Wii sports.  As you can tell by the videos, we had a ridiculous time.  Afterwards we braved the TRUE boonies of INDY by taking the dangerous back roads to Luke’s house with my mom’s Honday Pilot (great car, 8 passenger… fun stuff today).  And then the long trek home for the Illinois people, finding out creepy things about Timothy (See below).  All in all, a GREAT day, and a final HURRAH for the WT kids before school starts and before I start working full-time.  Fun times indeed!

SO… the WT has this thing now called the WALL OF SHAME.  Basically, one wall of our wt office is gonna be dedicated to the silly things that we do… it’s so that we can laugh at ourselves and remind ourselves we need to be humble.. lol… today, there was a whole lot added to that wall.. so here is what is gonna go up on the wall next weekend… (WT if I forget anything comment on this note!)

JAE (CHAMPION OF THE WALL CURRENTLY)
**”The Cable Cutter” – During the Summer Retreat Hawon asked Jae to cut the plastic tie that held a brand new mic cable together off so the worship team could use the mic cable.  Instead of cutting the plastic off, he cut the cable in half.  He cut a brand new mic cable in half!  It is currently hanging on the Wall of Shame.
**”Six FRAGS” – FOB nuff said
**He did something else today that no one can remember anymore.  AISH.

SHARON (dangerously close to being the new Champion of the Wall)
**”Wii Baseball” – Sharon played Wii Baseball for the first time today.  She did not put on her wrist clasp.  As she was batting I saw this WHITE THING JUST SHOOT THRU THE AIR into the TV and plant.  She struck out.

JOE
**”I didn’t FELL” – apparently they don’t teach grammar in Indiana.

LUKE
**”Key Change in Shout to the Lord?” – We practiced a great key change in “Shout to the Lord” from A to B for a worship at the Church for the Homeless.  The build up was great and all LUKE to do was nail a key change up.  He instead, played in some weird key for a full verse before realizing he was in a totally different key, all the while the singers were singing in B and Tim playing very hesitantly and looked VERY confused, as did the congregation.  sigh.
**1st Time Dish Washer – Today, August 18, 2009, was Luke’s first time at washing the dishes.  It was very very sad.  He said they just put everything in the dishwasher.  Translation: His parents do everything for him.  He was pathetic.  I was so very very sad.  He’s washing dishes at every WT function from here on out.

ESTHER
**Ice Cream – she’s hyper. nuff said
More to come!

TIM
This pic:

I don't know what to say about this pic

 **SNORER – Tim was talking about how he never snores, but he does. In fact, to prove him wrong we caught him on tape.

**WEIRD SLEEP THINGS – Tim kept dropping out of our conversation the entire way home.  He kept abruptly falling asleep.  It was scary.  Also, he talks in his sleep, he sings in his sleep, and he snores (see above).  WEIRD.

—————- my oh my… but iheartsscygwt!  you guys rock.  thanks for a lovely evening guys!—————-

#23: VBS Part 2, some reflections, and a update

So VBS concluded with a BANG!  It was great!
Let’s hear a big “hip hip hooray!” for the Giggling Gators, who won the coveted BEST IN SHOW (for room decor) trophy & medals (hardcore man) and also put on a great skit.  I totally loved my students! They were great!  Here are some videos of the rest of VBS:

Greeting:
This is how we greeted the kids everyday.  Crazy!

“Get Down”
This was the ever popular song throughout VBS.  We sang it at least once a day. 

VBS was a great time of just letting loose, serving, and hanging out with my great helpers, Alex, Eric, Brian, & Sharon.  I have to say they were pretty great, extremely obedient (thank God bc I woulda killed ‘em – with godly love of course… of course! muhahhaha), hard working, and the kids really loved them.  I hope they had a good time.  I owe them dinner for all their hard work! WHOO!  I also had a great time just being involved with VBS again… It reminded me why God chose the young ones to do so much in the Bible… faith like a child… indeed!  Clean-up took forever… FOREVER… since we totally covered our room, but with help from several other yg members (thanks Esther, Tina, Jane, and whoever else I’m forgetting) and a bunch of CM kids who just wanted to DEMOLISH something (they just tore everything off the walls… crazy), we got done a lot quicker than I thought… we ended up leaving church close to midnight!

Sharon is sad that we tore everything down

Room demolition under way

Giggling Gators win BEST IN SHOW for Room Decorations! YAY!

You can check out my facebook page for more VBS 2009 pics under “Albums”. 

UPDATE: 
Dan & Caroline’s wedding has come and gone!  Congrats to the two of you! WHOO!  HIP HIP HOORAY! It was fun to see an old friend tie the knot… I have to admit it was a little weird (in a good way) because we’re not kids anymore! Yikes.  We’re all grown up! Cham!  So it made me get thinking about actually really looking for a job now.  LOL!  I’ve been putting it off all summer so I can just enjoy my summer, but now the finances are starting to pressure me a bit… sigh.. so job hunting shall begin in a furious way next week. My only concern is that after doing some initial searches, there are not a lot of jobs in Chicago that really tempt me.  Sigh.  What to do, what to do.  Prayers needed folks! Thanks.  If Ican’t find anything in Chicago I really do have to move!  CRAZY.  Just WHERE would I go? Freaks me out a bit.  Seriously, prayers folks. PRAYERS.

#22: VBS Part 1

After a long hiatus from getting involved in VBS, I returned to serve at SSC’s annual summer Vacation Bible School (VBS).  It’s been intense.  Due to budget restraints and whatnot, what used to be a 6 day (sleepover included) crazy week has been reduced to a 4 day (no sleepover) week.  Which, I’m finding out, is JUST AS CRAZY.  Decorations for both classrooms and the sanctuary are insane.  The kids screaming, spilling juice, running around… learning about God… all glorious!

The classes for this year are:
The Baby Gators | Pre-K & K
Teacher – Angela Koh
Helpers - Miguel Equina, Katleya Equina, Julie Lee, Michelle Koh

The Gator Babies | Pre-K & K
Teacher – Kelli Kim
Helpers – Ryan Kim, Jane Lee, Tim Kim (Steph helped a ton with decorations in this room as well, props)

The Hot Fireflies | 1st & 2nd graders
Teacher – Joanne Eunhye Kim
Helpers – Josh Chong, Heather Kim, Sojeong An

The Gator – Aids (Is He In You?!) | 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders
Teacher – Sharon Chun
Assistant Teacher – Daegon Wang
Helpers – Calvin Kang, Esther Kim, Sunhan Shin

The Giggling Gators | 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders
Teacher – ME
Assistant Teacher – Brian Kim
Helpers – Sharon Lee, Alex Shin, Eric Loksan Kim

Worship Team
Leader – Mark Kim
Members – Luke Harvey, Tim Kim, Kelli Kim, Sharon Lee, & Joe Chung

Puppet Ministry
Leader – Leo Hickman
Members – Silvia Yim, Elizabeth Jungyoung Na, Grace Yim, BJon Kim, Luke Harvey, Ashley Kim

Motions Ministry
Leader – Silvia Yim
Members – Esther Kim, Julie Lee, Jane Lee

Leaders of VBS = Pastor Mingyung You & Director Leo Hickman (great job guys!)
Teachers & Leaders = Stephanie Kim, Esther Yi, Ryan Kim

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Well, I wanted to do VBS this year because I felt like God was reminding me just how important it was to 1) have joy in serving.. seriously my kids say the most hilarious and humbling things.. i love it! 2) love my church more deeper and fully… to do things with love instead of duty… 3) to give 110% always… regardless of whether my class gets picked as winners or not, whether there is recognition for this or that… it’s really all about just giving your best bc the KIDS benefit from giving your best.  I have a great crew of helpers and I’m glad I have each of them.  I hope that what I teach them as a leader is not just ridiculous team unity (you’ll see when I put up pics of how we dressed up each day) or slaving over our room decorations… but really, just having the heart and the willingness to go all out, even if it’s only for 4 days or for a bunch of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.  I’m re-learning what it means to give it my all and have no regrets… and I’m loving it. and lastly, 4) learn from the kids… there’s definitely a reason why God chose to use children and young people to do so much for His Kingdom… I’m learning from my kid and I am really loving every moment!  Part 2 will come up…. right now it’s the half way point.  So far, soooooooooo goooood.

I’m gonna put up a ton of pictures and some videos later, but I’ll leave you with a few:

Family Portrait Day 1

 

VBS Welcome Table

VBS KIDS!

#21: Outdoor Fun!

Today we had an Outdoor Joint Worship with the Children’s Ministry.  It was great.  We had some worship, a message shared by Leo, and some Mini Olympic Games.  Much thanks to Timothy and BJ for putting it all together.  Much thanks go out to the Team Captains as well: Team Turtle – Daegon “I just came back from Korea and want to do as many things with SSC people as possible in one hour” Wang; Team Bunny – Brian “Bboy wannabe” Kim; Team “Kang-aroo” – Calvin “Ironman” Kang; and lastly, Team Monkey – Jaehyun “Cable Cutter” Kim.  Excellent efforts by everyone!

Mini-O highlights/winners:
Chant winner – Team Turtle
Steal the Bacon – Team Turtle 
Human Bridge – Team Bunny
Hot Hands – Team Kangaroo
Tug of War – Team Bunny (YM) & Team Monkey (CM)
Ironman – Team Kangaroo (Calvin Kang)
Ironwoman – Team Bunny (Jane Lee)
*Some of the Ironmen&women were so exhausted, we had some puking going on and major falling over! lol.  but fun times nonetheless.
Bonus point ownage – Team Kangaroo (bonus points include cheering, team unity, sportsmanlike conduct, etc.)
*Please keep in mind that as long as the teams finished the event, they got SOME points.

Here’s a nice little video of the classic Mini-O event: The Human Bridge

1st Place – Team Kangaroo
2nd Place – Team Monkey
3rd Place – Team Bunny
Last Place – Team Turtle

The last place team had a nice SIZZLING punishment to do… excellent bacon.  Footage below:

We concluded with an hour long water fight that was NOT to be missed. Intense stuff going on!  Fun times, fun times.

iheartSSCYG

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On another note, the Guate team is coming back this upcoming Friday already! GEEZ mon!  I’m blown away at how fast time flies.  My prayer now is that the team finishes strong.  Finishing strong is SO important! Cham.  Also, VBS is coming up.  I am coming out of retirement to get involved with VBS this year again.  I’m excited!  The job hunt is about to begin in a serious way soon.  I will probably wait until VBS is over. 

Wow, what a day.  Good times, good times.  I’m thankful.

#20: Guatemala Team 2009

Well, the Guate team is off and they’ve already been there for a week.  It’s weird being a sender again, but a great honor.  Please pray for these guys:

1. Pastor Ethan Ko
2. Hawon Jung
3. Darong Roh
4. Aarong Roh
5. Stephanie Kim
6. Kelli Kim
7. Mark Kim
8. Yoojung Chung
9. Dan Chong
10. Sharon Chun
11. Joe Chung
12. Luke Harvey
13. Sharon Lee
14. Eunbyul Joh
15. Michelle Koh
16. Yohan Kim
17. Big John Kim
18. Christina Lee
19. Amy Kwak
20. Sarah Kwon
21. Richard Park
22. Moriah Moon
23. Melissa Rodriguez
24. Angela Jin
25. Eunyoung Park
26. Eunbi Kim?

To the Guate Team:
Here is the video we made you for just in case you weren’t able to see it.

Hooray!