Winter Break Preparations

Winter break comes at a good time for me. This past semester was challenging and I was beginning to feel the drain of work piling up. I thought my first year was tough enough as it was. It was a sweet feeling to see God's strength push me through the finish line and come out the other side of my "rookie" year with Epic. 

Since my summer was pretty jam packed with raising support and overseas missions, I didn't have much time to sit and prepare for this upcoming year. Thankfully, my team has been great at picking each other up and encouraging one another. I'm totally grateful for the three other interns on the team and a mature student leadership team. All that to say, winter break is finally here and I'm jumping into it head on. 

Winter break is similar to how I would imagine a pro athlete approaches his offseason. My high school basketball coach always told me the most important season is the summer, because that's the time when a player improves his skills and gets into shape. If you're trying to do those two things when the season starts, you're already playing catch up. In the same way, this winter break will be crucial in preparing for my upcoming semester. We have a lot of great pieces in place - a Bible study of men hungry for the Word every week, a student leader group willing to be teachable, and many pockets of unreached groups on campus. My hope for this break is to have small group content prepared already, and a few ideas for outreach. Most importantly (and most needed) is a deeper relationship with Jesus. Because understanding and experiencing that will be the biggest key to a winter break well spent.

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." - Ephesians 3:17-19

Back from Big Break!

Just wanted to make a quick post about returning from our Spring Break trip. I'm now back in Amherst with a bit of tan, feeling refreshed, and ready to tackle the last 4 weeks of school! I'm shocked my freshman year of campus ministry is about to come to an end.

I'll be sharing more in-depth soon about the entire trip. It was so enjoyable and had a lot of faith-stretching moments. I'm excited to put them into words. In the meantime, enjoy some pictures from Big Break 2012!

The main conference room filled with 800 students worshipping and celebrating together.

Some of our Epic women

Olivia sharing about fully accepting Christ into her life! What a celebratory moment!

Group picture on the beach. Can you count how many people we brought from Amherst?

T minus 1 hour

In about one hour, 53 students from UMass Cru and Epic will board a coach bus and begin the 27-hour long trek down to Panama City Beach, FL (PCB). We're joining up with 800 other Cru students for Big Break, Cru's annual Spring Break missions trip.

Why PCB? Because it's an amazingly popular destination for thousands of other College Spring Breakers. And because the Gospel is relevant to the students' lives in PCB! What better place to share the Good News of Jesus Christ? I'm pumped just thinking about it. The Gospel...... it gets the people going!!

For an entire week (Mar 16-25), we'll learn how to share our faith and put it to practice on the beach. Big Break is near and dear to my heart. I learned how to share my faith at my first BB. This will be my third trip down. I'm excited to see what God will teach me this year! Additionally, please pray for great teaching, boldness, and divine appointments with other Spring Breakers on the beach. Check out the Big Break website for more information!

Beauty in the Process

My name is Cheeia, I come from a traditional Hmong family.

This is the story of Cheeia, a student whose life was transformed by God in college. They showed this video at Epic Conference. I'd highly encourage you to watch this!

Cheeia's Story from CCCNEHQ on Vimeo.

This story touches me for many reasons:

1. Cheeia finally found what she'd been looking for all her life. She tried to find satisfaction in so many different areas in her life, but ultimately it left her empty. And now here she is, deeply satisfied!
2. She realized it was important to not just keep this to herself but to share with others, specifically with the ones she loved the most - her family. So she took a step of faith. And continued taking many more steps of faith after that.
3. She persevered through many trials, especially with her family. I can't imagine how difficult the process must've been for Cheeia. Yet she continued praying. And looked for opportunities. There's so much beauty in the process. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." - Matthew 7:7
4. She couldn't do it alone. For the family to be impacted, it took a total team effort - all the people that shared the Gospel with her, the friends that helped her grow, and the ones that supported her through the tough times. It's evident that God placed a strong community in her life for a reason.

Thank you God for Cheeia's story! And all the ways you changed my life in the same way you changed hers.

Winter is here

It's snowing outside! I've realized over the past year or so that snow doesn't necessarily = fun anymore. Especially when it comes to maintaining my aging 2005 Honda Civic (affectionately known as Francine). But snow is certainly one of the highlights of the winter season and it makes New England so special and beautiful. I wouldn't trade it for anything else... unless you're talking about an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii.

Along with the snow, I wanted to share some other recent highlights with you as well. This past weekend was our annual Epic East Coast conference held in Morristown, NJ. There were~120 students, 30 staff members, and 10 volunteers from Epic movements all over the East Coast (to name a few... SUNY-Buffalo, NYC colleges, Penn State, George Mason, Florida International). Umass brought 24 students from our area, a huge blessing considering our "faith goal" was initially 10-15 students!

The conference was refreshing on many levels personally. I had a blast talking with the staff from other campuses, sharing stories and learning from their experience. A lot of them have been serving in the ministry for many years, some even at the start of Epic in the 90s, and through them I gained a bigger perspective of the ministry. One staff pointed out how the conference size has doubled over the years. It's a peaceful reminder that as far as God wills our ministry, He will continue to provide laborers and students. It also brings me confidence to know that He is already ahead of us working and we are called to follow faithfully.

But by far the biggest refresher is witnessing people's hearts change for Christ. The theme of the conference was Transformed, appropriate because God is in the business of transforming lives. What made the conference stand out in my mind was seeing how God transforms us individually AND culturally as Asian-Americans. It's one of the first times I've seen the speaker address specific Asian-American issues and how the Gospel brings healing and change to it.

For example, the speaker addressed the issue of Asian-Americans' perfectionist mindset. He said that it's not an entirely bad thing to pursue perfection. After all, God is perfect and the pursuit of perfection would point us towards Him. However, when our culture twists it and points it to ourselves, we experience impossible standards, inevitable failure, insecurities, high pressure, and stress. But the Gospel is able to point us back to Christ - to know that where we've failed, Jesus has succeeded. In this way, we experience freedom from performance and we are restored as a culture.

That's just a snippet of what I experienced from the weekend! It's weekends like these that remind me of why I chose to join staff for Epic - growing in my walk with Christ and journeying with students through their walk. I'm amazingly blessed to serve the students and work alongside them to reach the rest of campus. Spring semester here we come! Thank you for your continual support!

Group picture at 2012 Epic East Coast Conference

100% and Onwards

It's official - I will be interning with Cru this upcoming year! It's been a very long journey but I'm thankful for this summer. I didn't predict the support raising to be this challenging, but I also didn't predict how rewarding this whole process would be.

I've never been the type to take risks, especially in situations that I know I might fail in. But trusting in God and witnessing Him pull through (even at times when I couldn't see it) taught me it's worth persevering. So as I learn more of what it means to "step out in faith" I'm looking forward for the school year to finally begin.

Students return to campus on Sunday! Let's get everything started.

Living Through the Cycle

This summer, I've been reading from the Book of Psalms during my quiet times (one-on-one personal time with God). I've been very encouraged by it especially in light of my support raising process because the Psalms capture the emotions and feelings of this roller coaster ride so perfectly.

Why?

As I read them, I noticed the same 3 themes constantly appearing over and over again. Here's how it usually plays out: the author desperately cries out for God's presence in a dead-end situation (Psalm 22), discovers peace and refuge in God's comfort (Psalm 23), and joyfully rejoices in God's strength and deliverance (Psalm 24). Isn't it interesting how it's always in this cycle?

What's odd is that I find myself going through this same cycle! Not just once, but all the time. I always fear that I will never get through this situation, always doubt that God can bring me out, and always amazed that God actually delivers me through. Well, I'm glad that God is greater than my fears and doubts combined!

But it doesn't end there. What is most interesting isn't how often I doubt God (though you'd think I've learned my lesson by now right?) but how faithful God is. Just listen:

"God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling."

Psalm 46:1-3

A promise that never lets me down or disappoints. So powerful that He promises to be there, even past the time our Earth crumbles. Think about that! I'm learning more and more that there's nothing in this world that won't disappoint me. And it might take something beyond this world to not let me down. So if God does in fact promise these things, then I think I just found the greatest joy that can ever be offered.

What Does God Look Like?

Have you ever asked yourself this question? I know I've thought through it before many times, trying to wrap my mind around God's nature and characteristics. Check out this quick video -- it does a nice job of explaining why Jesus can point us to the answers we're looking for.

Finding Joy Through Perseverance

Everyday when I wake up, I think of support raising.

During the day, my mind often drifts to support raising.

At night right before I close my eyes, the last thought is usually support raising.

And I'm not sure that's what God intended support raising to be. Take a look after the jump.

A Good Day

Today was a good day. It had nothing to do with the weather - in fact it's been drizzling all afternoon, a huge contrast from the string of sunny days Boston's been receiving lately (hard to come by). My good day had nothing to do with anything physical either, like feeling pumped after a hard workout or having a good hair day (even harder to come by).

Today was good because God showed me he has the perfect timing. This morning, I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. It turned out to be a friend John whom I served with last summer in Wildwood, NJ. He lives in Indiana so we rarely get a chance to talk. We caught up with one another and swapped stories of our summer. It was a blessing to hear about his growth, a sign that he's still bearing fruit in his life.

Then in the afternoon, my roommate Matt called me. We're both raising support this summer for our upcoming internship with Crusade. We spent most of the time sharing about the challenges of support raising, and the lessons God has been teaching us. It was also a time to reflect on the past month and think of ways to push through the rest of the summer. I'm thankful that God is challenging me to place my faith in Him and trusting that He will provide all my finances. I'm even more thankful that I'm going through this with a close brother. Having this opportunity to share and pray with Matt put my heart back in place.

To me, these are the days I treasure and hold on to. Those moments when I feel dry or unmotivated, God sends the exact person to check up on me. And then through sharing and confessing to one another, God does the refreshing and my soul feels revitalized again. Is this what God intended community to be? I believe that this is evidence God has given us community to share and celebrate His name together. God gives us situations to go through so that we can lean on one another. When the going gets rough, we pray for God to give us His strength to push through. When we feel like more than conquerors, we celebrate and praise God for His victories. Thank God for these good days!

Links! Links! Links!

It has been one crazy semester so far! It's always cool to witness God transforming hearts and changing lives, through seeing it with my own eyes or hearing someone share about it. It's also humbling to know that even in my last semester of college, that I still continue to be weak and I realize more and more how much I need God in my life.

My college church, Amherst Koinonia Church, has grown through some major heart surgery over the past few semesters. Three semesters ago, everything was looking rough. Our pastor had just decided to leave, relationships were not mended, and members were not walking with the Lord. There was just no sense of community. But thankfully God decided it was time for open heart surgery. It wasn't comfortable at all; as a matter of fact it took a lot of uncomfortable situations to make it happen. In small groups, brothers began being more real to each other and more vulnerable. God tore those walls down and we started talking about real issues in our everyday lives. Then the next step was to reach out to the communities around us. That brought us closer together because we were taking steps of faith together, initiating spiritual conversations and developing relationships with people. And there was a lot of confrontation and reconciliation that had to be done along the way. Because of our upbringing and culture, that was completely uncharted territory. But we worked our way through it together, and God has finally mended those hearts.

It's a great depiction of community and it's interesting how my home church is covering the topic of Biblical community right now in our college Sunday School. Coincidence? No way jose. Crazy thing was, I remember this series back in my Freshman year 4 years ago. And it totally rocked my world. Sharing and letting others into my life? Wow, God has such a perfect plan.

This semester, we're gonna grow deeper and deeper in our relationship. This weekend is a very special weekend. The East Coast Asian-American Student Union is hosting their annual conference at Umass Amherst. And I don't think it's a coincidence AT ALL that it's being hosted here. God is presenting a grand opportunity for us. And we're gonna step up to the plate this weekend. There will be over 1000 Asian American students on campus, and we're going to step out in faith again to spark some spiritual conversations. We had a few last night and we're continuing to do some today also. If you could pray for us, that would be great! We're learning to go more and more out of our comfort zones. We need God's strength and humility!

Till next time!

Writing from Wildwood

Hello all!

Yesterday marks the second week I've been at Wildwood, NJ. It's been a long and enjoyable two weeks so far. I'm getting to know my project-mates better and I'm feeling a lot more comfortable being around new people and in a new environment.

Praises - I found a summer job on the boardwalk! I'm working at a booth that's owned by one of the locals here. I'm very thankful for the job because it gives me the opportunity to spend time and develop friendships with my 2 co-workers, Nikki and Ahmed. I've only had 4 shifts so far but we've gotten into a few good conversations already. Please pray for my friendships with Nikki and Ahmed and that God will guide us in our conversations. I'm sure you'll be hearing lots more about them in the coming weeks!

In other news, I know that my beloved Boston Celtics are in the NBA Finals right now. To all my Boston friends, please take lots of pictures of the parade for me.... mwuahahah =P

625!

Hi friends,

We got back safely and I have lots to share about my spring break in Florida. So expect a big update soon! Get it...?

Here's a big stat for you -
Last week, 625 people came to accept Christ into their hearts!
625 new brothers and sisters that we'll spend eternity with.
625 people that were probably not expecting something life changing to happen over spring break.
625 hearts that God has been moving and working.
625 people finally home.

What else can you do but smile, and celebrate?

"In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." - Luke 15:10

Truth.

Excitement!

Oh we're about an hour away from starting our journey down to Panama City Beach! We'll first drive down to Virginia (about a 10 hour drive) and stay at a motel for the night. Then we'll get up bright and early in the morning and finish out the rest of the trip to Florida (another good 10 hours).

I'm not sure if I'll have internet access there but I will be bringing my laptop just in case. I'll try and do a quick update if I get a chance to. I'll also be bringing my camera so I hope I'll capture some good moments to post.

Please pray for us! I'm not looking forward to the long car ride but I'm eager for the time we'll spend with each other. I know it will be a good opportunity for the team to bond before arriving. Long car rides also mean a higher likelihood in getting on each other's nerves. Please pray that we'll focus on Christ and instead of beating each other up, we'll love each other as brothers and sisters. Lastly, please pray for the team's hearts as we mentally and physically prepare ourselves for a long week. I'm excited for what God has in store for us so off we go!

Lies

You can't trick me New England weather. Two straight sunny days? Stop hiding your true self. What's tomorrow's weather like - 20 in. of snow? 40 mile wind? cloudy with a 99% chance of thunderstorm? checks weather.com

A sunny 50 degrees? Realfeel 49! What. Is. Going. On.

I'm going crazy. I'm going out to soak up the sun before it disappears for another few weeks.

Boy, New Englanders sure are cynical

Give me a (BIG) break

It's official!


I'm heading down to Florida during spring break with Campus Crusade for Big Break conference! I'm excited to see how the week will unfold.

Lately I've been developing a bigger burden to share the Gospel. Last semester, a thought hit me. I looked around and I realized that all the people I interact with were Christians and only Christians. Unwillingly I had to admit to myself that I was stuck in a "christian bubble." On second thought, stuck is an inaccurate word. I'm responsible for the decisions that I make. I decide who to friend, the people who I interact with, and ultimately who I share my life with. I made decisions that I felt were comfortable.

But this was the false sense of comfort. I had forgotten what comfort really meant. To me, comfort meant having as few problems in life as possible. Comfort meant being so complacent with myself that I go on cruise control through life. I shared my life with Christians only. It was comforting to know that if I only had Christians around me, no one would question me, no one would rattle my faith, and no one would go against me. These were the things I placed my dependence on.

I was dependent on the securities of what my life offered and not on the security of the promises Christ gave to us. I stopped sharing my faith, did not care for the lost, had inconsistent quiet times, and altogether stopped depending on God.

God is good, though.

He reminds me that he's a faithful friend and he's here during my struggles. He reminds me of his grace whenever I feel too ashamed to look at him. He reminds me of his promises whenever I doubt him. And he reminds me of the true comfort I can find if I decide to depend on him.

Now, this decision to join Big Break still feels like a huge risk to me. I risk facing rejection but I am stepping out in faith, praying for opportunities. I risk receiving judgment from people I approach but I know my identity lies in Christ alone. Above all, I find comfort in knowing that I risk because God does not risk. And that's all the truth I need.

How He Loves

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory.
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me.
And oh, how He loves us so
Oh how He loves us
How He loves us all
He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory.
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me.
We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If His grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest.
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way
He loves us
---------------------------------------------------------------
Everyday I am reminded of this truth
And everyday I fall more and more in love with Him

Upside Down Chin Face

When I was younger, I used to talk to people upside down. I would flip myself 180 on the couch and have conversations with people like that. The blood rushing to my head was a bit annoying but looking at people's upside down chin face makes up for it.

You know... an upside down chin face. Whenever you're flipped upside down and you only focus on the lips and chin. And you imagine their face is smushed while their lips are still normal-sized! Isn't that the best??




not my chin.

His lead of love

Looking back at the road so far
The journey’s left its share of scars
mostly from leaving the narrow and straight

Looking back it is clear to me
That a man is more than the sum of his deeds
and how You’ve made good of this mess I’ve made
is a profound mystery

Looking back You know You had to bring me through
All that I was so afraid of
Though I questioned the sky, now I see why
Had to walk the rocks to see the mountain view
Looking back I see the lead of love

Looking back I can finally see
How failures bring humility
Brings me to my knees
Helps me see my need for thee

-Caedmon's Call ( whoops sorry, not Casting Crowns but same initials though =P )

Chan can't cook

I don't think I'll be having a meal plan next semester because the price of North apartments + ridiculously overpriced Umass meal plan is just too much financially. The good news... we will be having our own kitchen (and our own CLEAN bathrooms!) so we can cook our own meals. The bad news: Chan can't cook. *side note - the dude from Yan can cook came to Umass last week and not only is he a cook, dude was hysterical. I guess Yan got jokes too!*

Over the summer, I've already asked my parents and my sisters to teach me how to cook. They've already agreed to teach me how to cook a few chinese dishes and I'm very excited because I am a huge fan of mah po tofu. But as much as I love my mah po tofu, I can't eat that every single day. You may be asking yourself, "what can I do, Jeffrey??" Mmm yes my loyal readers, here's where you can help me!

Please share your recipes with me! Or better yet, please teach me how to cook! I know you guys are out there! My goal is to learn at least 7 so that can cover a week. Or enough so I can go up to my roommates next year and go... STICK WITH ME AND YOU'LL NEVER GO HUNGRY AGAIN! (Shoutout to my Lion King fans out there)

Mah Po deliciousness