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| Wow, it's been almost five months since I've made an entry. I don't know whether there are still any interested viewers but during my absence from blogging, I've been through some intense spiritual trials. I'm still learning lessons from them and must trust in the Lord with all my heart and mind. I think God has allowed me some perspective and relief through traveling and seeing friends and family from over the years. Since a picture is supposed to speak 1000 words, I'll insert pictures to highlight the blessings of friends and family.
Though we had planned on being at the Memorial weekend Church Family Retreat in
Bradenton, FL, the sudden death of Lily's grandfather caused us to
travel to Austin, TX where I conducted the funeral service that
involved many great-grandchildren.
On Father's Day weekend, I fly out to NYC for a family wedding
banquet. Before that, I am able to see some Miami friends who have
moved up to the 'Big Apple.' (From left to right - Su, Michelle, Yolanda, Kinny, James and me...yes James is holding on to his fiance!)
The cute little, almost 1 year old boy is Isaac, son of Su & Dan.
One of the reasons for the 2 day trip to NYC was to see my dad's older sister (87 y.o.) and take an opportunity to find out where she was at spiritually. To my surprise (and my dad's) and joy, both she and her husband had accepted Christ and were baptized a few years ago. (My dad is on the far left side.)
After returning from the weeklong Centrifuge youth retreat with the CBYF at Ridgecrest, NC, I officiate Sam & Kyung's wedding. The next day, I fly to Dallas for a week of classes at Dallas Theological Seminary.
Though I had a completely uneventful flight to TX for our family vacation, Mommy, Joshua and Daniel try to make the best of moved or missed flights on Spirit Airlines.
The Eagle has landed! Joshua passes his Eagle Board of Review. Less than 4% of Boy Scouts attain to the rank of Eagle. Mom & Dad are proud of him!
During the first couple of weeks of September, I have spent much time corresponding and welcoming many new visitors to church. Most of them are incoming students at either UM or FIU. The mission field is here! Also, we welcome a new Spanish mission as we host them in our little house. Many in our church celebrate the Moon Festival and use the occasion for fellowship and outreach. I also travel to the Orlando mission twice this month.
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| My wife and I finished our school work, with the help of some special friends who provided some degree of objectivity about each of us and how we function. Like typical students, we had a mad dash to finish all assignments and email them off to get them evaluated. This course was like no other I had previously taken besides the double amount of tuition for a course. It wasn't just factual material. It was personal. To cushion the 'blows', we were housed in a bed and breakfast place less than a mile from the seminary. I'd like to offer details but I am still reeling from the roller coaster ride experience (and I don't like those thrill rides) and much of what was said was very personal! I missed going to the Chinese New Year Festival at Miami Dade College and offering moral support to the TYAF and NCCF members manning our booth. I had to drive over to Miami Beach to visit one of our older members who had brain surgery scheduled for the next morning. Thank God, all went well and after a month of convalescing, he was able to be back at church by Easter Sunday. On the last Sunday of February, I traveled to preach at our Orlando Mission, the church held a special business meeting. The members decided to 'hire' a Cantonese worker for Orlando and 'call' a new senior pastor for Miami. After five weeks of silence, I hear that the brother who received this 'call' declined, sensing it was not God's will for him and his wife. We need more prayers. On the other hand, while preaching every Sunday morning, often twice and two different messages, I got to dedicate the new children's playground. With just one deacon outside, and many parents and grandparents, we thanked God for this blessing and celebrated with the young children. Later, a commercial grade, adjustable basketball goal post was installed. Less than three weeks later, it was stolen! Sinful persons robbed us of some joy. That's what can happen in church too if we let them. But don't let them! Easter service was terrific! The handbell choir excelled. The choir was inspiring. I baptized two young Christians from mainland China. Many came out to worship the resurrected Savior! And two men indicated their desire to trust in Christ as Savior!!!
Many generous folks came through for the CBYF Spring Fling. The dinner was better than last year's. I actually enjoyed singing to the karaoke music with Steve and to Mrs. K. Cheung - Elvis Presley's song: "Are You Lonesome Tonight" . Who has a recording of that? While all that stuff was going on with church, my middle fingertip was 'mangled' by a router bit in a wood working accident, related to Joshua's Eagle Scout project. Joshua went with me to the local urgent care place where they stopped the bleeding. I got careless and violated two of my own rules regarding use of the router table. I could not use my middle finger for three weeks. It hurt even to type on a keyboard! Thank God it is healed and back to normal!!! | | |
| Prayers - I thought the NY Giants could use all the help they could get so I said a prayer for them at Alvin and Rebecca's Super Bowl party just before the game began. And the rest is history! One disgruntled Patriots fan at that party asked to let him pray next time. On a more serious note, Ted L.'s mom has emergency surgery. Ying H. also needs surgery. Nigel C. undergoes surgery. A daughter seeks help for her mom and dad who are contemplating divorce.
Praises - During the Chinese New Year weekend, on Sunday afternoon, I had the opportunity to lead a newly married Taiwanese woman to the Lord! The new church playground is a hit with children and parents!
Politics - I am dissatisfied with all current presidential candidates. Unfortunately, I am also disappointed that politics also happens in church. That's all I can say here. The rest I've said to God.
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| Happy Chinese New Year! One of the reasons being Chinese is great is that we get to celebrate New Year's Day twice. And in my case, January came and went so fast. Upon our return from San Antonio, ministry duties had me going from place to place. The Caleb seniors surprised me with birthday greetings. With their sense of humor, they remind me (in the Toishan dialect of course) that I am ever more qualified to be a member of their fellowship. After their fellowship lunch, I meet with Rev. James Chen, a candidate for our senior pastor position. We have a friendly and frank conversation about ministry for almost two hours.
Discipleship seems to be a topic that most of our fellowships like JYAF, TYAF and MYAF have in mind. One of them backed away from some of the requirements I asked of them while another has postponed my lessons for at least three months. Is the cost of commitment too high? At least they thought about that before going on.
I only preached two sermons - one in Miami and the other in Orlando. What else was there to do? Well, while preparing to officiate a wedding ceremony, another family suffered the lost of their 89 year old mother. I saw her just before Christmas and I saw her this time in the emergency room at Cedars. (Sensing a heavier load, I ask the visiting Orlando mission minister candidate to preach the English service message on Sunday.) I got the official call of their mom's passing less than 90 minutes before the wedding. The wedding of PoChing and Anni was a delight to perform...simplicity, serenity and sincerity. Though both of their families are in Taiwan, our church family has made them feel 'at home.' After the luncheon, I visit the grieving Chin family. It's kind of emotionally difficult yet having buried their dad a year ago has given me an opportunity to get familiar with the grown up children. That generation is a challenge to reach for Christ because they had been in church as children but most are no longer in a church as adults. Death has a way of refocusing one's purpose and priorities in life.
The day after the Chin funeral, I receive another call from another member who is suffering physically and mentally. We meet later that day at his workplace and then travel to his house. It is a time for listening and praying in each portion of his house. Later that night ,after the midweek prayer meeting, I go out with a young couple for a late night dinner at a Nicaraguan steak house across from the FIU Engineering campus. They want marital and family counseling. Oh the challenges of love!!!
At the end of the month, I fly to Orlando to serve at the mission. They face critical challenges, particularly in English ministries. I only had time to meet with one family...who graciously picked me up and drove me back to the airport and provided food to go! That Sunday night, I received a call from a Coral Springs youth leader who informed me that their youth group would not join us for Fuge this summer, after going back and forth for several months over whether to go to the camp at Ridgecrest. What a great disappointment! Since I had to commit our spots by Feb. 1, I sadly released 60 spots. God has creative ways to teach me about patience and perseverance.
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| For my last entry for 2007, instead of summarizing my ministry activities which were many, especially preaching on each of the five Sundays including in Orlando and San Antonio, I'd like to remember some personal highlights. I've had many more opportunities to interact with people during the Christmas season. Some of the young men from church invited me to join them at Roma's for an all-you-can-eat rib's night. I was hesitant since I typically take home some ribs from a full rack order. Little did I realize I made a strategical mistake by sitting around the three guys that would eat the highest number of ribs! What I will reveal is that our group of 10 cleaned off 411 ribs. I lowered average but ate more than I have ever eaten in one sitting.
We went caroling to senior citizens at a Christian assisted living complex and to the condo of one of our church members while in Broward County. A good number of young adults came along, providing rides for our teens. Sensing that many seniors don't have much contact with others besides the health care professionals, I wanted to shake as many of their hands as possible. I met a man aged 101 who was very alert and able to get about. I also met a wheel-chair bound woman sitting in her doorway. She had a big smile on her face as our group sang songs while walking down the hall. I shook her hand and wished her a 'Merry Christmas'. She wouldn't let go. The next thing I knew, she was asking me for a kiss. I could not call out for help because everyone in our group had moved on and were in another resident's room. So I bent over and gave her a quick peck on her cheek. She had a great grin and said I made her month.
Plans to go caroling to another nursing home the following Saturday were altered when I received a call that a senior member of our church had just been hospitalized. I went to visit her directly from the home of another family I was visiting. Then I drove to Orlando. I always get updates on how many in the mission are doing in the short time I am there. They also planned a visit to a nursing home on Sunday afternoon. Instead of joining them, I leave soon after the service so I can make it back to Miami for our youth group's Christmas party where I share a brief devotion. I missed a great luncheon in Miami given by all the children of a mother celebrating her 80th birthday.
Caroling on Christmas Eve was the final opportunity to share the good news of Christ to others in our community. Before that I visited with the family that had given their mom the birthday luncheon. I also wanted to see another dear elderly couple to see how they were doing healthwise. They have become another source of encouragement for me even though they are not able to make it out to church on a regular basis.
We flew to San Antonio on Christmas Day and arrived in time to have dinner with my parents and my brother and his family. The weather is much cooler than Miami. It's been a relaxing time. On New Year's Eve, my wife and her sister prepared a dinner-to-go for a surprise visit to her sister's mother-in-law at an assisted living facility. As we settled down for dinner, a couple of unknown senior ladies drop by and asked what was going on. The one with the walker asked me a couple of times where I was from. My boys believed those white-haired women thought I was a new member to their retirement community. I begin to wonder whether that might be true when they appeared at our gathering two more times, asking similar questions! I think they were cruising the halls looking for some action. Apparently, most of the other guys are asleep by 7 PM and I was still going strong at 8 PM. I'm glad I could provide some cheer to my family.  2007 has been a roller coaster ride of experiences and emotions. Thank God for his faithfulness, grace and mercy!!!
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