Category Archive

alternate title: “Camp Heaven 2008: Why am I here?”

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For the past three weeks, I’ve been in Washington D.C. with Little Lights Urban Ministries [I just started my one-year internship with them] serving as a camp counselor for Camp Heaven, their annual summer camp. Little Lights serves kids from Potomac Gardens, a housing project in South East, Washington D.C and Camp Heaven is an incredible manifestation of God’s love to the community there - although the camp is free of charge, we do invest an incredible amount of finances on our programs [we go swimming, enrichment trips to museums and monuments, six flags every week, arts and crafts, we have a academic and spiritual curriculum, they get lunch and a snack everyday, t-shirts, etc.].

This year’s theme is, “Chosen Champions for Jesus.”  The theme comes from a verse in the Bible, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.” [from 1 Peter 2:9].  And what an appropriate verse for our kids.  For most of them, they’ve been told, albeit subliminally [or maybe not so much] that they can’t succeed, or that they’re ‘nobodies’ or that they won’t amount to anything. But we as a community are taking a stand to reverse this trend.  We believe that God breathed life into each of these children, we believe that God created each of them beautifully with incredible talents and gifts, and most of all, despite their life circumstances [y'all know the stories and statistics from the inner-cities, you know like the ones that we've become numb to - like those that state that there are 29,856 children living in poverty in D.C., how 90% of 4th graders can't read at grade level, how there are around 30 youth deaths in D.C. by firearms - that God has a plan and destiny for each of them.

Sounds sexy doesn't it? Sure does. But urban ministry is glorified. yup, I went there.

I'll be honest, there hasn't been one day where I haven't asked myself, "WHY AM I HERE?" Everyday is a challenge, and dare I say, harder and more difficult than most of my college experience [there was that one crazy finals week my junior year] for several reasons: in school, I knew that I could work hard and get results. Not so in ministry, and definitely not when you’re working with kids.  And then there’s that peculiar part of being a camp counselor here, on any given day you might be faced with the deepest faults of your character, the insufficiency of your own talent and ability to work with kids, and the inadequacy of your ability to love like Jesus and definitely your ability to “change the world.”  But then there are days and moments where you can literally feel God using you to change lives.

But if there’s anything valuable I’ve learned in college, it’s this.  Following Jesus is hard.  And it’s messy. And for those who profess to follow Jesus, ahem those who call themselves “Christian”, there’s nothing more clearer in the Bible than for those who do so to care for the poor and free the oppressed.  The Bible is clear about this.

“No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
and remove the chains that bind people.
Share your food with the hungry,
and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
and do not hide from relatives who need your help.”

[Isaiah 58: 6-7]

What kind of faster are you?

I arrived in Washington D.C. two weeks ago to start my year long internship with Little Lights Urban Ministry.  Training for summer counselors is almost over, and I’ll have more time to blog, write, think, and ideate soon. My sincere apologies for my inconsistency.

The Blue Screen of Death

It’s official.  For the first time, Apple hardware has failed me.  They told my sister that it would take $800.00 just to attempt to recover my hard drive - and even if we did, they told us that there was only a slim possibility of recovering any files.  That’s beyond my pay cut.

There go all the pictures I took in Beijing, Jeju Island, Busan, a bunch of cities on the eastern coast of S. Korea, the DMZ separating North & South Korea, and Seoul. Thank God I still have a brain to remember all of the “Amazing Race” moments of the two week trip: going to the Great Wall, the ancient palaces of China’s and Korea’s past rulers, climbing a mountain, eating live squid [it really was...I'll post the video up soon], and trying to speak Korean.

After a year of wanting to dive into photography, I purchased a Canon 450D / Rebel Xsi - it’s the newest entry DSLR in Canon’s lineup. I’m a visual person and I love how images can arrest you and how they can be the very seed that taps into those memory banks.

I took around 3300 photos within two weeks in Asia … and I love it!  But as I was loading some of the pictures to share with you on my new flickr account, my macbook crashed. I tried every trick in the book [switching hard-drives between two macs, firewire burning between two macs, disk recovery, etc.] … everything to no avail.  And what’s worse, I ran into the characteristic symptom of a crashed hard-drive - it wasn’t recognized on anything. Oiy. So as of now, I’ve lost 3300 pictures and all of my documents since late April. Sigh. Maybe Apple will be good to me and recover it for a moderate cost.

BTW this incident happened 15 minutes after my sister told me to backup my computer and put my pictures on my external hard drive. Sigh.

[Disclaimer: Actually, I probably won't bungee off the Eiffel, or climb a mountain, or ride a camel, or see a tiger, but I'm sure I'll see something / do something worthy of the show.]

 
I’ll be off to Asia for the first time in my life with my mom, dad, and sister tomorrow until June 8/9.  Hopefully I’ll catch some good wi-fi hotspots in the hotels and get to writing/blogging.  It should be an interesting experience going to the motherland for the first time.  In the meantime, please pray for traveling mercies, the people we’ll meet, and the conversations we’ll have.  

[All the AACF leaders + some alum.]

For the short time I was at Basileia, it was incredible.  I got to sit in with AACF’s new core/exec team [Vivian Mah, Eric Wang, Travis Wong, Wesley Mui, Priscilla Wong]  during their team time and I’m excited for all 30 AACF servant leaders and for what God is going to do at NYU and AACF.  Specifically, I’m excited about their plans for strategic evangelism & chapter growth, a focus on our brokenness & where God is in the midst of it, leadership development, corporate prayer & fasting, missional and targeted small groups, and setting up intentional discipleship relationships.  Whoa that’s alot.  How are they doing that?  Well they’ve commissioned leaders to head up specific ministires: i.e. a prayer and fasting leader, someone who sets up discipleship groups, and etc.  Would you take a moment to intercede for the AACF leaders and ask that God would answer their prayer, “God break my heart for the things that break yours.” 

Below is the NYU portion of the prayer wall at Basileia…

I visited my ‘home’ church, NJ ChoDae Church and I noticed some “sleepy” christians. Actually lots of them. It got me thinking.  Now, if you say to me, “sleepy christian,” I think about … 1) ‘christians’ who believe that the only point of Christianity is to get to a place called heaven [it's part of it], 2) people who haven’t realized the incredible call of God on their lives [let's just take one...caring for the poor] and the power & anointing of the Holy Spirit on them to DO good works and to be DOers [and not just hearers] of the Word, and 3) christians who believe in Jesus, but don’t follow him. Ouch, I said it. 

I’m not to sure where the term originated from but I’d guess that it’s biblically rooted. Check out for example 1) 1 Thessalonians 5:6 “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controled.” and 2) Romans 13: 11 “The hours has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salation is nearer now than when we first believed.”  Y’all should check out the context and study it for yourselves.

But today, there were sleepy christians. Literally.  It seemed like 1 out of every 6 guys [I actually didn't see any of the women fall asleep] nodded off at one point or another during pastor’s sermon [which wasn't boring at all.]  Now I’m not saying that dozing off during service is sin, BUT I think it provides a good analogy to the spiritual life.  Like those guys today missed out on some great teaching [and some Willowcreek style preaching a la Pastor David Chae], as sleepy christians, we can miss out on life.

Here’s what I mean.  When you’re asleep, biologically, you’re living. You’re breathing, your brain is fully functioning and actually quite active, and your senses are intact [lthough your brain turns those signals down].  But as we know, when you sleep, you don’t fully experience life.  Imagine if you spent your whole life sleeping.  You’d miss out on life.  You’d be alive, but you wouldn’t be living.

That’d describe me as a not-so-young Christian.  I was alive [saved and such], but I wasn’t living my faith out.  I just let life happen and didn’t get to experience the life God had intended for me.  Thank God, I’m awake now.  How terrible would it be if at the end of our lives, as we gave an account of how we lived with the cross, God just looked at us and said, “I called you to do this, but you fell asleep. Welcome home Rip Van Winkle.” 

God help us not be Rip Vank Winkle Christians. Who’s in with me?

I graduated this past Wednesday at Yankee stadium with 13,000 others [we're the largest private university...there are 16 schools/colleges/division]. Congratulations to the Class of 2008!

Thanks to my good friend, fellow AACFer, and faithful brother, Henry Huang, our friends sat on the 1st base side at the bottom portion of the Yankees dugout.  I could literally touch the dugout without getting out of my seat [which I did, just because I could].  Here’s what it looked like from up top:

And what is a the first, last, and only college graduation at historic Yankee Stadium without a streaker?

He rounded third, the crowd went wild, and he made a dash for home plate…

Then he got pummeled.

And arrested… and later charged for trespassing at his own graduation. Ouch.

Finals craziness is [almost] done here at NYU.  Still, with most undergraduates finished with their semesters, I’ll be taking my last exam at the last time-slot available.  Tuesday, 6-8 PM. 

That being said, I’m taking a quasi-mini-sabbatical [is there such a thing?] from blogging.  During this time, I intend to 1) take my exam on Tuesday night, 2) wish my Mom a Happy Birthday, 3) attend NYU’s commencement at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, 4) move-out of my apartment on Thursday and 5) move to Washington DC on Saturday. 

Until next time, I leave you with www.vladstudio.com.  As a senior, I confess that I’ve picked up some bad time-wasting habits.  One of them being a passion for quality wallpapers for my macbook.  Vladstudio is the project of Russian digital artist Vlad Gerasimov.  As a self-proclaimed wallpaper connoisseur, I think Vlad is one of the best in the wallpaper game. It started out as a hobby, but now he creates interfaces as his full-time job.  In a few words, I’d describe his work as “extremely creative, vibrant, intelligent, prolific [he's created 486 wallpapers], and mostly just fun.” Check out my latest wallpaper:

 ”They Stole the Moon” by VladStudio

[http://www.vladstudio.com/wallpapers/]

Unapologetically, I love incredibly entertaining, give-me-what-I-want, summer blockbusters. Here are 4 I’m looking forward to…

1. Iron Man - Released: May 2, 2008 

2. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - Release Date: May 16, 2008

3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Release Date: May 22, 2008

4. The Dark Night [Batman] - Release Date: July 18, 2008

Special thanks to fellow AACF 08′er, Janice Chau and NYU SEED Magazine- NYU’s first on-campus Christian publication that is run by and for NYU students - Ashley Jung (NYU AACF staff worker) and I made it in their April 2008 publication in their “What Inspires You?” section. [www.nyuseed.com]. Pick up a copy at NYU Kimmel 7th Fl.

For you non-NYUers, I’ll just give you the run-down:

Jeff Kim. Book: Shane Claiborne’s Irresistable Revolution. Shane’s faith is lived out. Check it out. | Blogger: Jeremy Del Rio [www.jeremydelrio.com] - has a great blog with great insights on what God is doing in NYC | Preacher on my Ipod: Judah Smith, youth pastor of Generation Church in Washington - part of the City Church [www.generationchurch.org]

Ashley Jung. Devotional: One Year Bible NIV (Paperback) by Tyndale House Publishers. Book: Just walk across the room by Bill Hybels. As a servant team, we went through this book for a semester - it’s as good as Out of the Salt Shaker & into the World by Rebecca Pippert in terms of how to “do” evangelism.  

These two books might the best out there in terms of evangelism training - they don’t just convict you, they show you practical ways to live out and share your faith, and they inspire and excite you to actually do it. [which is amazing, if you're tired of knowing that you need to "do" evangelism, but don't really know how to do it]

Check them out today!

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What inspires you? [books, blogs, preachers, albums, bands, books, etc.] Drop a comment and share some of the things that have influenced and impacted the way you live.

The fire alarm went off 20 minutes ago in my private apartment building. I, my sister, no one up stairs [we can hear everything], the neighbors across the hall - we all didn’t leave. 

I thought it was fascinating. Here are my initial thoughts:

1. 6:20 AM. Saturday. Awaken to the most unwelcome, high-frequency sound. Thoughts: “What the freak is going on? Am I dreaming? …. OH HELL NO, a fire-alarm? are you kidding me?”

2. 6:22 AM. Saturday, fire alarm continues. “Maybe I should leave, nah. … No, I should leave, this might be a real one. Nah, can’t be.”

3. 6:23 AM. Saturday. Go to my sister’s room, fire alarm continues. “Yo, you hear that? Should we leave?” Sister replies, “No, I’m not going out,” and resumes sleeping.

4. 6:25 AM. Saturday, “What should I do?” I actually go out into the hallway to check if anyone is leaving. No one is leaving. This adds more to the confusion. “Is this a real fire?”

5. 6:28 AM. Saturday, fire alarm is at piercing level. I look outside my 3rd story window. A fire truck comes. “Oh shoot, this is more serious than I thought.” “Why did they take so long?” “Maybe we should leave.” “Nah, don’t leave.” “Why am I not leaving? What is everyone else not leaving?”

6. 6:30 AM. A F.D. SUV - the kind the Captain drives around shows up. ”Alright, if there’s a fire, I’m sticking it out.” “Greg Jao told me about how new buildings have fire proofing between their floors.” “If there’s a real fire, I’ll make it out on my own.”

7. 6:31 AM. WHAT would happen if I were to run down the hall, screaming, knocking pounding on people’s doors saying, “FIRE, FIRE, THIS IS FOR REAL PEOPLE. GET OUT.” “Alright, bad idea, terrible thing to do, I’m evil.”

8. Fire alarm continues to 6:40 AM. Nothing happened. No fire. Just a fire alarm.

9. 6:41 AM. Shoot, I gotta blog about this.

Why I didn’t leave:

1. I’ve grown up with a fire-alarm, boy-cries-wolf mentality. In school, we have fire drills - LOTS of fire drills. But I’ve never been in a building actually on fire. 

2. This is a private building. It’s Saturday. It’s 6:20 AM. 

3. The FD trucks came. It alarmed me - I thought it could be serious - but I didn’t change my course of action, I just stayed up waiting. Only one FD truck showed up. If more had shown up, maybe more than 4 trucks, I’d probably haul out. At this point…

4. The only way I’d leave is 1) if a firefighter asked me to leave. 

5. The other way I’d leave - and probably the fastest way. If I heard other people leaving, if one of my neighbors knocked on my door, or if I heard people running out. I would’ve jetted. I’d be the first person to go. I’d wake my sister up, take our laptops, and get us some early morning breakfast. 

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For some reason, I thought about evangelism, Christianity, & “outreach.” Some initial thoughts.

1. Fire alarm = the feeling we get [Christians, non-Christians, whoever], when we see this broken world. It’s the feeling that something is radically wrong at the core. You can’t put your finger on it, you can’t locate it, and you can’t figure out where it comes from. But you feel it in your soul, in your spirit. 

2. Fire = sin. But I didn’t go out, cause I wasn’t sure if there really was a fire. Kind of how like people don’t really know the reality of the consequence of sin. Some people, like me, are awake and nervous, and concerned about the whole thing. Some people, like my sister, are so conditioned to it, are so comfortable with where they are - they sleep through it. 

3. Fire fighters = “Christians”

4. The need for an invitation to faith. I wouldn’t have left - unless someone with authority [a firefighter], someone who knew a little about what was going on told me AND invited me to leave. They’d have to 1) convince me that this was not a fire drill and there was an actual fire in the building and 2) there was eminent threat if I stayed where I was, 3) you’d have to convince me that I would be led to safety.

5. Why groups of people come to faith at at time. Because making that “leap of faith” is huge. It takes courage, and it takes jumping out without knowing where you’ll land. Especially that first step. Even if a firefighter didn’t tell me to get out, I sure would’ve done so if my neighbors were all running out.

Yankee Stadium. Bronx, New York.

[where players become legends]

Since they finally started construction in Washington Sq. Park this year, NYU will be having its graduation at Yankee Stadium! For die-hard Yankee fans like me, it’s a dream. I send my condolences to Boston fans.

Where else would YOU have your graduation?

7 days till my last AACF large group

8 more days of class as an NYU undergraduate

21 days till NYU graduation at Yankee Stadium!

32 days till I visit Korea and China for the first time

48 days till Little Lights, Camp Heaven (Summer camp) craziness

Thank God for amazing grace in times of transition