So it has been awhile since my last blog. I'm currently in Seattle now, ready to start a new year with Epic here. I have a staff retreat today until Thursday. Going to meet all of the other 18 something odd staff. While I'm looking forward to meeting all of them, not really looking forward to learning so many names.
Anyways, I'm going to start trying to blog again and keep things updated. Once I return from the retreat I'll post all the summer ventures that happened with going on summer project (Just a little preview, it was amazing and God did many crazy good stuff).
8.31.2010
6.09.2010
6.08.2010
Fairwell Eugene!
I am currently in the middle of packing up my stuff for the summer and moving most of my stuff back to my parents house. I was able to find a friend to stay at my apartment over the summer.
I am really mixed on leaving Eugene. Looking back we had a great year. A lot of learning experiences and a lot of rewarding growth in the lives of the students I got to know and my life as well. I'm going to miss the students and wish I could still be around to help build the ministry. However, I trust God in using the students that have stepped up in faith. I pray that they will continue to seek his wisdom and guidance and be faithful to God's calling on their life.
On the bright side, I am welcoming the change that is in front of me. I am looking forward to the move to Seattle. It is going to be a very different experience. I was able to meet some of the students from UW who came to our retreat that we had over Memorial Day weekend. It was such a blessing to have them there and to hear what was going on in their life any the ministry in Seattle.
On a side note, we had a few Portland State students who attend the retreat as well. As of right now we don't have an Epic ministry presently active at PSU, but a couple of the students that came to the retreat caught vision and are wanting to start up the ministry there. I'm so excited for what is going to happen there; I only wish I could be there to help them in the process.
I really must continue clearing out my apartment, it's quite a mess and I need to get as much things moved out as I can so that my friend can move in. If you're in Portland, I'm looking forward to meeting up with you, just let me know if you're free!
I am really mixed on leaving Eugene. Looking back we had a great year. A lot of learning experiences and a lot of rewarding growth in the lives of the students I got to know and my life as well. I'm going to miss the students and wish I could still be around to help build the ministry. However, I trust God in using the students that have stepped up in faith. I pray that they will continue to seek his wisdom and guidance and be faithful to God's calling on their life.
On the bright side, I am welcoming the change that is in front of me. I am looking forward to the move to Seattle. It is going to be a very different experience. I was able to meet some of the students from UW who came to our retreat that we had over Memorial Day weekend. It was such a blessing to have them there and to hear what was going on in their life any the ministry in Seattle.
On a side note, we had a few Portland State students who attend the retreat as well. As of right now we don't have an Epic ministry presently active at PSU, but a couple of the students that came to the retreat caught vision and are wanting to start up the ministry there. I'm so excited for what is going to happen there; I only wish I could be there to help them in the process.
I really must continue clearing out my apartment, it's quite a mess and I need to get as much things moved out as I can so that my friend can move in. If you're in Portland, I'm looking forward to meeting up with you, just let me know if you're free!
5.14.2010
My Ethnic Value
I grew up all my life in a suburb of Portland, Oregon; a small city today of 80,000 Beaverton. The diversity doesn’t compare to some of the bigger cities such as LA, NYC, and the likes, but it was diverse enough that you can find various pockets of ethnic groups. I was raised in a Vietnamese community (church). Amongst the friends that I met through my church, we predominantly spoke English with one another, and I felt that when connecting with other Asian Americans, it wasn’t much of a difference culturally to connect with them as well. Because of the comfort that I gained through AA communities, it almost didn’t make sense to me when I see other AA who wouldn’t embrace the idea of being part of our community.
I remember my second and third year in college when EPIC wasn’t a strong presence in my life. I wanted to continue growing in my faith and at times I felt the Vietnamese church that I grew up in lacked in the area that I felt I needed to grow in my faith. There’s a church in Portland called Portland City Bible. It’s one of the bigger ones and they happened to have a satellite service on Wednesday at Portland State. I decided to go simply because I thought it would be a nice breather after lying around in the library all day (I was the one in the group of Asians who just happened to be there, seldom studying and often distracting others). I started learning a lot and I really enjoyed being able to take in the in-depth exploration of the gospel.
One day I came early to the service and while I waited for them to get started, a busted out my textbook like a good Asian boy and started studying. Than an individual who saw me kind of just sitting there by myself came up and introduced herself to me. I’m usually bad with names, but the only reason that I remembered Katrina’s name was because of the storm that hit New Orleans, and also the fact that she was probably the prettiest half Vietnamese girl that I have ever seen.
A few weeks later she invited me to join one if their Bible study, which I wasn’t hesitant to go at first because it was on the complete other side of town. But I would say I am guilty, I went to a Bible study for a girl. The saddest thing ever was that she never came! I thought to myself and came to the conclusion that I can’t be attending this Bible study for this amazingly beautiful girl, but I had to go with the heart of just wanting to know God. I continued commuting to this Bible study for a few weeks, and I just realized that I just really felt totally out of place. Not just because I was the only ethnic minority in the group, but mostly because I felt I didn’t culturally connect with them.
I eventually stopped going, and sad to say I never saw Katrina again after that invitation from her; but I realized one thing from that experience, and that was how much I valued a community that I could connect with that I would not just understand, but would also understand me.
I remember my second and third year in college when EPIC wasn’t a strong presence in my life. I wanted to continue growing in my faith and at times I felt the Vietnamese church that I grew up in lacked in the area that I felt I needed to grow in my faith. There’s a church in Portland called Portland City Bible. It’s one of the bigger ones and they happened to have a satellite service on Wednesday at Portland State. I decided to go simply because I thought it would be a nice breather after lying around in the library all day (I was the one in the group of Asians who just happened to be there, seldom studying and often distracting others). I started learning a lot and I really enjoyed being able to take in the in-depth exploration of the gospel.
One day I came early to the service and while I waited for them to get started, a busted out my textbook like a good Asian boy and started studying. Than an individual who saw me kind of just sitting there by myself came up and introduced herself to me. I’m usually bad with names, but the only reason that I remembered Katrina’s name was because of the storm that hit New Orleans, and also the fact that she was probably the prettiest half Vietnamese girl that I have ever seen.
A few weeks later she invited me to join one if their Bible study, which I wasn’t hesitant to go at first because it was on the complete other side of town. But I would say I am guilty, I went to a Bible study for a girl. The saddest thing ever was that she never came! I thought to myself and came to the conclusion that I can’t be attending this Bible study for this amazingly beautiful girl, but I had to go with the heart of just wanting to know God. I continued commuting to this Bible study for a few weeks, and I just realized that I just really felt totally out of place. Not just because I was the only ethnic minority in the group, but mostly because I felt I didn’t culturally connect with them.
I eventually stopped going, and sad to say I never saw Katrina again after that invitation from her; but I realized one thing from that experience, and that was how much I valued a community that I could connect with that I would not just understand, but would also understand me.
5.13.2010
Responsibilities
In part of bringing my small number of readers together, I'm going to share with you some thoughts that I have been juggling on my head and would love for you to respond off of each other.
If you ever have formed a task oriented group, you often find certain individuals taking certain roles; whether they are self prompted or urged by others. It is often one or two individual takes command and charge, assuming that the some members of the group is remotely productive and the rest some how falls in line.
That leader, whether they are formally recognized as the leader or not by the group, is placed in a position to take responsibility for the success and failure of the task on hand. The leader is often sought to assist in duties belonging to others. The perception of success in completing the task at the end of the day, in reality comes down to does that leader take on his or her share of responsibility and filling in the holes left from others.
I guess to be more thorough, I'm talking about situations where leaders step up to fill in a void versus being appointed to fill in the void. To be more clear, the difference between the two is one who unintentionally finds his/her way to becoming the leader versus and the other who intentionally desires.
If you are still reading this, you probably would have guessed that this some how relates back to me. What my thoughts concerning this subject really come down to is the responsibility and expectation that is placed on a leader. Is it fair to put certain responsibilities on certain individuals over others, simply because one happens to be the one to initiate and be the vocal one in the group? Is that why people try shy away and keep quiet in groups in fear of the consequences of stepping up?
I am finding it hard to say no to responsibilities. I do realize that as an intern with the ministry in one way or another I am leading and have accepted certain responsibilities. However, does that necessarily equate into myself being responsible for other people's thoughts, response, or lack of one?
Share your thoughts! What are your thoughts and perception as a leader? Socially what are the certain expectations placed on them and is it fair to do so? What is your expectation as a leader?
If you ever have formed a task oriented group, you often find certain individuals taking certain roles; whether they are self prompted or urged by others. It is often one or two individual takes command and charge, assuming that the some members of the group is remotely productive and the rest some how falls in line.
That leader, whether they are formally recognized as the leader or not by the group, is placed in a position to take responsibility for the success and failure of the task on hand. The leader is often sought to assist in duties belonging to others. The perception of success in completing the task at the end of the day, in reality comes down to does that leader take on his or her share of responsibility and filling in the holes left from others.
I guess to be more thorough, I'm talking about situations where leaders step up to fill in a void versus being appointed to fill in the void. To be more clear, the difference between the two is one who unintentionally finds his/her way to becoming the leader versus and the other who intentionally desires.
If you are still reading this, you probably would have guessed that this some how relates back to me. What my thoughts concerning this subject really come down to is the responsibility and expectation that is placed on a leader. Is it fair to put certain responsibilities on certain individuals over others, simply because one happens to be the one to initiate and be the vocal one in the group? Is that why people try shy away and keep quiet in groups in fear of the consequences of stepping up?
I am finding it hard to say no to responsibilities. I do realize that as an intern with the ministry in one way or another I am leading and have accepted certain responsibilities. However, does that necessarily equate into myself being responsible for other people's thoughts, response, or lack of one?
Share your thoughts! What are your thoughts and perception as a leader? Socially what are the certain expectations placed on them and is it fair to do so? What is your expectation as a leader?
4.10.2010
A Future to Contemplate
So I've been doing a lot of thinking over the last few weeks. Most having to do with what I will be doing after this year at UO. Thoughts concerning where God is going to take me... Re-interning again has been something that I've been really praying about as I've been asked to consider doing. My other possible scenario is to return back to Portland and pursuing a career.
It's been a tough decision. On one end I want to allow God to lead me and be able to follow Him faithfully. On the other end there is the aspect of wanting to have some sort of control of what is going on in my life. There is a certain level of comfort in having some sort of power to steer your own life (financially, socially, etc). At the end of the day, I ended up having to ask myself... "Am I being faithful to God in the decision that I end up making?"
Despite not having any clear cut sign in deciding to intern again that I would be able to say without a doubt that this is what God wants me to do; there hasn't been anything that would oppose the decision other then options that when I look at them, they could be categorized as selfish ambitions. Now I stand, knocking on the door. Should God want me to enter another year I believe that he will clear a path for me to follow on and will provide all that I need. At this point I'm not quite ready to fully announce my definite plans after this internship just yet. I want to follow up on a few things and fully understand the situation before I make the decision, which I feel will be coming soon in this next week.
It's been a tough decision. On one end I want to allow God to lead me and be able to follow Him faithfully. On the other end there is the aspect of wanting to have some sort of control of what is going on in my life. There is a certain level of comfort in having some sort of power to steer your own life (financially, socially, etc). At the end of the day, I ended up having to ask myself... "Am I being faithful to God in the decision that I end up making?"
Despite not having any clear cut sign in deciding to intern again that I would be able to say without a doubt that this is what God wants me to do; there hasn't been anything that would oppose the decision other then options that when I look at them, they could be categorized as selfish ambitions. Now I stand, knocking on the door. Should God want me to enter another year I believe that he will clear a path for me to follow on and will provide all that I need. At this point I'm not quite ready to fully announce my definite plans after this internship just yet. I want to follow up on a few things and fully understand the situation before I make the decision, which I feel will be coming soon in this next week.
4.02.2010
Nam returns to blogging
So the last time I blogged was about my computer dying. This time I'm blogging from my new computer that I got in in February on an emergency run to Staples because I needed to buy it to prepare for Summer Project. Today is Good Friday. Today we're having several of the different college ministries joining together for a service in the middle of the campus. This entire week the campus ministries have been doing a co-joint effort to share the Gospel together. From simple activities such as sharing God's love by going around with an umbrella and offering students to walk them to class when it was raining, having Christian professors share their faith, to students going around offering other students a chance to hear about the Good News.
In regards to ministry this is the start of a new term. I'm transitioning to the last stage of the year; getting the students to be ready to lead going into next year. I'm going to try to make an effort to at least blog once a week. If you're a reader and you happen to see that I've delayed in updating, please don't be shy to let me know to get on it.
In regards to ministry this is the start of a new term. I'm transitioning to the last stage of the year; getting the students to be ready to lead going into next year. I'm going to try to make an effort to at least blog once a week. If you're a reader and you happen to see that I've delayed in updating, please don't be shy to let me know to get on it.
1.28.2010
My personal tragedy
It's sad to say when your life evolves so much around one little single machine, and how everything turns upside down when it gives out. Yes, it happened, my laptop died. It wasn't something that was sudden or anything, I actually thought it was going to die several months ago. It started to develop more symptoms as it neared its death. First it was over heating, the battery life suddenly saturated, the computer couldn't get out of sleep mode, and shortly after the sound card died, so did the rest of the computer.
It feels almost like a part of your body has been taken away. As sad as it is, I'm lucky that my older immobile-laptop still works better than my recent laptop. I spent the last few hours of my day trying to configure my old laptop to the settings I need. My only complication is that the operating system runs on Ubunto linux. I spent 2 hours trying to figure out how to get my printer working on it, being that there wasn't any specific drivers for my printer made for linux. I'm hoping that I can survive with just this older laptop for now and not have to go buy a new one, but we will see.
It feels almost like a part of your body has been taken away. As sad as it is, I'm lucky that my older immobile-laptop still works better than my recent laptop. I spent the last few hours of my day trying to configure my old laptop to the settings I need. My only complication is that the operating system runs on Ubunto linux. I spent 2 hours trying to figure out how to get my printer working on it, being that there wasn't any specific drivers for my printer made for linux. I'm hoping that I can survive with just this older laptop for now and not have to go buy a new one, but we will see.
1.21.2010
Epic Conference
Epic Conference has come and gone, but all is not over. Rather, it is the beginning of something beautiful. Very beautiful. The news of great joy of those who have gained a hope in Christ, relationships established and strengthened, and a vision placed in view in wait to be pursued.
Despite the birth of a slow start. Obstacles from passage to board, not long did momentum start to give way. Shouts of praise and worship from dawn to dust. Loud did they sing, with hunger and thirst, with love for Him who came first. Into the city, four hundred in all, in small groups they departed. To the piers, to the schools, to the market, under the rain with air so cool; with the Good News in hand, sharing with those who would lend an ear to one and all who would step up this year.
Over the city did night fall, back the students went, back to the worship hall. Stories were told, so precious they were, as that of gold. With much celebration, with much dance, they pranced in God's romance.
Relationships rekindled, relationships found new. Strangers never again, meetings overdue. Forgotten not, the story learned, but conference finally came to be adjourned. To their homes, to their campuses, did the hundreds went; to witness of Him from heaven was sent.
This is where our ministry now sits. Pushing forward we go, so that one day all will know. Together we will, with God's love, with hearts to fill; Trusting in him to guide, as the church, as his bride.
Students' stories after the day of outreach
Our Last Meeting
1.07.2010
EPIC RESUMED!
It's the first week of the winter term and today we had our first meeting. We invited our Campus Crusade directors to our meeting to introduce them to the rest of the group. Besides sharing what our we're aiming for this year, being real and intentional, the directors were able to share with them, what we're going for beyond the epic ministry.
I feel like we're actually getting momentum with this ministry, we had a good turn out and a group that I feel can really go after our goal of spreading the Word. We have our Epic conference coming up in a week. If you're reading this, please pray for transportation, that we'll have enough rides and a safe trip. Also that God will continue to convict student's hearts to go and be impacted from what they experience and learn and the conference, where it will be transferable to the campus that they go to.
Along with getting the ministry operations going, I think the community aspect of it is picking up as well. We're becoming more like a family.
I feel like we're actually getting momentum with this ministry, we had a good turn out and a group that I feel can really go after our goal of spreading the Word. We have our Epic conference coming up in a week. If you're reading this, please pray for transportation, that we'll have enough rides and a safe trip. Also that God will continue to convict student's hearts to go and be impacted from what they experience and learn and the conference, where it will be transferable to the campus that they go to.
Along with getting the ministry operations going, I think the community aspect of it is picking up as well. We're becoming more like a family.
12.19.2009
Staying on top of things
It's only been about 3 months in and I've been finding it hard to keep this blog updated, something that I'm going to definitely try to work on. I'm currently in Portland resting and catching up with friends and family for Christmas. On the 28th I will be heading to Campus Crusade's student winter conference. Something that I've never actually been to before... So It'll be a new experience for me. I'm just hoping it's not too overwhelming with everything else that I have going on.
So in the past month since I have updated there has been a lot going on. I really think there has been a big shift in the movement at UofO. The vision for the ministry is beginning to be caught on by students. Students are starting to see the ministry as something bigger then themselves. With everything going on lately, it has been really exciting.
I'm trying to get more pictures on here, but I keep on forgetting to upload them and sadly, despite telling myself to remember before leaving for Portland, I forgot the cable for my camera. Anyways, if you have still been following my blog, stay tuned for the next post.
So in the past month since I have updated there has been a lot going on. I really think there has been a big shift in the movement at UofO. The vision for the ministry is beginning to be caught on by students. Students are starting to see the ministry as something bigger then themselves. With everything going on lately, it has been really exciting.
I'm trying to get more pictures on here, but I keep on forgetting to upload them and sadly, despite telling myself to remember before leaving for Portland, I forgot the cable for my camera. Anyways, if you have still been following my blog, stay tuned for the next post.
11.26.2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm currently back in Portland until Sunday to spend time with family and friends. While I hope everyone who encounters this blog is having or had a amazing time enjoying the comfort of those who care about you. Since this is Thanksgiving after all, here are a few things that I'm thankful for this year:
1. God - His love, grace, and mercy... Because he first loved us.
2. Family - where you can always count on them to be there
3. Friends - For all of you who I've met in this journey. The impact in my life from all of you cannot be described in words.
4. For the ministry team that I have been placed in. I am learning so much from the examples that you have set on how to minister with a Christ centered mind.
5. All the Epic students, past and present. All of you who have made the ministry what it is today
1. God - His love, grace, and mercy... Because he first loved us.
2. Family - where you can always count on them to be there
3. Friends - For all of you who I've met in this journey. The impact in my life from all of you cannot be described in words.
4. For the ministry team that I have been placed in. I am learning so much from the examples that you have set on how to minister with a Christ centered mind.
5. All the Epic students, past and present. All of you who have made the ministry what it is today
11.13.2009
Works Don't Fly
It has been a few weeks since the last time I posted something on my blog. I guess there is a lot for me to share with you, as there has been a lot of things going on with me in the last few weeks. The other day I was listening to a guy by the name of Jaeson Ma. It was a message did he did over a series of a few days at the University of Texas a couple of years ago (you can watch the videos below). One thing that has really stuck out to me lately is:
Romans 12:1-2
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The phrase "renewing of the mind" is what has been playing over and over in my head. I'm constantly asking myself, what is my mentality? Is it pleasing to God? And one thing that I realized from listening to Jaeson is that there has been something lacking as I've been ministering the past couple of weeks. I needed a passion that is not of my own. What I mean by that is that I have been going out there with a passion, but it was a passion that I instilled. What I really needed was to go with God's passion, his love for his people.
I saw that I not only needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit ought to be overflowing out of me. That nothing is done of my own will, but completely by God, his Spirit. What I needed to do was pray for and study his passion. I needed to wait upon him. I went to sleep praying and woke up praying. There is no, absolutely no better feeling then when the Holy Spirit is doing the work, and all we're doing is obeying.
Romans 12:1-2
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The phrase "renewing of the mind" is what has been playing over and over in my head. I'm constantly asking myself, what is my mentality? Is it pleasing to God? And one thing that I realized from listening to Jaeson is that there has been something lacking as I've been ministering the past couple of weeks. I needed a passion that is not of my own. What I mean by that is that I have been going out there with a passion, but it was a passion that I instilled. What I really needed was to go with God's passion, his love for his people.
I saw that I not only needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit ought to be overflowing out of me. That nothing is done of my own will, but completely by God, his Spirit. What I needed to do was pray for and study his passion. I needed to wait upon him. I went to sleep praying and woke up praying. There is no, absolutely no better feeling then when the Holy Spirit is doing the work, and all we're doing is obeying.
10.23.2009
Today's Golf Course
I noticed that it has been over a week since I updated my blog and there is so much to tell. I guess I will start with the beginning of the week. I have been going to a church called Ekklesia for the past few weeks. From the time being there, the impression that I have gotten from the church is a church that really preaches the gospel and seeks to share the word to the city of Eugene. But what really stood out to me was that the people there were really inviting as it was impossible for me to walk into the church without being welcomed by someone.
Apparently a lot of the Epic students still have to yet to find a church that they can call it their church while attending college. So to my surprise when I openly invited students during the weekly Epic meeting, the majority expressed interest in going with me.
Speaking of the Epic meeting, it was an intriguing meeting. While I had planned all week for a leadership dinner where we could as a group talk about the vision for the ministry, the goals for the year, and how students can be get their feet wet, the students spent an hour during the meeting discussing their desire to start seeing things happen on this campus. So I'm hoping the momentum from their passion continues into this leadership dinner Sunday evening and into the rest of the school year.
On Thursday we had a guest speaker by the name of Doug Polluck. He came to the campus with a message to the staff and students of our ministry by bringing to our attention the current situation of many ministries, not just Campus Crusade for Christ. It is something that I have been contemplating in my mind for awhile, but have yet been able to illustrate it into words. I felt for awhile that the way that we (as in the general body of Christ), lately have not been effectively reaching out to the non-believers. All I was able to put together in my head was that it was simply the tools/methods that we were using doesn't work.
Doug took that thought and put it into an illustration that is fairly easy to understand. He used an illustration of a golf course. The golf course represented where people were at in their spiritual lives, the golf balls are the people, the hole is where people are saved, and the golf club as the tools/method/approaches that we use to reach the lost.
The thing is that we have been using the same tool (golf club), to reach the lost for the past few decades. In the past it has worked pretty effectively, but in today's world we have seen a significant decline of reaching the lost. That brings us to wonder why aren't we reaching people like we have in the past? Is it that our approach simply doesn't work anymore?
The answer is both "yes" and "no". "How can that be?" you might ask? It's simple. In the past decades Christianity has been very favorable amongst your general Americans. Whether people were believers or not, they most likely were from a time where exposure to God was high. Talking about God in the schools, work, media, government, and even sports team was commonly acceptable by the general public. Because of that you could imagine that with the right tool, we could easily back in the day reach out to people and bring the ball home to the hole. Once again try to imagine a golf course, and you have hundreds, thousands, millions of golf balls all sitting on the green and not too far from the hole. All you need is to pull out your putter and putt people home.
However, today is a different story. Nowadays you will find people scattered across the golf course. While we do have people on the green near the hole, we have a much larger number of people in many different locations such as the rough, the bunkers, the fairway, the water hazard, and the tee ground (click here to see for definition of parts of the golf course). Here is the problem.
Back in the day everyone wasn't that far away from the hole, most of them sat somewhere on or near the green. The problem of today is that we are still trying to use the same golf club (the putter) that has been used for the past few decades to reach people. It's not that the putter is no longer effective, but could you imagine bringing someone to Christ by using a putter if you were in the fairway, tee ground, or other places on the golf course?
Apparently a lot of the Epic students still have to yet to find a church that they can call it their church while attending college. So to my surprise when I openly invited students during the weekly Epic meeting, the majority expressed interest in going with me.
Speaking of the Epic meeting, it was an intriguing meeting. While I had planned all week for a leadership dinner where we could as a group talk about the vision for the ministry, the goals for the year, and how students can be get their feet wet, the students spent an hour during the meeting discussing their desire to start seeing things happen on this campus. So I'm hoping the momentum from their passion continues into this leadership dinner Sunday evening and into the rest of the school year.
On Thursday we had a guest speaker by the name of Doug Polluck. He came to the campus with a message to the staff and students of our ministry by bringing to our attention the current situation of many ministries, not just Campus Crusade for Christ. It is something that I have been contemplating in my mind for awhile, but have yet been able to illustrate it into words. I felt for awhile that the way that we (as in the general body of Christ), lately have not been effectively reaching out to the non-believers. All I was able to put together in my head was that it was simply the tools/methods that we were using doesn't work.
Doug took that thought and put it into an illustration that is fairly easy to understand. He used an illustration of a golf course. The golf course represented where people were at in their spiritual lives, the golf balls are the people, the hole is where people are saved, and the golf club as the tools/method/approaches that we use to reach the lost.
The thing is that we have been using the same tool (golf club), to reach the lost for the past few decades. In the past it has worked pretty effectively, but in today's world we have seen a significant decline of reaching the lost. That brings us to wonder why aren't we reaching people like we have in the past? Is it that our approach simply doesn't work anymore?
The answer is both "yes" and "no". "How can that be?" you might ask? It's simple. In the past decades Christianity has been very favorable amongst your general Americans. Whether people were believers or not, they most likely were from a time where exposure to God was high. Talking about God in the schools, work, media, government, and even sports team was commonly acceptable by the general public. Because of that you could imagine that with the right tool, we could easily back in the day reach out to people and bring the ball home to the hole. Once again try to imagine a golf course, and you have hundreds, thousands, millions of golf balls all sitting on the green and not too far from the hole. All you need is to pull out your putter and putt people home.
However, today is a different story. Nowadays you will find people scattered across the golf course. While we do have people on the green near the hole, we have a much larger number of people in many different locations such as the rough, the bunkers, the fairway, the water hazard, and the tee ground (click here to see for definition of parts of the golf course). Here is the problem.Back in the day everyone wasn't that far away from the hole, most of them sat somewhere on or near the green. The problem of today is that we are still trying to use the same golf club (the putter) that has been used for the past few decades to reach people. It's not that the putter is no longer effective, but could you imagine bringing someone to Christ by using a putter if you were in the fairway, tee ground, or other places on the golf course?
We live in a different culture now, and we must use the appropriate approaches to reach the lost. That doesn't mean that we should throw away our putters, as there are still uses for it for people who are lingering around the hole, but consider pulling out other clubs to swing at the balls.
10.14.2009
Rain
I woke up yesterday and was excited because it was Tuesday, meaning that we were going to have our Epic meeting later that night. I had an appointment earlier in the day with a student that I'm trying to continue following up with after meeting him the first time a week ago, where I got his contact information when we went around and surveyed students. When I got out of the apartment and hopped on my bike, I made the simple observation that it had rained and thinking to myself that I should be careful.
As I tried to start peddling, my bike wouldn't move. The gear on my bike was stuck. I started to panic, thinking that I was going to be late with my appointment with this student. After about 10 minutes struggling with my bike, I eventually was able to get it back in gear. With my focus now being on time rather then being safe, I tried to quickly get myself to the memorial union where I was meeting him. As I was pedal to the building I noticed that my phone was ringing and I took it out (with one hand still on the steering bar) to see if it was him calling me to wondering if I had arrived yet. It wasn't him, and as I was about to put my the phone back, my bike's gear got jammed again and I found my wheels skidding and eventually myself losing balance and hurling off my bike. As embarrassing as it was, I was okay... just some minor scratches.
As I got to the meeting location, and finding myself about 10 minutes late, I gave him a call to see where he was and after not seeing him wondering if maybe he had left because he didn't see me. Eventually I got a message from him saying that he wasn't able to make it due to a class group project he had.
In my mind at that moment what seemed to be a day that I was really looking forward to, wasn't looking that attractive. However, towards the evening my outlook of the day was very much different.
With an extra hour on my hand, I now had extra time to prepare the Epic meeting; which I found out that I really needed. If you haven't seen a Nooma video before, they're quite good. The one that I chose to show during the meeting was called Rain (watch the video and you'll know what I'm talking about). But I noticed that during the morning, despite literally raining that day, it was raining in my life. However, through all the mess that happened to me earlier, I could have looked at it from a different perspective. Through all of the mess I was given the opportunity to spend that extra time with God, a moment that I wouldn't trade for the world.
As I tried to start peddling, my bike wouldn't move. The gear on my bike was stuck. I started to panic, thinking that I was going to be late with my appointment with this student. After about 10 minutes struggling with my bike, I eventually was able to get it back in gear. With my focus now being on time rather then being safe, I tried to quickly get myself to the memorial union where I was meeting him. As I was pedal to the building I noticed that my phone was ringing and I took it out (with one hand still on the steering bar) to see if it was him calling me to wondering if I had arrived yet. It wasn't him, and as I was about to put my the phone back, my bike's gear got jammed again and I found my wheels skidding and eventually myself losing balance and hurling off my bike. As embarrassing as it was, I was okay... just some minor scratches.
As I got to the meeting location, and finding myself about 10 minutes late, I gave him a call to see where he was and after not seeing him wondering if maybe he had left because he didn't see me. Eventually I got a message from him saying that he wasn't able to make it due to a class group project he had.
In my mind at that moment what seemed to be a day that I was really looking forward to, wasn't looking that attractive. However, towards the evening my outlook of the day was very much different.
With an extra hour on my hand, I now had extra time to prepare the Epic meeting; which I found out that I really needed. If you haven't seen a Nooma video before, they're quite good. The one that I chose to show during the meeting was called Rain (watch the video and you'll know what I'm talking about). But I noticed that during the morning, despite literally raining that day, it was raining in my life. However, through all the mess that happened to me earlier, I could have looked at it from a different perspective. Through all of the mess I was given the opportunity to spend that extra time with God, a moment that I wouldn't trade for the world.
10.06.2009
First meeting today
So today was the National Day of Prayer. We as a team prayed as we walked around for a couple of hours. It was actually really interesting as we had a list of things to pray for from other people in the Northwest.
Today we had our first meeting. We had a couple of new students that we had never met before. So the day was ultimately good. Hoping that they would come again. besides our meet and greet, we did something very simple... It's called Soularium. Basically what it's a bunch of cards that have pictures of various things. Typically you could use it to evangelize by using to start conversations by showing people these pictures and asking them to pick pictures that they'd identify with and what pictures represents where they want to be. Also asking questions about their spiritual walk and where they want to be. However, instead we used it on ourselves.
We broke up into groups of about 5 and we asked each other those questions. It was a great opportunity for us to get to know each other and have an idea of where we are each coming from and what our desires are.
I like how things are starting out. We are building momentum for this coming year, and things look bright. I(we) just need to continue to focus and push forward for His kingdom.
Today we had our first meeting. We had a couple of new students that we had never met before. So the day was ultimately good. Hoping that they would come again. besides our meet and greet, we did something very simple... It's called Soularium. Basically what it's a bunch of cards that have pictures of various things. Typically you could use it to evangelize by using to start conversations by showing people these pictures and asking them to pick pictures that they'd identify with and what pictures represents where they want to be. Also asking questions about their spiritual walk and where they want to be. However, instead we used it on ourselves.
We broke up into groups of about 5 and we asked each other those questions. It was a great opportunity for us to get to know each other and have an idea of where we are each coming from and what our desires are.
I like how things are starting out. We are building momentum for this coming year, and things look bright. I(we) just need to continue to focus and push forward for His kingdom.
10.04.2009
I'm sick... but I'm Excited!
In the past week things have been interesting. I still have trouble remembering people's names as it gets even harder as I continue to meet new people. I have a little cold right now (I like to blame the weather for it); besides getting tired faster than normally, I'm still able to get around and function normally. Thank God for that.
Last Friday we had a little potluck at my place for the Epic students. Initially I wasn't expecting many students to come (maybe 6-8 students), but in the end there was around 12 of us. It was good being able to get everyone together before we start our first meeting this Tuesday. We've been in discussion about how to edify the student body as well as formatting our meetings so that it would encourage people to come and bare witness to the body of Christ. As of right now, I think we may have an idea of what that may look like.
Last night I went to my very first football game. One of the volunteer staff who happens to be also a financial supporter of the ministry here, gave our staff free tickets to see the Ducks play against the Washington State Cougars. After the first quarter the game got very boring as the Ducks had already taken a huge lead. On top of that, I don't think being in the out there was good for my cold either.
Praises this week:
Prayer Request:
Last Friday we had a little potluck at my place for the Epic students. Initially I wasn't expecting many students to come (maybe 6-8 students), but in the end there was around 12 of us. It was good being able to get everyone together before we start our first meeting this Tuesday. We've been in discussion about how to edify the student body as well as formatting our meetings so that it would encourage people to come and bare witness to the body of Christ. As of right now, I think we may have an idea of what that may look like.
Last night I went to my very first football game. One of the volunteer staff who happens to be also a financial supporter of the ministry here, gave our staff free tickets to see the Ducks play against the Washington State Cougars. After the first quarter the game got very boring as the Ducks had already taken a huge lead. On top of that, I don't think being in the out there was good for my cold either.
Praises this week:
- God bringing excitement to students as they are beginning to see God's plan for the Epic ministry at UO. It has been encouraging for myself to see students starting to invite people to our meetings, taking up leadership roles, and willingness to go out there and reach the campus.
- My apartment looking presentable and clean (at least every place besides the restroom).
Prayer Request:
- That God continues to reach and transform the lives of students.
- That God will prepare us for our first meeting
- That we will continue reaching the students at the University of Oregon
9.27.2009
People People People
In the last few days things have really picked up. Besides having a lot of the ministries technology responsibilities falling on me, something that I know very little about, I have been meeting a lot of new people. The last two days we've been trying to reach out to students. Our methods have been pretty simple. We would approach students and ask them if they want to fill out a survey about their spiritual background and needs, see if they're interested in getting to know God or becoming involved, and collecting their contact information so that we can follow up with them soon.
Despite not being in the mood to go out and do surveys earlier this evening, God allowed me to meet a few interesting students. I met a grad student who seems very interested in finding out more about the ministry. Just from our short conversation, I think he could be a potential leader in the ministry. I'm going to try to meet up with him again later this week. So if you're reading this, pray that God brings him our way.
Other than that, my apartment is still a mess... I've been either too busy or tired to clean things up. We're having a potluck this coming Friday so I will have to get my place in order before then.
Despite not being in the mood to go out and do surveys earlier this evening, God allowed me to meet a few interesting students. I met a grad student who seems very interested in finding out more about the ministry. Just from our short conversation, I think he could be a potential leader in the ministry. I'm going to try to meet up with him again later this week. So if you're reading this, pray that God brings him our way.
Other than that, my apartment is still a mess... I've been either too busy or tired to clean things up. We're having a potluck this coming Friday so I will have to get my place in order before then.
9.24.2009
Big Friday
So tomorrow and the next few days are going to be crazy as it is one of the most important times for us as a ministry to reach out to new students. It's almost 12am and I just finished the things that I needed to get done to be ready for a big day tomorrow (The university is having an event for students to find spiritual groups). Pray that God brings a lot of students our way and allows us to be able to reach out to them. I'll let you know how it goes later.
9.23.2009
Recovered and Renewed
So
the Summit was great. Although we weren't able to get all the students that we wanted to go to be there, but we had an amazing weekend. Despite the fact that half of the people who attended falling ill to some stomach bug that got around at the retreat (I recovered on Tuesday), God allowed us (both staff and students) to grow as a ministry as the vision was cast for the year we prepared ourselves for this coming school year.
I met a lot of students for the first time. There were a few students who I was able to get into deep conversations and able to hear their stories. I recently just ate lunch with one of them. He's an international student from China. It was just great to get to talk to him about God, life, philosophy, each other, and his interest in American culture.
this next few weeks is going to be a very busy and crucial time as we try to reach out to students. This coming Friday there are events in which we have the opportunity to connect with students through the university's events that they have for students.
As promised from a few weeks ago, here's a picture of my apartment. I really haven't had the time to organize things yet, so it may look a little messy. But this is home for me for the next year!
the Summit was great. Although we weren't able to get all the students that we wanted to go to be there, but we had an amazing weekend. Despite the fact that half of the people who attended falling ill to some stomach bug that got around at the retreat (I recovered on Tuesday), God allowed us (both staff and students) to grow as a ministry as the vision was cast for the year we prepared ourselves for this coming school year.
I met a lot of students for the first time. There were a few students who I was able to get into deep conversations and able to hear their stories. I recently just ate lunch with one of them. He's an international student from China. It was just great to get to talk to him about God, life, philosophy, each other, and his interest in American culture.
this next few weeks is going to be a very busy and crucial time as we try to reach out to students. This coming Friday there are events in which we have the opportunity to connect with students through the university's events that they have for students.
As promised from a few weeks ago, here's a picture of my apartment. I really haven't had the time to organize things yet, so it may look a little messy. But this is home for me for the next year!
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