rip

Hey class!

First, an explanation: I title my entry this not to earn points with the CCF staff, but because this is the process of what I am experiencing this summer, funny enough…

And much agreed with all the others in saying that, reading the prior entries are a MUST!  I am warning you now that my post is very long.

Okay, now.. on to things about me.   I’m Aileenah Kim, I am 21 years old.  Going on to my last year as a senior at UC Berkeley, majoring in International Law, Politics, Public Policy.  And this summer, I am in living in the Philippines.  For, let’s just say, a very extended period of time (June 12 until August 7, if you’re really that curious).  Currently, I am in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro.  I am working with Stairway Foundation, a non-profit org that fights for the rights of children.

I think more than what I’m doing, I’d like for you to know what God has done for me.  Because it is SO SO much, and I’m brought to tears, literally.  Like I have tears in my eyes right now thinking about it.

He’s brought me to this place for a reason.  He’s provided every step of the way.   He’s kept me safe, and always, no rain when I am traveling, though it is rainy season.  He’s gone before me here and I see that.

1. I am learning how to discipline my life.  Waking up early in the morning at 0550, sleep at 2230.  And all the Bible readings for the Bible-in-a-year I neglected or didn’t have time for during the school year, I have finished during my first two weeks here, because I’ve got into a habit of spending time with Him every morning and every night.  The beach is across the street and daily time there gives me a place to exercise (run and swim), and even just for fun and tan (not that I need it).  This is something I prayed for briefly, but God has met me full way, perfectly.  I definitely could not have planned it better.

2. He’s piecing together all the parts of me here in the work that I do.  It’s like I’ve been so prepared and trained for the work I was going to do here.  I am translating the advocacy materials at Stairway.  They have come up with 3 animations/storybooks/training manuals: one about child pedophilia, one about incest, and one about child sex trafficking.

So the Justice, Korean, and American parts of me are all coming together in this project.  I also helped the school teachers with visual aids, something I am very familiar with because my mom is an English teacher.

3. I love working with the boys here, and the kuya’s and ate’s, and other volunteers and interns.  There are some great people who share with me their stories.  And I am so thankful for them.  I am learning so much from them; more than I am teaching them.  Playing basketball, playing guitar, making bracelets, backflips, Tagalog.  Seeing how an organization is run…

Secondly, I’ve seen how God has answered EVERY prayer that I’ve prayed while I’m here.  Especially about the weather.  Every time I pray for sunshine, there it is.  God is such a good God, and I not only KNOW, but have experienced that He really cares for His children.  Even in very mundane things such as weather, and having my clothes dry completely without mold.

And I think all of my experiences here are SO significant to me, considering how I even came upon this organization.  I feel like the common thread for all of us this summer is that God has led us rather than us leading our plans.  I definitely stumbled upon this organization on the internet, randomly, and just randomly sent a msg through the comments section, not really expecting anything back.  I had to find an organization to work with for my minor.  And I really wanted to come to the Philippines, so I thought, why not?  And I had initially planned on working with another organization.  But that fell through, and the way the staff at Stairway responded to my email inquiry, and the whole process of how I ended up here—everything was just so easy!  And it was definitely not me, but all God.

I think this summer, even the short time I’ve spent in Korea, I’ve been learning and realizing a lot more about myself in terms of my future.  To be quite honest, I’ve been having some not-so-good feelings about IV since I left early for Korea.  Having felt, for most of the time I was an IV leader, that I have had to choose between IV and home (Korea) life, I definitely felt some bitterness towards the fellowship.  I often felt very unsupported and every time I went away from Berkeley, I felt that everyone in my “community” forgot about me, because they never really bothered to keep in touch.  I even questioned whether I should be a leader this year, or even whether I should even remain in the fellowship.  Every time I come home (not Berkeley), I feel the pull of, “oh, college is not my whole life, and I have so much to think about outside of Berkeley.”  But whenever I am in Berkeley, I find myself thinking solely about our campus, my classes, my classmates, and Intervarsity.  Not that that is a bad thing, because I have experienced a LOT of growth there.  And even in my attitude of living missionally, or even learning what that means.  But since I came home this summer, and even coming to the Philippines, I’ve felt that Berkeley—or maybe even the United States—is not where I want to be after graduation.  Having experienced how God has worked in me SO greatly this summer, I am starting to think that maybe it is not just what I want, but maybe what God wants, as well.  And, as sad as it is to say, I have felt, on more than one occasion actually, that I have no reason to stay in Berkeley.

Except community.  After reading Henri Nouwen’s article (from which my title comes), I realized that maybe God is training me in “solitude” this summer.  And only solitude.  Because I have no community here.  Yes, I have community in Stairway, with the staff and the kids, but it is not a God-centered community.  Yes, I have experienced community with my mission team from my old church in Daegu, but that’s not really the community I belong to…  And even reading this blog has been very healing for me, in terms of my idea of IV as a community.  And.  Even if I don’t feel it or understand it now, I think maybe He will bring me back into that “community” when I return to Berkeley.  And then lead me into “ministry”.

And this is, I guess, where my stories end, and my prayer requests begin.  To be able to connect my Berkeley life, and my outside-Berkeley life has been something I struggled with time and time again… (every summer, as a matter of fact).  And I am sure that many of you might feel the same way.  But I think this has been something that’s been very important to me since the beginning of college.  That my life would be one fluid motion, and not just pieces all jumbled up and joined together.  And I know there are many things God doesn’t allow me to understand until much much later on, but I have received SO much during my stay here in the Philippines, and I can only pray that a lot of it will stay within me, and I will be able to give with all that I’ve received, without that disconnect and all the wishing that I was back here where I had received so much.  I pray that I will still be able to pray with conviction that God will answer, and that I will seek Him with as much earnestness as while I am here, alone, in solitude, even when I am back in Berkeley in community and in ministry.  This, I pray for all of you, as well.  That each of you will experience that “solitude” with Him and learn to value it with the utmost.  But also that God will bring you from that place into community and ministry.  I have a firm belief that He will, because I am already seeing how He is doing that for me.

Very much excited to hear more of your stories,
and also excited for what He will do for us this coming school year,
aileenah kim.

For all that I’ve left out, you can check out:
http://koreatophilippinesjournal.tumblr.com/

Hey everyone,

HAPPY AMURICA DAYYYYY!!!!! Hope all of your summers are going great :] If you haven’t read the previous entries, this is the disclaimer that you should ~

Without getting into too many details, this story begins with a whole lot of provision on God’s part in lining up a totally packed summer in Asia (6/4-8/23, holla if you want me to bring something back but no promises) involving some sightseeing in China, a musical mission trip around Taiwan, and an internship with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over here (I have been informed on more than one occasion that this sounds, as it were, much like the fabled ‘Ministry of Magic’ of Harry Potter fame.  If this is you, I would like to briefly suggest that you may have got it backwards ;P  )

    Sorry, not working here (formatting is jenky but w/e)

China was OK. The 10 day music mission around the eastern seaboard of Taiwan, however, is what I wanted to share about here. 

Our team was called ‘Mission Formosa’ and consisted of 13 members – 2 leaders, 6 musicians, and 5 on technical/prayer/etc.  It was recruited and supported entirely through the overseas Chinese/Taiwanese church and played around 16 sets in support of various local ministries in Taiwan, with the average set being 8-10 songs long and consisting of a mix of Taiwanese folk songs, hymns, and some of my dad’s own compositions.  Some of our stops included retirement homes, schools, prisons, a rehab center, an institution for the mentally disabled, and a Taiwanese aboriginal tribe, among others. 

I’d actually never been on a mission trip before, so I wasn’t expecting much, but this trip definitely wasn’t what I was expecting.  For the sake of time, rather than walk you through the trip day by day, I think it might be better if I just share a little bit of what, on reflection, God has been teaching me so far this summer.

1.       I’m Asian-American - No duh, right?  Thank you captain obvious much?  I know IV is all about getting in touch with your culture and I always took it for granted.  Of course I know I’m AsianAm!  But I wish you all could have been there – the complete, unabashed, stupid, unadulterated joy of walking into a McDonald’s in China after a bowl of noodles too many.  Amazing.

2.       Humility & Bridging Cultures – Another captain obvious learning point:  Apart from needing to engage people on their turf, I really noticed points of friction between the generations that I hadn’t seen in a while.  The common ground and experiences can make it both easier and harder, I think, and looking back I learned (or relearned) a lot about difference and the role of humility in how God calls us to live our lives.  Humble pie really does wonders for group unity (among other things) and I really hope its something we call out and keep each other accountable for in the coming year :)

3.       The Kingdom of Heaven  Belongs to the Poor, Oppressed, Et Al - REALLY – Obvious b/c the good book tells you so, but I think it really became more personal for me on this trip.  We received SO much more than we gave - quite literally.  Providing a music set and a short talk, these are things we take for granted here, and best I can figure aren’t all that special – some of these people actually killed the cow (well, pig) for us. 

Prisoners, troubled youth, drug addicts, the structurally disadvantaged (nurd), God really showed us a lot of the margins of Taiwanese society.  But his heart for them was so huge; honestly we didn’t see much, but God showed us so much.  

Jumping a few steps and a bit of theology, just sharing where I’m at, I never really thought about it before but I don’t think it is just because of pity or mercy that the poor shall be the ones to inherit the Kingdom.  There is mercy shown to all -and while I know I am tempted to view it like a make-up run for this life sometimes, heaven just being payback seems to miss a huge part of what God is doing on earth.  

What I admired on this trip was really tangible faith lived out.  That’s not something necessarily exclusive to the poor, but maybe there is more opportunity to live it out in that socio-economic situation.  When the world can’t provide, you can’t lie to yourself about your ability to secure yourself so much, perhaps.  Dunno - I just know that there isn’t an ounce of pity in my heart for those people, and nothing but the utmost respect.  Intuitively, I think there is something there to that, but…maybe we’ll sit on it for a few more months haha ^^

But I digress.  That’s where I’ve been so far this summer - this week we just started our internships at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over here.  I’m posted at the Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs for the next 7 weeks - actually if I could stick in a quick prayer request, pray for God to teach me what it really means to walk the good walk here in Taiwan.  I reckon its been a little rocky getting off the ground, but I know its definitely worth going for :)

Hoping/Praying that you all are having bomb summers and learning a ton!  And I’ll repeat Tim’s holla for the first gal to represent :P 

With love,

-Austin

Hey everyone,

First if you’re reading this post and haven’t read about Daniel Siu’s windy path to awesomeness (and experiencing God’s goodness), Jonathan’s short love stories of DCho and Connie, and DCho’s quest to become more ballin (in terms of basketball and doctorhood), those posts are highly recommended reading!

Similar to Daniel Siu, I am very blessed to have wound up with an internship (in NYC) pursuing my interest and passion at the intersection of business and social impact.  I’m working for an organization called Catchafire as their “social good organization consultant intern.”  

Currently, I’m doing an assortment of things but will mainly be working on marketing related activities.  For those who have taken ugba 106 (marketing), I’m working on a customer loyalty strategy which is just… funny given the nature of that class.  Catchafire allows professionals to “give what they’re good at” to nonprofits that need their help.  Instead of staining fences/shoveling sand (get it chapter camp), professionals can create marketing plans, design logos, provide accounting services, technology advice or 45+ other projects to nonprofits here in NYC.  Very cool organization led by very intense, very passionate people.

As I mentioned before, I’m interested in this intersection of how businesses can make a difference.  Heard of the Pepsi Refresh Project? Check out Good / Corps, the people that created that.  But as a Christian, I’m starting to get interested in this triple intersection of business, social impact, and the gospel. (also with all the design / creativity firms in NYC it might be a 4 part intersection of business / social impact / design / and the gospel).  

How does the gospel affect the work we do as interns now, and leaders later? I’m currently reading The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons.  If you want to learn more about how Christianity is changing for our generation… check out his video here!

Checking out Redeemer church later today, went to summer NYU IV earlier this week, enjoying city life, copying dcho and trying to get better at bball (class of 2012 im basketball anyone?), cost of food is crazy high but delicious, 1 week down - only 9 left!

Currently reading:

The Next Christians

Good.is

Q: Ideas for the Common Good

Class of 2012 Tumblr

—-

Quote from The Next Christians:

Restorers

I’ve observed a new generation of Christians who feel empowered. Restorers exhibit the mind-set, humility, and commitment that seem destined to rejuvenate the momentum of the faith.  They have a peculiar way of thinking, being, and doing that is radically different form previous generations. Telling others about Jesus is important, but conversion isn’t their only motive. Their mission is to infuse the world with beauty, grace, justice and love.

I call them restorers because they envision the world as it was meant to be and they work toward that vision.  Restorers seek to mend earth’s brokenness.  They recognize that the world will not be completely healed until Christ’s return, but they believe that the process begins now as we partner with God.  Through sowing seeds of restoration, they believe others will see Christ through us and the Christian faith reap a much larger harvest.

They are purposeful about their careers and generous with their time and possessions.  They don’t separate form the world or blend in; rather, they thoughtfully engage. Fully aware of the seachange under way, they are optimistic that God is on the move - doing something unique in our time.

The perspective they exhibit is not a new Christina idea; it’s actually quite old. But what’s fascinating to see is how they have latched onto one concept in particular and applied it in every area of their life.  Their faith activity ins’t restricted to “religious” activities, but carries over into everyday of the week and each aspect of their careers, relationships, and social lives.

—-

Wherever you are I hope you’re engaging and bringing restoration to your areas of life :).

-Tim Kutnick

P.S. calling out someone to be the first girl to post on here.

Hi everybody!

Starting with an update of what I’m doing this summer: I’m working in San Mateo for the summer (with Iueh) and I’m back in Berkeley on the weekends…hit me up to hang out Friday night - Sunday afternoon for the duration of the summer!

Just a disclaimer before I start this story …This post is not meant to boast of my accomplishments, but rather to highlight how He led me, a totally clueless guy, through a path I didn’t know existed, into a plan that’s worked out better than I ever could have imagined. It’s all God’s grace, and He deserves all the glory. In this story, I’ve even had to leave out some parts of his blessing just because it would be way too long…but hit me up for lunch sometime and I’d love to talk about it more and hear about how God’s shown up in your life!

At the beginning of my junior year, one of my major goals was to find out what I wanted to do for a career, and get a summer internship in that area. This was a challenge for a couple reasons:

1. Although I was going to be a business major, I had no idea what finance, accounting, consulting, and marketing were, let alone know enough to find an internship for the summer.

2. Similarly to Jon, as an international student, there were a few more visa-related barriers to working in the US.

And thus began a year-long series of blessings that’s still continuing. When school started in August, I applied to The Berkeley Group (TBG), a campus consulting organization that I knew about only because Tim was a part of it. I remember coming out the first-stage interview thinking that I’d bombed it, and I just prayed that if God wanted me to be there, that he’d open the door for me. Sure enough, by His grace I got through to the next round and was eventually accepted – despite barely even knowing what consulting was. Through the two following semesters, I worked on hands-on consulting projects that taught me applicable skills and gave me stuff to talk about in interviews, found out I loved the entire process, and met a lot or really cool people – a lot of which were open to talking about faith, which is exciting! But a topic for another day.

In the spring, I applied for a lot of consulting firms and got a lot of rejections. During this time, I constantly went back to Philippians 4:12 – learning to be content in every situation, knowing that God has a plan. I tell you, it really sucks to go to info sessions, apply, network, and go through a full day of interviews and then get rejected…and even harder to say afterwards that God meant for that to happen. I can’t say I never got pissed or frustrated with God during this period, but I got through the other side only because of his strength and blessings through my friends. Friends helped me with my applications, gave feedback on interviewing practice, and above all supported me when I got discouraged.

In the end, I ended up being accepted by a firm that:

1. Explicitly stated during the recruiting process that they would not accept international students as interns.

2. Changed my stated preference of the Toronto (Canadian) office to an offer at the San Mateo office, which I actually preferred but originally thought wasn’t possible

3. Also hired Iueh and two other Cal students that I knew, so I could talk to them before I even started.

If that’s not God’s grace, I don’t know what is.

Even more amazing is how he provided from me logistically. When I thought I would have to commute on BART and Caltrain for close to 2 hours each way every day, He provided a car through Iueh to make things a lot more convenient. When I thought we’d be driving for an hour each way from Berkeley with tolls, he provided an awesome living arrangement that was a) 10 minutes from work, b) ridiculously cheap, and c) an IV alum that Iueh and I both knew.

I’m honestly just amazed at how well it worked out…and above all I see His provision in EVERYTHING. Just…wow. God is so good, it just makes me want to worship! And again, this is just one aspect of my life that God has blessed! He is way too good to me…I just can’t fit the fullness of God’s blessing into one blog post of reasonable length.

One last word of encouragement:

Towards the end of this past year, I was discouraged mostly because of fatigue and workload and a perceived lack of blessing in one area of my life. In that spot, it was so easy to forget all of God’s blessings. So to constantly maintain a heart of worship, remember God’s blessings in your life! For Mich (chapter camp speaker), it was a jar of blessings; for another guy I talked to, it was setting an alarm for noon daily to stop and consider 3 things to be thankful for; for you, it might be posting on this blog (and testifying publicly to God’s goodness at the same time!)

Psalm 103:2 (NLT) – Let all that I am praise the Lord, may I never forget the good things he does for me.

Hey Guys,

Ahh a whole week has gone by since I’m back in Hong Kong! I still haven’t quite got used to the weather here. I just can’t believe how I managed to survive 18 years of my life inside this ridiculously hot furnace. The temperature here is something like 85-90 degrees. To make things worse, it’s super-humid. I’m sweating even this very second as I sit at home in front of my laptop. There’s really no place like the Bay Area sighhh.

Aite so what am I doing in Hong Kong?

I have an internship in july, and I’m writing weekly articles for a local newspaper. So technically I am not exactly busy. But I just bought reference books for the GRE. I’ll be taking the exam this fall. After all, I don’t have the luxury of hanging around doing nothing after my graduation next year. As an international student, I think I have to either find a job within approx. 3 months after my graduation….or get accepted by a grad school. Otherwise, I have to scoot. So, yeah, like Danny, I’ll have to spend lots of time studying in the coming months. And that brings me to the main point….

My Dad, who is super-involved in the education field in hong kong, is planning to publish some kind of reference book for language learning in the near future. It’s sorta like an english-teaching textbook for chinese students. Two days ago, he asked if I would be interested in writing short stories (which will become reading materials) for his textbooks. I said “no” as I’ve got lots of plans for the summer already. And my dad just exploded.

He started off by saying how disrespectful I’ve been to him. And then went on by counting my wrongdoings in the past: from my over-indulgence in basketball to an overall lazy attitude in studying. What really hurt me most, however, was that he accused my passion for worshiping as a desire for personal glory and stuff (Yes, he literally said, “you just intend to show-off your skills when you play/sing those worship songs…you just want glory for yourself”). It was a serious, serious accusation for me. Indeed, all the things he said are struggles I’ve painfully gone through in the past. I confess that I haven’t exactly worked out my role as a humble worshiper until about a year and a half ago. Today, however, worshiping for one’s own glory is one of my most-detested things in the whole world.

In short, all the things my dad had lashed out upon me would all ring true…..if he were talking to the 17,18-year-old me. At that moment, I really felt compelled to just scream, “You don’t f——— know me!!!” Yes, it’s cliche. But, seriously, he hasn’t seen me in the past year. We don’t talk over the phone often either. He didn’t know the person sitting in front of him, plain and simple.

That night, I really cried out to the Lord. I don’t understand why - after all the confession, healing, and growth in the past ten months - people still see me as the same person. All of a sudden, I don’t understand why he’s behaving like that….and I suddenly find myself lost without a reason to “grow up”. What’s the point of fighting your way out of your cocoon and become a butterfly when people forever see you as a lowly caterpillar? I prayed….and listened to some of my favorite worship songs (including both mandarin and english ones) on my ipod. And I heard God’s answer.

This very moment, my Dad may not be the person who know me the best. In fact, there’s probably no one on earth who really knows me to the fullest. But He does! Our Heavenly Father knows the pains we’ve gone through. He knows my sins in the past, but He also knows my effort in correcting them. He knows my heart when I worship Him. He knows my reason and vision in signing up as a MOC leader next year.

And so I just prayed to God for strength and patience. I’m sure my dad will see, in time, that Jonathan Wong 2011 is different from Jon Wong 2010 or 2009. I also prayed for wisdom…so that I won’t fall into the temptation of engaging in a pointless argument with him. I respect him as he is my dad. I may not necessarily agree with him on everything. But I still have to respect what he says.

That said….yesterday, I inferred from his words that he really needs a person to write those short stories for him. It’s pretty urgent as well. He just chose to take the stance of “I’m offering you this grand, invaluable opportunity to learn”. As for the stories themselves, he was only looking for simple plots, vocab, and sentence structures. In fact, I believe I can get the whole project done within a week.

And so I said “yes” to him. Not because I need extra money to spend. Nor because I need another entry on my resume. I just feel it’s another lesson God wants me to learn.

I greatly appreciate it if you’ve read up to this point. I’ll appreciate you even more if you could also keep me in your prayers. You will also be in mine - whether you’re on a mission trip, hanging out at home, taking summer classes at berk or doing anything else. I love you guys and I pray for you all regularly.

—-Jonathan Wong

ps To add a little fun in that short story writing, I decided to name my two protagonists as “Constance ‘Connie’ Chen” and “Daniel ‘Danny’ Cho”. Although each chapter has different subplots, the overarching theme is a love story between this chinese girl and “the Exchange Student from Korea” =D

hey guys! i guess i’ll be the first to get this thing going :) it’s been about a week since i drove back down to socal, although it seems a lot longer than that. MCAT studying is in full swing for me, consisting of studying at the library with UCI students studying for finals. i don’t know about you guys, but being around stressed out people stresses me out, so i can’t wait until summer session starts for them so that i can relax a bit!

i admit, studying has been pretty difficult thus far, and not just b/c i need to review 3 yrs worth of science classes. it’s been really hard to drag myself out of bed at 8am (not a morning person at all), and the fact that im studying alone everyday. furthermore, i don’t keep in touch with many of my high school friends, so there isn’t much hanging out outside of studying either. im meeting up with some ex-U2SG people for lunch today though, which will be a welcome break! in my free time i’ve been going to the ARC (UCI’s upgraded version of the RSF), and watching the NBA finals and a bunch of redbox DVDs (haha). my sister comes home today, too, which i’m really excited about.

although studying has been kind of a drag, i know that i am so lucky to have this unique opportunity. i have been blessed by the fact that there isn’t really much for me to focus on this break besides going to the library. i get to sleep in my own room, eat home cooked meals, and don’t have to worry about work/internship of some kind. it’s been quite humbling to see how blessed i am. i was also encouraged by Hebrews 12:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

no matter what kind of obstacles you are facing this summer, know that you can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens you. be strong and courageous x 3!!!

i miss you guys a lot! i realize that we’re doing all sorts of different things, whether studying for grad tests like myself, doing summer school in berkeley, internships/work abroad, or missions of some sort, and i often wonder how each of you is doing. this is also because i swear everyone in IV has a look-alike here at UCI, or maybe that’s just me going crazy. please post your own entries! i’d love to read them, even if they’re too long like mine…

Thanks be to God! Praying for you all :)

                                                                                          -Danny Cho

Hi BEST SENIOR CLASS EVER.

This is a place for us to share our lives with each other this summer! Now that we all have the login info, we can start posting updates in the form of stories, pictures, poems, videos…whatever our hearts desire! 

Excited that we can also use this as a way to pray for each other! As we share prayer requests and praiseworthy news. :)

And this blog is most definitely a collective blog…which means, we all own it! SO, please experiment with the layout/design/title/anything!

Praying that, as we give God the glory for ways He is revealing Himself in the next few months…we will be a class continuing to deepen our roots in Him. And that, we will be encouraged by each other, and see even more of Him through our posts!

Okay cool! Feel free to start updating (which translates to…please do share what God is doing in your life, wherever you are!). :)