Photo at Tomoki's athletic festival

Three weeks ago, soon after Tomoki’s kindergarten activity, Eri had bleeding. We paled and rushed to her personal clinic. Thankfully our baby was okay but Eri was diagnosed with placenta previa. Her doctor advised her not to do hard work. So Taka helps her as much as he can, especially in shopping and taking care of Tomoki. We hope her pregnancy condition will change into normal one during these two months. Please pray for her pregnancy condition.

Tomoki is a hopping boy. He likes playing with school friends. But sometimes he has troubles. Last week Tomoki and Ryosuke (the nearest boy of Tomoki in upper photo) warred over a ride-on in playground. Tomoki first pushed Ryosuke aside and won the toy. Ryosuke fell and cried, and soon he jumped at Tomoki for revenge. Eri and other mothers tried to stop him (Ryosuke is bigger than Tomoki), but they couldn’t…. He did it by getting his teeth into Tomoki’s cheek! Imagine how Tomoki was shocked and painful…. At the night, before going to bed, Tomoki prayed for Ryosuke not to do bad things to him. But he didn’t seem to have an idea that he first did a bad thing to Ryosuke by pushing him badly…. Eri and I are praying that these kids will learn more to be nice to each other.

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• Faith . Hope . Love (PDF, 251kB)

Wai Ling (front row, 2nd from right) with International Student Ministry staff & students

I am enjoying my ministry very much and often I feel that I am on a mission trip every week when I meet students of different nationalities. Missions is really right at our door step! I personally had the privilege of leading 6 Chinese girls to Christ. I am able to connect and relate to the Chinese pretty well but when it comes to sharing Christ with the South East Asia students I lack confidence. I realized that there is so much to learn in sharing Christ ‘cross-culturally’. I need to understand the background of these students and how they are influenced by their upbringing, cultural and educational systems. If I don’t understand their worldviews it would be difficult to engage in a meaningful spiritual conversation with them at the heart level.

Journeying with the pre-believers can be a bittersweet experience. I always see an instant change in the countenance of a new convert … from anxiety, struggle, skepticism or fear to relief, peace and joy. And when I get a chance to talk with these new believers weeks later I will be able to hear heartwarming testimonies of lives that are changed inwardly. On the other hand, we also meet people who remained firm in their unwavering stand that Jesus is not the only way to God, they have to earn salvation to gain entrance to heaven and there is no need for a God to lead their lives. It is sad to see that some are so close to accepting Christ yet they are so far because they choose to continue to live a life of passive indifference towards God. We can only pray that as they continue in their journey of searching, they will encounter God personally and place their faith in Him one day. As for the Christians, we pray that their changed lives will make a positive impact in our culture and society.

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• I Corinthians 2:4,5 (PDF, 324kB)

Jeremy and Dr. Ho in the center, with a couple of students from Hong Kong

Last month, Dr. Ho and I spent two weeks in China teaching the New Testament. The class consisted not only of local students, but also representatives from Singapore and Hong Kong as well. These students remind us of the Bereans “for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). They left deep impressions on us because of their diligence in working at their quizzes, exam, presentation and written papers.

This trip had pushed me a step further because I was required to translate all my class notes, and lecture in Chinese. However, my visit to the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibition helped me see the dedication of many heroes who gave their lives to the translation of the Bible. For God’s Word to be truly unchained, it must be heard by people in their mother tongue, their hearts’ language.

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• God’s Word is not chained (PDF, 685kB)

This is what Lisa shared: “It is tough to try to sum up everything that I’ve learnt but in my reflection 2 words came to my mind – RETREAT and ADVANCE. I came to EAST with the initial purpose to retreat and rest in the Lord so that I can advance forward in my future ministry. In the process, God showed me that truly I need to retreat, but not from ministry and people but to retreat from myself. That is as I become less, God can then advance forward and reveal more of Himself to me.”

Lisa is now serving in the SOLEAD (School of Leadership and Development) team at Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC). She is excited to be involved in the training and mentoring of the new staff.

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• Lessons in Leadership (PDF, 357kB)

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• To bare my heart before God (PDF, 575kB)

아빠, 왜 예수 님이 다리 꼬 고 죽 었어?

언이에게 예수님을 아니? 라고 했더니 대뜸 언이가 이렇게 물었습니다.

언: “아빠, 왜 예수님은 손 벌리고, 따리 꼬고 죽었어?”
아빠: “응, 그건 언이의 죄를 용서해 주시고 천국에 가도록 하기 위해서 지. 언이 그거 믿어?”
언: “응!”
아빠: “언이야, 근데, 아빠가 하는 말 이해할 수 있니?”
언: “……#$%@*& 응!”

언이가 이해를 하든 못하든 저는 무조건 반복해서 전하고 있습니다. 언이의 머리에 새겨지도록! 신앙은 단순한 진리를 반복해서 학습하며 우리의 마음에 새기고 삶에 드러나도록 하는 과정이라고 믿습니다. 언이는 분명히 예수님을 믿는다고 여러 번 입술로 고백했습니다. (아빠의 강요는 절대 아님!)

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• Sang Hyuk’s May 2009 (PDF, 1MB)

Jeremy & Jane's tribe

Growth… is a mystery. It happens all the time, yet often goes unnoticed. Sometime back, my 8-year-old daughter remarked as we were walking across a basketball court, “Daddy, the net seems to be lower now!” I smiled, knowing that she had grown taller. Sometimes we don’t even realize we have grown. What used to seem unattainable suddenly comes within reach. That’s the mystery of growth.

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• Growth (PDF, 300kB)

Caleb is growing 1lb a week, almost cooing, and smiles often. Ethan loves his brother, but is still getting used to less individual attention, as is to be expected.

This semester they faced the re-occurring challenge of nearly half the student leaders moving on to jobs or 4 year schools. They continue an emphasis on prayer for their ministry and God has been working. Fred and the faculty advisor both felt led to invite the new Orlando Police Chief—a professing Christian—to speak on leadership and her faith for a campus outreach. It was a bold request and would she even have the time? Fred shared this about the outreach:

“We had about 85 people (students and faculty) come to our CCC meeting, which was up from our normal 10 students. Some of the students took the initiative to invite some friends. The school also let us send an email to every student… and do lots of publicity around campus… Chief Demings did a great job of connecting with the students, and told us to invite her back. I believe that lots of seeds were planted… and although there was some spiritual battle, I think our prayers eliminated most of it. This was the largest attended Christian event we have had since I’ve been there.

“There is a monthly faculty bible study that has started and the next meeting is in a few weeks. Prayer is the topic.”

I think of the saying “When man works, man works. But when man prays, God works.” It can be a real challenge for us, even in ministry. But when our staff and students grow in dependence on God He is invariably gets honored in the events and lives changed.

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• A New Sheriff (Chief) in Town (PDF, 102kB)