Oh No! Another Four Letter Abbreviation for the Name of a Ministry Site

Hello all you wonderful people!

These last few weeks have been pretty dandy although nothing particularly striking has happened. I wanted to start by saying the Women’s retreat was absolutely amazing. It was such a wonderful time to be surrounded by God’s wonderful creation in nature and in the other beautiful women that joined me that weekend. There were about 30 women total on the retreat and I loved getting to know each of them more. Through this experience I feel that I am much more connected with the women in my church and have really started to develop some great relationships out here.

            For the last month at least I have been working with another ministry site called Chinese Christian Herald Crusaders or CCHC for short. I know what you all are thinking, "Oh no! Another four letter abbreviation for the name of a ministry site!" I felt like you all must be comfortable enough with what BARM is by now that I could introduce CCHC to the mix... Sorry you should tell ministry sites to start coming up with some shorter names and we won't have this problem! =P  Becky, one of the other girls on staff, started working with them first and for the last few weeks I have been joining her. CCHC has a number of programs they are involved in but we have been working with their Chinese immigration program. We help them practice for their immigration interviews. There are three parts to the interview. The first part is simple questions about the person and their family, the second part is a number of United States history and geography questions, and the third is a reading and writing portion. I also just wanted to say how much harder the citizenship questions are than I even would have thought they would be. I am very thankful to have been born in the United States because many of these questions I definitely do not know. Many of these men and women who desire to gain their citizenship have been living in China their entire lives and greatly struggle with the language. Not only does it help for them to practice the English but also to have someone that is proficient in English speaking with them.

Although I was hesitant at first to work with CCHC because it is something that I have never done before, I absolutely love it! I have found just how much I really do love different cultures and enjoy working through some of the language barriers. I don’t have much experience with Chinese culture but working with CCHC has caused me to learn a lot about their unique and interesting culture. I also really love that CCHC is literally across the street from where I live because it allows me to be directly involved with my community. I have also discovered about myself how much I really do enjoy one on one teaching. Although BARM is working with kids and CCHC is working with adults, the concept of working through a problem and trying to explain it in a way that makes sense is something that I really love. I go to CCHC Wednesdays and Fridays for a couple hours each week and hope to be able to continue that relationship with them for many weeks in the future.

            I am still working on the video project alongside many other smaller projects for CSM. I have been beginning to teach the youth lessons at BARM and am enjoying discovering new ways to teach in a manner that reaches urban culture. I have never really given bible lessons to unchurched urban youth so the learning process has been incredibly interesting. It has caused me to look at my own culture in a different perspective and has stretched my mind through the planning process. I am still getting closer to the youth at BARM and have been receiving calls from some of them just to chat. The fact that they see me as a friend and in some ways a mentor makes me extremely happy. I am so thankful for all the ways that they have blessed me with about a million laughs. They are some of the most hilarious people that I know and I don’t know what I will do without hearing their jokes everyday when I move. Our relationship has in many ways blessed me far more than I could ever have blessed them.

            We haven’t had a group for a couple weeks now but one does come this weekend. I however will not be hosting this group so it doesn’t really count for me.  I will be leading a prayer tour for one of the cars on Friday night but besides that I will not be with them during the weekend. I will not be hosting again until the last week in March, so I have even more time to invest fully into BARM before I have to host again.

            Becky, Kim (the city director), Kat, and I have been going through a book called Space for God together for the last 6 weeks. This book is basically about how to create space for God within our day. We meet every week to discuss it and throughout the week we go through the chapter on our own. The book has some readings but also just has specific spiritual exercises to do throughout the day/ week. I have really enjoyed going through this book with these ladies. The book itself isn’t anything that extraordinary but I am really growing through the act of carving out multiple times throughout the day to be in the presence of God. I have also really loved going through it with the other women that work for CSM, as they have caused me to think of things in entirely new ways. We are all very unique people which makes coming together to discuss the word incredibly interesting and fulfilling. God has been challenging and growing me a lot throughout this study.

For the last few weeks as part of our nightly Space for God time we have been writing down a list of things we are thankful for during that day. After we write for at least 15 minutes we are to pray over our list and thank God for these things. I have found how much I truly love writing down things I am thankful for each day. I am now keeping a separate journal with all of the specific things I am thankful for. I have found how much more throughout the day I am thanking God for things He has done or has given me and also how much quicker I am to thank other people for the ways they have blessed me.

Thank you for reading this update on my life out here in the Bay Area. I am very thankful for all the ways God is working here in the city and within my own life. God is definitely moving every day even if I don’t always choose to notice it. I hope you are all able to experience God’s presence in your daily life as well.