Friday, October 31, 2003

Calvin: Do you believe in fate? Hobbes: You mean, that our lives are predestined? Calvin: Yeah... that the things we do are inevitable Hobbes: What a scary thought!

- Calvin & Hobbes

Having reached my second last term of school at Waterloo (hopefully), I'm thinking more and more about my future. There are some friends who have their way paved ahead of them - at least in terms of vocation. I'm talking about the people who have been diligently going through the system and now they are in a medical school, or they are consistently landing good tech/business jobs. I look at myself and I really wonder about what I should do, versus what I could do passionately. I won't go as far as Calvin and debate about predestination and inevitability, but I do think I am made for a specific task - a specific calling (compared to just a general calling for the believer). So being faced with choice of the future, I am looking forward to going to Urbana. Supposedly 43% of the attendees find their mate at this conference... but that life purpose will be on the back-burner for a while. I'm seriously considering a potential life calling in some form of ministry so this is a wonderful opportunity to check out the various schools, missions, etc. that are offered. Yesterday, Matt asked if I was crying every week (refer to last blog).... no I can't say I had. BUT, today as I was looking at the various seminars and exhibits being offered at Urbana, I was touched by the HS. I was surfing around looking for some more training opportunities and I stumbled across a list of chinese churches in the Greater Toronto Area. Just looking at the many webpages really tugged at my heart as I see the many initiatives beginning in the chinese churches. I'm always a little saddened when I look at the state of north american chinese churches... we seem to lack the passion/zeal/skills to even adequately run a church. It's so great to see that we're gradually using new updated strategies to try to reach people. So today's ramblings comes down to this main point - I'll quote from 'building a contagious church': There's an awful lot going on all at once, and I'm a bit tired, but this is a dream job! There's nothing else in the world I'd rather be doing than what I'm doing right now! I love what I'm doing right now in CCF. In spite of all the headaches and heartaches, I would rather be doing this than anything else. Now I just need to figure out if I could/should/would translate this passion for ministry into a vocation. Man, I wish I can play my predestination card... ah well. Still, it's great to have these choices in life. Tune in again for more insanity in lifeSong preparations.


Yu-Ling posted at 10/31/2003 12:15:00 PM

Tuesday, October 21, 2003

You would think I wouldn't goof up commonsense relationship dynamics at this stage of my leadership. But I did.

- Russ Robinson, Walking the small group Tightrope

On saturday, I attended the Small Groups Conference in Waterloo. It's sponsored by SGN, a ministry of the navigators. It was awesome. I was touched by the spirit throughout the day and I think am spiritually recharged now. Let me describe the day to you: At first, I had planned to take the university ave. bus to weber, then go south to lincoln road chapel (where the conference is held - surprisingly, it is at the old CFC building). I got on the bus and realized that it would be turning north on king so I immediately got off at King st. and walked towards weber. As I was quickly passing Timmy's on Univ., this lady got out of a mini-van to ask for directions... she was looking for lincoln road. For some odd reason, I asked her if she was attending the small groups conference, and would you believe it... she was! Her name is Barb Lee and she was with a group from the Koinonia church in TO. It's pretty amazing because I had planned to attend the conference, spend some quiet time alone (because I don't know anybody there), and just absorb all the material from the speaker sessions and the workshops. I found their group easy to talk to and a few more surprises were on the way. The husband of Barb (a white lady) is a guy named Ray (a chinese guy) from Montreal. What are the odds of him knowing PT? I asked him if he knows Tim from Montreal but he didn't. Too bad, it would have been the mother of six-degrees for me. Later throughout the day, I spoke to Ray again and found out he used to live in Cambridge. Barb spoke earlier about how someone had given them chinese material to witness to Ray's mother and I asked him about that situation. Turns out he contacted a chinese church and the pastor came to give him the material... and of course, the pastor was PT. haha. Small world. Already, I saw God at work. I felt comfortable spending the day with these strangers all because I was able to meet them walking along university. S'funny how things happen like that sometime. I like how Barb described us meeting together: It was a God thing. Now for the speaker/workshop sessions. Tim Volkman was the speaker and he's part of the pastoral team at Centre Street Church in Calgary. This guy helped pioneer the small groups movement at Centre Street and now there are over 500 SGs in his church. Krazy. I found it interesting how he used many buzzwords and biblical passages from books that I read. It just goes to show that there is greak benefit in learning within the christian community. Later on, he was leading my workshop about the practical aspects of being a coach. It was a good kick in the butt as he explained the role of coaches at Centre Street. He challenged me to spend time knowing my SGLs on a personal level before expecting to 'know' them on a ministry level. I know I MUST spend personal time with my SGLS... oie. Later on, he shared story after story about how a SG was able to help this person with a crisis, or how this other person came to know. These personal stories were powerful and inspirational. I think I'm turning into Matt... just hearing the speaker talk about SGs and the power of this ministry makes me well up inside. I was definitely on the verge of tearing. Now, all I have to do is apply what I learn to my life and to my ministry. Easy to say, hard to do. Tune in again for more small group stories.


Yu-Ling posted at 10/21/2003 03:00:00 PM

Thursday, October 02, 2003

That's me. That's three people. And I'm going to help them.

Trevor, Pay It Forward

I have been away far too long. I apologize for the lack of blogging, especially since I dared to utter those dreaded words... "I'm back". I am now trying to keep up with 3 mediums to keep my thoughts down: a committee blog, this personal blog, and a personal journal. So please bear with me if I'm not as regular as before the summer. Since the beginning of summer, I have set my sights on achieving a few personal goals. I wanted to read 10 books (I actually did it!), I wanted more quiet time to think about my future (no job=tons of time), and finally, I wanted to learn how to be a more effective leader (in preparation for serving on CCF committee). I think all 3 goals were interrelated, yet it was my personal desire for leadership training that dominated my thoughts throughout the summer. After a wonderful experience in being part of the planning committee for Campus Challenge, I wanted a little break before I would 'actively' go find a summer job. My arrangement with my previous employer at AGF mutual funds fell through so I was gladly just floated around, doing stuff (like cutting my finger at my friend's wedding, playing softball and eating sandwiches in between innings, and helping the high school fellowship develop their small groups). Thank God, in one of my more busy moments, Matt Mark convinced me to go to Montreal to attend Willowcreek's prevailing church conference. I think that was the beginning that has set many things in my heart aflame. I can now clearly articulate the purpose and goals of a specific time of ministry that I hold dear. I believe in the power of small groups. Certainly I believe that God speaks to people through a grand EM like Lifesong, and I am positive that he speaks to us in our most quiet times.... I am SURE, that he will find any way through any form to speak to us. However, I believe within a small groups environment, a person is met with the optimal environment for the life change that Jesus Christ intended. My vision is that through the relationships in small groups, we can hear what God has to say... then entrust it to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others (2 Timothy 2:2). Much like the boy in pay it forward, If every group was able to reach out to one or two people on the campus, eventually CCF might be able to fill all of Arts Lecture Hall. To quote Morpheus in Matrix Reloaded: "Isn't that worth fighting for? Isn't that worth dying for?" I believe so. Just need to keep on refining the methodology and keep my sights on the Lord... then who knows? Maybe this dream will become a reality someday. Tune in again and get lost in the starry starry night.


Yu-Ling posted at 10/02/2003 08:43:00 PM