By Betty Young

Molly, our dachshund mix, stations herself under the baby’s highchair every mealtime—the better to catch the crumbs that fall from the baby’s tray.  Dogs have no pride.  Molly is satisfied to catch the food scraps that fall to the floor—grateful for even the crumbs, no matter how small.  Our grandson eats at the table until he is satisfied.  Molly, however, is satisfied with the crumbs that fall under the table.  

As I watched Molly eagerly lap up the crumbs, I was reminded of this story in Matthew.  

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!  My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.”

Jesus did not answer a word.  So, his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” Read more →

by Sandy Kang

The intense college-application season has hit our household for the first time. Previously, my daughter wrote her essays to achieve the honorable “A” from her schoolteachers. She is now meticulously crafting her words for another audience—the college admissions review team. Eventually, this essay will serve as her rite of passage to adulthood as she has chosen to profess her journey to faith in Christ and the discovery of her authentic self as a pastor’s kid. Read more →

By Allison Tran

What’s up friends?! My name is Allison; I’m a youth here at SJCAC and wanted to share about my journey to Gainesville, Georgia this summer.

I started this journey with Adventures in Missions (AIM) thinking that I would be going to Peru this past summer. Because of COVID I was given the alternative option to take a domestic trip to Gainesville, Georgia. Originally, I applied for this secondary trip because I had already fundraised. As the time got closer for me to leave, I was extremely excited to be surrounded by new people who would push me in my walk with the Lord. I was excited to experience missions in this country, be in a new state, and draw closer to God’s heart. When I got there, I sat alone one morning and struggled. I realized that I had signed up for this trip without fully asking if God wanted me there. Read more →

At the start of this lockdown, like most people, I was stressed out and experiencing major changes and disruptions to my life as I knew it.
Within a week of the lockdown and uncertain about my job situation, I had to transition to working from home. After a week of working on the kitchen table, being in Zoom meetings with the TV blaring CNN updates of the pandemic in the background, I was struggling. The lockdown was triggering old memories of the communist takeover of Saigon, when my parents were under house monitoring and their freedoms were taken away.

I was overwhelmed by the thought of having to work from home and worse, being home 24/7. You see, my life had a huge tension, even before the Coronavirus. My life as a Christian with my church family and “ministry” was totally separate from my household situation. Most of my faith was lived out — outside of my house, worshiping at a church building, serving others in various ministries, praying with others, gathering with small groups and different circles of friends, and attending workshops, events and conferences. But when it came to my home life, I did not feel I was supported or could fully be my authentic self in my even own house. Read more →

by Ted Kang

God, in His wisdom, marked time with seconds, minutes, hours, days, months and years so that we could remember and reflect upon the stories that make up life.  Driving through 2,400 miles of desert and mountains in Arizona and New Mexico over the holidays, I had plenty of opportunities to look back and recount the significant events and changes of the past decade.  Welcoming my fourth daughter at the turn of the decade, taking on the assignment of leading the church in this season, losing 30lbs of weight to become healthy again, going back to school for another degree are just a few of the personal milestones over the past 10 years.  As a church, we launched a preschool and a Chinese school out of our Vision 2020, planted a new church in Mountain View, helped plant the one and only Arabic church in San Jose, and are preparing for the launch of another church plant in the near future. What is not very obvious to us is the fact that these things didn’t simply “happen” to us.  Rather, they were the outcome of a thoughtful, intentional and resolute effort driven by our faith in God’s promises and a vision of the future. And for each of these things to be birthed, we all had to make some significant changes in our priorities and commitments.   Read more →