By Betty Young

For many years I held in my heart a desire to visit the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the land of my ancestors. I wanted to walk the villages where generations of my family lived out their lives. It wasn’t until President Nixon visited in 1972 that I, along with other Americans, viewed images of Mao-era China. This presidential visit ended 25 years of no communication and no diplomatic ties between the two countries.

On January 1, 1979, the United States established diplomatic relations with the PRC which opened up opportunities to travel there. Without hesitation, I signed up with one of the many San Francisco Chinatown travel agencies that started to offer tours to China—the only option for travel to China available at that time. If you wanted to see China, the only way was to join a tour group with a tour company approved by the Chinese government. Read more →

God, I know that I’ve been anxious and cautious…I’ve been sharing with you my thoughts about D leaving for college and how it will all play out. I’ve expressed to you anxieties and fears but yet, I realized today I haven’t been straightforward with you. I am using these phrases: “Where the Lord leads…” and “I’m ok with whatever you want.”   “God, you know what’s best for her so I trust you.”  Deep in that tiny little corner of my heart, I’ve not been honest with you Lord.

And you know what God’s answer was to me??? That morning, drinking my coffee, spending time with him, He said this to me loud and clear, “You are being so wimpy! Why are you beating around the bush? TELL me what you want for her…I DARE you to ask of me…stop playing safe and take a leap of faith.” Read more →

By Peter Chow

“…yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
Habakkuk 3:18

For most, 2020 has been a challenging year…the pandemic…social distancing…shelter-in-place….lockdowns.  There are a lot of negativities when we think about these words.  But despite these circumstances, a few things that God has been teaching me through all this are that He is always working in everyone’s lives — including MINE and that each and every day, there is always something we can rejoice in the Lord about.

During the last session of our Missions Conference, Pastor Brett really spoke to me about the dire needs of many living in our county.  But he also offered hope…if 160,000 households gave $730 each, $117 million of rent debt could be erased immediately.  So the very next morning, I wanted to participate in this cause and decided to donate $1000.  God has blessed me so generously throughout the year and this was the least I could do.  Two things happened after this that totally demonstrated God wanted to speak to me through this.

A couple of days after I donated, I received a postcard in the mail.  It was to notify me that I am part of a class action lawsuit against a car manufacturer because of a faulty part which caused unreasonable repairs.  This was a car that I no longer owned, but in fact I did pay for those repairs 4 years ago.  I just had to fill out the form and I could get back up to $1000!  At that point, I knew this was a ‘God-thing’ — it was no coincidence.  It’s not like I get these postcards everyday — but I do get a few of these postcards throughout the year.  Anyways, I submitted the form online but who knows, as a lot of times nothing will come out of this so it’s not a guarantee that I will get any money back.  But the fact that it was for $1000 really confirmed that God was prompting me to make the donation.

Exactly, a week after I donated, I received a letter in the mail.  It looked like a check.  It was from some Claim Administrator.  I opened the letter to confirm that it was a check but I didn’t look at the amount until later.  Usually these checks don’t amount to much.  I think I’ve gotten between $5 to $40 from these similar checks before.  Later that night, when I looked at the check more closely, I became speechless and astounded.  It was for $1,029.19!  I did some research and found out that I had submitted this claim a year ago.

The point of this writing is not to say that when you donate, you should expect God to give you back the money.  What I am most happy about is the fact that God wanted me to participate in His cause, He confirmed it, and how He revealed Himself to me through this incident.  When you have been a Christian for a long time, sometimes it feels these things only happen to other people.  I’m so glad that this time it happened for me.  In the bigger picture, I learned that God is really the CFO of all my finances — I just work in the finance department….with JOY!!!

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 →