I See You, My Dear, I Do!
It was a short and sweet time with God and many women at the Empower Retreat. The most memorable moments from the retreat were God’s swift and humorous response to me: “I see you. my dear, I do!”
The theme of the retreat was centered around the breaking of lies. On the first night, we were asked to write down the lies about ourselves in the mirror. My lists were not quite uplifting: I am a loser, not as good as others, unworthy, no one looks at me. Then a voice answered me, “I look at you. Yes, I do!”
At the retreat, I realized that so many women were like me, who suffer from low self-esteem. They think they are unlovable, desperate for other people’s love and acceptance. They want to perform well so that others would look at them and pay attention. Even for long time Christians and we still sometimes fall into Satan’s scheme. Thanks to God who spoke to my heart that night. He confirmed to me who I am, a beloved daughter of our dear Heavenly Father. He does not need me to do anything in return. He made me, and He knows me well. Read more →
Dream BIG
By Keaton Wong
Near the end of November, I had a dream that all my friends at school and I were giving out gifts to people in need. This dream actually happened right after Operation Christmas Child. Throughout my life, it hadn’t really occurred to me that after all the years I’ve been at church, this Operation Christmas Child event hasn’t gone past our church boundaries; all our boxes and gifts were all being donated and packed by our church community. I felt like that this opportunity of gift giving should be available to everyone and not just our church. This actually became a reality on December 18, 2020 with our first Healing Grove Christmas outreach. During that event I saw a lot of people…people who brought their own friends from school and just in general, a lot of people I didn’t know, which was really good because I was able to work with people of all backgrounds to give to people in need, which was really cool.
What I learned about God through this is that He can do anything. I didn’t know that one simple dream could bless over 500 people! I thought I needed months to plan this but you know, through prayer and the right connections, it worked out really well in the end. In addition, what I learned about myself that day, is that if you ever have a dream, big or small, you should never keep it to yourself because you never know that it could actually bless multiple people in just one day.
Emergency Homelessness Prevention Program
by Ada Yue
Being obedient to God always requires us to have courage to overcome oppositions and challenges. On the 12/2 Prayer Meeting, when Pastor Ted invited us to join the COVID-19 Emergency Homelessness Prevention Program (CEHPP) Missions Trip, I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to respond “Yes” despite the fact that I am old and cannot speak Spanish. In the meantime, I struggled with some deterrents. A few days before the Missions Trip, my brother was admitted to the Emergency Room and demanded more of my time to care for him. I also debated whether to take the risk of being infected with the COVID-19 virus at my age and to set aside all my commitments to make time available for this 3-week volunteer opportunity. Read more →