The OCD - Origin Cross-Cultural Disciple: June 2015

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Sunday

Sunday we woke up, got ready for church, and loaded up the Yoon's car with sound equipment, music stands, a projector, and kids toys for church which was held in the Student Union Building. This occurs every week. Last year, Michaela asked an intern, "So what do you think you need for a church plant?" The Intern replied, "Sons. So they can do the lifting."
Origin church has been on campus for the last 4 years. This Sunday, we had about 30 people for service and we were still missing 3 families. God is definitely working in the hearts of people here.
After singing some familiar songs, prayer, and scripture reading, we sat down to watch a video sermon since Craig was out of town. Unfortunately, WiFi was not working so we had to improvise! Javier, our fearless worship leader, decided to share his story. He talked about finding purpose. What is our purpose? Our purpose in life on earth is to have a personal intimate relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ. God is the Creator, therefore he has a purpose. Our ultimate goal in life is to love and enjoy our relationship with God so much that it overflows into every area of our lives.
Work, school, homework, grocery shopping, church, dinner, hanging out with friends, whatever! We should do all of these things as thankful worship to God. Wow. I needed that reminder and God knew it! Even when things don't work the way we want it to, like wifi, God still has a purpose.
We enjoyed talking to students after church. Loaded the car back up, ate pizza for lunch, and spent the day reflecting on my purpose here, and in life back home. I am so excited to see what else God has in store for me!

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Saturday

This was one of our busiest days since we had to get up, buy a bus pass, catch a bus, a train, and walk a few miles to meet up with a team we were touring around downtown today. We made it just in time, Praise the Lord! It was cool walking them around downtown, getting to know them and hearing about their mission here. Rebekah knew the leader from her school and it was cool to meet all the rest of them from Georgia!
There were so many sights to see, but here is the Olympic Torch!

The team!

The view of the Marina

Hey look! It's Fox sports news station for the FIFA Women's World cup!

We took the team to the underground mall to have some free time before they catch their train. AND I FOUND A DQ!!!!! I was so happy I almost cried. (Y'all know me!) A Birthday Cake Oreo was the perfect break from the summer heat and walking 7 miles.

Then we said "Adios" to the team, caught a train to meet Jeff, Cindy, Nathan and his team from Louisianan for Chinese food at Bubble World complete with my "Milky Mango slushy with Tapioca pearls"

SO GOOD

And quite beautiful!

This is fried Squid, actually wasn't too bad. a little rubbery, but good!

My Sweet and Sour Chicken, sticky rice, and seaweed. :)

Picutred from left: Jeff, Cindy, Irene, Courtlynn, Cody, Blade, Rebekah, Emily, and Nathan. These guys (and 4 more) are working with North American Mission Board working with the demographics of Vancouver prepping for more church plants. All of them have interesting stories! After dinner we went to a Karoke place where we rented a room and sang out hearts out!

It has been great getting to know Jeff and Cindy. They make me laugh!

It was a long day, but so thankful God gave us strength and the direction we needed! We were ready for a cold shower and bed before church in the morning!

Busy Week!

As you can tell, it has been a busy rest of the week since I am just now filling you in... Wednesday I went to my favorite coffee shop to get online to answer a few emails before I had to meet with Craig. Our meeting was very helpful as we talked about what ministry looks like here. We talked about the difference in part time and full time ministry and the responsibility for both.
As we were talking a single rain drop hit out table. We both looked at each other, looked past each other just in time to see more rain start falling! We moved inside, finished our conversation, said goodbye and parted ways. I headed back to the apartment about 2 blocks away and found Rebekah getting ready for lunch. The rest of the day was a very much needed chill day until dinner that night. Our friend Sophia came over to help cook Baked Alfredo Ziti, and then we waited for Jeff and Cindy to show up. (Jeff asked what we were having and said he would bring something to compliment the meal. We were thinking "Yeah, right!" He showed up with sushi.) Jeff is Canadian/Chinese and Cindy is from China. We had great conversation, laughs, stories, and made plans for the weekend. We both went to sleep with a smile on our face that night as we thought of our fun friends.

Thursday began with us taking brownies to a high school on campus to thank them for what they do for the students, campus, and for Origin Church. We came back for lunch (left over sushi, risky? YES. I like living life on the edge..) We packed up things for our "Happy Birthday UBC" booth and headed to the bus stop. We set up with a sign and balloons for extra affect.

We handed out ice cream to whoever wanted some, let them know about Born for More (the BSM club on campus, who is "pregnant" with the church) (Hey, I didn't phrase it that way! The church basically, comes out of the club on campus.) Met some cool people and my "Showtime" skills from HEB came in handy. :) Since the ice cream was melting in the heat of the day, we packed up and headed home. We deserved a nap! I dozed off listening to a podcast, however when I woke up God used it to get my attention. I have been asking myself,
Why am I here? I mean, I love meeting these people, but as soon as we build relationships with them, I am leaving. What is the point? It's so hard because I want to still be there friend even if I don't see them again.
God was showing me how Christians need fellowship where we talk about what God has done in our lives, what he is teaching us now and to thank him for everything he has done for us! We need that community to thrive. Personally, I haven't had that kind of community in two weeks and I feel the effect from it. Here in Vancouver it is so hard for Christians to find that community because there are so few Christians. There was my purpose! They need fellowship with believers and assurance that they are not the only ones! That we are running the same race, just a different track. I woke up refreshed and ready to be intentional! Linda a friend that Rebekah spent some time with last summer, texted us and asked if we can finally meet for coffee since we have been trying to do all week.Linda is from Nairobi, Kenya and everyone kept telling me I have to meet her. I was so thankful we got to talk (even in Swahili!) and I got to share my story of the biggest lesson I learned in Kenya. (I also wrote a blog about it, "Why Kenya" if you want to check it out!) She is going back Friday, so it was great to meet her before she left! She was very sweet for sharing her Kenyan Chai tea with us!

On the spur of the moment we decided to go buy some pie for dessert that night so we caught a bus, and found this place!

The Rose Garden of UBC. Apparently we crashed a graduation party too...

A regular view of the bus!

My apple blackberry pie! T'was delish!

Friday started out like any other beautiful day, at the coffee shop. :) Skyping with my parents is always a blessing and I appreciate their encouragement! Dad affirmed my thoughts by pointing me to Paul's missions career. He didn't stay in places very long and his main focus there was to encourage the believers to reach out to others in their area. What better example to follow! I was so excited to encourage the believers here, starting with Sophia. She met us at the Beanery so we can study Philippians together. She is so hungry for the Word. Her enthusiasm and questions encourage me! :)

After Bible Study we headed back for lunch, and handed out Popsicles in the neighborhood. Me and Sophia walked to the store to buy more hot dogs for the cook out that night. We talked about the Bible, life, America, and China. I learned so much from her! When we got back me and Rebekah decided to rest up before getting things ready for the cookout on the beach.

About 6pm, we loaded up the hot dogs, watermelon, and tablecloths and headed to the beach! We had a great time of fellowship with several church members, a team of NAMB volunteers (Who are here for 6 weeks, more on them later!), and the O'Brien family.