Filed under: Mi Yun Lee Jeong
His wheel grinds slowly, but it grinds exceedingly fine.
Peace.
Filed under: Mi Yun Lee Jeong
I would encourage each of you to sign the petitions up at www.aclj.org. I’m not much of a politiker, simply because I don’t know enough about politics to talk about it, but I do have opinions. ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice) is a solid Christian NGO and I believe in a lot of what they do, especially currently. The current petition is coming right before the UN meets tomorrow, so it is crucial to sign it now. It will be presented as a hard copy containing tens of thousands of signatures before the UN by the ECLJ (European Centre for Law and Justice) asking for an official investigation to be made into the reported and ongoing human rights violations in Iran. This particular petition is against Iran’s leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the Iranian government at large, concerning severe international human rights violations following his re-election this past summer. Many are still imprisoned and continue to face torture, rape, and death. As Christians in the international community, we must speak for them.
The other most recent petition is against the Obama administration’s health care reform bill. Please look and read their petitions and if you agree, sign it.
Maranatha.
Filed under: Mi Yun Lee Jeong
This is an entry that I had written on June 26, but for whatever reason failed to post. Our English Ministry prayed for these two a few weeks ago and things have been quiet in the media until now. But I saw a headline a few minutes ago that read “North Korean Pardons US Journalists,” and I was elated.
June 26, 2009
Although I fear the worst for these two, I am also prayerful about their futures. God be praised.
Maranatha.
Filed under: MISSIONS: Mi Yun Lee Jeong
The summers are relentless. I don’t ever find myself as tired as I am outside of the summer months. But there are sweet times of thankfulness that arise out of being drained physically from ministry.
Our church wrapped up our annual VBS last Friday. My friends Emmanouel and Teresa from LA joined the staff to help out and it turned out to be a wonderful week. We had our share of fun, food poisoning, and fellowship.. what else is there to look forward to!
So, now that VBS is in the history books, I have Honduras to look forward to. The team leaves on Saturday morning, but I’ll be leaving with my pastor and his daughter after Sunday service. Some are worried about saftey issues after the recent coup, but my biggest concern is simply being tired. But, if the plane takes off, we’re going.
Yesterday after service was over, I walked into the office to find Stefania on her Mac. She looked at me and said “Being a servant is hard.” And I retorted, “It hurts.. it’s painful.” It’s all true. But these are times to learn how to depend increasingly on the Lord for strength.
maranatha.
Filed under: MISSIONS: Mi Yun Lee Jeong
preparing for missions is much like preparing for any other job. the nature of missions is arguably different from the more secular jobs on the market, yet a job is a job. a calling is a calling, and a vocation is a vocation.
i recently completed my first course in the MA in TESOL program at my school. for the first time in three years, i’ve ventured off into new territory in my studies. a stark contrast from the Bible, theology heavy courses that seminary provides, yet my heart was strangely warmed hour to hour as i learned how to be the best English teacher i could possibly be. given that my school is an evangelical institution, everything is centered around our witness to the world as believers, regardless of what vocation we enter into. and something so seemingly mundane as teaching English is now one of the most powerful ways to share God’s love.
God knows that four years ago, i would have never surrendered to His plan of seminary and now even more schooling. but that’s what i truly love about God, which is that He gives us time to surrender. little by little, He allows us to realize what is best and then nudges us toward His greater plans.
in the meantime, Thailand is a closer reality. my M.Div. is slowly wrapping up (i’ll be completing my degree this coming fall), and i’ll continue on with the MA in TESOL for approximately the next two years. currently, i have no more plans of my own, other than to seek to leave for Thailand as soon as i can afterwards. raising support still looms in the future, as does deciding more firmly where i’ll be serving.
for the second year in a row, i’ll be going on a short-term mission trip with my church to Honduras. much the same thing as last year, although in a different village. part construction and part VBS. although in my heart i would much rather travel to Thailand and invest more there, i know that there is always something to learn in going where God leads the church. i look forward to it, but at times feel tired just thinking about the travel and work. regardless, i trust that i’ll learn many things new.
i feel the itch to go back to Thailand soon. it’s similar to not seeing a close friend and yet never losing your inherent love for them. i miss Thailand. i miss being able to see my Thai friends early in the morning and sharing my meals with them. i miss stepping on Thai soil and silently gazing into the bright sky. but all these things are yet to come.. again.
maranatha.
Filed under: MISSIONS: Mi Yun Lee Jeong
Christian human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng, has now been missing 50 days, and there is increasing concern for his life. He was last seen being hauled away from his home by more than a dozen police officers on February 4. Reports from inside China indicate he is undergoing brutal torture.
The situation is critical, and with each day that passes, Gao Zhisheng’s life hangs in the balance.
Because of Gao’s work defending house church Christians and others persecuted in China, the Chinese government wants to silence his voice. ChinaAid president, Bob Fu calls Gao’s torture “the most severe persecution in China’s modern history.” Gao’s wife and two children, who have also been abused and tormented by the police, escaped to the U.S. less than two weeks ago. His family is afraid that authorities, furious at their escape, are taking revenge on Gao.
ChinaAid and The Voice of the Martyrs, together with Gao Zhisheng’s wife and children, call on all Christians and those who value human dignity and justice to speak out on Gao Zhisheng’s behalf by signing a petition to free Gao.
» PLEASE sign the petition at www.FreeGao.com
Filed under: Mi Yun Lee Jeong
remembering is always difficult. much harder than most would think. the last week or so was filled with thoughts about my dad, who passed away ten years ago on the 23rd. i always think about my friend So Jin Kim, whose mother passed away just two months before my dad in the same hospital under similar conditions. we visited her mom in the ICU that December, the very same one my dad would be admitted into, and i said a prayer for her in the darkness of her room as i grieved for her daughters – my friend So Jin and her two older sisters. what severe mercy that was for me.. for God always prepares us for what is to come. on my way out of the hospital that night, i saw a sign on a door outside of their family waiting room, which read “The Kim Family”. two months later, i still remember the shock of seeing that sign: “The Jeong Family”.
my sister Ji Yun, who’s in Boston, always becomes sensitive during the month of February.. in many ways her form of grieving. in A Severe Mercy, Vanauken writes this after the death of his wife:
“The death of any familiar person – the death, even, of a dog or cat – whether loved or not leaves an emptiness. The great tree goes down and leaves an empty place against the sky. If the person is deeply loved and deeply familiar the void seems greater than all the world remaining. Under the surface of the visible world, there is an echoing hollowness, an aching void – and it cuts one off from the beloved. She is as remote as the stars. But grief is a form of love – the longing for the dear face, the warm hand. It is the remembered reality of the beloved that calls it forth …. It is not the grief, involving that momentary reality, that cuts one off from the beloved but the void that is loss. In the end one can no longer summon forth that reality, and then one’s tears dry up. But while it lasts, it is a shield against the void; and by the time the grief wanes, the terrible emptiness of loss has given way to a new world that does not contain the shape of the beloved figure” (182).
i think often about my dad, usually short enough that is doesn’t sadden me much. but every year, around this time, i allow myself to work through it again. i see with greater clarity and conviction how God has carried my family through the last ten years. is God’s grace sufficient? so much more than i had imagined..
during the memorial service last night, a small group of pastors, elders, and friends gathered to remember my dad. i heard for the first time that my dad was a peacemaker, which surprised me because it’s a role that i often find myself in. perhaps i had seen it while he was alive, but i never heard it from the lips of others. it was only when one of his close friends started sharing that i began to break down. you could care less about what is said about your father until it brings back a part of him that you thought no one else remembers except yourself. i cried as he shared how he used to smile when he greeted people, how he used to brush the hair from his forehead with his left hand.. after ten years, you begin to think that you’re the only one who remembers things.. but that last memory was one that i had forgotten myself. it was almost as if i had found a treasure to have that memory back.. and certainly i did.
my dad had loved his friend so much that he said he didn’t know how to contain it, which is an enduring memory for me. and after he died, his friends would often talk about how they would support my mom, my sisters, and me. although he said they never carried it out, surely God did. i never imagined that after ten years, i would learn new things about my dad. not only did i come away with a fuller picture of my dad, which i am forever grateful for, but also a fuller picture of the individuals in community, without whose prayers we could not have moved on. my dad was a lot of things, many things which proved his fallenness, but in the end he loved so well. and that’s how i remember him.
If everything is lost, thanks be to God
If I must see it go, watch it go,
Watch it fade away, die
Thanks be to God that He is all I have
And if I have Him not, I have nothing at all
Nothing at all, only a farewell to the wind
Farewell to the grey skey
Goodbye, God be with you evening October sky.
If all is lost, thanks be to God
For He is He, and I, I am only I.
maranatha.
Filed under: Mi Yun Lee Jeong
today is a bad day. i have some much needed respect for those who are chronically ill.
maranatha.
Filed under: Mi Yun Lee Jeong
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Him above ye heavn’ly hosts,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Merry Christmas to you all.
maranatha.
Filed under: MISSIONS: Mi Yun Lee Jeong
i recently put back on an old ring i used to wear a few years ago. i had bought a ring to set my focus on God and His leading in my life, especially with missions becoming a greater and greater burden on my heart. i was twenty at the time and for some reason, i felt it a good idea to commit for three years.. “to give the best three years of my life,” i said to God. one of the collateral ‘damages’ that was built into that commitment was to stay single for the entire duration, and i did. one of my good friends happened to buy me a ring soon after the three years ended, so i happily swapped it for some time. trust me, the old ring got heavy after three years..
but about a week ago, i pulled out my old ring and put it back on. with so many things going on and the busyness of life, a simple ring can be a good focus setter, especially for the eyes, which so often causes more distractions than good. while the visual, emotional, spiritual, and physical impact of actually setting foot on Thai soil was my usual focus setter, more than enough to last me the rest of the year in Oregon, i didn’t have that this year. nor should i need it to sustain a true heart commitment over the years.
so with that, this year will end without a trip to Thailand for me. when i realized that i wouldn’t be able to plan a trip during the summer, i was extremely disappointed in the first few moments, and weeks (!), at the idea of not going, but we all face delays and bumps when we go after the best things. and we go through a necessary time of testing and waiting to refine the motives of our hearts and faith in God.
expect no different when you find yourself with new God-given dreams and visions for life!
maranatha.
