my amazing Yina... the worst kind of sinner

Where have all the cowboys gone??

so on december 31, 2006, i finally updated... and mr. matt kishimoto (by the way, the answer to your question is "Jennifer" and I could explain exactly what's going on in that episode all the way to what Zack's facial expressions are and his tone of voice... yes, i'm a loser) asked me to write on prayer and why we seem to be gradually lacking in that area... so i shall attempt to do so without boring you, but first...

DISCLAIMER YOU MUST READ!!!:  much of what I am commenting on may seem like judgments against YOU the Christian... and well, it actually might be... but most of what I will be sharing will be things that I too struggle with and constantly need God's help for... IF YOU'RE NOT A CHRISTIAN, most of what I will be writing will be Christian-related and if you ever have a question, post it in your comment and i'll do my best to answer the question in upcoming entries...

PRAYER: WHY?

Does praying to God make a difference? Ultimately, if God's will is going to be done on this earth, then who am I to change it?  Good questions... actually, bad questions... no wait, they could be good questions... still, could be bad questions...

You see, these questions are good if they cause you to go to your knees and pray to God and bad if they cause you to stop praying or have a slightly more negative view towards prayer.  God is very clear in His stance on us praying, "pray without ceasing" which literally means to pray persistently and regularly.   God desires for us to pray because prayer is the very way in which we show our dependence on Him.  A lot of us Christians say that we need God, but our lives might not show the same as we constantly depend on our own strength for things like getting a good job, a new car, good grades, better health, etc.

HEY KENNY!!! I'VE HEARD ALL THESE THINGS BUT I'M STILL NOT PRAYING!!! WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME THAT CAM MAKE A DIFFERENCE???

Testimony: By the grace of God and in humble confidence, I can say that I've experienced more spiritual growth and spiritual blessings in the past two years than compared to the rest of my Christian life... and it all started when I decided to dedicate my life to prayer...  Once a week, every week last year I would go to prayer meetings where a bunch of us UCLAers would pray for revival to hit the campus... nothing happened the first two quarters, but we kept on praying and the final quarter and even til now, we saw and are seeing people turning their lives over to Christ. 

KENNY!!! COULDN'T THAT HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU WEREN'T PRAYING???  SO WHAT???

Testimony that won't answer those questions: Recently, I've been praying every week on Saturday mornings for God to bring revival to Monterey Park and the San Gabriel Valley.  But not much has happened as we continue to lay a foundation for God to work. 

SO PRAYER DOESN'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE???

Testimony that might answer your question:  Good Friday, my friend and his buddy went street witnessing at this little hangout area in Alhambra called the Renaissance and they were able to lead some people to Christ.  Saturday morning, God put it upon my heart to worship in the open at that same place and lay a foundation for God's Holy Spirit to rest upon that place and claim that land back for God.  Wednesday, friends of mine street witness in that same place and see more than 5 people come to faith. Friday, April 13th (earlier this evening) my buddies and I go to witness in that same place and we see more than 10 people come to faith. 

WELL, WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE???

To be honest, I think that God is really starting to answer prayers here... you may want to argue that these people being saved could have happened without prayers being lifted up.  But I don't think so... AND HERE'S MY REASONING:

you see, there are two sides battling against one another... God vs. Satan... and obviously Satan is way weaker.  Both Satan and God have resources at their disposal.  God's ultimate goal is to save as many people as possible (2 Peter 3: 9) and Satan's goal is to deter as many people or block as many people from entering into a loving realtionship with God.  Satan uses things like sin and people like Darwin and Nietzsche to get people to say there is no God and say God is no fun.  God uses things like prayer and action and people like YOU and YOU and all of YOU who confess Jesus as Savior and Lord to get people to recognize they are sinners in need of a loving God to forgive them of their sins. 

SO WAIT, WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH PRAYER??? CLOSE ALREADY, YOU'RE TAKING TOO LONG!!!!

Okay, so here's the low down... God is desiring for us to pray... when I say that, does that make a difference to you... God is desiring for us to pray... a second time make it any more impacting?  third time the charm... God is desiring for us to pray... do you believe it?? 

LAST DISCLAIMER: It's late and I really didn't elaborate as I would have liked, but if you have any questions, post it or IM me at krazykatwith2ks and hopefully I could answer your questions...

Last thing... we lack prayer because we don't think there's a difference... how do you know that unless you pray and here's something to encourage you and myself as well... LET US ACTUALLY ACKNOWLEDGE GOD WHEN HE DOES ANSWER PRAYER AND NOT SIMPLY THINK A COINCIDENCE HAS OCCURED.  GOD IS THE AUTHER OF COINCIDENCES AND IN WHICH COINCIDENCES DON'T EXIST, RATHER, IT IS THE RESPONSE TO PRAYER BY A LOVING, JUST AND HOLY GOD!!!

so it's been almost a full two years since I've last updated... and I don't know what to update you all about except that the Lord has been faithful fo sho. 

i think i want to write about Christian topics but in a UNIQUE way (whatever that means) and i prolly won't get any eprops or comments (or as many) since my entries are about God and stuff, but oh well!

for right now, comments are welcome to encourage me to update and also sugggestions of what to update on...

i think that will suffice for now, payce out homies!! i know, i know, BORING ENTRY!

so i'm finally updating after many seemingly years... i was inspired by ms. tina choi who updates like none other.  and there's just sooo much to talk about but i think i'm gonna tell you about my missions trip to mexicali, mexico:

Well, I was sovereignly placed on team Bethel.  We had the opportunity to do vbs for the kids of the church.  Now get this... all of them were chinese and most of them spoke perfect chinese AND spanish!!! now as cute as they MAY look, they were really a handful.  Most of our time, outside of vbs was filled with "papuchis" (spanish for piggy back) and a lot of consoling of crying children. 

Some of these kids have really depressing stories and it just breaks your heart when you hear them.  It's impossible to imagine some of the cutest, younger ones being abused and neglected.  But you can totally see it when you play with them.  I remember just trying to hold one of the girls when she had got in a fight with one of the other little girls and she was just kicking and screaming!  Man, you wonder what that little girl goes through.   It would break your heart if you were to hear.  One of the biggest things our team realized was how much healing these kids needed. 

For the sake of sounding completely morbid, I would like to say that these kids are just that... KIDS!!! They love to play and they love to run and they love to be carried and held... despite all that... the one thing our team longed for is that when of age they would come to love their God.  I think the situation that these kids are in is a testimony of just how strong each and every one of them are because God's word promises that He will not test His children beyond what they can handle.  I just continue to pray that each and every one of them, would grow into that child of God and would come to accept Jesus into their hearts and would be able to trust all of their lives into the hands of the Savior and King who came, not to be served, but to serve... not to dine with the priveleged, but to commune with the brokenhearted and the unloveable.

Here are some pictures:

Winglam after another little girl took her seat

Waiting in line to hit Nemo the pinata

Ira admiring the cuteness of Nemo

"Spin us goh goh!!!"  (seriously, how do you say no to that? YOU CAN'T!!!)

Me and David... mr. athletic

One of my favorite pics cause the lil one is actually, genuinely JOYFUL!!!  "Verily I say, rejoice!"

Kids can be VERY creative when they have little to work with...

I don't know what it is about little boys, but they just love to make themselves dizzy.

I realize this may be a little inappropriate... but i must point out that Dean pooped the longest piece of poop i have seen in my life... lovely isn't it?

Good bye lil ones... hopefully see you next year!!!

You see, the thing is, God has totally provided these kids a means to His heart.  There's a pastor of the Bethel church, Pastor Flavio.  He gives up his time and energy to pick these kids up for church and drop them off.  He goes around the city to all the houses preaching the Gospel.  Matt, my team leader and close friend puts it best when he says that, " Pastor Flavio is one of the top 5 guys I respect."  If you're reading this, please lift a quick prayer for these kids and pastor flavio and bethel church.  Thanks. 

On a really random note:  Go watch Spanglish... it's an awesome movie... different to say the least.

Let me tell you a story: 

Five extremely cool guys are extremely bored one night and decide to go to the movies.  After much deliberation and for many legitimate reasons, they decide to watch a not so cool guy movie.  In fact, they decide to watch Wicker Park.  For the first hour of the movie, they are overcome with their lil' boy instincts (or maybe prideful man instincts) and feel like they have made a huge mistake and should have watched Paparrazzi. 

But all of a sudden, there came upon them a sense of belonging in that movie theater.  For some strange reason, it no longer mattered each one had been there with four other guys and they became consumed in the movie plot.  In fact, by the end of it, they found themselves singing the last love song in unison.  They left the place and felt peace.

As they stepped back out into the real world they were reminded that what they had just done was suspicious of their sexuality.  Stepping into the elevator they came across many who had just seen Wicker Park as well: two separate couples where in both, the man was holding the lady and another couple of two girlfriends just hanging out.  One of the extremely cool guys noticed this and pointed it out to his other extremely cool friends and the extremely cool guys laughed all the way home, extremely.

Now, I don't know if this is a true story.  I mean, I suppose it could be.  But really, where could you find 5 EXTREMELY cool guys who would do such an EXTREMELY odd thing.  Well actually, I think you might find some in Monterey Park and well, they might be my friends and me included.  But seriously, is that soo bad of a thing to do?  So what if we made ourselves vulnerable for one night.  Shoot, I wish we could have these crazy, random nights all the time (kinda).  I think as we grow older (and 18 & 9 is really old) we are starting to realize that machoism is not so in anymore.  Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoy my basketball, baseball, and football, bowling, ping pong, and dance, but I think these kind of nights are very healthy.  Because if you were to live for the sake of society to not blink, then well, a world of opportunities and a world of laughs might just pass you by.  Be cool by all means... but be cool in your eyes not the eyes of society.  I still need much work in this one.  Payceout and watchout now!!!

Funny moment of the day: My co-worker comparing her being a vegitarian to having a boyfriend saying it is better (i.e. it's easier to not cheat in a vegetarian relationship).  She's hilarious.