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| Through Fire and Flame, the 23 put the Devil to Shame
[This is basically just an overview of our trip mixed in with my thoughts]
So we arrived at Mexico okay and it was all good. We didn't forget
anything this year which was an amazing blessing. And we had a good
group of 23 people: 3 Leaders 20 Kids. But the devil was already
attacking me with his games. I didn't get a good sleep that night
because i was unsure of how the year would turn out. And then the next
day we get to the camp site and the demons were still haunting me. I
saw the workspace and i literally lost all my hope for a second. I
started having thoughts of "shoot we can't finish this, even in 4
days." And even though I gave constant bouts of doubt, our AMOR rep
kept assuring me it was possible. After a little prayer and some
progress on the foundation, the demons left me and I was finally,
finally put my heart and mind on the task fully. So for the next day we
kept at it working hard and working well. In such a tight workspace we
were able to finish the house. And after the 4 workdays, we were all
exhausted and tired. And that's when the devil hit us, with everything
he had.
The next day, July 10, 2008, was the most emotionally nerve-racking day
of my life. It started very chill and okay. We went to Rosarita and
parked in this hotel parking lot. Jason who was feeling sick was
leaning up against the car, and Scott opened the door. The door hit
Jason's elbow and Jason's body couldn't take the pain. At first he
seemed fine just a little annoyed and really really tired so we brought
him to the car and I offered to stay with him. But because his body was
over-worked and it couldn't handle the pain so he started flipping out.
I had no idea what to do and I felt so helpless. He was in so much pain
telling us how his arm was hurting or how there was something on his
head when really there wasn't. And all I could do was sit there and
assure him everything was going to be alright when I wasn't even sure
myself. Every time he was in pain it hurt me so much.
And finally when we got to the hospital everyone was crying and down.
And scott. Oh man scott was feeling heka guilty for hitting Jason, and
I would too. But I believe in Scott. I gave him a bit of advice and a
little while after he got better. After we found out he was over
exhausted and dehydrated we were all happy. So we went to a taco stand
while we were waiting. But while we were at the taco stand, something
happened to Klara. She went to the bathroom and got locked in, even
though the lock was on the inside. She isn't crazy, the devil was
messing with her. She said she saw a girl in there, herself. And the
other her was throwing dirt at her, telling her to bang harder and
scream louder. When she got out she looked traumatized. And it was
painful for me to look at her, always so silly and cheerful, afraid and
dazed. I did what I could to comfort her and again I felt so powerless.
So useless and worthless.
The next day we went to magic mountain and then everyone started
getting sick. So I was thinking about making a list of people who got
sick during the trip here, but I'm going to reverse it and make a list
of people who didnt get sick or hurt.
Jiminy
Me
Mr. Hwang
Daniel Kim
James Lee
Did I miss anyone? haha So many people were having stomach problems or
was sick in some way. Also, the next day Matt and Judy got really sick.
Judy got Ecoli and Matt got some weird disease thats not contagious or
fatal so don't worry, but yea.
[End of Overview]
I know I wasn't worthless or useless or whatever with Jason or Klara.
Yes I do know what "they" say -Sometimes a person just needs a friend
to lean on (who the frick is "they" anyways?). But there was just that
feeling, that underlying feeling of I wish I could do more, I wish I
could do more. And this is where I had to trust in the Lord. I had to
trust that everything would be alright, but the hardest part is
believing it. I had to force myself to believe it, and I wasn't able to
until Klara spoke that night.
I love all of you guys but imma keep the shoutouts a bit small.
Jason Chun - You SHEKI don't you ever put me through that again. I may
have shed a tear for you (ONLY ONE I ASSURE YOU! :P) but next time you
do that I'm going to joo goh you got it?!
Klara Sung- WOW Klara :) Truthfully I was scared for you after the
bathroom incident. I was afraid that you would be traumatized for a
long time, that the devil really got to you. But the truth is he was
getting to me. And when you spoke that night telling us how you felt, I
was in awe and pure shock. Never have I seen someone turn around the
devil's work so fast, so surely and so amazingly. You're a lot stronger
than you think you are- than I think you are. Keep it up.
Scott - remember my wise words of wisdom to you. It doesn't apply only
to this situation but to a lot of this life you will live.
Rosy- You're so much better than you think you are in more ways than one. Don't worry about your life, take control of it.
Looking back now, I'm surprised I was able to keep my cool. We were all
reaching our limit, and some even reached theirs, but God got us
through. And by reaching our limit, and constantly getting attacked by
the Devil, we were able to grow stronger as a group, as people, and as
a church. I'm really proud of you guys. You turned a mission trip that
I expected to be not too special, into a life-changing experience. ALL
of you
I can only pray that God will bless me even more through you guys even though I have so little time left. :(
~Always JAMiN in His Name | | |
| Korea: A Hidden BlessingSo as many of you know I went to Korea this past three weeks or so and man oh man was I totally NOT prepared for it. Well lets start from the beginning.
June 11th-June 14th : Nothing much. I arrived and had no jet lag (If theres one thing I really love about myself its that I get little to no jet lag ^_^)
June 15th - First day at Jubilee and flipping oh shoot Pastor Hwang is a good pastor. The moment I stepped in I could feel the Lord's presence surrounding the place. I had that peace of mind and relaxed feeling like when the Holy Spirit's presence is strong in you. He gave a message on why Praying is important, which I'll post about later since there so many things I could say. I also met Esther Lee, Jurie Gweon, Matt Do and Aileen Choi, all of whom are dear to my heart now. Especially Matt and Esther =D. The way Matt behaves towards his fellow church members reminds me EXACTLY of myself its hilarious. And Esther is from the Bay! WTMonkeys not only that but she taught Jimbo/Iris when they were younger and is friends with Ceana! Crazy small world. Then at night I spent some time with Pete Chang and Daniel Yoo (my brothers friend from Berkeley) and a group of people that he toured with. We played Mafia till like 2AM then hung out till 3 then went to sleep.
June 16th- June 19th Nothing much other than korean classes and I was in the hospital for my back. I had to sleep on a piece of wood for 4 nights >_< Nothing big though but thanks for those that worried about me :)
June 20th - jYm praise night mmm Danny Hwang has a really nice voice. Chilled with Esther a bit and met Fred, Taeshin, Daniel, Celine and Adrianne for the first time (btw thanks for the shirt Taeshin). Then, after praise night I hung out with Tina, Kristi and Dan. All of whom are dear to my heart now too.
June 21st - Truly don't remember what I did.
June 22nd - Went to church again but this time I didn't meet that many people. I kind of just stuck with the people I already knew. Mostly talked with Aileen, Matt and Taeshin. That night though I went to the the opening service for Ecclesia (its their church cafe) and I met Esna, Jean, Andrew, William and a couple other guys who I can't remember atm (sry >_< ). Then I figured out it was Tina's birthday so I went over to say happy birthday and she invited me to her birthday party at TGIFriday. And that night I met Esther Oh. She was an answer to one of my prayers and she doesn't even know it. =D haha and she's cool. Just like Matt reminds me of myself, she reminded me of myself too. But this is mostly because of what she's interested in and her character. Also met Elgin Smith. He got a scholarship thing to go to Korea and tour around. Iono exactly what it is but it's cool and so is he haha.
June 23rd - Korean Class
June 24th - Met up with Jane Hwang from NCBC! Haha my ddahl (don't ask)! We met up and hung out at Coex till a little after lunch. We mostly just walked around, but we also went to Mr.Pizza and she tried Goh-goh-mah pizza for the first time (and we saw the Shrimp Nude pizza LOL). Then she took me to the picture booth place in the arcade and we took pictures haha. Then I had to go at 2 because of Korean class =(
June 25th - Wednesday Night Service was bomb. Pastor Paul is an amazing speaker too. He talked about How to be a Person after God's Heart. I would tell you guys more about it, but that would spoil the message I'm giving during the Mexico Mission trip, but don't worry it's good. ^_^ We also spent around 45min - 1hr praying and that was the most intimate prayer I've had in a while. It was so refreshing and felt so awesome. Oh man I even started crying because who knows why. I don't flipping know why. I wasn't like bawling but the tears just started to flow and I felt so good and peaceful. Thank you God. Oh man that was intense. Then hung out with Matt, Aileen, Celine and Adrianne for a bit and went back home. Then Pete and Daniel came over and we watched Wanted with my bro at 12:15 pretty good movie for the action. The story was a bit predictable at parts. Nice classic twist though.
June 26th- I hung out with Matt. Like all we did was hang around in my for 4 hours. We played SSBB for a while but then we just started talking about korea, our spiritual walk and just life in general. Iono about him but I had an awesome time just talking haha. Went to some cafe and got something to eat, and then he had to go.
June 27th- The day of the start of my even more intimate relationship with Jesus. Thank you God = )...
To be continued...
~Always Jamin in His Name
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| June 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
July 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
August 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Sept 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
So for those of you that are wondering
June 10-July 1st = Korea
July 6-13th = Mexico Mission Trip
July 21-August 13 = Japan Mission Trip
August 14- Sept 5 = Korea (a[freaking]gain)
I hate going to Korea with my family...like seriously I don't do anything.
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| So I've gone through a little process called GRADUATION!! BYAH BYAH!
You're all jealous I know, but we (most likely) started earlier so
chill - second or third week of august I think). Anyways it was fun.
If you want to see pics go to my facebook but other than that I only
really have one purpose to give you all some VERY VERY VERY important
advice.
DO NOT...
I REPEAT DO NOT...
Eat a really spicy bowl of ramen the night (especially at 11:00PM like me) before your Graduation Ceremony.
That is correct. I just said NOT to eat a bowl a ramen. The only time I'll ever tell any of you that, so trust me on this one.
If you do choose to eat ramen let me just tell you.
You run the risk of crapping your pants during the ceremony and its uncomfortable as riding a camel especially on your butt.
My advice is only out of love for you guys.
~Always Jamin in His name | | |
| I love MeesterMe: "Batter my heart oh great Dan Meester!"
Meester: "I ravish you."
LOLOLOLOLOL
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