We Have a High Priest Who is Able to Sympathize

Dear Precious Handfuls:

One day, I suddenly felt ravenous at work. There were bags of tiny packets of Toblerone© on the table at the nurses' break room, and I helped myself to a handful of it as I was swinging by. There were a variety of flavors: gingery orange, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate! When the first piece started melting in my mouth, it awakened this feeling of “I must stuff all of it in my mouth” urgency, and before I knew it, I had already devoured 5 pieces. When that realization of how I went out of control came upon me, a wave of nausea also hit me simultaneously. My body had not been as tolerant of sugar ever since I was no longer a kid whose metabolic rate equals speed of consumption. That’s why I seldom eat chocolate, or put sugar in my coffee these days. And I spent the next hour holding my stomach, feeling miserable, and also didn’t have any appetite for lunch (the real nutritious food) at my usual break time.
I empathize with all who face temptation to sinning and who suffer from the guilt and having to endure sin’s damaging consequences. While Jesus is the only one who faced temptation but is sinless, it brings me much comfort knowing He is sympathetic, too. His death that gave us life, He chose us even when He knows completely the deepest and darkest of our heart, it helps me to keep fighting the distractions that stop me from finding satisfaction in God.

I’ve added a couple more supporters here this past week. I may send out one more personal update next week before I leave, and I’ve added you all to the mailing list the team will send daily updates when we are in the field. Beginning September 12, be ready to look for emails with [email protected] or check your spam folder. You will not have permission to send emails through this googlegroup, but you may email me separately ([email protected]) or reply to the sender of the update of the day to give someone on the team a personal encouragement.

Thanks for coming to our August 27th Bake sale fundraiser. Many friends even asked us to keep the change. We will have our second bake sale fundraiser September 10th. We are more than half way to our goal of raising $3500 to support the student ministry and the 3 villages, but we know they are appreciative of any amount we eventually bring.
Quick facts: Spam musubi was the first to run out. Donation from boba milk tea (shout out to my friend Sarah) sale generated the highest $ amount.

Send off at HCC in all services this past Sunday September 3rd: It was a whole different feel when congregations of three different languages prayed over us. Even though I knew all three languages, the worship culture was distinctively different, the kind of worship songs we got to sit in and the words used that emphasized the godly values each culture group has. (By the way, I end up partaking communion with all three congregations because of the timing we went in during service. Eating and drinking with people you don’t have personal relationships with but know you share One God is a good training for what is to come.)

Our very last planning meeting.

Personal Prayer Requests:

• My Aunt (in 70s) had 2 emergency surgeries this past week, had bowel resection from obstruction by blood clots and cholesterol plaque. It’s quite sudden for us, since her cholesterol level had been normal, but she suffered a mini stroke earlier this year. She’s currently sedated on ventilator in the ICU. Please help pray for my Aunt to find relief from pain and for her body to recover from the surgeries. Her sudden decline was without warning (not like someone struggling with a chronic illness everyone knew what will eventually happen and has time to prepare for the next step). The further I walk in life, the more often I catch myself exclaiming while taking each step, “how come nobody warned me this will happen?” Jesus told us to live one day at a time, and not to worry about tomorrow. Thank God in all things and trust Him one day at a time.

• Pray that no matter what happens (including who will finally actually be on this trip for Cambodia), we will all be flexible and be open to sense where the Spirit moves for lives of holiness and mission. In the past two weeks, various things has been happening to each of us on the team that robbed and drained our energy and attention so we’re not as focused on making our final preparations. I would have been so happy prepping for the trip if it’s the only big project I’m dealing with and other parts of my personal life aren’t threatening to fall apart every second. (Like.. need to buy 15 light fixtures for my condo repairs before I leave the country.) But it comforts me to know that God will not protect me from anything that will make me more like Jesus. In an article by Joni Eareckson Tada, she shared how a friend encouraged her as she was searching for why God let her become a quadriplegic with the words: “God permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves.” There’s no guarantee who will finally gone on the plane towards Cambodia next Tuesday, but His love goes beyond Christ in us, as we share with whoever we meet where we stand, that Christ can also be in them and be their hope of glory.

• Pray for me to be more generous monetarily for His glory. It’s hard for me to uninhibit the over-budgeting side of me as cash flows like water this past year from my displacement due to the house fire. One thing that helped me is being clear about aligning my values with my action. Most often times, financial difficulty may cause me to think I had no choice due to circumstances. In order to watch my budget, I had no choice but opt out of vacation with friends, or choose the cheapest item on the menu instead of thinking what I would like to eat, or be limited in my prospects because I don’t have access to resources and personal growth that others have. But in fact, I do have choice. If I value personal growth, I may willingly prioritize my resources towards training and equipping, thus it’s a conscious decision of what I am sacrificing (time with friends, materialistic upgrades in quality of life) in order to gain the greater joy. If I value freedom and flexibility for missions, I chose to work part time so I can participate in missional activities and training, and I choose to give up earning a full salary that would have allowed me to “feel like” I may have better financial security. If I value being kind to others, I’m ok to let go of the Labor Day 4% sale for home supplies to not bombard my contractors over the holiday nor try to buy early and then having to ask friends to store those supplies for me or spend time coordinating returns. If I value generous heart and giving God from the first of what I have, I won’t feel fearful when the spending is out of my control when all along I believe money is from God’s pocketbook. When our values and our actions mismatch, we tend to feel unsatisfied, even hypocritical, and it robs us the true joy of being in the moment in life where we become the participants and not spectators of our own lives. It helps to ultimately align our values with God, because “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” I think this may be a mini talk I might give for the students if timing is right. Hopefully it will help the younger generation in decision making that aligns with the heart, that aligns with godly values.

• Pray to be aware of how to be a body part that works well with rest of the Body. Especially in plan-making, it’s very obvious each person on the team has unique gifts and talents we can contribute to the team. However, in order to achieve unity, often times what one person think is a piece of cake may sound frustrating for the rest of the team who need to catch up when it comes to doing something that requires everyone’s participation and support. So we take turns, there’s a time we need to patiently explain something until can bring everyone on board, and there’s a time we humbly try to understand how to follow a difficult concept that require us to be a part of. But I’m sure as Christ being the head of the Body, all of us body parts sure have a fine brain together. Like marriage is two becoming one, oneness is not the same as sameness. Just like in Trinity, they are three distinct persons: the father is not the son, and the spirit is not the same as the father. That perfect unified oneness displays perfect harmony and life-giving love. May we reflect unity and harmony in the Body and point the world to Himself.

Blurb about Latte Challenge:

Back in 2014, I did this Latte Challenge at Starbucks. They mixed both a fresh and an instant powder latte for me to taste test. I was able to tell the real latte from the packaged powder mix. The baristas were so surprised and asked me how did I know? The fake one was more flavorful, and the dried milk had an aftertaste that fresh milk and cream didn’t have. I think the instant-mix latte was formulated to have a stronger taste to attract people to buy something distinguishably good, while the fresh latte actually tasted quite plain in comparison. Just like the real gospel, Jesus is the only way to everlasting life. No artificial enhancement necessary, no promise of personal glory and no incentive apart from God’s grace, no immunity from suffering and pain to make following Jesus attractive and appealing. If nobody recognized Jesus on the road to Emmaus, if Judas Iscariot had to point him out for the soldiers to arrest Him, maybe he doesn’t “look” like a leader. But Jesus is the good shepherd, and he can tell apart the sheep from the goat.
Let’s think through the simple gospel message: God-Sin-Jesus-Accept. Or Creation-Fall-Redemption-Restoration. Hope I can become better and better at explaining this simple message to the Cambodians. Hope you take this moment to talk through the gospel, too. Make it instinctive, ready to share whenever an opportunity arises.
God promises His word will not return void, the Spirit will give us words when we don’t have any.