"New Thing"

"Remember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.

The wild beasts will honor me, 

the jackals and the ostriches,

for I give water in the wilderness,

rivers in the desert, 

to give drink to my chosen people,

the people whom I formed for myself

that they might declare my praise."

Isaiah 43:18-21

It's so easy to think about the former things and find joy, satisfaction, and sometimes even self-glory in our past "successes." But life goes on, and every day is a new day. I am currently in Vietnam, not America; manager at Donut's Donuts, not a student at UCSD; at Bethel, not GCC. Church, ministry, God's work. It's not about the place or the building, but it's about the people, God's chosen people. God has placed me in a new place with new people - God's definitely gonna do a new thing(s). 

--

"젖과 꿀이 흐르는 땅이 아니면 젖소와 벌꿀을 치면 젖과 꿀이 흐르는 땅이 되도록 하나님을 의지하고 순종하면서 행동하면 돼는 것입니다."

Soup

Vietnamese Soup

In the afternoon, a man on a moto drives by with a big bucket of soup.

Vietnamese workers run out of their shops to buy it.

My employees eat it from time to time.

They asked me if I wanted one so I said, "Sure!"(Gotta try new things y'know~)

It's 10,000VND, so 50 cents. Cheap & delicious!

I was actually quite surprised that it had pieces of crab meat and quail eggs inside.

But it comes down to the fact that it's "street food." 

Who knows what they really make it out of. But........ who cares? 

Gotta enjoy it while I can :)

Baby Step

Gave my first Korean sermon.

GG.

Had my manuscript, but the problem is... I can't find my place when I'm lost.

I just can't read Korean as fast as I read English. 

It doesn't come into my eyes. I look... and it just looks like a blob of characters.

There were moments (to my surprise) when words that weren't even on my manuscript just popped out of my mouth. (That wasn't me. That had to be God! PTL!)

But there were also moments when I couldn't spit out the word I was thinking of, so I just went with English.

It wasn't as bad as I had expected..

I didn't faint or have a heart-attack.

But... it's still nerve-wrecking thinking that there are many more sundays to come.. many more Korean sermons to be preached.

Definitely out of my comfort zone,

but I guess this is all a part of the training process.

.. slowly taking my baby steps.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2012.

4th Thanksgiving with the Choi Family.

Thought it would be a bit depressing to be spending Thanksgiving sitting at Donut's Donuts while everyone back at home is getting fat off of turkey, so I decided to take a trip to Hanoi to spend Thanksgiving with 

GCC Family.

Arrived mid-day on Wednesday and left Friday before noon, so I only had one full day.

But it was good. Short & sweet :)

Restful.

Insightful.

Words of advice.

Words of wisdom.

Encouragements.

Came back feeling well-rested and well-fed, both with food and with spiritual wisdom.

It always feels nice to get a little push, a little slap, and a little wake-up call :)

--

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

- 1 Corinthians 10:31

Dog Meat

"Dog Meat Soup"

Yea yea, I ate dog meat. Don't judge.

First (and only) time I ate this was in Korea when I was in elementary or middle school. 

Never really had the chance to eat it again. 

If I had the choice, I guess I wouldn't go choose to eat it.

(It feels a bit different, now that I have a dog.)

Deacon Man Sik took me to go eat this for lunch.

It tastes just like goat meat!

I guess there's no need to eat dog, if I can eat goat instead and get the same taste!

I love goat meat, so yea... it was actually pretty delicious. 

Koreans...... what do we not eat?

Introducing: Hae Yeon

This is Hae Yeon Park.

She is a member of Saigon Bethel Church, Young Adults Group.

Same age, twenty-one.

Lives one minute away from Donut's Donuts.

Moved to Vietnam a little over 4 years ago.

Parents live in Korea, so home-stays at a church member's house.

Attends a Vietnamese College! (So cool!)

There's no one at Bethel that's our age, so she was very happy to meet a "friend".

It's due to the Korean culture, where you can't call or even consider someone younger or older a friend.

(So different from America. At GCC we're all friends! Even from ages 20 to 50! 

I miss my friends.. QQ)

But I'm thankful that she makes an effort to spend time and build a relationship with me 

cus knowing me, I wouldn't.

This is the first time I did anything outside of Donut's Donut's & Bethel Church activities.

We went to go eat Soon Dae Gook and chilled at a Vietnamese Cafe.

It's still weird that I'm most free on sundays and that I have this kind of leisure to go out, eat dinner, and chit-chat at a cafe.

Enjoy it while I can? :)

Dragon Fruit

i love.