New Family, New Home

So if some of you have been following our baby updates, we shared that our current home has gone under foreclosure.  We realised that if we waited to be evicted, it wouldn't be very good timing.  So we decided to pursue finding a home and we found one!

Before talking about the new home though, I wanted to share with you a bit of the process of our decision to move.  The reality is that there was a high chance that we could have stayed.  However, when we first got the news of foreclosure, it got us to look at where we were at in our life situation.  We asked ourselves, is our time in this home finished?

One of the things we need to remember is that this home we are in is not ours.  It's God's.  God gave us this perfect home which allowed us to do 4 years of incredible ministry through it.  It allowed us to host students and friends well all the while paying a very low rent.

As we prayed over this situation, we couldn't help but feel that with the news of April bring pregnant, God was also calling us to step into faith and finding a new home.  What this mean was not easy for us.  It meant financial instability, more inconvenience, and choosing into community living with another couple.  The cost is indeed greater but I believe that as we are faithful to God's calling and commands, He will be more faithful to us.

For the next 2 years, starting March 1st will be the beginning of a whole new way of life for April and I.  We have decided to move in together with another couple with a 9 month old daughter from our church.  Together, we were able to find a home that is not far from our current one.  The rent is a bit higher but combining our resources and income of both families, we were able to afford it.  This is new territory for most people so your prayers will be greatly appreciated as we learn to navigate our new lives together.

The Parable of the Suits

"Wait?!  Why does she get to just drop the ball in the bucket and I have to take the shot blindfolded?!  That's not fair!!", said the student who just witness an injustice in the game.

"So what made this not fair then?", said the host.

"Well, the other person had no rules to make the shot while I had to take it blindfolded and from far away.  It was all determined at random!" said the student.

"I'm afraid this is how privilege works.  We don't get to choose our privilege at birth.  It has all been predetermined by society that certain people are going to have more privilege than others.", said the host.

"Ok, I see, but what do all these different suits represent then?"  said the student curiously.

"Hearts represents a person who has privilege and has no barriers to achieving success or opportunities.  

Clubs represents a person who has less privilege but there are a little bit of challenges that they need to face.  This could be representative of a model minority.  

Diamonds represents a person who may have a physical or mental illness/disability that prevents them from achieving success or having opportunities.  

Spades represents a person who may be facing systemic opposition weather in the form of laws created or even society and having people physically standing in their way.  This could be represented of the Indigenous people, refugees, or immigrants." explained the host.

"This is a really good clear example of privilege.  Thank you for this.  This was very educational.", said the student.

"Your welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it!  If you are interested, come check out our bible studies and our Blind event.  We as IVCF SFU are trying to wrestle and act on what it means to fight against injustice." said the host.

"This really interests me, I'll see if I can check it out.  One other question though, do I still get a chocolate bar for trying?, said the students with hopeful eyes.

"Actually, you don't get one.  The reason is that as sad as it may be, society still rewards those who get the ball in the bucket and the reality is... the majority of them are the privileged.  You didn't get the ball in the bucket, so you don't get a chocolate bar." said the host.

The student looked with disbelief that she still couldn't get a chocolate bar and walks away both sad and questioning in her heart.

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I have to say, this was the most fun I have had in my 7 years of tabling for New Student Outreach (NSO).  The invitation we offered to students walking by was that they could win a full chocolate bar by simply throwing a ball in a bucket.  The only catch was that they needed to draw from a deck of cards that determined what situation they needed to make the throw in.

Each suit represented a different scenario:

Hearts ♡ - No rules or restrictions apply to you, take the shot from anywhere you want.
Clubs ♣ - You need to make the shot 10 ft away.
Diamonds ♢ - You need to make the shot 10 ft away and blindfolded.
Spades ♠ - You need to make the shot 10 ft away and someone is standing in front of you to block your shot.

So as the students looked forward to the opportunity to win a chocolate bar, they were given these conditions and attempted to make the shot.  Often, the ones who didn't draw a heart missed while the majority of the ones who drew hearts made it in.

The rest of the time, the dialogue usually explained the rest of what happened.  What was interesting this year though was that 90% of the people that came to the table weren't Christians.  Some even came back because they wanted their friends to try and win a chocolate bar.  However, what was different this year is that IVCF became a place where people from all walks of life could talk and relate to.

I can't say that people are coming to IVCF more but, what we did was vastly unique to any other club on campus and that they will most likely remember this exercise as they wrestle with their own privilege.

Upcoming Events and Prayer Requests

Upcoming Events

• BC Staff Days - Feb. 15-16
• The Yuen's are Moving! - March 1
• Blind (Outreach Event) - March 2
• BC Prayer Breakfast - March 24

Students & Campus

• Pray for Alan Thorimbert as for the last 8% of his fundraising.
• Pray that God would give the student leaders perseverance to keep following Jesus in the midst of exams.
• Pray for the students as they wrestle with what it means to release their individualism to love people.
• Pray for our outreach BLIND that we can fill the space with 100 people
• Pray for the weeks of invitations leading up to the event.
• Pray for the follow-up after the event.
• Pray for the artists who will be performing at the event.
• Pray for my fundraising as I am about $500/month short this year.

Personal

• Pray for my continued growth as a leader.
• Pray for a smooth transition in moving for April and I.
• Pray for April in her work as she did not pass her first performance review
• Pray for our unborn daughter that God would continue to protect her and April.
• Pray for both April and I as we continue to journey together in marriage and into parenthood.
• Pray for the transition into community living.

Praise Item

• Praise the Lord for God's provision for a new home!
• Praise the Lord for the deep change and transformation students are encountering through scripture.

God Recycles Sin

Just about everyone knows this about me, but I used to be a pretty intense athlete in Judo.  I have my black belt, trained for 13 years, competed for 8 years, and coached for 8 years.  However, as Christian athletes have to wrestle with the idol of perfection and following Jesus at the same time, I didn't know how to hold that in tension.  I followed Judo and perfection instead of Jesus.  In the end, I decided to formally retire from Judo during my prime (age 23) and continued to serve Jesus outside of my athletics.

During my first VUP experience, I remember 2 distinct things.
1.  I have a deep heart for Justice
2.  God Recycles Sin - Al McKay

Little did I know, 7 years later, these two pieces that I learned from VUP has created an incredible opportunity for ministry.

Over this past month, I started to participate in an SFU Recreation program called Police Judo.  I stumbled upon this a few years back but I was unable to go so it slipped out of my mind.  Abraham, an SFU alumni, started to go and we began having Judo conversations.  During these conversations, I could feel the excitement welling up in my heart again.  I knew I needed to check it  out.

I went and introduced myself to the coaches and just watched the practice to familiarise myself with how they teach.  Police Judo uses traditional Judo foundations but applies it practically in law enforcement.

The following week, I decided to fish out my Judo Gi from storage and go to practice.  I was introduced to two black belts of Police Judo, who are police officers themselves, and they welcomed me.  I sat there seeing a lot of white belts and lower belts around me and no one really talking to me.  Class started and then the instructor started off the class by introduced me and honoured me in front of the whole class.  Aftewards, the tone of the students changed and I was in conversations with practically everyone.  All throughout practice, I was only seeing myself as a student yet the instructors were giving me coaching authority.  It didn't matter that I was out of practice for 8 years, they still honoured me as a coach.  After practice, I also asked what the fees were and they refused to take any fees from me because of my black belt.  I felt deeply loved and respected.

The following week, I went as usual, however this week was different.  The instructor asked me to take 20 min of the class to teach some of my techniques.  I was both excited and terrified at the same time.  Excited that I get to coach again and terrified if I have anything viable to teach anymore.  I proceeded to coach and it was as if all of my techniques came flooding back into my mind and my body was moving on its own.  People were having fun and everyone learned.  An instructor of Police Judo from the Justice Institute then invited me to come and train with their officers on other times of the week.

This level of honour is something that I am not used to but I am really enjoying.  When I was given this honour in the past, it would easily go to my head and I would flaunt it in front of everyone. This time is different though, I am constantly praying that God would keep my heart humble and the honour and respect that my black belt and experience offers me, gives me significant opportunities in this Police Judo world.

1. When students ask what I do and I share that I am a campus minister, they seem to have even more respect for me.
2. All of these students and instructors have a deep sense of Justice so there may be an opportunity for me to resurrect the Justice Bible Study.
3. I get to be connected with Police Officers in Vancouver which may give me connections to the Odd Squad for future VUP experiences.

It has only been a month and I am seeing some of these opportunities start to bubble up.

• Imagine if I am able to train with the same students 2 times a week for years.  The opportunity to share the Gospel is huge in this.  
• Imagine if I these students choose to explore God's heart for Justice and they come out with a bigger perception of Justice.  What if these students who are seeking after a Kingdom value of Justice go and become our future law enforcement?  What would our society look like after that?  

I don't know what God's plan is for this but what I do know is the sin of idolatry in Judo has now been recycled in my life.  It is not directed to myself, but to God and for furthering His Kingdom.

God indeed, loves to recycle our sin.

SFU Surrey Gets Upgrades!

Walking to SFU Surrey, I noticed that something was quite different.  I looked around and saw that there was a significant increase in law enforcement.  I walked into the campus mez to claim our typical spot for prayer only to find out that there was a stage, multiple cameras, and security personnel everywhere.  

I asked myself, "What the heck is going on here?"

With this question in mind, I find a spot to have our prayer meetings from which we continue to pray for this SFU event.  After an hour, Sam and I find out that the events at SFU Surrey was welcoming some exciting news for the campus from our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.

I stood on the floor above excited and confused on why our Prime Minister is at SFU Surrey.  Not only was Justin there, SFU's president (Andrew Petter) and our Province's Premier (Christy Clark).  Something big was happening to have all three of these leaders in one place.  

As the speeches rolled through, Justin then came to speak.  He shared about how SFU has been a significant leaders in Mechatronics and technology advancement in Canada and announced that the Federal Government will give $45 million to help build a new research facility!  Afterwards, Christy Clark spoke and pledged another $45 million from the provincial government bringing the total of $90 million being given to build this research facility.  

This new research facility will be a part of the SFU Surrey Campus which will effectively double it's size over the 3 years.  It will be the home of new classrooms, new facilities to advance research for Mecatronics engineering and also be the home of a brand new Energy Systems and Environmental Systems Engineering field of study.  

This is a huge opportunity as it will effectively double the student population at SFU Surrey over the next 5 years.  I don't know what IVCF's involvement will look like on the SFU Surrey Campus, I just pray that God will bring passionate students to take on the mantle of ministering to the Surrey campus and hopefully some staff may eventually make it there full-time.

Upcoming Events and Prayer Requests

Upcoming Events

• Worst Christmas Ever Christmas Party - December 1
• Emerging Leaders Module 2 - December 4-9
• Staff Retreat and Debrief - December 14-16
• Student Leadership Debrief - December 17, 18

Students & Campus

• Pray for Alan Thorimbert as for the last 8% of his fundraising for the year.
• Pray that God would give the student leaders perseverance to keep following Jesus in the midst of final exams.
• Pray for my fundraising as I am about $1000/month short this year.
• Pray for the transition of new leadership to next semester.

Personal

• Pray for my continued growth as a leader.
• Pray for both April and I as we continue to journey together in marriage and pregnancy.
• Pray for our living situation as it has become quite volatile.  We will most likely need to move over the next few months.

Praise Item

• Praise the Lord for God's provision in the Community House!
• Praise the Lord for more full-time work for April this year.
• Praise the Lord for getting through the first trimester without any complications
• Praise the Lord for providing $500/month of new donors over this past month.

Simplifying Life

As some of you may have noticed, last year was a lot of themes around Lament.  I spent time reflecting on this previous year and I noticed that if I continued to head in the same direction, I would burn out.  Some things in my life needed to change.

It wasn't easy though.  I fought and justified all the reasons why I needed to do more and to keep doing things like gaming.  I used excuses that it's "restful" or "it's not that much more."  Well, a lot of "it's not that much more" = "a lot!"  It was tough and over this summer and into this fall, God has used many situations to strip me of my own pride.  People like my Co-workers, Pastors, friends, and most of all my wife spoke truth into my life.  Eventually, I couldn't ignore that I was heading towards the path to burnout.

The reason why I needed to simplify things in my life is so that I can be more effective in the things that really matter.  Things like Marriage (Family), IVCF (Work), self care, friends, are to name a few.  However, as any person who likes to say "yes" to good things.  I realised how much I needed to let go of good things.

Over this summer and into the fall, I started simplifying my life:

• I stepped down from my roles and responsibilities of two committee's, focused around the Chinese Church, I have been a part of for the past 2 years.  
• Stepped down from leadership at my church.  
• Am not taking any preaching opportunities this year, instead inviting others who don't get the privilege and give them an opportunity to preach.  
• Retired from gaming on my phone.

What I have picked up and am focusing on now is:

• More quality time with April
• Community Center membership with April to workout together
• Helping more around the house
• Being more present at my home church
• Nerding it out with my friends through the card game Magic The Gathering
• Spending more time being on the SFU Campus and hanging out with my fellow Applied Science students.
• Time to hang out with friends.

Me saying "No" to essentially good things has not only allowed me to say "Yes" to doing other good things for efficiently, it has left space now for others to say "Yes" to these good things.  

Please continue to be praying for April and I as we look to simplify our lives for the purpose of being more effective in the things that Jesus has called us to do.