Hope of LA Testimonies

David Lee - NAAC 2008

I always realized that to get to the Promised Land, one must leave the comfort zone and dare to take on new endeavors. In February 2008, that life-changing endeavor came beckoning at my door. To back up, during December 2007, I took our students from our university group to Seattle for a joint service. It was during that weekend that something within me was telling me to move to Seattle, I didn't take it seriously at first, because my wife, Ann, had just given birth to our beautiful daughter Faith, and we had just bought our house no more than just a year ago. Plus I was due for a promotion at my work. So logically, this move wouldn’t add up to be a rational choice for us.

But during the following month, God's voice became louder and louder as time went on. As I listened to his voice, the word “unity” kept replaying itself like a song. Whenever I questioned about the rationale, God always answered my question with Jeremiah 29:11 ”For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Throughout my dialogs with God, my conviction was strengthening as well. Like Gideon, I asked God for confirmation of His will and prayed with certain conditions. My conditions ranged from getting renters to rent our house (I specially asked for a two-year lease), a new job (for me, transfer for Ann since her work has a branch in Seattle), selling off my side business, which I had been selling for the last three years to no avail, and the final one that God answers all the conditions for the other five members of Hope of Portland to move with us: either we all go or no one goes.

In a way, subconsciously I think I was hoping that there’s no way God would answer all these conditions and let me go. But I guess when God’s plan is in motion, nothing can withstand it. Soon after these prayers, I listed my house and business on the market; I was told that it was the worst time to rent due to the housing mess. By God’s grace, both the house and business were rented and sold to the exact condition I had prayed for. On top of that, I was offered a job in Seattle and Ann’s job was successfully transferred. There was a chance that Ann’s job in Seattle wasn’t going to happen, but Ann never lost faith that her boss will show favor to her just like how God had blessed her to have this job at a random encounter.

Not only did God answer all of my conditions that I prayed for. One of my major criteria was that God speaks to the other five members with a unified message and answers their conditions as a sign of confirmation for all of us. Miraculously, few months later I was informed that God spoke to them with the same unified message, and the message was clear, we all decided to move together a month later.

Today, as I look back at my doubts and reservations, I like to share what God spoke to me though the scripture that strengthened me, Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." I realize if we want to seek God wholeheartedly, sometimes we will be considered crazy and illogical to the world for the decisions we make. Throughout the entire moving process, I was filled with doubt and fears. But the final reward of following God and trusting in his divine will is more satisfying than all the tears and sweat combined. If one wants to walk with God, one must take a step out of the boat and into the unknown. I’m glad I took that step, and now I’m living in God’s will for me.

-- David Lee (Hope Church Seattle) : July 27, 2008 --

Richard Chau - NAAC 2008

Coming to know God. It’s funny because if you were to ask me last year if I believed in God, I would have been giving you all this philosophical babble about how he's a state a mind or a false hope that people need. But I came to experience God's grace and power in a way that changed and saved my life.

I came from a background of only relying on myself a lot. My family was extremely distant with each other since there were only three of us. My father left us before I was born and my sister lived her life on her own while my mom worked morning to night. So I kind of developed this state of depending on whatever I could achieve on my own.

I did believe that there was a celestial being out there. There were things in this world that I knew that we as humans could not explain or understand. So I believed in a higher power, but I believed that whatever it was, it didn’t concern me and that whatever happened to me just happened and there was nothing I could do about it.

It was about two years ago when I titled the celestial being as God. I remember I was going through some drama with old high school friends and that I was really frustrated and feeling very lonely and left out. That night I just wanted to get my mind off it and tried to see if I could find someone to talk to and maybe something to eat. I probably called at least ten people that night. All I got was either a voicemail or no answer. So I decided to get some fast food and just head home, just then I got a call from a really good friend of mine, Betty Lam. I figured she was just returning my missed call. I explain to her that I was just wondering earlier whether she wanted to get something to eat but that I had already gotten food and was heading home.

She told me that she saw my name and she wasn’t even going to call me back that night. She was actually tired and was going to go to bed, but she said that God told her that she should call me back. Normally I would brush that off as a coincidence but for some reason it stuck with me. So that night I let out some of the frustration that I was having and I felt a lot better afterwards. This was, I guess, when I had the seed of God planted in me. The situation seemed a little too unnatural to me to just forget about it. I was feeling lonely, and she had many reasons not to call me back that night. She even said that she was not going to call me back until the next day. I doubt she would have any reason to lie to me or make something up. That's why it seemed to be more like the work of God than just a coincidence. Nonetheless, I still believed only in myself and my own abilities, and I never really turned to God at all at that time.

It wasn’t for another year until God really spoke to me in a time and a way that changed me. I was in the middle of my semester and, like all college students, a lot of things were piling on me. School was controlling half my day, my job wore me out for the other half, and I would come home to finish off my night with family issues. Then there was this one night when my mom was angry with me about something I can barely remember. It was one of those days when school and work brought the extra tiredness on me, and I was not in the mood to deal with it. But she kept pounding on me and pounding on me, and it just broke me. I snapped and just shut myself in my room and released all this anguish about what was going on with me--not just about that night but EVERYTHING that was going on in my life. I called out to God, I pleaded to him, I clenched my fists and just called out to him hoping this one time in my life that he is listening to me and that he would help me with what was going on. I cried out and prayed to God with every fiber of my being for what I thought was hours and I even fell asleep against the wall of my room on the floor.

The next day as I awoke from the floor covered in tears, I walked to the bathroom to wash up. Then suddenly I got this tingly feeling over me and something in me kept telling me that everything was going to be all right, that there was nothing to worry about, and I was going to be fine. The weird part was that I knew it wasn't me telling myself this and also that it was a comforting thing. I took a deep breath and I suddenly had this feeling of being renewed.

At that moment I knew in my heart that it was all God. He graced me with his mercy and renewed me and calmed me down. It reminded me of this pretty well known passage in Isaiah.

Isaiah 40:28-31 - "“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and gives power to the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; and those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.”"

At that point I realized that I had to give up trying to rely only on myself. For so long, I had major trust issues with anyone other than myself. But when I cried out that night, I realized that God was for real. All my reasoning and logic just shot right out the window. I only could keep telling to myself that it was all by God's grace and his mercy to me.

I can never understand why God would save someone like me, and I know that I could never thank him or praise him enough for doing so. For right now I'm just riding on all the blessed things he is giving me and the way God has changed my life. He already blessed me with a strong faithful church. But what has really changed for me through God is my trust in people. Trusting in God made me isolate myself less from people and I came to put everything into God and to believe that he has a plan for me and to trust in that. So that's the message I want to leave everyone with. It's to trust in God. With everything we might face and all the stumbles and falls we will encounter, trust in God to be there to pull us through and to be by our side always.

Deuteronomy 31:8 - "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Trust in God. Trust in the one that gave us our savior, his only son, to be our sin bearer. Trust in his presence as we go through life and he will never leave us. God bless everyone.

-- Richard Chau (Campus Care Group) : July 26, 2008 --

Bao Hoang - Fathers Day 2008

It gives me great joy to have this opportunity to share with you the impact my Father has made on my life, and to share with you how he has led, guided and served my family.

I know that the Bible speaks much of honoring fathers and mothers with our obedience. But perhaps the best way to honor him this Father’s day as I am older and out of the house is to pay tribute to him as a father and a husband for his faithfulness in guiding, leading, and providing for our family.

My father always supported and encouraged us in any good endeavor we pursued.

My parents would go to my older brothers’ little league games in 105degree heat. When I was playing high school ball, I still remember looking in the stands and mom and dad were there ready to cheer us on. Even when it was inconvenient, dad made time to go to our away games. No matter if I played poorly, or well, or if our team won or lost, dad would always say, "good game, son". Dad never complained about my playing time or my brother’s playing time. He always respected the coach's decisions. Dad supported not only financially, but encouraged us and prayed for us in college when classes became more difficult and A’s or B’s or C’s didn’t come so easily.

My father was a man of deep conviction and integrity. He stands on morals that define all great men: honesty, uprightness, hard work, loyalty and respect. He dealt with business affairs honestly and forthrightly and kept his word even when it hurt. He treated his customers with the utmost respect, thanking them for their business and serving their needs in such a way that would please Christ whom he said all along is the one we are really working for. He taught us the value and importance of hard work and being excellent in the things we put our minds and hands to whether it be washing dishes or studying for mid term exam. His deep convictions allowed us as a family to attend church activities. I’m so grateful that he and mom took us to Sunday service, youth activities, and other church functions at FB Athens to learn God’s word and to know Him. The pivotal years in my life were when several people at church told me about Jesus and his wonderful saving grace demonstrated on the cross. Our church, through Dad’s support, played an immense role in showing and teaching the Gospel to me.

Finally, Dad was a man who modeled Gospel like sacrificial love. His sacrifice stems from a love for family and compassion for others. Being a former military man, who served his country for more than 10 years, he knew that living for a cause and a belief was not easy. American soldiers whom he served in cooperation with would describe years later his heroic acts of courage and sacifice. I had imagined that dad had to endure hardships and seen the brutality of war, but I never knew that he had risked his life in the line of fire to save other soldiers. I’m also reminded of the countless times he would uphold and honor our mom, the women that he had been married to for over 30 years. I remember the many ways he would honor her by serving her needs long after the honeymoon was over. It was the simple but meaningful things that dad would do for mom that I remember like: driving mom to work when it was rainy, buying flowers for her birthday or mother’s day, speaking well of mom in front of others especially his sons, or defending her honor when my brothers and I would talk to her in a disrespectful way or standing up for my mom when someone was rude to her or treated her badly. I learned from his sacrifice for others that there are great causes and people worth laying down your life for.

One verse comes to mind when I think about my Dad’s life:

Ephesians 6:4 - "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."

I’m thankful for my Father and what he’s meant to our family. God has been overwhelmingly gracious to us. Today, my mom and dad are seeing the fruit of their faithfulfullness in leading and training their sons. It is their investment in us by God’s grace, that has shaped so much of who we are. We have become beneficiaries learning from them who were modeling gospel-like acts of love for us. And now, the Godly influence and values are being passed along to the next generation in our family. My three brothers have married three wonderful ladies who have blessed my parents with eight great, energetic, and happy grandchildren. I know the fact that they are raised in God-fearing and loving families gives my parents full confidence in their future. And It gives me great joy to see the smiles on my parent's faces as they visit and play with the little ones.

-- Bao Hoang (Temple City Young Adults Care Group) : June 15, 2008 --

Betty - Hope Camp'08 and Asia Mission Trip

The trip itself was amazing. I was grateful that all four of us (Judy, Annie, Jarred and I) could go and experience what Hope Church was all about in Thailand. I experienced the awesomeness of God among the 6,000 people who were there for our services. Even though the majority of the preaching and worship was in Thai, the presence of God was so strong that none of that mattered to me.

Meeting the many brothers and sister throughout the different churches was remarkable. I had an opportunity to witness their undying faith and their hard work in all that they do! After the conference, we went on a mission trip around Khon Kaen. There are many stories, but I’m only going to share two because of time.

On the last day at the last village we visited, there were this six-year-old boy named Fu. He was bedridden for most of his life. This was because when his mother was giving birth to him, they used a suction cup to try to pull him out which caused brain damage. He was incapable of having a normal life since birth; pretty much laying flat on his back or stomach. When we saw the boy, he was sitting straight up and leaning against his grandmother’s chest. The villagers said that some people from Hope Church came and prayed for him and now he can sit up!

As a result of Fu’s miracle, people witnessed how the boy was before and after. Many more people came during that time when we were surrounding that hut. Another woman came walking with a cane and she asked to be prayed for because she no longer wanted to walk with the cane. She wanted to walk on her own. We prayed for her and “glory be to God!” she started walking slowly without the cane and started walking more and more quickly and, to her joy, she no longer needed a cane. She was filled with joy and tears came flowing out.

These people have so much faith--faith that believes in the impossible!

It reminded me of the Scriptures:

Isaiah 53:5 “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

By His stripes we are healed!

I’m a pretty skeptical person but being able to witness all these signs and wonders with my own eyes was amazing, and I don’t want to be like the doubting Israelites back in the days. They saw what God had done, yet at the same time their hearts were hard. I just want to encourage everyone that our faith needs to increase! Take hold of the promises God has for us. This experience has encouraged me to walk by faith and not by sight. By faith, I believe I am completely healed! By faith, I believe my grandmother will come to know God! By faith we can move mountains!

-- Betty Lam (San Gabriel Young Adults Care Group) : May 25, 2008 --

Annie Tran - Mission Trip to Asia

It’s good to be back home from our adventures in Southeast Asia. For the past four weeks, our core team (Betty, Judy, and Jarred) visited Hope churches in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. We had an amazing, life-changing, and challenging trip.

The purpose of this trip was several-fold: spiritual growth, leadership development/training, cross-cultural education, and team dynamics. God helped fulfill all of these objectives in so many ways – through teachings, worship, and the mission trip. Prior to this trip, our group fasted and prayed to prepare our hearts and minds to not only receive from God but to also be a blessing to those we meet. Amongst these prayers, we also asked God for experiences with Him that we’ve never had before. There are so many testimonies to share (you can tell just by looking at the thousands of pictures we took), but today I will only share about my experience at the Hope Camp in Khon Kaen. Other team will share other aspects. The camp theme was “Loyalty.”

It was my first time at the camp and actually it was my first time in Thailand. My first impression of Thailand was “it’s HOT”, but little did I know that it did not even compare to the spiritual fire the Hope members had for God. This was apparent when I saw how many elderly people joined the camp. The day before camp, buses were hired to transport members to the camp. One bus in particular got in an accident and many were injured and were taken to the hospital. They went to the hospital and continued their journey for camp. Wow! That’s amazing. Sometimes setbacks would bring discouragement, but not with this bunch. There were approximately 6,000 delegates and this is just the first of 3 rounds.

It was amazing and overwhelming to see thousands of people worshiping God. We sit on the balcony level and when you look down, it looks like ants forming an assembly line. Once the song begins, the crowd immediately enters into the presence of God with praise – and no reservations. This image of hungering and thirsting for God stirred in my heart a deep conviction to approach Him in that same attitude. So, even though I was jet lag at times, I made a decision to receive from the Word of God and to enter His presence with excitement, song and dancing. It was a great celebration.

Throughout the camp, I was reminded that loyalty is the faithful allegiance to someone or something which is expressed in steadfastness, love, devotion and sacrifice. It has a strong sense of determination. God asked me “Annie, are you loyal to Me?” Followed by that was a statement: If we serve God with conditions, we’re not serving God, we’re serving ourselves. It caused me to reflect.

At times, I noticed I have been serving myself. My conditions were: only if it’s not too much trouble/difficult God and it’s not an inconvenience; only if it’s in my comfort zone; only if I don’t get hurt/humiliated; only if I’m 100% ready; then I’ll serve you. How many of you have thought like that before?

On 2 nights of the camp, we were invited to respond to God. With a repentant heart, I made a pledge to Him: I pledge to be loyal to my mentees, care group, leaders, and my family. I don’t want to ever give up even when I feel discouraged, but I will fix my eyes on Jesus. I want to put God first in my decision making with how I spend my life on earth.

I was also challenged to be loyal to missions. I learned that every local church is a reservoir and the Spirit of God is there with anointing. Wherever we go to preach the gospel and when believers join, a stream of water is created and another reservoir is formed. Don’t be an ordinary member, be a part of the stream.

I believe that many times when we are away from our normal "comfort zone," we will take a closer look at our relationship with God. As I learned to grow on this trip, I am returning with a new, fresh look upon life and a greater zeal and excitement to live for God and to serve Him. God is good. He can’t refrain from being God. He’s faithful in everything He does and because of that we are debtors of God’s love and a debtor to His plan to reach the world. God bless you!

-- Annie Tran (San Gabriel Young Adults Care Group) : May 18, 2008 --

Somporn Poochaneeyakun at LA Camp'08

The Calling of God for Me...

I thank God that He has graciously called me into His family. I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior and Lord on July 7, 2002. I was 63 years old at that time. It was evident that He had already made a plan for my whole life. Throughout my walk with God, He has provided me three mentors. The first one was Kate and the second one Nancy. Both of them are very different in their gifting and ministry, but their wholehearted dedication to the Lord is the same. They both ignited a fire in my heart, giving me a great desire to serve the Lord. I began my Christian walk by committing myself to the church, eagerly receiving the teachings of the Word, reading the Bible, spending devotional time, praying, and regularly attending church and care group. The commute from my home to the church is approximately 70 miles, which takes over an hour to drive. Though at times it would take much longer because of the traffic, but I never gave up. God taught me to be patient, and He has always protected me when I drive. He has always given me strength that I was never tired from the long commute.

In 2005, Ps. Chai appointed Nancy as my mentor and care group leader, and I was asked to assist her, which gave me an opportunity to learn how to lead a care group. When I was appointed to teach, however, I became very nervous and fearful to speak, but I did not want to refuse the calling. So I cried out to God for the leading of the Holy Spirit. The first time I taught, I knew for sure that it was not from me but the Spirit of God within me leading and guiding me every step of the way. I thanked God for my brothers and sisters who always encourage and support me.

Toward the end of 2006, I was officially appointed as an assistant care group leader. Early 2007, Thai Care Group birthed another care group, and I was appointed as a care group leader. I became very fearful that I would not be able to lead well because I did not feel readily equipped for such task. We're in an international church, but my English skill is not strong. I can only understand English partially, but nonetheless, I decided to obey and follow my leader. Then I realized that God never forsook me. Whenever I attend care group meetings, He always provides me interpreters (Sam, Golf, or Emmy) to help me understand. Thank God for their help, especially for Sam, my unit leader and my third mentor.

Through all these things, God showed me that He calls each and every one of us to follow Him by faith in His perfect timing. Although I am an elderly person with limited knowledge and ability, His plan and His timing for me were perfect. When God calls, He anoints. His Spirit will lead us in all things. I no longer have fear. Now I can testify that I am proud to be called by God to receive such great honor in taking part in His ministry by caring for the Thai Care Group in Monterey Park. All my care group members are very lovely. We are truly united with God's love, and more importantly, I can see that everyone sincerely loves the Lord.

Finally, I want to encourage you that whenever God calls you, just respond immediately. It is your opportunity to show your gratitude to Him, and you will receive the greatest honor from Him. We have been made more than conqueror through Christ Jesus!

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."

Romans 8:28-29

Thanks be to God and glory to His name.

-- Somporn Poochaneeyakun : Feb 17, 2008 --

Jarred Taing at LA Camp'08

First of all, I just want to share how I feel so blessed to serve alongside such great brothers and sisters. All the leaders here have really set a great example of people who strive to be all they can be. Many of them sacrifice countless hours doing things for God that other people don't realize, all for the sake of glorifying God's kingdom.

For those who do not really know me, my name is Jarred Taing and I am proud to be a part of the San Gabriel Young Adults Care Group. I have been working for a little over two years now, and I'm at a stage in my life where I have been trying to learn to balance time with friends, family, work, church, and most importantly with God. During my first year of work, to be honest, I was living a very selfish lifestyle. It was my first time where I was able to earn my own money and spend it. Haha...and if you knew me, that's really all I did. I had plans for almost everyday of the week. To go eat here, or hang out over there. I felt that fun was an essential part of a balanced life.

But this past year, I learned that while having fun, is important, it is much more important to do God's will. Last year, my workplace was undergoing some major changes due to a recent company buyout. Our new owners wanted to implement some changes which required everyone to contribute a lot more time and effort to make it work. This instantly changed the number of hours I had to work from about 40 hours to more like 55 to 65 hours a week. For many of you, this may not seem so bad, but for me, it meant that I had to make a choice between serving God fully or to hang out with my friends. Actually the choice was simple, but it was tough to actually carry it out. There were several occasions where I had to work 12 to 14 hour days, and then go home and prepare a lesson for Friday, and then go back to work on the Saturday. After a few months of this, I had formed a somewhat bitter attitude. I was thinking in my head, "Man, God, I'm not even getting paid overtime for all these extra hours! Is there a reason for all of this?" I then consulted some of the leaders at church to have them pray for me, and one of the leaders mentioned how they God placed them in a similar situation, and did so, so that they would be able to reach out to their coworker. Actually, hearing that, didn't really help me, I was like, oh man, I hope He doesn't expect me to do that! I then began asking God, what do you want me to do? Where do you want me to go? After a couple months of asking God, thankfully, one night, during my devotional time, God had spoken to me.

He gave me a glimpse of what plans he had in stored for me, and told me that everything that I had done, all my hard work, was not in vain, but it was to prepare me for His plans. It was actually a very exciting experience. Everything seemed so clear. It's a little hard to explain, but it was like any question that I came up with that night, God answered them instantly by giving me visions. I didn't really sleep much that night, but I was energized by the Holy Spirit.

After hearing from God, my attitude had completely changed. I no longer felt that I was working with no real purpose, but to help the corporation get richer, but that I was working for God. That God placed me in this job to stretch and shape me for His plans. I'm really glad that I committed to my decision to serve God even when times got tough, because I have come to understand that there's no greater joy, than the joy to serve God. I'm delighted to see how the church has grown so much in the past year, and am excited to continue to be used by God to help it continue to grow.

I want to encourage all of you that when you face struggles, and feel like you've given all you've got, to have faith in God that every challenge we face is for a reason, and that God will provide and bless you for all your hard work. And for those who don't feel like you're being stretched. Ask yourselves, are you being all you can be? How are you dealing with the situations that God placed you in? If you want to truly grow, I want to challenge you to ask God how He can use you? Look around and ask your shepherds, your care group leader, or Pastor Chai. We need your help because the harvest is coming! Amen?

-- Jarred Taing : Feb 16, 2008 --

Jay Jaroensuk at Valentines Service

First off, I just want to thank God for giving me the oppurtunity to embarass myself by sharing with everyone my love life. As some of you know I've known God since I was ten years old, so you could say that my interest in the Bible came way before my interest in girls.

Around my high school days, it really hit me that I was searching for love. I started looking for love in my friends, through being accepted by them. I also started looking at the "ladies" in a different way. I had friends that were in relationships proclaiming that they were in love, and I wanted to have what they had. I wanted to find someone with whom I can share those warm, fuzzy feelings, and I thought about how getting married and having kids would make me feel satisfied.

Many times these relationships made me feel good, but still I felt unsatisfied (and sometimes they confused me and caused me a lot of problems, which I’ve been struggling with them for a while).

God wasn't exactly the focus of my love life. It took me a really long time to realize God's love for me, and I'm very thankful for my friends that convinced me to attend a conference that recently passed. The conference gave me an oppurtunity to see God's love in a different angle which made a tremendous impact on me. I really thought about God's love that night, and I just couldn't believe how someone could go through something so terrible for me. When I saw that small fraction of God's Love, I kept asking myself, “How can I not change after what God revealed to me?” I'm sure we all know about the story of Jesus and the sacrifice He made for us, but how many of you can confidently say that you fully understand Jesus' dying on the cross for us? I know I don't, but I will spend the rest of my life finding out. I know now that there's someone out there who loves me more than any girl could, (no offense ladies) and that my life will be forever changed because of it. I'm now trying to make God my main focus and to just share with everyone His unconditional love.

I've never been in a relationship, which may seem like a big suprise to all of you because of my great personality and looks (just kidding). But it's true, and I really don't know why, but I'm grateful for that because I know that I'm not ready. To me, love isn't something that should be taken lightly, or a word to throw around because you feel good, but it's what Jesus IS to me.

I would like to close by challenging those who are searching for love to start looking for it in the right spot. Love isn’t what you see in the movies or the songs that are sung by pop stars, but it’s the simple act of Jesus laying down His life for you and me.

-- Jay Jaroensuk : Feb 10, 2008 --

Hope LA Christmas 2007

This year, the theme for Hope LA's Christmas was "The Brightest Light of Christmas". Ps. Ben KC Lee preached at our Pre-Christmas Service. One person made a decision to accept Christ. The following week on Dec 23rd Hope LA celebrated Christmas Service with 120 people. The program included the children performing "Light of the World" through sign language, an interpretive drama presentation and the choir singing "Christmas Shines". Ps. Chai preached on who and why Jesus was born on the earth. After the sermon, three people stood up to invite Jesus into their life. It was a great celebration for our Hope LA church family.

On Christmas Eve, we had the highest turn out ever for Christmas caroling! Over thirty people joined the caroling team this year. From 6pm until midnight, the carolers visited member's houses and their relatives! The carolers sang Christmas songs, spent time fellowshiping and the carolers ended with a prayer for the owners of the home.

We also had Christmas outreach in small groups. Our care groups and units had a range of parties over 9 days from Dec 21st right up to Dec 29th. They included charity events, movie events, watching Christmas lights, and lunch and dinner events. We had 1 new convert. All thanks to God!

Emmy Betts at Care Group Leader Retreat 2007

It’s a privilege to be used by God in the church, whether it’s a small or big task because it’s always a joy to serve the Lord. I thank God for the opportunity to put together the CGL Retreat for the church this year, which was held on Dec. 7th-8th.

The first night, Ps. Ben, Ps. Dinah, Ps. Chai, Crystal and all of the care group leaders (CL), unit leaders (UL) gathered together at Spice and Basil Restaurant in Alhambra to share our Thanksgivings to God for the whole year of each care group (CG).

The sharing from each CL, and UL showed God’s faithfulness in our lives and the lives of our members. We could see the fruitfulness in each CG of how God demonstrated his blessings and love toward us.

Ps. Chai also shared the Thanksgiving 16-year milestone of our church.

It sure made all of us realize how privilege it has been to be a part of this Church, and see how our church continues to grow in the hands of the Almighty God.

Each CL, and UL also got a chance to evaluate the CG, which helped me see the heart of each leader that was poured out to God’s people in his/her CG.

The night ended with Ps. Ben's encouragement and his vision he shared with all the leaders. We are always thankful for the time that Ps. Ben and Ps. Dinah spent with us. The night went well as we all shared a fun and blessed meal together. We went home with hearts full of thanks and awaited a great meeting the next day and the planning for our CG and the church.

On Saturday Dec. 8th, all of us came to the church for a meeting and the ministering of the Holy Spirit.

The day started by exercising to help us get ready for the day.

Then we all got to do what we love to do the most, which is to worship God.

After praise and worship, Ps. Chai led us in prayers and Ps. Dinah shared with us the Scriptures in Psalm 69:9 to the leaders. Ps. Ben also had the same words from God that he confirmed with us.

Ps. Dinah also prophesied to several leaders, and I saw tears coming down some of their faces. I thank God for all of His Words that not only encouraged us but also helped us realize how he loved and cared for all of us.

Then, Ps. Ben shared with all of the leaders a great lesson for our Ministries.

I got really excited and encouraged by his lesson that I wished he could teach us some more.

Ps. Chai shared with us the Goals he has for our church for the next 5 years, which I am certain that God will help us achieve them for our church.

We also discussed about our Ministry for the year 2008, which will be filled with great programs. We talked about what we will be focusing on next year.

Each UL also spent time discussing and planning for their Units with each CL.

Then the day ended with the congregational vision that Ps. Chai shared with us, which stirred the leaders’ hearts to put these Visions into our souls and pray together that God’s hands will continue to be upon us and guide us in His way.

-- Emmy Betts : Ded 7-8, 2007 --

Christine Loke - Family (Los Angeles) Care Group

I would like to thank the Lord for this opportunity to share my experience in expressing Jesus’ love to others.

This year God used me to lead 4 people to Christ. It might seemingly sound like, "wow! I led 4 people to Christ." But I want to make a confession. It is not me alone. It is God, of course! But also Van, Cynthia, Bao, Chris, Pete, Lee, and others I don’t even know of.

As some of you know, my husband and I moved to LA last year. All of our friends here are Christians. But one thing I know - sharing the love of Christ should be a part of our Christian life, I found myself not doing enough in this area. I prayed and asked God to give me opportunities to share His love with others. God heard my prayer.

It was Van who brought her friend to church. As the Pastor invited people to accept Jesus into their lives, the Lord prompted my heart to share the gospel with Van’s friend and that she would accept Him. Her friend was sitting all the way at the back of the church and that day Van needed to help out in the kitchen. God also reminded me of my prayer, my prayer of wanting to share His love. So I went to her and shared Christ’s love with her. She was willing to receive Him into her life.

It was Cynthia who brought her friend whom she has known for 10 years to church. As she was getting her seat in front of me, I only saw her back. But the Lord prompted my heart with a Bible verse to encourage her and invite her to give her life to Jesus. I shared Christ’s love with her and she was willing to receive Him into her life.

It was Bao who invited Chris to church. Chris invited Pete. Pete invited her sisters. Although Pete’s family has been to church for a few times, one day I believe the Holy Spirit was telling me that one of them had not known Christ personally yet. I prayed for her during the service and walked up to her after the service. Lee and I shared Christ’s love with her and she received Jesus into her life.

Through these few experiences, Jesus has taught me that

1. When I let God know I want to serve Him, He will answer, but I need to take the step of faith and have boldness to obey. Cynthia’s friend didn’t know me, I could face rejection. Pete’s sister didn’t know me, I could face rejection. But God’s love compels me to want to obey Him.
2. Jesus also taught me that it is through teamwork we share the love of Christ to others; you might not know who your team members were, or who they will be, but we do our part to the best we know how.

Accepting Jesus’ love is the beginning of a wonderful journey, growing spiritually through knowing Him makes the journey fulfilling.

May all the glory be given to our Lord Jesus Christ.

-- Christine Loke : Ded 9, 2007 --

Stephanie Zee - Young Adult (San Gabriel) Care Group

It’s great to be able to stand here today and testify of what God has been doing in my life.

Five years ago, I met a great group of young, energetic and special people who had warm, joyful and child-like spirits. They enjoyed music, eating, laughing and poking fun of each other. One of their favorite games was Mafia. In fact, they warmly welcomed me, a new comer, to play, while sitting on mattresses out in the field in the middle of the night…. I know this must sound strange, but you can guess who you are!!! This morning, I’d like to continue in the attitude of thanksgiving and to first thank Hope LA for welcoming me into this family and for such a great spirit of serving and joy in the church.

God has certainly made a pathway for me to move to Los Angeles. As some of you may already know, I have been praying for an opportunity to move here for a couple years. I applied as a high school teacher, but soon left the idea of teaching and applied for a masters degree in Student Development at Cal State Long Beach. Go beach! When I reflect, I can see God being with me with each step of the way. The program is quite competitive as they received 128 applications, interviewed 70 applicants and only accepted 26. It was about 2 months before I received a letter from the university. During this time, I was still in Vancouver and my care group was praying about my application. When it arrived, I was rejected because my GPA was too low. I was puzzled because I know they made a mistake and looked at the wrong scores. I sent an email to the admissions director and he quickly asked me to send the accurate numbers and was able to offer me the spot! I am so grateful to God because the competition was so stiff and I was almost rejected from the program.

Another blessing is that my advisor who interviewed me is a Christian and I feel that I can really talk with him and be open about my faith. The journey to Los Angeles was filled with God’s blessing. Not only is my advisor a Christian, but during the phone interview, he suggested that I pray about my decision so that I would have peace. During the time of praying and waiting, I received a word of prophecy from one of our pastors in that God wanted to remind me that time is precious and that I needed to make a firm decision about my future. It was time to stop idling and wasting time. Time was running out. It was this word that helped me to make this move and make it with confidence.

When we were at the border to cross from Vancouver to Seattle, I had to stop to apply for my student visa. I prayed… ‘God, if you don’t want me to move, you will prevent me from getting this visa’. The immigration officer also turned out to be a Christian and in fact during the conversation, he asked us to keep him in prayer and that he would pray for us. He happily stamped my passport and that was that! Finally, my car broke down during the road trip here and we were stranded with a dead battery. God sent a helpful man to jump start the car, and to give us directions to the nearest auto shop. From there, we made it safely here.

When school began, God’s blessing continued. Pao’s friend introduced me to 2 students who wanted to learn to read. Most recently, and the biggest blessing yet, is a new job as a grad research assistant! The job is very flexible and I get to work alongside other faculty members to gain more experience. As an international student, I can only work 20 hours per week on campus. This doesn’t leave many options and we have been praying during our Young Adult Unit ten-day fasting and prayer that we would see breakthrough in this area. I want to testify that God is indeed very real. He answered my prayer in perfect timing. During the week that I had my interview, I also found out that I would no longer be tutoring my students. Without them, I would have no income the following week. I know that God granted me this new job just in time because he never leaves us lacking in anything. I can really see that God has been with me through this entire process because of my faith in Him.

There is a lot more to share with you, but I want to leave you with these few blessings. I believe that God has given us a great platform here in the church to speak his blessing and to encourage his people. The platform he gives us is not for our glory or pleasure, but it is to be effective, for a purpose. It is a place of stature, where His message can be heard by everyone. And most importantly, it is a platform where God can be glorified. Let’s glorify Him in everything we do. Let’s give him a clap of praise! Amen!

-- Stephanie Zee : Ded 2, 2007 --

Chris Kuch - Young Adult (San Gabriel) Care Group

Thanksgiving 2007 Testimony

As many of you know, it has almost been a year since I’ve moved to Los Angeles and what a year it has truly been. It has been a year certainly marked with uncertainty; disappointments in the midst of many unexpected surprises and struggles birthing the deepest joy I have ever found in my Creator. Out of all the 26 Thanksgivings I’ve been given by God’s gracious hand, I have more to be thankful for this Thanksgiving than all of the other Thanksgivings combined. And perhaps the ones I am most thankful for this year are the one’s sitting in the wooden pews before me, listening now as I speak.

Since my move to Los Angeles, I’ve constantly been asked the question, “Why did you move to California?” Usually, after a long pause, my fingers gently stroking my chin, I would reply, “Well… for lots of different reasons.” Being the engineer that I am, I would then proceed to methodically run through a discourse of 3 to 4 reasons of why I moved to Los Angeles, with a few jokes thrown in to keep it lively.

But today I would just like to share with you one of my reasons for moving to LA, for which I am very grateful and that is this church, Hope of LA. I’ve been a part of different churches and Christian organizations but I have never been a part of a group of believers so committed to the advancement of the gospel. I am thankful for this because this has been an ever-growing passion in my life; that all peoples would know God and be restored and reconciled to their Creator through the blood-sacrifice of Jesus. And so the vision of Hope to build strong and biblical churches through strong and biblical people has always struck a deep chord within me. I am thankful and consider myself extremely blessed to have found all of you, brothers and sisters, with like vision, goal and purpose.

I have only one very short life to live. I want my life to count for something--something more than the fleeting merits of wealth, popularity and security. My heart longs to strive for something bigger and grander than I am capable of containing within myself--namely God and His infinitely indescribable, vast glory. I want to live for the things eternal, for the things that will not pass away, for people’s souls.

Only one life,
‘Twill soon be past;
Only what’s done
For Christ will last.

-- Chris Kuch : Nov 25, 2007 --

Emily Perez - Family Care Group (Los Angeles)

I am very thankful to God for my current job. I am currently working with the LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District). I have access to full-time benefits even though I work only 6 hours a day, and I get a $1 raise every year. The best of all is that I get to still be there for my children. Whenever they have a holiday, so do I. Whenever they have winter break, spring break, or summer vacation, so do I. I don't need to worry about a babysitter.

This job is really God sent. I have had my fair share of jobs--part-time, full-time, and even seasonal positions during the holidays, but they always disconnected me from my children and family. With persistence, I continued to believe that God would give me that specific job I was looking for. Then the time came when a sister in the church told me about the opportunity to work with disabled children. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous, but I had to make the effort. It was a process of 3 months with interviews and tests. Finally, I was called for a final interview with a school. I was given the position to teach little children from grades K-3 how to read and write. The funniest thing was that my boss later confessed that she was most impressed with me because I carried my Bible. I can only stand and say praise to God.

-- Emily Perez : 2007 --

Betty Lam - Young Adult (San Gabriel) Care Group

I am Betty. I graduated from college 2 years ago. Now I work as an insurance agent and also in financial planning.

Not so long ago I didn't have an understanding of what Christmas was all about. I just knew that my family would put up a tree and there would be presents under the tree. Gifts Gifts Gifts. I had friends and felt accepted in my inner circle of friends. I'm one of those people that think about life and thought okay I go to school a third of my life and work another half of my life and by the time I get the money to do whatever it is that I want to do... but by that time my physical body would be as good as dead! I did wonder what was my purpose and existence here on this planet call earth!??

I remember that I was quite a pretty bitter woman.. I may not seem to be but I was! I had a pretty low self esteem and was doubtful of myself. I felt that no matter how hard I tried, the world was not giving me what I'm looking for.

Before Christmas 2000 I was invited to this church. I was reluctant in coming to church because my dad and grandma was Buddhist and my mother was Muslim.. don't ask me how but they just are! So they preach to me about their beliefs but I was just so sick of their hypocritical behavior. They would tell me one thing and than do another! So I was determined to be a person that won't be dependent on religion!

But as I came to church...people here were just so genuine. I didn't need to put on any mask. They did not want to win my favor over in any way! Just sincere, realness! And that is something hard to find outside in this cunning world. I realized God is personal and He wants to know us. When the pastor gave the invitation, I stood up in Sunday service to commit my life to Christ. That's how my journey started!

This happened 3 months before Christmas 2000. That was what captivate me and made me stick to Christ and soon I was challenged to further my walk with GOD. Now I can say I don't wear color glasses to look at people, everyone is valuable in GOD's eyes and that is how I should see people as well, I also can say I'm happy with who I am and content with where I'm at. I stopped comparing myself with others, and realized that GOD created me the way I am specifically according to his plan in my life! I have Peace in my life.

Now I realize the meaning of Christmas! It's not just about the gifts and Santa but it's really about who God is and His gift of Jesus at the first Christmas! I wish you all a merry Christmas and I hope that you all find what I found in God.

-- Betty Lam : Dec 24, 2006 --

Jason Betts - Family Care Group

My name is Jason Betts. I come from Oregon.

For the last 8 years I have been talking to my grandma about her spirituality. She is 85 years old this year. Often times she would change the subject and she seemed to never interest in talking about her spirituality. In the past, my conversations with my grandma have never made much progress because it’s hard to talk to your family about this subject sometimes.

Recently, grandma has been admitted to hospital and later to 24 hour memory care facility. I had planned to visit her on the first week of December this year. Before I left L.A. my wife and I have been praying for Grandma. I wanted grandma to know Christ personally.

I arrived in Vancouver, Washington on Friday. On Sunday I went to visit her with my niece at the facility. My niece is 16 years old. I brought up this subject again to grandma while my niece was listening. My grandma said she was confused and not certain about her spirituality. My niece said she doesn’t know what she believes.

I explained to them that God loves them and wanted to know them. I invited them to turn away from sin and self and to follow Christ. I led them to invite Jesus into their hearts. They both accepted Christ on the couch of the living room of that facility. That was Sunday, 3rd Dec 2006. I was so excited and touched by God’s grace. God shows me that it’s not impossible to evangelize to your own family because in Him everything’s possible!

You can make Christmas special. I encourage you to reach out to your family and your friends.

-- Jason Betts : Dec 6, 2006 --