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Just got married to Esther Ching (Biola grad) on Sept 3rd, 2005.
I graduated from UCLA in June '99.
(B.A.in psychology and Asian American Studies specialization)
I've graduated fromTalbot in May '02.
M.Div...Pastoral General
Was involved with AACF at ucla and with Omnikoi/AACF here at Biola.
Interned at Monterey Park Chinese Baptist Church (MPCBC) during my time here at Talbot.
I love CHINA ... her land, her beauty, and most of all...her people.
What I like doin': hangin'/chillin'/kickin' it with buddies, acting, making music videos, icq, AIM, movies, worshipin', fellowshipin', serving.
I'm not your typical guy. I do not watch or do sports. I do not talk about cars. I'm actually... a girl... just ask my close friends.
Born in Taiwan (Feb. 21st, 1977)
Came to America in 1983 when I was 6
Grew up here...grew up in a church
Home in San Jose
AIM: alrightHA
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20 NIV)
As this verse suggests, my life is no longer my own. Having accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, I now live my life to know Christ and to make Him known. For sin once separated me from God but Christ's sacrifice on the cross brings me into a love relationship with Him. Thus, He continues to reign in me as I live for Him.
Having grown up attending church, I accepted the truth of the Gospel as I learned more about it. Since 5th grade, I have been raised in the Chinese Church in Christ of San Jose (before CCIC hived into CCIC-Saratoga and CCIC-South Valley). Through youth group and retreats, I came to understand what it means to have a relationship with Christ. It was all a gradual process, by God's grace. In 8th grade, I was baptized at CCIC-SJ to publicly declare my faith. During my high school years, God gave me opportunities to be involved with CCIC short-term mission trips to Hoopa Indian Reservation
(Summer '92, '93, and '94) and to Thailand (Winter '93). I was also given opportunities to lead the youth group in Bible studies, skits, and other activities. Through all this, I was able to draw closer to Christ as I learned more about His faithfulness.
God has brought me to the point in my faith where I desire to surrender myself to Him completely. He has allowed me to experience Him in ways so real that I cannot help but to let Him use me in any way to further His kingdom. It is a joy for me to serve the Lord and to minister to His people. God has broken my heart for His people, especially those in China. During the summer of '98 and that of '97, God blessed me with experiences in China that were both life-changing and incredible. I felt God's heart for His people and witnessed His power as He used me to draw my students to Him.
There is nothing more fulfilling for me than to be used by God in drawing others to Him. There is nothing more exciting than to see people draw closer to Him. After serving in China, I realized that I could not imagine doing anything else in my life knowing that so many still need to experience Christ and that I can be used to minister to them. Knowing that God has broken my heart and called me, I answered His call for me to serve Him in the ministry. Others have affirmed me in this decision and encouraged me to press on in this path. Whether it is going to be serving as a pastor at church or as a missionary, I am still not sure. For a while before, I felt led on the road to becoming a pastor. However, after serving in China my second time, God has opened up my heart to serving overseas. So I will continue to seek His direction in that.
The two things I value most in life are my relationship with Jesus and my relationships with His people. Christ's love for me is my anchor and my hope. Investing in the lives of those around me and allowing them to invest in my life is my joy. This is what ministry is all about. It is about being in a love relationship with God and allowing Him to use you to bring His love to those around you. It is about being so filled by God that you overflow to others. It is about what the Salvation Army proclaims, "Heart to God, hand to man."
My life is not my own- it belongs to Christ. As I continually renew my heart to God, may He use my hands to reach out to others and my feet to carry the Good News.
Favorite movies:
A Few Good Men
Glory
Dumb & Dumber
The Rock
Face/Off
Crimson Tide
American History X
Good Will Hunting
Ransom
Simon Birch
Meet the Parents
Memento
Rush Hour 2
Count of Monte Cristo
Back to the Future trilogy
Favorite Actors:
Edward Norton (the best actor... not typecasted... very versatile...a true actor)
Jackie Chan (not for his acting, but his swell moves)
Jet Li (da man.... if i was a girl, i'd like him)
Mel Gibson ("before this war is over... i will KEEEEL you")
John Malkovich ("i see you, Frank... over the grave of another dead president")
Jack Nicholson ("you make me...wanna be a better man")
Harrison Ford ("get OFF my plane")
Tom Cruise ("you...complete...ME")
Denzel Washington ("who's yo' daddy?")
Jim Carrey ("ssssmokin'!")
Kramer ("aaaahhhh!")
Ben Stiller ("CAN YOU DEAL WITH THAT?!!")
Favorite Actresses:
Natalie Portman
Ashley Judd
Ming-Na Wen (only in Joy Luck Club)
Mulan
Favorite TV shows:
remember these good classic shows that no longer are on TV?
Growing Pains
MacGyver
Sledge Hammer
Brady Bunch
Parker Lewis Can't Lose
Seinfeld
Smallville
Everybody Loves Raymond
24
Favorite music:
Worship music (Vineyard, Delirious, Matt Redman)
Christian music (SCC, MWS, JoC, DcT)
Soundtracks
Chai-Neez music (A-mei, Jacky Cheung, Valen Hsu)
U2
Erasure
Savage Garden
3rdEyeBlind, Matchbox 20, GooGooDolls
80's music
Boyband stuff (ain't no lie...baby yeahrightgetalife)
Favorite Foods/Fruits/Drinks:
Weird stuff no one else eats (chicken heads/feet/heart/gizzard/butt, pig brain/ears/feet/intestines, fish head, duck head, you name it)
Lamb
Preserved Vegetable
Asian pear
Mango
Lychee
Soybean milk
Grass jelly drink
boba green bean slushi
shaved ice from shao mei
Strawberry Lemonade at Red Robin
slurpees
smoothies w/ berry stuff
Favorite Sayings:
"alright ha" (hence, my AIM sn)
"yeahrightgetalife"
"dah"
"sup meh?"
"sup brofriend!"
"how goes it?"
"good day!"
"swell... stellar..."
"uh...we're...STOOpid!!"
"miss you kiss you"
"YOU'RE ______ !(fill in the blank....e.g. "chewy? YOU'RE chewy! .... is this the pie of the month? YOU'RE the pie of the month!")
Random Interesting info:
(I'll be adding to this as I think of other random facts... so check back regularly...if you so desire. And if you know me, let me know if I left anything out)
-My favorite number is 21
-My favorite color is black
-I've shaved my head 5 times
-My hair grows like crazy...just water it and it grows...ch-ch-chia!
-I've been using body wash for a while instead of a bar of soap
-I have underwear from Taiwan that came individually boxed
-I bought 2 packs of disposable underwear from China
-Many of my clothing is from China
-I get the rest of my clothing on sale
-I enjoy having Office Hours with people
-I live with Chris Lindley and James Adighibe (from nigeria)
-I think Chinese stationary with english phrases that don't make sense are the funniest
-I got to be part of the first asian american theatre company at ucla (LCC) when it first started my freshman year (i played a ganster FOB named Theo in our first production- Treehouse Bachelor Society)
-I was involved with ACA (assoc. of chinese americans) at ucla and went to their dances up till last year (even brought some biolan friends there)
-For the ACA culture shows, I've played a drunken kung-fu master one year, a guy who kept throwing up the next year, and a professor the last year
-I like shopping at stores like Wal-Mart, Super K, Target
-The most expensive clothing I bought was my banana republic jacket, which I bought myself for graduation from ucla
-I can eat only 2 Krispy Kreme donuts at a time...if I eat more, I'd feel like puking
-I used to enjoy torturing bugs (prob still do...just don't got the time)
-I use a planner...the monthly-in-view kind (can't organize, plan, & live w/out it)
-I keep a journal
-I got to head up the Salt-N-Light (SnL) drama ministry of AACF at ucla and serve with some freebirds
-I'm not afraid to show my emotions and cry
-Goodbyes and letting go are the toughest things in life
-I use 10-10297 for long distance (5 cents/min anytime w/in Ca)
-I lived in a triple for 2 years at ucla... now I have to have my own room
-I like to *clock* people (I'll show you if you want...everyone's doin' it)
-I like to play with my butterfly knives and nunchucks
-I've climbed the Great Wall (actually, I took about 10 steps and got tired)
-I love bargaining in China
-I have a TV and VCR which I got for 15 bucks a piece... (they have defects of course)
-If I wasn't a Christian, I'd be... an actor? According to a friend, if I wasn't Christian, -I'd be a stripper. I told her that if she wasn't a Christian, she'd be the audience. (uh...we're...STOOPid!)
-Generally, I am comfortable with people
-I click better with girls than I do with guys (cuz i don't do/watch sports and I'm more emotional and share about feelings and such)
-I click well with non-typical guys
-I miss my students and friends in China dearly
-"What lies beneath" is the freakiest movie I've seen
-Mandarin sounds much better than Cantonese and is probably one of the most romantic languages of the world
-I cut my own hair
-I cut my friends' hair
-I wish I could break dance (if you know how, teach me please)
-I didn't have a car through college...and I still don't
-I took Human Sexuality as an elective during my last year at college with my friend Leonard
-Bonobos are the only other mammals (besides human beings) that engage in sexual activities for reasons other than procreation
-I am sentimental. I like taking pictures and video taping stuff and cherishing them
-I've went to the bathroom in unconventional places
-I do not especially like Daylight Savings Time when it gets dark around 5pm
-I've memorized Colonel Jessep's "you can't handle the truth" speech from a few good men
-I'm terrible at basketball
-The best years of my life were in college
-I have a thing for glade plug-ins, scented oil, and air fresheners
-I used to moon people and grab guys' behinds....until I got rebuked
-I fold (more surface area)
-One temp job I did was to hand out samples of ICEE at a gas station
-I went to Urbana '96
-I like Pastor Ken Fong from Evergreen LA (he'll be speaking at urbana 2000)
-I wrestled during my sophomore year in high school
-I wish I was still in college
-I check email at least 10 times a day
-I've spent too much time on this resume deal
-My brother and I look a lot alike
-I used to play with stuffed animals with my brother
-I chose to name myself "Tom" and my uncle suggested "Thomas" to my parents (actually, my brother wanted "Tom" at first but decided to give it to me. Thanks Jason!)
-I looked like my dad growing up, now people say I look like my mom (go figure)
-I don't think I'd go to Disneyland without a girlfriend or a family
-Something I saw on the menu the other day: "beef stew noodle with no meat"
-As a baby, I looked very Chai-Neez (what you think?)
-I think you are cool for reading this far
-My friends and I have a collection of 30+ music videos and a bunch of skits that we did
-I'm not an ABC, I have the mark on my right shoulder that proves it
-I act like an ABC cuz I am 1.7 generation Chinese American
-I'm the winner of Hennessy XO's Mr. LA Chinatown Pageant (um.. not really...i wish)
-I've seen 3 of the joy luck club women in real life:
I've met Ming-Na Wen, shook her hand, told her i loved her, and got a pic with her
I got Tamlyn Tomita's autograph (she's quite short)
I've seen Lauren Tom perform
-I camp counselled the kid from joy luck club with the mole on his back (he
actually doesn't have a mole in real life)
-Other famous people I've seen:
Anthony Hopkins, Nicolas Cage, Conan O' Brien, Jason Alexander, Elaine from Seinfeld, Henry Winkler (the Fonz), Blossom, Winnie Cooper from Wonder years, Keri Strugg, Jaleel White (Steve Urkal), Magic Johnson, Tom Cruise, Steven Seagal, Steven Curtis Chapman, Out of the Grey, the Kry, Jars of Clay, Tony Vincent, Newsboys, Audio Adrenaline
-I've chased after Mulan at Disneyland and got a picture with her and Mushu
-At Disneyland, I told Ariel (little mermaid) that I used to have a crush on her in jr. high
-What is most beautiful in China are the students and their friendship.
-The new U2 cd "all that you can't leave behind" rocks
-First rule of Fight Club: you do not talk about fight club
-Scattegories is the funnest game to play.
"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must break our bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory will swell when again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature."
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