Elliot Chung

MAY THE LORD GO WITH YOU AND KEEP YOU IN HIS HANDS IN GEORGIA, ELLIOT!

Barbecue Party

It was a great time we had on Sunday evening, when everyone came over for a barbecue dinner. We had more people than expected, so we kind of ran out of food at the end. But, I think we all had just enough. Enjoy this picture that I think shows everyone's personality quite well. For those of you who are studying for the end of year papers and finals, hope this meal gave you some strength. And, may the Lord strengthen you even more!

MISSION IN THE CTIY (Long Beach)

This morning, we (Kathy, Jared, Regina, Pattie, Yoto, Jung, and me) went to the downtown park in Long Beach to hang out with some of the homeless people who also hang out there a lot... It's the second time we've been there on Saturday, and this time we packed 20 sack lunches just in case we meet some people who might appreciate a free meal.

We got together at 10am, made an assembly line to pack 20 lunches (ham & cheese sandwich, some cookies, orange, juice, and last but not least a bible verse to feed their soul...). We got to the downtown park around 11am (a little anxious and excited about what to experience), and as soon as we got there several people recognized us and came for a lunch! I guess they could tell from a mile away we were coming with a free meal. It was good that we didn't have to look for the ways to give out the lunches we made, but we were also worried that we were being seen as simply a meal dispenser!

Well, about half of our lunches got dispensed quickly, and things settled down. And, we could actually give our lunches individually and spend some time with them talking - which was the real cool thing for us. They were very receptive, open, talkative (some very knowledgeable and intelligent), and open to be prayed for. Each of us got some great connections with some of these "park residents" and wished and prayed for the best for them as we headed home eventually.

We didn't really talk about it, but we all knew we would want to come back again...

Also, we met another church group who has been coming out every Saturday for the past 9 months! They are planning to have a prayer meeting next week and invited us to join them. How awesome that God is using various churches to do small yet significant things for the people in the city!

Here are just few pictures from the day (I wanted to take some more, but very quickly I realized that I was there to spend time with these people not just to take pictures for our record). I lost all good "picture moments" but I have their faces in my heart. I just pray they also have our faces in their hearts as a witness of Jesus' love.