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Missions in India: Kerala Issue 1 | August 28 2011

Hello friends and family! First of all, I just wanted to say thank you for all the

support through prayers and finances! Having the privilege to go to India with

my church was a tremendous opportunity and blessing and I am glad that you

were able to partner with me on this short-term mission trip. I wish to share with

you all the things that God has shown and taught me in India and ideally I would

want to meet with each and every one of you, but I know that it would be

difficult, so I hope that through these newsletters, I will be able to share my

experience in India with you. Through the next few newsletters, I hope that God

will use my experiences and testimonies to share the great things that He

continues to do in the nation of India.

Welcome!

India:

For this I will

among the nations, and sing

to your name.

praise you

Psalms 18:49

Population: 1.2 billion

Hindu: 80%

Muslim: 13%

Christianity: 2%

July 10 - July 17 Departure from LAX. Saw Prince Williams and Kate at the airport. Nathan forgets his passport. Layover in Dubai. Arrived at Cochin airport. We meet Abraham, our host, and CV’s family. Visited the Sathyam Bookstore. Ministry at “Justin’s Home”. Visited the Bible Museum. Ministry at a local outdoor church. Long bus ride to Kattappana. Ministry at an elementary school and visited the Seminary. Teach English and ministry at Seminary. Rode an elephant. First Sunday service in India. Long bus ride back to the airport.

July 10 July 11 July 12 July 13 July 14 July 15 July 16 July 17

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Missions in India Issue 1 | August 28 2011

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Before I begin writing about my

experience in India, I would like to

first briefly introduce my teammates

and what I know of them. I was

blessed to have a team consisted of

a wide range of ages and

personalities. Despite our

differences, we were able to work

effectively as one body and over the

three weeks in India, we grew to

love each other. So, let me

introduce them to you:

Pastor Jay Song: Who knew that

UCSB produced such incredible and

intelligent people! Probably one of

the smartest and funniest people

that I have met. You have to be

pretty smart yourself to enjoy some

of his humor. He is our team leader,

and one of the few that have

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mastered the art of leading:

balancing fun and seriousness.

Pastor Nathan Kwak: Our team co-

leader. You would have never

guessed how young he is compared

to how mature he acts (at times). He

is very friendly and easy to talk to.

He is a soon to be high school pastor

and husband. He may look small but

don't mess with him, he's a karate

master, literally.

Alex Jo: One of the funniest people

on our team. He is a giant package

of excitement who enjoys playing

the drums and is always full of

energy. Probably does the best

impressions of people and his loud

and fun personality is definitely

shown when you see him dancing to

VBS songs with the kids.

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John Pyun: Our student team leader

and skit master. Don't let the dorky

glasses on this guy fool you,

because he's probably one of the

cooler kids in the group. He has no

shame and is willing to go all out for

the kids in dancing and performing

skits. Has a lame sense of humor,

but that's what makes him so fun to

be around.

David Eun: Our team head luggage

controller. One of the bigger

members on our team but probably

also the best body worshipper. He's

a teacher and you can tell by the

way he explains things so easily to

others, whether it is a body worship

or a card game. You can count on

him to always laugh at your jokes,

Meet the team

My teammates: back left to right: Michael Lee, Alex Jo, David Eun, Peter Han, Richard Park, John Pyun; middle: Daniel Kim, Jay Song, Nick Kwon, Nathan Kwak, Lawrence Oh; front: Sharon Ahn, Ashley Chang, Irene Lee

(continued)

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Missions in India Issue 1 | August 28 2011

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no matter how lame they are; this is

why he is one of John’s close

friends.

Richard Park: Our other team head

luggage controller. You would have

never guessed that he was in the

army. He can seem awkward at first,

but surprisingly, his awkwardness is

comforting. He enjoys telling stories

and talking but he also enjoys

listening also. If you let him, he can

and will talk on and on about the

most random and interesting

stories.

Ashley Chang: One of the youngest

members on our team and also our

team journalist. When you first meet

her, you might think she's angry or

irritated of you because she has this

deathly stare, but keep talking to

her long enough, and you might

catch a glimpse of her lovely smile.

She was young and shy in the

beginning of the trip but probably

crawled out from her shell the most

by the end of the trip.

Irene Lee: Recent UCLA graduate

who studied communications.

Although she is small, she is loud

and talks forever and ever. You can

count on her to be honest because

she is not afraid to voice her

opinion. She enjoys conversing with

the natives and caring for the little

ones and you can almost always

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expect a group of people gathered

around her or her carrying a baby.

Daniel Kim: Our team videographer

and also a jack-of-all-trades. He's

manly and big and looks like an ex-

convict with long hair but you would

have never guessed that he

graduated with a degree in finances

and enjoys drawing and is also an

awesome cook. He might seem

scary and mean on the outside, but

is actually really kind.

Lawrence Oh: Our team

photographer. Ladies like to

describe him as a guy full of secrets

and mysteries. He is literally always

smiling no matter what he is doing.

Even if he offends you, you wouldn't

even know it, because he'll be

smiling while doing so. You would

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have never guessed he is an only

child because of how thoughtful he

is of others.

Nick Kwon: At first I thought he was

older than me because he can be

quiet at times, but I talked to him for

10 minutes and realized how he’s

just a kid. He is actually the second

youngest on our team. He can be

spontaneous: pretty quiet at times

and loud also. Despite his tiredness,

you can always count on him to go

all-out in the skits and presentations

for the kids.

Sharon Ahn: The oldest girl on our

team. A grad student at Azusa

Pacific who enjoys teaching and

children. Probably one of the

toughest girls I have met, yet she

has a weakness for God and her

love for Him is definitely shown

through her actions. She may seem

mean and give you a sassy attitude

at times, yet it’s her unique way for

caring for people.

Michael Lee: He is an 18 year old

college freshmen, trapped in the

body of a 24 year old, with the heart

and mind of a 12 year old. Although

one of the youngest members on

our team, he is very disciplined (in

some areas). Each night, he would

refuse to sleep until he had read his

bible and wrote in his journal. Who

knew you could learn disciplines

from a child?

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Missions in India Issue 1 | August 28 2011

Crazy since the beginning At LAX

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Before we even left for India, we were

already running into obstacles. Our trip

began Sunday morning, where we

arrived at church early so we could

attend the Jr. High service since our

regular service for GNC overlapped with

our departure. After service, we packed

our things into the church van and

headed for the airport. At the airport, we

scavenged the parking lots for any

luggage carts left behind then unloaded

our luggage and got ready to check in at

the airline counter. As we got in line to

check in, Nathan counted the passports

to double-check them but came to

realize that he was one passport short!

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He was missing his own! Nathan

desperately tried to remember where he

last had his passport and eventually

decided to return back to his house to

search for it. Unfortunately, when he left

the airport to find his passport, he took

Sharon’s passport with him, which

prevented Sharon from checking in. I

remembered thinking to myself, “Why

God is this happening already?” I was

genuinely afraid that two of our

teammates wouldn’t be able to go to

India. At this time, I wasn’t too familiar

with my teammates. Although I have

been attending GNC since last

(continued)

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Missions in India Issue 1 | August 28 2011

(continued)

Kindness from A Stranger

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We arrived at Cochin airport at 2:00 am. As soon

as we got off the plane, we were hit by a wave of

humidity. Slowly our clothes started to stick to

our backs and it was difficult to just stand still

without sweating. We went through immigration

and baggage claim then headed outside of

airport where a strange smiling Indian man

greeted us. His name was Abraham and he was

part of the staff at Sathyam Ministries, the

organization that would be hosting our trip in

India. He led us to our bus, which took us to our

hotel that we would be staying at for the week.

At the hotel, we washed up and rested until

breakfast then Abraham came back to pick us

up and take us to CV’s house. So you might be

wondering about who this ‘CV guy’ is? CV

Vadavana is a missionary that grew up in a

Catholic family and actually used to be a monk.

+ Irene and one of the students at

‘Justin’s Home’, the school for disabled

students

+ Pastor Jay and the missionaries

family: Justin, Mary and Isaac

+ Saying our farewells to

Abraham, our guide and host in Kerala

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September, I was always going

back and forth from San Diego and

home in Orange County, so I

never had the chance to really

build a relationship with the

members at GNC let alone my

teammates. Nathan, naturally

having a friendly personality, and

Sharon, having gone to UCSD

together for the past three years,

were probably the only people on

the team whom I were comfortable

with and could consider friends.

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So during this passport chaos, I was

stressed out by myself because I

was afraid that I would be going to

India alone with no friends. Through

this time I was reminded of why I

was going to India. I’m not going so

that I can be comfortable but I’m

going to share the love of Christ to

the people of India. Of course it

would be difficult not having people

that I’m comfortable with, but how

much more exciting is it to go share

the Gospel with unfamiliar people!

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How beautiful must it be to have

strangers build relationships truly

based on Christ’s love and not just

from having known them over time?

Before I have even left for India,

God was already teaching and

rebuking me. Luckily, everything

ended up being fine. Nathan was

able to find his passport at home

and arrive back in time to check in

and for Sharon to check in as well.

Everything was set to go and we

were finally off to India!

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Missions in India Issue 1 | August 28 2011

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It all started with a small tract that was given to him one

day and through that curiosity it led him to know Christ.

He went through a lot of financial difficulties and ridicule

from his friends and family, but through the hardships

and with the support of his wife and people he met, he

was able to overcome obstacles and come to know Christ

and start Sathyam Ministries. How our church GNC got in

contact with CV is that he and our pastor, Jay, went to

Talbot Seminary together. We came to India with

Sathyam Ministries but some of us never actually got to

meet him. He was in the U.S. doing some work so instead,

other people that were part of the ministry helped to host

us. For those of you that have been on missions before,

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sometimes it’s easy to overlook all the background work

and logistics needed to be done before our arrival such

as booking transportations or hotels. During our time in

Kerala, I was really able to see Christ’s love reflected in

the hearts of the missionaries. They housed us, fed us,

and took care of us when we were just strangers to them.

When we were at CV’s home, although CV wasn’t there

himself, his wife Mary welcomed us into their home. If

you think about even the smallest details such as how

Abraham had to skip his sleep, so he could drive one

hour to pick us up from the airport, you start to realize

how grateful you are of the missionaries and how far they

go out of the their routinely schedule just to host us.

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These people don’t know us, yet

they love us. We have no reason for

them to love us. At times, I felt as if

our team could instead be more of a

burden; our group was fairly large,

there were fourteen of us and we

were loud at times, and it was hard

for us to get around sometimes with

all of us hauling around our

luggage. But through the kindness

of CV’s family and Abraham, I was

really able to see them practicing

the love of Christ, a love that was

undeserved; we were strangers with

the same heart and love for the

Gospel to them. This continually

reminded of the Gospel throughout

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my stay in Kerala. We, sinners,

deserve nothing less than death, yet

God chooses to love us and even

more, he sends his one and only Son

to die on the cross for us. Seeing the

Gospel preached through the

actions of the missionaries and

seeing the fruits of their works really

encouraged me to start being more

kind to strangers as well. I realized

how easy it is for me to love

someone I knew or someone who

“deserved” my love such as friends

or family, but how much more

Christ-like is it to love someone who

you don’t know; someone who is a

stranger and is “undeserving.” This

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was something that could easily be

practiced back at home in the

States. Starting with welcoming

newcomers at church to showing

kindness and love to a homeless

person on the streets. There are so

many opportunities to practice love

with our actions, it is just that we

need to step out of our comfort zone.

The love received from CV and his

family and Abraham was a gentle

reminder that even though it is hard

at times, we need to stop bounding

our love for others with conditions

but to reflect more of a Christ-like

love for others.

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Missions in India Issue 1 | August 28 2011

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We got to visit the Sathyam bookstore in Kerala, where we

helped reorganize the books according to their topics. It

was tedious work, but I was glad that even through

something so small, God was able to use us to bless the

missionaries and their ministry. Each morning, we had the

privilege to worship and pray together with the Sathyam

Ministries staff. Usually they would praise in Hindi, then

we would also sing a song in English. We also got to spend

time at ‘Justin’s Home’, which is the name of the ministry

that CV and his wife started to reach out to those that are

disabled, mentally or physically. Their second son, Justin,

was born with a disability, which couldn’t be treated at the

time due to financial difficulties, and with Justin as an

inspiration, they started the ministry ‘Justin’s Home’. Doing

ministry at the disability center was a great experience.

You might think that because they are mentally disabled,

that they might not be able to understand the Gospel

message let alone the skits and songs, but during the time

at ‘Justin’s Home’, I was able to really see that God’s love

is universal and never fails. I remember in India, I was

looking at the sun rise, and thought “This is the same sun

that I see when I’m in the States.” It’s pretty crazy to know

how big the sun actually is, and how everyone in the world

is sees the exact same sun. This reminded me of God and

how he is universal and everywhere also. Even though we

praised in different languages with the Sathyam staff, we

praised the same God. Even though we worshipped and

did ministry with the students at the disability center with a

A Universal God

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different mental capacity, we still worshipped the same

God. It was awesome to see how God’s character was

constant everywhere we went! We also had the time to

visit the Sathyam seminary school in Kerala and help

teach English there and do ministry with them also. It was

such a blessing to see how there were so many young

students with a passion for God. A lot of the students

were from the northern part of India, and to see how far

they came just to study God’s word, it was truly a

blessing. Kerala was awesome in that we were really

able to see how beautiful India was, through the

landscapes, the children and the friendliness of the

people. We finished our first week in India and were now

ready to head to Vizianagaram for our second week of

missions in India.