Thanks everyone for supporting us this year as we got ready for our son’s arrival. We were really blessed to have so many of our family and friends help us with baby stuff, advice and especially those who have increased their support for my work with OMF and Renewal Missions. I am thankful that my book has been well received and I was able to raise enough through donations to cover the two months of unpaid  paternity leave that I will be taking. I know my son will face challenges as he grows up and I hope my stories will help him be unique and brave for Christ. When my parents came to the US, they were poor and trying to start their own business. They weren’t able to spend a lot of time with me when I was a baby. I lived in China for the first few years of my life so my grandparents could take care of me. We are blessed that we have the opportunity to be there for our son. In the next two months, my focus will be on helping Carmen recover from giving birth and making sure that Jeremiah is loved and cared for. It means a lot to me that I will be able to be at home. I want to be a good father for him and I want to make sure that I do my fair share of caring for him. Carmen and I are going to have to learn how to be parents together but it’s a challenge that we want to take on together as a team. Please let me know if you want to visit! We are going to be at home for the next few weeks and we would love to see you! Jeremiah is already growing really fast and might be at his maximum cuteness right now 😇😀
I’m sorry that you have to spend your first Mother’s Day in a hospital gown but you are demonstrating love and courage to our son. You took a chance with me 8 years ago and we got married without any certainty that we could make it San Diego. This year our family has grown and you gave birth to our son in the city that we love. It’s been a hard road but you followed God and even committed your career to serving the poor. This weekend, we are blessed because God had given us more than we deserve.
(2002) When I sat down with a recruiter, I was told about the Marine Corps scholarship that would pay for my college in exchange for me serving as an officer after my graduation. I was excited to apply even though I knew there would only be a small chance for me to get it. I knew thousands applied every year, but my college dreams rested on me getting it. I spent the rest of my senior year in high school worrying about what my future would hold. The scholarship was on my mind every day. Would I be going to college? Would I even get into a school where I wanted to go? My first choice was to get into UCSD, but I had low SAT scores. The only thing I could control now was my fitness, so I trained every day with the hope that I would be ready for the Marine Corps physical fitness tests. I remember the day that I did the tests for military processing. I had been training for the three-mile run and the twenty pull-ups test. But I was most worried about my interview with the base executive officer. I walked in not knowing what to expect. The first thing that he brought up was that I had listed Christian Club as one of my school activities. I was scared as to why he mentioned that first, but I told him that it was my passion to share about Jesus at my school. Surprisingly, he was also a Christian, and we spent the next half hour talking about how faith should influence leadership. A few months later, I got a package in the mail, notifying me that I had been awarded a Marine Corps scholarship. I would start classes at UCSD in the fall and would train with Naval Reserve Officer Training Command in San Diego. Soon after, I met Carmen Pat, started serving in China and realized that I would have to resign my scholarship… Book Excerpt – Would you like a copy? There’s a download link for the digital version at the end of the form or I can mail you a signed physical copy. Link in bio
This is the most our family has ever been served. It’s been an amazing year to experience the outpouring of love from our community around the world. I think my mom worried a lot when I chose to pursue ministry because she wanted me to get a MBA and do something business related. Most of my family who are my age, make about 5 times what I make and I think my parents worry how I can raise a family in San Diego. It’s a valid fear and probably why there are so few Chinese Americans in professional ministry. Today was a reminder of the blessings that are harder to quantify. We were really blessed when some leaders in our church gave us some special gifts. Karen Leong gave Carmen Pat a baby cake (a bunch of baby supplies in a cake form) and expressed her willingness to help her out with any mom advice she might need. Dale Lieu, a church elder, bought 6 of my books for the church staff because he really felt that sharing my story would help me work better with the church staff. My job is to help get people into ministry and I hear about the fears of this profession everyday. The difficulties have ranged from writing 40 page seminary papers to having my life threatened. There were a lot of times where I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue doing a job where my success is ultimately measured when I get to Heaven. Today though, I was reminded why this job is amazing. I get to serve amazing people and when our family needs help the most, they serve us too.