Posted in reflections, tagged interruptions, perseverance, vocation on October 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Josiah Mackenzie
By Jerrica Ching
On Saturday, October 4th, I ran a 5K in Portland. Three months before this run I had told myself that I would run every single day to build up my stamina and to ensure that I would not burn out for the actual race. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged community, encouragement, relationships on October 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Marcie Casas
By Melanie Mar Chow
In 1977, as a college student, the Lord had grasped my attention about what it means to “love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind…” and more. Though I was my grandmother’s constant companion to church at a young age, I rededicated my life to Jesus in my latter high school years, and sought to serve and follow Him to the best of my capability.
During college, I participated in several campus ministry activities and went through a personal call to leave my grandmother’s church and then attend the church of my great-grandmother. (more…)
Posted in Announcement, reflections, tagged book, cancer, community, health, vulnerability on October 7, 2014| 8 Comments »
By Vivian Mabuni
When I finally made it home, I headed straight to our bedroom. I lay on the bed, pulled the covers over me, and closed my eyes. I tried to rest, but my mind couldn’t settle. My prayer in the food court about letting people in came to mind. I found myself at the same crossroads of deciding whether to muster up self-sufficient strength and go all Christian Rambo—just me and Jesus—or take the braver route to open my heart and let people into my fear. My Asian heritage and cultural value of “don’t rock the boat” or “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down” amplified my struggle of not wanting to bother people with my problems. I saw this dynamic played out over and over with my family and my Asian friends. One friend tweaked her back so badly she could barely walk. We had planned to have people over for a luncheon. I suggested we order out for pizza so she could rest.
(more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged comparison, competition, female friendships on September 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Rama V
By Diana Gee
For the life of me, I cannot stomach watching shows like The Real Housewives of Some North-American City. I find them odious and glorifying the worst in human relationships. Jealousy, envy, pride, and gluttony all mashed together in artificially constructed female fraternity. Please pass the trashcan. Other shows do marginally better in depicting
“real” women’s lives. But if I pay attention, I do not often find stories of strong female characters relating well to other strong female characters.
I am also hard-pressed to find examples of female friendships in the bible that is not somehow connected by a father, husband, or son. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged gender-based exclusion, women in ministry, women pastors on September 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »
By Ann Chen
A well-known female preacher recently wrote some reflections about the treatment of women around the world, and recounted her own experience facing discrimination as a woman in ministry. As I enter a season of transition from being overseas to stepping into full-time ministry in the States, I’ve been recounting my own journey as a woman navigating a call into ministry.
I don’t think I’ve faced the type of overt discrimination I’ve heard others go through: women who were told that they had no place in the church except in the nursery, others who were hit back with 1 Corinthians 14:34 if they expressed any opinions, even others who were told that a desire to go into ministry was actually sinful and of the devil. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged letting go of control, motherhood, waiting, women in ministry on August 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Mike Behnken
(In her previous post, Tina shared her inner ache to serve in Christian ministry again, even as a mom with a baby girl only just turned one. A continuation of her reflections…)
By Tina Teng-Henson
I do not shape my life or direct my steps. I do not even know if I will have a tomorrow, honestly. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged finances, love, materialism, provision on August 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Kasia
By Melanie Mar Chow
How do we know Jesus loves us? Not just the ways the Bible tells us how much the Father loves us, how Jesus sacrificed his life for us as an act of love, or how we love because Jesus first loved us.
I have been considering this more and realize that people need to know about the powerful love of God in more tangible ways. As a campus minister, I am reminded by the honest cries of youth. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged calling, seminary education, vocation, women in ministry on August 12, 2014| 2 Comments »
Photo by Ryk Neethling
By Wendy Choy-Chan
When I first considered going into seminary, a church friend asked if I had a calling to full-time ministry. My answer was, “not really… I just love to study the Bible and what I am getting at church and elsewhere is not enough.” She then said, quite bluntly, that I shouldn’t go because I didn’t have a calling. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged strengths, suffering, weakness on August 5, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Photo by The 5th Ape
By Diana Gee
Posted in reflections, tagged balance, employment, money, seasons of life, transition on July 29, 2014| 2 Comments »
Photo by Riley Kaminer
By Liz Chang
The furniture fidgets got me last week for the first time in six months, and the reality of transition has become too obvious for me to ignore. I am moving out of a full-time-student-with-work-on-the-side world into a full-time-employee-with-workshops-on-the-side world. (more…)
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