By Yuri Yamamoto

By All Means Possible
Jesus looks for his lost sheep

Once I saw him
In the eyes of a suffering man

Leaning on the church door
So as not to collapse under the weight of his depression

He looked up 
And whispered
“Please, Yuri…”

Jesus 
In this man’s desperate eyes 
Pleading for my understanding and compassion

By Sarah D. Park

I have missed the ways I used to meet God in community.

I remember what it used to feel like to have multiple hands reach out and touch my shoulders, my back, my head in solidarity as we knocked on the door of heaven in prayer. 

I remember what it felt like to feel the Spirit stir within me like an insistent nudge, laced by the smallest twinge of fear that only confirmed I had to get up and go get prayer.

I remember the thrill of discussing stories from the Bible with curiosity, wonder, and concordances.

By Diana Kim

My 3rd grade teacher engaged me as a human being. 
At the end of the 3rd grade, my teacher gave the entire class his mailing address and invited us to write to him and keep in touch with him during the summer. I took him up on that offer and wrote a letter just a few weeks after school ended. (It wasn’t until the fall that I learned I was the only student who actually wrote to my teacher during the summer.) I wrote multiple letters, consisting of multiple pages. He responded in kind. Instead of being condescending, his letters revealed a mutual relationship (at least, as much as a teacher can have with a nine-year old). When I told him of the things I did that week, he shared his thoughts on the activities, what he remembered about his first experiences with them, and what he thought about them in the present. The relationship extended beyond the classroom: he took time out of his own summer vacation to keep in contact with a former student. I still have the letters he wrote me. 

By Wendy Choy-Chan

After I graduated from seminary, I served in a church’s internship program for two years. This was a program offered by the church to seminary graduates to gain a comprehensive church leadership experience by participating in different ministries in the church, not needing to be tied down to any one particular area. I always felt led by God to go into the teaching ministry, but my mentor at that time encouraged me to gain some experience in church pastoring. So I started my internship at this church. 

One of the challenges I faced was that this church was complementarian (it was quite surprising but God’s working that they even engaged me as an intern in the first place!). After my first year, I was asked to meet with the leadership. In that meeting, one of the leaders asked me, “Our church trains pastors, not teachers. So why do you want to continue for another year? Why not go get a PhD and teach in a seminary?” I thank God for giving me wisdom to respond in that moment. I said, “Well, I think a teacher needs to learn how to pastor, just as a pastor needs to learn how to teach.” 

By Tina Teng-Henson

(Continued from Part 6–>)

In closing, Jesus has been teaching me a great deal in the first three months of this year. I’ve learned to abide and rest in his authority. I’ve learned to listen to his voice, and to obey. I’ve learned not to overthink things, but simply do what I’m asked to do, as best as I can, and trust him to provide the resources needed, when they’re needed. I’ve learned not to be afraid of spiritual forces, but to acknowledge that there is an evil one who has been at work in every chapter, who is the one who steals, kills, and destroys. He loves to accuse and disturb and distract us from our core purpose. 

But Jesus is the greater one, who redirects us. Who rebukes the accusations of others. Who comforts us in our distress. Who guides us back to our core purposes and leads us back into restored relationship.

By Tina Teng-Henson

(Continued from Part 5–>)

I paused in that moment, and a car alarm went off for about 5 seconds. That felt like a response. After it quieted down, I said a few more words of blessing and care and encouragement to go home to the Father. And then I paused again, and the car alarm sounded again, but for slightly less time. And then I prayed again, and then it felt like the work there was done.

L followed us into the staff room across the way after that – the spacious space that no one felt comfortable using, and we gathered standing, around one of the tables. I directed her to read part of St. Patrick’s Breastplate – and told her that we’d each read a portion. She was glad to do it, and read ⅓ of the page: 

By Tina Teng-Henson

(Continued from Part 4–>)

Then we moved to the pantry where all the food was stored, and blessed the Latina woman who had experienced things in that room. I put my hands on her shoulders, I touched her head and her feet, and I did a very brief version of the prayer of St. Fursey (Ireland) that I’d been doing all month in honor of St. Patrick. 

A Prayer of St. Fursey
7th Century – died 650 AD
The arms of God be around my shoulders,
The touch of the Holy Spirit upon my head,
The sign of Christ’s cross upon my forehead,
The sound of the Holy Spirit in my ears,
The fragrance of the Holy Spirit in my nostrils,
The vision of heaven’s company in my eyes,
The conversation of heaven’s company on my lips,
The work of God’s church with my hands,
The service of God and my neighbour in my feet,
And a home for God in my heart,
And to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit my entire being.
Amen

By Tina Teng-Henson

(Continued from Part 3–>)

It took about half an hour to do the service, and I think that went from about 11:45 to 12:15. I forgot to say that as I moved through the building, I would give warm greetings and hugs to the patients I encountered who were assigned to me. 

There was Yv, who had been discharged from hospice, because she’d stabilized and didn’t need those services any more. I took a quick picture so I could text her daughter B who enjoyed those pictures. 

By Tina Teng-Henson

(Continued from Part 2–>)

From there, I proceeded to guide us through a Fun in the Sun service flow I’d created for a church up in San Francisco that I had interim pastored in 2023 when they had no staff. It was a simple service I’d designed for our congregation to do outdoors, to celebrate God’s work in creation, and to talk about climate change as a body. 

It opened with a hymn, a song, then had four scripture passages with discussion questions, before having three songs to close. The theme was all about how God shows up in the natural world as our creator, how he’s praiseworthy for how he cares for the smallest of creatures, how he wants us to trust him for every detail of our life, and how he wants to rescue us when we’re in distress. The songs paired well with the passages – This is My Father’s World, Praise to the Lord, His Eye is on the Sparrow, Amazing Grace. The one contemporary song was How Great is Our God (which opens with, The splendor of the king…)