Following His lead

How can I improve my relationship with my mate? 3 simple questions.

We had Steve Shamblin
come and talk to us. Steve was one of the pioneering members of the University of the Nations Counselling School, with Bruce Thompson. 
But because of health issues, he was unable to dedicate himself, but since recently he has become more active in YWAM counselling ministry. 

Steve came to us at YWAM and discussed with us about how to prevent unneeded couple counselling by following some basic but important principles with your spouse. 

The world's (or Media) definition of love is sex.  But the biblical definition of love is sacrifice, a choice (not based on touchy feeling, but choose to unconditionally), and action (what we do, not what we feel)

It basically comes down to asking yourself (spouse has to do it as well) these questions. 

1. How am I sacrificing for my mate?

2. Three ways I am choosing for my mate's highest

3. Share with each other how you would liked to be loved. 
Say... "This is how I want you to love me."  

After you have your own answers, share this with your mate. 
Steve promised your relationship with your mate will get better.

Graduating the Councelling school, but we'll be in Kona for another 3 months.

We just finished our FCM (Foundations in Counselling School) Last week. 
I haven't even been able to post my amazing notes from the lecture phase, and 
the 3 month outreach phase has already come to an end. 
We had a wonderful love feast at the Sheraton Keauhou Hotel and to finish with a beautiful Luau Show done by Island Breeze. 

During outreach, Jungrim and I had an intense time with God in a journey into ourselves, digging deep into our emotions of shame, anger, identity, sadness, fear and joy. 
We've also had the privilege to teach what we've learned, and adding our personal testimonials on how God worked in us during FCM.

Although we originally planned to go back to California in late March, we had a change of plans and decided to stay in Kona for another 3 months. 
We'll be staffing the Go Asia DTS and we're excited to just give another part of our lives to help disciple and train young people in know God and make Him known.

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Where do you find your Identity? In your knowledge or your sonship?

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I have a lot of catching up to do in updating the amazing lectures from the FCM lecture phase. 

The 2nd week speaker was Gus Hunter, the author of "From Venus and Mars and back, What it means to be you"
The theme was on Identity. Here are my takeaways. 

- “Life” in hebrew means relationship. God wants us to have life and receive life from our relationships. With God and with people. As we look at the prodigal son, the father said that his son was dead but now he is alive. The life the son had was in the relationship with his father.

- The tree of knowledge is the knowledge of what is good and evil. Don’t try to find our identity in knowledge. We use knowledge, but we don’t eat it to find our identity. Don’t use knowledge as a source of identity. If I play music, I think I am a musician. but that is poison. If we live in the tree of knowledge, and we eat from it (we find our identity in knowledge) it will poison me and I will die. We try to find our identity in our accomplishment, performance. We learn to do this, but if we do, we die. We try to perform for our parents, our teachers, authority to find our identity.  My mother did this. She had talent, and so much creativity. That became her identity and she became jealous, suspicious of people that her identity would be taken away. Our true identity (tree of life) is that I am a son of God, and I am loved very much.


- When Jx came out of the womb, He didn't know he was the son of God, he had to learn his identity. He learned from the HolySpirit, and he needed to listen to learn. And he learned obedience.

Jx was confused in the bible, and had trouble with his feelings, but he always went to the father to listen.  He is the true model for true humanity. To teach us what it means to be the son of God.

-  We see the vessel human body, (Like a glass cup) and the content filled by the father By himself it is empty, but it is filled with the father. A true man is not filled with himself, but it is empty of himself. But if we are filled with the father, it is the dance of intimacy with the father and son. The basis of the relationship is love. God gives us revelation because he loves us, he loves his child.

- The cup, only has the power to receive. (the vessel) once it receives, then it has the power to give.  

- Pain -> do not look for pain relievers. God used pain to get our attention and draw us closer to God. Then we begin to listen to God and we come to a place of birth and healing. Jx suffered pain. He learned obedience through suffering. Not just at the cross. It was the suffering of being human, facing temptation and struggle to make the right decisions. learning make to right decisions. We must learn that because we are children of God. Jx said for the joy set before him, he endured pain. We need to look and embrace the painful memories, and we need to ask the HolySpirit what are the next steps? If we share in His sufferings, we share in His glory. and this brings unity. and this brings Joy.

- Sometimes we want God to control us. (the puppet Syndrome) and God will not do it. He will not control us. Sometimes we want to be like a puppet. Those people end up with severe demonic problems. Because we pray, control me! we are not praying to God. It’s only the demons who want to control us.  God wants a free choice. a response from the freedom of my heart. We are a child with a free will, not a puppet. a puppet does not have a free will. This is not a picture of obedience.

- When there is a prophetic word, you need to test it. in your heart. Is that you God? and hear the spirit and ask your friends to pray with you. Ask 2~3 friends to test it with you. because only one person will not be the only person to hear God.

Jiyeon does the traditional hula dance in a traditional homemade ti leaf skirt! see the video!

One of the benefits of being in Hawaii, is the opportunity to experience rich Hawaiian traditions. 

At SRM (Solid Rock Ministries, which is the church we're attending while we're here on Kona Island), Jiyeon had the opportunity to learn the traditional hula dance. 
She's been practicing twice a week for the last few months, and she was finally able to show-off what she learned at the SRM Christmas party on Christmas eve last night. 

But this wasn't as easy as I thought... We actually prepared a traditional ti-leaf skirt, and made it the traditional way, which was a lot of work! 
We first went to one of the botanical gardens to pick the ti-leaves. we needed about 2000 leaves to make about 20 ti-leaf skirts. 

After bringing all the picked leaves, we filtered out the bad ones and then cleaned and de-boned (take out the stem so the leaves can sway when the girls dance) the good ones.
and then used old t-shirt parts to tie the leaves to the string to make the ti-leaf skirt. 

After finishing the skirt, we wrapped it up in a wet towel and one day before the event, 
we stripped the leaves so the leaves get thinner, and then refrigerated it until the event.

We had an awesome time at the Christmas party, and you can check the video below of Jiyeon performing.
Only catch was the pouring rain, but it just made the occasion so much more memorable. 

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God's plan for cross-cultural relationships

Our first week in FCM, Edson Suzuki came to speak to us about God's plan for cross-cultural relationships. Suzuki is a linguist, Japanese by ancestry, raised in Brasil, and has a heart for the indigenous tribes in Brasil. Suzuki also adopted Hakani, a child who barely escaped infantacide. I wrote about Hakani in my blog here
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In John 1:1, we know that God created man and communicates with man through the word. We bring our thoughts to existence through words. and God reveals His intents through his words. Jesus is the Word who became flesh, visible and tangible. In Gen 1:27 and Gen 2:20  we see that God created man in his own image, in the image of God. Thus we can live in eternity. Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field, thus God gave man Complete  knowledge. Gen 11:1 says “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.” We had Adam’s language and Complete  knowledge. We are equal to God which was God’s intent in the beginning.  But sin entered the world through Adam and Eve and the Israelites found a plain in Shinar and decided to settle there where they wanted to build a city and make a name for themselves. Their intent was not to be scattered over the face of the earth, but become one powerful people without God. This was the establishment of Babel, and in Gen 11:6  the people become one, had one language and said nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. But in Gen 11:7  God came down on them, and confounded their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth. This was how God allowed Knowledge to be divided amongst the nations. Thus the analogy was a large puzzle but the pieces where scattered all over the earth. Each one with it’s own language and own culture.  This is how the cultures of the world were created.
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Cross-Cultural relationship 
The nations are divided with different languages and different cultures, but marvelously has relationships with God’s plan in mind. According to Edson Suzuki, our speaker and linguist, He gives linguistic evidence of God’s intricate design. ¨The nature of the difference between the languages is complementary , instead of contrastive. He gives examples of how languages complement each other (which derives from cultural believes as well) like verbal tense vs. verbal aspects in different languages. Direction of the action Vs. purpose of the action in different languages and cultures.  But God is faithful to us, and He gives us a covenant that He will unite the cultures and languages and nations again. In Gen 12, God gives his promise to Abram ¨Leave your country…¨I will make you into a great nation… ¨I will make your name great, ¨…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
The start of God’s restoration of the Nations becoming one again reveals itself in Acts 2.  ¨And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.  This incident leads into the great commission in Acts 1:8 and Matth 28:19 where we go out to the Nations. The complementary characteristics of God’s languages and cultures, when we go preach the Gospel, (which we go and live and learn new languages and cultures) bring us closer to God’s original design of Man.  in Eph 3:10 it says  ¨To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God” When we go out to the Nations, and spread the Gospel, to become one again, Then the manifold wisdom of God  will be revealed thus the Complete knowledge will be restored.

Ministering to others in cross-cultural contexts.
My most important concept to take away from the speakers is the triangle concept  form on top, and meaning at the bottom. Although the form may be different (the way of praying healing over another, the way of worship, the clothes, the way to say hello), the meaning may be the same (healing, lifting God up, sharing God’s love). We need the Holy Spirit to discern what the form is and apply the meaning. Also we need an attitude of humbleness, and willingness to learn and develop the whole picture God intended us to be, by fitting the cultural pieces of other cultures together. To do this, we need the Holy Spirit to humble ourselves, and have the discipline to learn with a heart of servitude, and not a heart of teaching.

The perfect model for cross-cultural application is Jesus. He transcended all cultures but was able to connect and relate to all cultures

The longest journey in the world is from the head to the heart.

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Well the 3 month lecture of my FCM school has come to an end already. 

If my DTS was all about knowing God, FCM (Foundations in Counselling Ministry) is all about knowing yourself. And we all won't like what we see under the hood. 

FCM used to be called IBC (Introduction to Biblical Councelling) but everyone at YWAM knows it stands for "I've Been Crying"  
My three months was a very painful journey, and also I don't think I've ever quarreled with my wife more than I have been in FCM. (in a good way :-))
I'd say this is analogous to heart surgery. We go through so much agony to get better, but in the end, we come out alive. and have a totally new perspective on life, family, and God. 

I apologize to my friends and family who occasionally checked out my blog, and kept seeing an outdated picture of my family at the Ironman World Championship. 
But now that the lecture phase is over, (and all-nighter assignments are over too! yeah!) I can finally take a breather and share what I've learned from FCM. 

More details to come, but in a nutshell, here's the meat of what I've learned. 

They say that the longest journey in the world is from the head to the heart.
There is a fundamental difference between knowing about God and knowing God as a father.
Bruce Thompson, our last speaker at our school, founded the Counselling School at the University of Nations. 
Our last week of teaching was about "The Father Heart of God"

Bruce said this about a theologian, that he was teaching many years ago. The theologian knew so much about the Bible, 
so much about God, so much about the Father God that he even corrected Bruce on several occasions based on his learned theology. 
But Bruce was sad, because "He had a doctrine on God the Father, but didn't know the Father as a son" 

Jesus wants us to become sons of God, in intimacy with the father.  (John.14:23)  One the most important quotes Bruce gives is “ WITH MY MIND I SEE WHAT I THINK.  WITH MY HEART I SEE WHAT I FEEL” In our mind we can have a perfect picture of who God is,  but not in our heart. We know God is perfect, but in reality, in our subconscious, we  see more of what our earthly father is in God. For example, we say "I believe God loves me" but i feel cold.  we say "I believe God is with me" but i feel afraid. 
That's the struggle we have in our relationship with God. 

I learned that we see God through the distorted lenses that our earthly father’s and mother’s taint, and we gain distorted views of Father God. I look at my father and realize we never talked. He never taught me how to deal with my feelings, show feelings, and we  didn't discuss anything. The language I learned was to suppress my anger, and then explode in rage.  I just listened to my father, and asked no questions, whether i agreed or not, I didn't know how to respond than just doing what he asked.  That’s why i don’t know how to have a relationship with God. I don’t know how to share my feelings with God, or discuss things with God because i never learned that from my distant, stoic father (except anger and rage).
A year and a half ago, in the middle of the night, God woke me up and called on me. God whispered to me “be my humble servant”. Wow that's an amazing happening.  But I didn't know how to respond, I didn't think to respond by asking "what do you mean?" or say "i'm too afraid!" .  I didn't know how to talk to God about it because I didn’t have an interactive  relationship with my own father.  Through my own earthly father, the lie I believed was God is distant, God is disinterested, God is demanding, but the truth is God is a God of GRACE (2COR.12:9) a God of Compassion (Heb.4:14-16  Psalm 103:13) and a God of LOVE ( Psalm.139:1-4). The journey from the Head to the Heart is a life-long journey, but I've gained so much ground in FCM. Through ministry with Bruce, I was able to dispel the lies and forgive my father and mother, and receive the Fatherheart of God. 
We need to choose to believe and declare that I can have an intimate relationship with God. 

How do I do that? I'll share what I've learned in the next few weeks as i prepare to go on outreach. Stay tuned.

Picture : Me and Jungrim after our ministry time with Bruce and Barbara Thompson. (yes we're still a little teary eyed)

Finding a place in Kona, Ironman (not the movie) and our websites!

God is good. Our immediate prayers were to get a place to stay (staying on campus is more expensive than staying off-campus)
and the immediate tuition we needed to pay for Jiyeon's school. But God is good! and He provided both for us, just when we needed it. 
The new place we found is just across the street from the UofN. My father also provided for Jiyeon's tuition, 
so our lecture phase finances are all met. Thank you Jesus!

The kids are well adjusted in school right now, and so far are enjoying new friends and new environment. 
Jiseong has his own website at wii.posterous.com
and Jiyeon's websites is at jii.posterous.com  check out their updates!

We also had the privilege of volunteering at the 2010 World Ironman Championship
Which may be more famous because of the Rick and Dick Hoyt Father-Son team 
They didn't participate this year, but it was great to see that this event happened right where 
we are in Kona, just a 10minute walk away from YWAM. 

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We're back in Kona!

With 5 bags checked and 8 carry ons we lugged our 6 month baggage to kona. Basically it's all we need when you think about it. Just the basics. Bi ble, Clothes, rice cooker, coffee maker, laptop and most important, pillows. One prayer request. It turns out staying on campus is more expensive and inconvenient than off- campus so were looking for a small place to stay nearby. Pls pray for our new place to stay. Availalbility is scarce!

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Please pray for our daughter so she can go to school while we're in Kona

We're planning to send our daughter to school when we are in Kona, 
There is a home school called ICS run by YWAM parents, but unfortunately there's no room for Jiyeon. 

The only option we have right now is to send Jiyeon to a private school (KCA - Kona Christian Academy) 
and will cost about $4,200 for 6 months. 

Please pray for Jiyeon, and if God moves your heart to support her, Here's how below. 
(BTW, Jiseong will be going to the Learning Center at the YWAM campus, it's an experimental school to train mission teachers)

If you are in the US
, rather then us receiving it directly, you can send a check to my Church

Onnuri Church of San Jose
890 Meridian Way,
San Jose, CA 95126

Write payment to  "Onnuri Church of San Jose"

and in the "For :" area write "Richard Chun Mission offering"
or in Korean, "전민호 목자 선교헌금"

My church will make sure that it reaches me (and tax-deductible if needed)

If you are in Korea : 한국에 계실 경우 신한은행으로 송금해주시면 감사하겠습니다. 
신한은행 : 398-06-086039 
예금주 : Chun Richard Minoh

God Bless! and Praise the Lord!

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