God AMAZES

You guys, rejection sucks. I've been feeling rejected by one of my friends lately. No matter how many times we chat or I ask her to hang out, I always get shut down. Why doesn't she like me?! (Maybe I'm trying too hard.) 

Then someone reminded me about how this is only a tiny glimpse of how God feels about us. Or our parents and us.  

My parentals. They love me sooooo much.

Or me and my hubby. 

When he first asked me out, my exact thoughts were "ew, no." I know, how could I resist this face?

Sigh. I was thinking about this when we were talking in Hi Koi about how God AMAZES us. Who else would still welcome us with open arms even though we don't want to spend time with Him? Or love us even though we've sinned again and again even though we promised we wouldn't? Or what about those times when we fell asleep in service in His House on His day? 

What also AMAZES me is how He will always love us, no matter what. 

"Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting." - Psalm 106:1

From Stella

Hello Hi-Koi! 

Just in case some of you don’t know me- my name is Stella and I’m a counselor in Kristy’s small group (#glamour). If you attended Sunday School, yes, my dad is Uncle Hon. If you were in Acteens, yes, my sister is Christine. But I’m more than who I’m related to! I was once a high schooler. I wanted to get good grades and go to a good college. I volunteered at the hospital. I joined clubs like speech and debate.  I had a crush on a guy in my math class. I didn’t like a few of my teachers. The list goes on. So I want to tell you about probably my biggest transformation in high school and I hope it resonates with several, a few, or at least one of you. 

Here it is- I realized God had given me a voice. I’m not referring to singing well because I sing quite horribly and off-tuned. I realized that God had made me as I am and that includes my opinions, my thoughts. God knows all my thoughts, even future thoughts and thoughts I don’t say out loud, so I could be real with Him. There’s no such thing as saying the wrong thing to God. Before high school, I would rarely talk to anyone who was not my friend. I wasn’t trying to be unfriendly because sometimes I would want to talk to someone who seemed alone. But I was scared to say something stupid or the wrong thing, scared of rejection, scared of making a bad impression. And so I would stay quiet and sometimes I wished I had the courage to say something but I brushed it off. I can’t pin it on one day, one epiphany but God started to help me let go of the insecurities that would keep me from talking. Rather than holding onto the standards of my peers or of popular teenage culture, God started teaching me to hold onto the truth that I have immeasurable value in His eyes. 

So if there is something you are holding onto that stresses you, that keeps you from doing what you truly want to do, that kind of eats away at you- I encourage you strongly to ask God to help you realize that you are His child and to help you to hold onto Him more tightly than anything else in the world. 

Thank you for reading! If you ever want to talk to me or want me to pray for you, don’t be afraid to talk to me! See you at Hi-Koi!

Hikoi Feels, Nikkis Perspective.

Hai, hello, annyeong,  Hikoiers. I thought long and hard on what to post this week and in the end I came to the thought of telling you he story of how I came to be an sg leader and how I feel about it now. so I hope you can read till the end but I understand if you cant due to my horrible grammar and lack of creative writing, my apologies. well then lets get started...

Once upon a time, there was a girl ( that girl is me ... tehe) and she went by the name of Nikki. She was an average girl who lived with her family of five in a small house in the land of Temple City. She attended one of the most prestigious high schools of her time apart from Arcadia and San Marino. She also went to a very well know church called First Chinese Baptist Church in Los Angeles. She attended fellowship on Friday nights when she started her high school years and she loved it. The fellowship was called hikoi. she started going at first because she got to meet her friends who she couldn't she during the week  because they lived in different kingdoms. But after a while of going she started to enjoy it not only for the happiness it brought her through friends but also the peace and joy it brought her spiritually. she felt more content and learned more about herself as she continued her high school years while going to church every Friday night. Later one day everything changed. she was taken aside and asked an important question that would change her life forever. she was asked if she wanted to become an sg leader. she was given time to make her decision but in that time she had a difficult experience in making up her mind. she went to her mom for advise and her mom told her to uplift them to God, that he will be able to solve your problems for you and to just put your trust and faith in him. And so she did and prayed for days and then her answer came to be a simple yes.

wow wasn't that just the best story you have ever read ? jkjk but yeah that how I became an sg leader in a short story format. But to tell you the truth I did really have a difficult time deciding on wether or not it was a good idea to become an sg leader just because of fear and the thought of not being good enough. But now I feel as if I made the right decision. Becoming an sg leader has played a big part in my life even though it has been a short period of time, but in that short period of time it tested my faith and pushed me to rely on God more and im thankful for that. There are a lot of highs and lows in becoming an sg leader I think, but there are highs and lows in everything. a high is that I got to meet and build close friendships with people I would have never thought I would talk to, and I also get to help a little group of fantastic kiddies whom make me smile every Friday. a low point would probably be planning every week and being able to think of what to do that can fit the sg, but it is a challenge I am willing to take any day. :) well enough said I think, I don't really have anything else I can think of. Thank you for your time in reading this, and my apologies again for my terrible grammar mistakes. Have a good rest of you week. :)

Why does Katie like prayer so much?

This question was asked to my dad – of all people, and then he later passed it on to me.  Initially, I laughed about it and was pleasantly surprised by the forwardness of the individual.  Yet, when I actually paused to think about it, I realized that the question is completely legitimate to ask.  

I haven't always been so into prayer.  I knew prayer was important, and I needed to do it in order to spiritually grow; however, I didn't see the relevance or effectiveness of prayer in my own life for the longest time.  This all changed during the week of July 3-11, 2010.  

The week in July was when I was asked to lead HSMT in prayer while in Arizona.  I apprehensively took on the role, but I was full of doubt and questions.  How would I have been able to lead a group of high schoolers in prayer?  What did it mean to be a prayer leader?  What made me equipped to fulfill this role?  How could I lead effectively when I knew ABSOLUTELY NOTHING?  Thankfully, in my insecurities, that was when God was able to glorify Himself.  “For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but You are strong,” 2 Corinthians 13:9a.  

In Arizona, I realized two significant things (among many):

        1. Prayer works

        2. Prayer is powerful

In the week of interceding for the Navajo, leading prayer times, having numerous chit chat/prayer times with the high schoolers, and observing our youth initiating prayer with one another on their own accord, I could not help seeing prayer as the answer to any situation we came against.  This was the first time that I witnessed a direct correlation of our prayers to the events that transpired during the missions trip.  

Following the week, prayer became more and more of an infatuation and addicting to learn about until 2012 when I realized that empowering the youth to pray can lead to a change in our world.  Prayer is the only avenue that can move God's hand in our world.  Imagine if ALL the youth in your generation were completely enamored with God, active prayer warriors, and persistent in their prayers!!  How would our world look today? 

“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” 2 Timothy 1: 7 

Prayer and more prayer!

No program folding tonight! 

We started the night off with a time of meditation and prayer with Nathan and went into a time of devotion with Enoch who shared about grace and loving our neighbors. Jacob led us in a time of sharing and meeting other people! Then we split up into small groups!(:

Announcements: T-Shirts and Crew Necks are available for pre-orders! Contact Naomi Low and be on the lookout for future posts and announcements! 

ITP: (increase the peace) is in 2 weeks! March 14 from 8am-2pm (according to Edwin Cheung) Contact Edwin for more details and to sign up! 

MEMBERSHIP: turn in your membership forms along with $5 to become a member! Talk to a counselor or an officer for more details! Forms can be found in previous post! Contact Melissa Chow for for any questions! 

Nonetheless, I'm Blessed

Through the ups and downs of high school it's been a quite hard to have a stable relationship with God. Some days I feel as if I'm alone and I don't know where I'm going. However, God has His ways of speaking to me, and often times they're unexpected.

Last year, I had a school project called “Save the World”. In a group, we were to choose an unresolved world issue and find a place to alleviate this issue. My topic was to help children under the poverty level. I went to Harambee Preparatory School, a K-6th grade private school that provides a safe place for children to learn. The word Harambee itself is quite beautiful. It is Swahili for, “Let’s get together and push”. Initially, I only went for my project: after school tutoring, and quickly left to go back to the comforts of my own home. As time passed the meaning of Harambee became real in me. I developed relationships with the children, and began savoring my time with them. I instantly connected with one of the girls, Ellisse, a 1st grader that constantly chatted my ear off. When I was playing with her and some of the other girls her age she started singing “How Great is Our God”. The other girls soon joined and they sang the chorus:

How great is our God – sing with me How great is our God – and all will see How great, how great is our God. 

I was amazed at how they were able to easily sing praises. These girls, who had so little, were able to sing of God’s amazing grace. It hit me then, our God really is great. Even though I was supposed to be serving them, those girls reminded me of how powerful and almighty our God is.

God unveils (hah) himself through the little things in life. So this week...I encourage you to be ready and open to what God has to say. You never know when or where God will speak to you - it'll just happen :) 

Peace y'alls.

Tutoring Ellisse

All smiles :)

programs and mercy~

ICYMI

Hey everyone! Hikoi is responsible for folding programs this month... yaaaaaaay (interpret that how you want). But the good thing is that you have an excuse to come to hikoi earlier and spend more time in fellowship with others while doing something good for the rest of the church.

Because program folding went "a little" longer than expected, we ended up starting hikoi an hour late. But no worries because Jonny was able to use the limited time well by introducing our new topic of "mercy" which we will focus on for the next few weeks. Following justice, mercy will be the next focus in our study of the attributes of God. By understanding the qualities of God, we are able to see how far we are from Him. However Jonny reminded us that we can bridge that gap through the cross. yaaaaaay! Stay tuned for more about mercy in the upcoming weeks of Hikoi.

On a less serious note, we recognized our february birthday members. :D Because Manting and Chelsea are so loving (and because all of Hikoi was watching), they gave out their own cupcakes to people who they appreciate and love. <3 cute. Lastly, we headed off to small groups.

Announcement!
- Hikoi membership will be extended to March 6 (Friday) so pick up some forms from Melissa Chow and turn them in to your sg leader. Being a member means that you are committed to Hikoi and get discounts on things like the hikoi shirt and wire, so don't miss out!