NEWSLETTER

TeenEnglishMinistry

IN THIS ISSUE:

Pastors’ Greetings and

Words of Love p.2-3

Representatives: What the

Ministries Do p.6-27

What Happens at the

Retreats, Does Not Stay at

the Retreats p. 28-63

Pray! Ask God

about it.

Serve at Stem Step up & JOIN A TEAM!

ISSUE FEBRUARY 2011

Sarang

Page 2

letter from pastor phillip

2

Hello STEMers!! God blessed us in

2010 with many wonderful changes and

improvements. He sent Pastor Faith

Hong to us to fill areas in our minis-

try that were lacking. Many new

and returning teachers served

seamlessly to make sure that each

event, gathering, and time of wor-

ship was a sacrifice devoted to the

Lord. God blessed the Seniors to work

hard to become good examples for the

younger students. The SEEDS and Branches

were excellent in their service to the ministry and devotion to their re-

sponsibilities.

All of these things made it possible for us to start a new era in

STEM. Starting in March, STEM will be restructured into two components:

STEM Middle and STEM High. This is exciting because STEM will be able

to better meet the needs of the students in different age groups. This will

also allow the students to express themselves more freely among their

peers. Having separate Middle School and High School ministries will give

us more opportunities to cooperate and step up to new challenges.

I will miss the middle school students but it’s okay because we all

know they will move to STEM High very soon. Plus, Pastor Faith and the

STEM Middle teachers will train them well and prepare them to face the

vigorous aspects of high school.

2011 is an exciting year. God has given STEM 10 years of history

that shows where we are headed. I know that He will give each student

and teacher in STEM many opportunities to grow and become stronger in

faith this year. I hope that you will be an active and contributing member

of this body of Christ. I love you! Hug you soon!

letter from pastor faith

GREETINGS to you STEM family! YEAH! Our first

newsletter is launched today….Behalf of

all STEM family I send you greetings

and thanks for this day. God

blessed us, STEM abundantly over

the years, and I am so pleased to

be part of this God’s family. I

quote the words from Dwight L.

Moody, a pastor. He says,

“There are many of us that are will-

ing to do great things for the Lord, But

few of us are willing to do little things.”

How many of us including myself are lost for the sake of Christ

we ask, we dream, and we vision, and yet it is actually for our sake we

ask, dream and vision. The words from Pastor L. Moody challenges us

again about what Christian life, living for Christ is ought to be about,

“willing to do little things for the Lord”. STEMers! Let us be the “few”

that are “willing to do little things” for Christ. I pray that this newslet-

ter is used to challenge us and encourage us to be humble and faithful

servants for Christ. Thank God and Seeds & branches for making this

newsletter possible.

God bless…

Page 82

Ministry Letters

Praise Team 6

Media Team 11

Intercessory Prayer Team 14

Drama Team 20

Branches Team 24

Summer Retreat

Retreat Masters 28

Seminar Speaker 32

Summer Only Student 38

Winter Retreat

NHM 44

Jiguchon 47

Jubilee 50

Compassion Forum 53

Vision Seminar 55

Missionary Christie Kim 56

Pastor Doug 57

7th Grader 58

12th Grader 60

4

8 6

4 4

Other Stuff

64 Bible Trivia

66 Ninja Game

68 Senior

74 President

79 Fun page

53

7

Table of Contents

1

“You, my brothers, were called to

be free. BuT do not use your free-

dom to indulge the sinful nature;

rather, serve one another in

love.”

(GalatiAns 5:13)

Praise, Media, Intercessory

Prayer, Drama & Branches

MINISTRIES

6

PRAISE TEAM

What comes to your

mind when you think of the

‗praise team‘? ―People on

stage‖? ―People who come

early and eat up all the

breakfast‖? By my personal

definition, praise team is a

group of people who God

called to serve Him and the

ministry.

Our God loves us so

much that He gives each of us

different abilities and talents.

God allowed us, the praise

team members, the ability to

play instruments, sing, and

lead praise. However, more

importantly than knowing

how to play music, God gave

us the willing hearts to devote

our time and strength on

serving. We have practices on

Saturdays and Sundays. The

official practice time on Sat-

urday is from 4p.m to 6p.m.

After practice, those who are

hungry and free go out and

have dinner that the church

By my personal

definition,

praise team is a

group of

people who God

called to

serve Him and

the ministry.

provides. During dinnertime,

the members and teachers

easily get closer as they talk

and get to know more about

each other. On Sundays, we

come to church by 7:50 am

sharp but thankfully, we have

10 minute mercy and if we

can make it until 8:00,

then we are safe but this

is only for emergency. Our

Sunday practice usually

ends at 8:40 before the

teachers‘ meeting. When

the teachers leave, we enjoy

our short break until nine;

then we go to one of the small

rooms to pray.

Every member takes

turn leading prayers. Mostly,

we prepare our hearts for the

worship, pray for the congre-

gation, leaders, and also for

each other. We finish it up at

around 9:20 am and go into

the worship room to say hello

to our friends or use the re-

maining time for individual

prayers.

Even though it is far

less than what God deserves,

I am glad that we are given

the opportunity to serve the

Lord. I would not be who I am

today if I had not joined the

praise team in February, 2007.

Actually, the first time I

took the application form was

right after my first retreat.

Nevertheless, as I went

through the rules, such as ―No

8

dating‖ policy, I realized that I

was not ready. I was not

confident enough to register

right away. After the winter

retreat, God gave me another

chance to apply and so I ap-

plied. As I had expected,

serving in praise team was

not easy. All the new mem-

bers including myself had to

go through two months of

probation before we actually

served on stage. In addition, I

had a hard time adjusting to

the atmosphere of the team.

Most of the members were

older than me and they

seemed like the ―almighty‖

elders to me at the time.

Furthermore, my first

leader, Phillip SSN, left to

America literally the day after

my first retreat as a praise

team member. Then the for-

mer praise team bassist,

Steve SSN came back as the

praise leader. During the six

months with Steve SSN, I

slowly began to know more

about other members, how to

set up, and became more

aware of my mistakes.

However, after the

winter retreat, Steve SSN left

for the army. Then we had

Pastor Phillip as the worship

leader. I would never forget

how Pastor was fairly easy on

the instrument players while

being absolutely strict to the

Even though it

is far less than

what God

deserves, I am

glad that we

are given the

opportunity

to serve the

Lord.

singers. During the time when

Pastor Phillip led praise, I

learned how to do harmonies,

listen to others and, basically,

to praise in musical terms.

Also I was not the youngest

anymore which taught me the

importance of serving the

younger members. Few

months later, another former

praise team member David

SSN, who was an electric

guitarist, joined as the new

leader. I believe David SSN‘s

style of leading was more of a

challenge for the instrument

players. We tried various new

songs by different artists. For

the year and a half during

which David SSN led the team,

I became more comfortable

with serving God through my

time on stage and God helped

me to challenge myself to a

higher level both spiritually

and musically.

When I look back, I

can‘t stop thanking God for

what I had to overcome dur-

ing the past few years. All the

good things and bad things

have continually helped me in

every way up to this day. I am

not sure how my spiritual life

would have been if I was not

in the praise team. I have

faith in God, who is the same

God yesterday, today, and

tomorrow, that He will use me

as His tool. I also pray that He

will ―inspire‖ every single

I have faith in

God, who is the

same God

yesterday,

today, and

tomorrow,

that He will

use me as His

tool.

10

members of the praise team

so that we will be together as

one ―branch‖ of God‘s tree,

STEM.

By Sarah Kwon

MEDIA TEAM

Hello STEMers! This is

Harry from the Media Team!

First let me introduce myself. I

am in 9th grade and I started

to

join the media team since

2009 when I was in 8th grade.

Joining the Media Team made

a big difference in my life. I

grew spiritually and met many

people who continues to help

me when I am having a hard

time. As a Media Team mem-

ber, I feel like I am doing

something for God. I am

pleased that I am growing

closer with God. Moreover, my

lifestyle changed. I started to

put God first before anything

else. This really makes me

feel as though I am growing

spiritually.

I have a question; do

you know what the Media

Joining the

media team

made a big

difference in

my life.

Team does? I guess there are

not many people who knows

so let me inform you about it:

the Media Team does a lot

more than you think. We do

the lyrics that come up on the

screen, the sound engineer-

ing; we record the sermons

and upload them on our

homepage; we turn on and

off the light, check the tem-

perature of the air conditioner,

pack up and set up the

equipments; and

other technical stuff.

We meet at 3:45p.m

to 6:00p.m on Satur-

days in the worship

room to rehearse for

Sunday with the

Praise Team. On Sun-

days we come to

worship room by

7:50a.m and prepare

the worship. After the practice

we pray for the worship.

When I first joined the

Media Team I learned how to

do the lyrics: we make a

power point file and use the

projector to show the lyrics to

the congregation. We have to

know the order of the song so

it is not easy. However, the

challenge motivated me to try

12

harder. After doing the lyrics I

learned to do the sounds.

The sound is the

easiest and the most inter-

esting, but at the same time,

the most complicated and the

hardest thing to do. Doing the

sound engineering is like

making the harmony to the

sound of the Praise Team

make by sending it to the

main speakers so the congre-

gation can participate in the

worship. Learning it was hard

because as I said, it is ex-

tremely complicated. I had to

memorize things, adapt it and

think of the harmony only by

listening. And when there is

any sound problem, it became

my fault so I had to take a lot

of responsibility. But as time

passed I got used to it and

started to really take control

over it. And you know? I am

doing the sound engineering

and helping out other media

things.

Do you think doing all

these ―cool‖ things make us

special? If you think this way,

please get rid of that point of

view. Those who have at-

tended to the summer retreat

know that the Worship Team

got rebuked by Pastor Phillip.

Through this, I

realized the

importance of

humility and

admitted that I

was

struggling

with pride; it

was a

humbling

experience as I

knelt down

before God.

His point was that we need to

humble ourselves and not

think we are more special

than others. Through this, I

realized the need for humility

and admitted that I was

struggling with pride. It was a

humbling experience as I

knelt down before God. I want

to remind you that leading

worship is not something light

but something that really

needs a heart of passion and

love for God.

I highly recommend

all of you to join a ministry

team which could help give

you a big shift in your life.

Thank you for reading this

long writing. Rejoice in the

Lord!

By Harry Seon

INTERCESSORY

PRAYER TEAM

What is Intercessory

Prayer?

Intercessory prayer is

simply prayer for others. An

intercessor is one who is will-

ing to stand in the gap be-

tween God and others and

plead to God the case of oth-

ers. The Biblical basis for the

ministry of intercessory

Intercessory

prayer is

simply prayer

for others. An

intercessor is

one who is

willing to

stand in the

gap between

God and

others and

plead to God

the case of

others.

14

prayer is our calling as priests

unto God. The Bible says we

are a holy and royal priest-

hood (1 Peter 2:4, 8) and a

kingdom of priests

(Revelation 1:5). In the Old

Testament, a Levitical priest's

responsibility was to stand

before and between. He

stood before God to listen to

God and to obey and minister

to Him. He also stood be-

tween a righteous God and

sinful man to bring them to-

gether as a mediator at the

place of the blood sacrifice

and offerings. However, we

can now approach the throne

of God‘s grace with confi-

dence without the blood of

sacrificed animals because of

the blood that Jesus has shed

for our sins (Hebrews 4:14-

16). Thus, Hebrews 7:11-19

explains that we are a ―new

order‖ of spiritual priests of

the order of "Melchizedek" of

whom Lord Jesus is the High

Priest. It is passed on to us

through Jesus‘ blood and our

spiritual birth as new crea-

tures in Christ.

Accordingly, Jesus

Christ is our model for inter-

cessory prayer. Jesus prays to

save us. - Therefore he is able

to save completely those who

come to God through him,

because he always lives to

intercede for them.(Hebrews

7:25). He brings sinful man

and a righteous God together

at the place of His blood sac-

rifice for our sin-

For there is one God

and one mediator between

God and men, the man Christ

Jesus (I Tim 2:5).

Jesus was an interces-

sor while He was here on

earth. He prayed for those

who were sick and possessed

by demons. He prayed for His

disciples. He prayed early in

the morning and prayed into

the night. He even prayed for

you and me when He inter-

ceded for all those who would

believe on Him (John 17).

Jesus continued His ministry

of intercession after His death

and resurrection when He

returned to Heaven. He now

serves as our intercessor in

Heaven (Romans 8:34)-

Who is he that con-

demns? Christ Jesus, who

died - more than that, who

was raised to life - is at the

right hand of God and is also

interceding for us. (Romans

8:34).

Effective Intercessory

Prayer.

In intercessory prayer,

we follow the pattern of the

priests and Jesus - standing

before God and between a

righteous God and sinful man.

In order to be effective in

standing "between" we must

first stand "before" God to

develop the intimacy neces-

16

sary to fulfill this role. In

Genesis 18 and Numbers 14,

Abraham and Moses were

each able to stand between

God and sinful man and in-

tercede on their behalf be-

cause they had stood "before"

God and had already devel-

oped an intimate relationship

and communication with

God. James 2:23 says Abra-

ham ―was called God‘s friend,

and Numbers 12:8 says that

God spoke with Moses as

friend to friend and not

through visions and dreams

as He did with other prophets.

As New Testament be-

lievers, we no longer sacrifice

animals as in Old Testament

times. Instead, we stand be-

fore the Lord to offer up

spiritual sacrifices of praise

(Hebrews 13:15) and the

sacrifice of our own lives

(Romans 12:1). Peter uses

two words to describe this

priestly ministry: "Holy" and

"royal." Holiness is required to

stand before the Lord

(Hebrews 12:14). We are able

to do this only on the basis of

the righteousness of Christ,

not our own righteous-

ness. We must believe that

Jesus‘ blood is sufficient to

make us clean and

holy. Royalty is descriptive of

the kingly authority that is

In order to be

effective in

standing

"between" we

must first

stand "before"

God to develop

the intimacy

necessary to

fulfill this

Page 10

delegated to us as members

of the "royal family," so we

must believe without a doubt

that we are the children and

co-heirs of the King (Romans

5:16-17), part of the royal

family, with authority to ap-

proach the King and cry

―Abba Father‖ (Romans

5:15). It is on the basis of

this intimate relationship with

God that we can then stand

"between" God and others,

serving as an advocate and

intercessor in their behalf.

The work of the Holy

Spirit through a Christian

group or church (consisting of

believers of Jesus Christ, such

as STEM) cannot be effec-

tively carried out without

prayer and believers given to

intercessory prayer. In a

sense, without prayer, we

lose our only channel through

which we can receive power

of God to accomplish amaz-

ing supernatural

things. Without prayer, we

end up accomplishing only

things that are humanly pos-

sible. Only with prayer can

we achieve things that are

humanly impossible but pos-

sible for God, such that we

can learn to truly praise and

thank God.

In a sense,

without

prayer, we lose

our only

Channel

through which

we can receive

power of God

to accomplish

amazing

supernatural

things.

18

Okay, so what does the

Intercessory Prayer team

do?

Basically, the team

meets regularly on Sunday

mornings at 8 am to 8:40 am

in room B204 (which is inside

the inner hallway from the

stairwell near STEM's worship

room) to pray for STEM

(STEM pastors, teachers, stu-

dents, their family members,

the praise, worship, sermon,

Bible Studies, activities,

etc.) We also take the prayer

requests STEMers pro-

vide directly by writing

them down using the

form in the bulletin or via

teachers. It is interces-

sory Prayer team's mis-

sion to help encourage

and equip STEM to be-

come "a house of prayer"

not only for unceasing revival

and renewal of all STEMers

but for our ultimate mission of

fulfilling Christ‘s great com-

mission:

―to go and make disciples of

all nations.‖

In short, we:

1. Pray for others, especially

STEM. Pray for Pastors

and Teachers and STEM

members.

2. Attend prayer meetings

on Sunday mornings

regularly from 8 a.m. to

8:40 a.m. to pray corpo-

rately together.

3. Learn to Pray. Learn to

pray according to God‘s

will. Study Lord‘s Prayer.

4. Sometimes hold optional

periodic prayer meetings

for special events such

before or during retreats

or before special events.

Who can join?

Anyone can join on any

Sunday to pray with

us. However, if you wish to

make a commitment, then

you can make a commitment

for 3 months to 6 months to

come regularly to the Inter-

cessory Prayer meetings.

By Daniel SSN

DRAMA TEAM

Hello! This is Su SSN

not Sussemi.

As you guys know, I

am the Drama Team leader. If

you didn‘t know about Drama

Anyone can

join on any

Sunday to pray

with us.

20

Team‘s existence in STEM,

YES, WE DO EXIST! This year,

we performed only once so far

because w lacked drama team

members, and currently we

do not have any student

members. All the members

left the team early this year

for various reasons. And now

Manuel SSN, Seung-Im SSN

and I are waiting for new

members. If you feel sorry for

Drama Team, that‘s ok, but

we don‘t need your sympathy.

We need your prayers and

interest!

Let me briefly tell you

about Drama Team:

Drama Team officially

launched in 2008 with the

founding teacher, HwaPyung

SSN and a couple of students.

After HwaPyung SSN left, I

took over her place. Starting

in 2008, the team regularly

performed different kinds of

skits and dances averaging

about 4 to 5 times a year.

Serving in Drama

Team is not as easy as it

seems. Typically, our prepa-

ration for the performances

goes as follows: We first dis-

cuss the theme and purpose,

and then we choose a skit

based on our discussion.

Usually, we then choose skits

made and performed by pro-

fessionals from the Online

Christian Community and re-

lated stuff found on Youtube,

and then edit the script to

meet the needs of STEMers.

We also sometimes

Serving in

Drama Team is

not as easy as

it seems.

create a skit on our own; last

year, the students actually

made and wrote a drama

based on their life stories.

Next we assign roles, followed

by memorizing the script and

various vocal and pronuncia-

tion exercises; this is the

hardest but most fun part of

the practice! All of the mem-

bers try really hard to memo-

rize their lines and empathize

with the characters. Most im-

portantly, we also spend time

in prayer individually, and as a

group because we know that

if we lose focus on God it can

be just a show and not wor-

ship. No, it is not just about a

drama or dance. It‘s all about

God and worship. And

through this Drama ministry,

we learn how to serve and

worship Him.

Do we only practice

and perform skits? No, of

course not! We also share our

life problems and prayer re-

quests together. We take

turns and send encouraging

and inspiring messages to

each other during the week.

Last year, all the team mem-

bers went through ‗Basic

Christian Training‘ in small

groups. We sometimes spend

time just to hang out or watch

movies. All these different

activities bind us together and

help us grow as one team.

We also experience

God‘s blessings as we serve

No, it is not

just about a

drama or

dance. It’s all

about God and

worship.

22

together. Personally I am very

thankful to God, especially

when I see kids grow up

spiritually and share their

blessings with the people

around them. For the skit

‗Gratitude‘ that we performed

early this year, we spent a lot

of time together because we

decided to make it on our own.

Of course it was not easy for

everyone, and there were

times when we struggled, but

it gave us the chance to re-

flect upon our daily lives and

to consider how much we

don‘t appreciate what we al-

ready have, and as a re-

sult often complain to God

about the things we do

not have. One of the

Drama Team members

was able to share what

she had learned from the

skit with younger STE-

Mers afterwards.

I have more stories

that I want to share with you

guys about Drama Team, but

to save space, I will stop here.

However, you can always

contact any of the teachers,

Manuel, Seung-Im, and Su

SSN, if you have any ques-

tions or want to know more

about Drama Team.

If you have got any

talents in acting or dancing,

please share with us. If you

do not, it‘s also okay because

God does not call the

equipped. He equips those he

calls.

By Su Kim SSN

BRANCHES TEAM

Hi my fellow STEMers.

My name is Chaewon Song,

9th grade, and I am one of

the members in Branches!

Well, many of you guys are

asking, "What is Branches?" ,

"What do they do?" , "What's

the difference between SEEDs

and Branches?". Well, I'm

going to tell you all about it.

Branches were made

because there weren't a lot of

SEEDs members and they

needed people to help out

and to serve in church. But,

since some, well a lot of par-

ents, don't want their kids to

have a negative effect to their

studies because of church

meetings, and some kids have

pressure having a lot of re-

sponsibilities, they decided to

make an "unofficial" SEEDs

members. That way, kids

won't have a lot of responsi-

bilities and parents don't have

to worry about their kids

having an effect on their

studying. So that was how

Branches was made, with our

Vice-President (Raymond

Kim) creating the name.

I went into branches

because of my friend. I

needed a ride to come to

I went into

branches

because of my

friend.

24

church, so I got a ride from

my friend. But my friend

wanted to go into branches,

so I had to go in since I

couldn't go to church by my-

self. I can't ride buses or

subways by myself. I know.

It's real sad. And also, I

wanted attention from people.

I felt like I was nobody in

STEM, and I felt alone even

though I had friends in STEM.

I wanted people to know me,

and I wanted to show people

that I am in this group. I

thought people would recog-

nize me when I become a part

of something. So I went in,

and my friend and I were the

only 9th graders besides Brian.

First, I was amazed by

Brian, how he was in SEEDs at

a very young age. But I was

more amazed by Jessica. She

is in 8th grade and she was

already serving the church!

But I thought these people

joined SEEDs and Branches

because of the

same reason as I

had. I didn't realize

I was the only one

who joined to get

attention from

people. As I worked

in Branches, every-

one was trying their

best to do their work but I

wasn't. Every time I had to

follow my friend to the meet-

ing, she always concentrated

on her things, but I never did.

It was only body that was

there, my mind was some-

where else. I even thought of

quitting this after I got some

attention from people. While I

was still thinking of all these

things, the Retreat started.

Brian told us to get to

know people that you don't

know. Since I wanted to get

attention from people, I

started talking to people. As I

got to know people, I realized

that people didn't actually

care that I was a branch or

not. They just seemed to

think, 'Oh, She's in Branches.'

and that's it. I was disap-

pointed. That was the whole

point that I was in Branches

but it wasn't the way I

thought it to be.

But as I talked to more

and more people, I felt

something different. The rea-

son why I am in Branches is

not because of the attention I

The reason why

I am in

Branches is not

because of the

attention I

receive from

people or

because of my

friend; it is

because God

chose me to be

a part of

Branches to

really help

out in STEM and

to be a part of

STEM.

26

receive from people or be-

cause of my friend it is be-

cause God chose me to be a

part of Branches to really help

out in STEM and to be a part

of STEM. I didn't feel lonely

anymore. I was already a part

of STEM but I just didn't no-

tice. People talked to me

when I talk to them first. I

helped people first, and they

helped me back. By doing this

over and over again, I wasn't

the person who just came into

a group to get some fame. I

was in this group because of

God. God brought me here.

God gave me a responsibility,

an opportunity to be involved

in this ministry. I prayed to

God thanking him

for bringing me here

and changing me

through the involve-

ment in Branches.

If you want to

join some group,

don't be afraid. Just

join in. Be a part of

the ministry. Who

knows what God has

planned for you? Maybe God

wants you to be a part of this

ministry right now. Start now

before it's too late!

By Chaewon Song

RETREAT MASTERS

Hello STEMers! When

Sandra SSN and I started to

prepare for this retreat, peo-

ple around us said this;" You

will learn a lot through this."

I'm pretty sure the learning

they meant were all different.

Some might think that we

might experience the differ-

ence between the stemer as a

student and a person to serve

at this ministry. Some said

just by making things ready

for this retreat is a totally new

blessing experience for us.

Equippe

d

“Just

as a b

ody, though o

ne, has m

any

parts, b

ut all i

ts m

any parts

form

one b

ody,

so it

is w

ith C

hrist.”

(1 C

orinth

ians 1

2:12)

Sum

mer

Ret

reat

201

0

28

For me, I had a time of

both repen-

tance and

thanksgiving to

God.

When seeing SEEDs

and branches dedicating

themselves for this retreat

gave me a deep impression.

Former stem graduates called

me and said " I would like to

serve as a small group

teacher!" made me look back

myself and gave thanks to

God for their passion not just

coming to retreat without

having any heart for kids but

their sincerity.

I give thanks first to

God and also all of the teach-

ers and students. Nothing can

work without His grace and

the dedication of each and

one of you.

I hope that we all re-

member deeply

what we've

learned from

this retreat; es-

pecially equipping one an-

other. In that way, I'm sure

we all can live a life that is

pleasing our father.

―Now you are the body

of Christ, and each one of you

is a part of it." (1 Corinthians

12:27)

―For where two or

three come together in my

name, there am I with them."

(Matthew 18:20)

By Jennifer SSN

Hello STEMers! This retreat

was, for me, very meaningful

especially because I knew it

was going to be my last STEM

retreat before I leave for

Nothing can work

without His

grace...

30

France. So I don't regret AT

ALL for being the retreat

master.

I received so many

blessings but to state a couple

of them...

First of all, I was really

blessed to see God's work

before and throughout the

whole retreat. Actually it had

been quite a while since God

started to tell me that STEM

needed to work on 'unity in

the Body of Christ'. So I really

wanted to have this retreat

focused on that theme. Hav-

ing received so many things

from STEM

throughout

the last

5years, I felt

the responsibility to speak up.

So I did and God was faithful

and showed me clearly that

many others who really cared

for STEM had the same idea.

Throughout the retreat, many

times, I saw the kids and the

teachers really getting closer.

An example was during the

teachers meeting, I realized

that we really had an inter-

esting group of teachers: for-

mer STEM teachers, current

STEM teachers, graduates,

graduates who are currently

serving in STEM, some people

from New Harvest etc. Al-

though everybody didn't nec-

essarily know each other that

well before the retreat, after

the retreat,

we were

really having

a good time

together! We were talking

about the kids, about our own

lives, and a bunch of different

...STEM needed to

work on 'unity in the

Body of Christ'.

stuff. As Christians, I felt that

we didn't really have any kind

of wall between us.

Secondly, being one

of the masters of this retreat,

I could've felt like it was a

burden on me.

Actually, at first, it

kind of felt like a

burden. But as

time passed by, I

saw that many

teachers were

very willing to

give us, masters, a hand. We

just needed to ask. (So I

especially wanted to thank

MiSun ssn, Su ssn, Sung ssn,

Tae ssn, Jackie ssn, Yuna

and Jin ssns) And AT the

retreat, everyone was really

helping us out. A LOT. So

throughout the retreat, I

really didn't feel any burden

even if we had minor prob-

lems and difficulties here and

there. All the leaders had our

backs.

Lastly, I was blessed

because God gave me the

chance to realize

how precious this

ministry is to me!

I received Christ

as my Lord at a

STEM retreat. And

as I said before, I

...God gave me

the chance to

realize how

precious this

ministry is to

me!

32

Page 17

serve here because I want to

have the kids experience as

much or even more great

things from STEM. So even

though I go to France I won't

forget to pray for STEM, for

pastors, teachers, students,

and for the ministry itself as a

whole.

By Sandra SSN

SEMINAR SPEAKER

Hey! This is Brian

SSN and I wanted to share

some thoughts and observa-

tions that occurred to me af-

ter reflecting on the STEM

summer retreat.

As the cool breeze of

memories moves across my

mind, the sensation of drink-

ing hot coco to a cold stomach,

warming my body on an icy

Colorado morning wells up

inside of me. This memory

fades and becomes more

simple and beautiful, as I

choose to remember those

sweet dying moments that

God gracefully endows upon

us. The memory of how hu-

mid and uncomfortable I was

in Hapcheon is replaced by

this cool breeze, which serves

to refresh, warm, and

strengthen my resolve to

maintain a holy life.

Community, for the

believers of Christ‘s death on

the cross and resurrection, is

something that has great po-

tential to bring the peace of

God into our lives. Those

precious moments in our

short lives when we can stand

before a holy God with a

group of people who share in

Page 18

this desire for Him, which is

our higher calling, are a gift

only a small percentage of the

world is privileged to

share. Whether it be a timely

cup of coffee with a brother in

Christ, or a reflection of God‘s

love expressed by simple

smile, we cannot pretend to

fully know how significant we

are to one another. Maybe

these small beautiful mo-

ments, when we reflect God‘s

love to one another is what

Christ had in mind for the

church. I am echoing the

scriptures when they talk

about how everything we do

is meaningless without love.

There is an incredible differ-

ence between the one who

gives to the poor with bitter-

ness in their hearts and the

one who gives out of

love. The one who gives out

of bitterness gives to the poor

and says, ―You don‘t deserve

this‖. Then the gift only

serves as a painful reminder

of their inadequacy to provide

for themselves, and that ulti-

mately they are alone. How-

ever, when given in godly love

one says, ―We don‘t deserve

anything, but God still loves

us.‖ The gift then comes as a

comfort, because the recipi-

ent knows that he is not alone

in his inadequacy; and they

can experience God‘s love

together.

This idea of sharing

in God‘s love, sharing in his

grace and mercy, and sharing

in His faithfulness to finish the

good work in us as a com-

munity is the tiny bit of

knowledge that brings my

34

heart to rejoice when the

memories of the retreat

manifest themselves again in

my life. This knowledge in-

cludes knowing in my heart

that I am not alone here in

Korea; knowing in my heart

that God prepared a way for

me before I got here; know-

ing in my heart that all of this

is evidence of God‘s love for

us despite our pathetic at-

tempts to remember who God

really is. I say all of this be-

cause my time in Korea would

have been quite terrible if it

wasn‘t for God redeeming my

hasty and immature decisions

in some areas of my life. Not

that these decisions were

necessarily made here in Ko-

rea, but the consequences of

a lukewarm faith that serves

only leftovers to a Holy God

starts to become evident over

time. Many of these things

were brought into light as I

struggled to survive on my

own, for the first time in my

short life.

It was by no random

chance that I came to New

Harvest during those first few

trying months here in Korea.

In fact, I was walking in the

complete opposite direction

from the church building the

very first Sunday I came. It

wasn‘t until a random Cana-

dian man, who happened to

be waiting at the same cross-

walk as I was, noticed that I

was carrying a bible and

asked me how the church

service was. I told him that I

actually was late for the ser-

vice and that I had no idea

where the church was located.

Page 66

He laughed and mentioned

that he went to another

church but was still willing to

help me find New Har-

vest. After showing some

impressive Korean skills as he

talked to a random Korean

guy, he managed to get me to

the main doors. Had I not

found the church that day, I

probably would have still

found it later,

but just the

fact that God

provided

someone to

literally guide

me to the

front doors

demon-

strates how

He truly prepared things for

me in advance.

Neither did chance

bring me to STEM. At a time in

my life when the sheer over-

dose of free time that I had

was numbing to my mind,

STEM was more than just

another time commitment or

an excuse to get up early on

my weekends. For me, in my

faith, I had a lot of knowledge

but lacked the opportunity to

put my knowledge into prac-

tice. I also

lacked the

account-

ability to

keep these

things a

consistent

habit.

Some-

where in

the never-ending cycles of

sleep, work, random hang-

outs, and Sunday-only friends

For me, in my faith, I

had a lot of

knowledge but lacked

the

opportunity to put my

knowledge into

practice.

36

I was struggling to really trust

in God. This is where STEM

really forced me to rely on

God for my

strength.

Serving in

STEM helped

me realize

that my

lackadaisical

faith can

have a hugely negative im-

pact on the people God has

put into my life. Trying to love

these people out of the pov-

erty of my flesh instead of the

power of the Holy Spirit has

only left me feeling frustrated

and blaming of others. But

God did not leave me there,

He continued to encourage

and teach me how to rely on

Him. The result of this is

serving with joy because now

I seek God for fulfillment and

He is faithful to fulfill. This

amazing gift of right relation-

ship with the

Creator of

the universe

is so amaz-

ing. How

could I be

anything but

joyful know-

ing that God wants to use me

to bring others to this same

relationship with their Crea-

tor? This is the reason we love

each other. Think about it. If

you have truly experienced

God‘s love, then why would

you keep it to yourself? To

experience God‘s love is to

first admit that you are a sin-

ner and that you must rely on

and acknowledge God for

what he has done for you.

...my lackadaisical

faith can have a

hugely negative

impact on the

people God has put

into my life.

Page 20

This should create empathy in

your hearts for others be-

cause you realize that you are

no better than they are.

Wouldn‘t you want everyone

to experience God‘s love just

as you have?

Recently, I have

been reading a book called

―Crazy Love‖ by Francis Chan.

In it, Chan uses a quote from

Annie Dillard to describe how

we should react to God‘s crazy

love for us.

―I concur with Annie

Dillard, who once said, ‗How

we live our days is…how we

live our lives.‘ We each need

to discover for ourselves how

to live this day in faithful sur-

render to God as we ‘continue

to work out [our] salvation

with fear and trembling.‘ (Phil.

2:12).‖

My prayer for all of you

STEMers, is that you learn

how to live each day in faithful

surrender to God as described

in the above quote, and that

as you do this, God would

graciously continue to provide

godly community for you as

you grow in Christ.

By Brian SSN

SUMMER ONLY

STUDENT

HI! My name is David

Lee. I live in the United States

and I have lived in Illinois my

whole life. I was born and

raised in the U.S. and I have

grown up in church all of my

life. My dad is a pastor and my

mom is studying theology

right now. I have four siblings,

two brothers and two sisters,

38

and I am the second child.

Last summer, I was able to

come to South Korea with my

mom. I haven‘t been to Korea

since I was really young, so I

was pretty excited. While I

was with my mom visiting her

friend‘s family, I saw a retreat

form in a room. It was

EQUIPPED, the 2010 STEM

summer retreat. I was always

excited about retreats, God‘s

grace is poured out and lives

are changed. So I went to visit

STEM. I was very nervous

because I haven‘t been to

church in Korea and I heard it

was really different.

On Sunday, I went to

my first STEM service. I was

not used to the environment

and felt out of place. I haven‘t

seen so many Korean youth at

a service. In the church I go

to in Illinois, there are about

twenty members. In STEM, I

was very stubborn. I didn‘t

have an open mind to accept

anything new. After the Sun-

day service, I felt like I didn‘t

belong there. At that point, I

wasn‘t very sure if I should go

to the retreat. I thought that

the retreat may not be the

experience I was longing for.

I thought that it wouldn‘t be

like the retreats in the states.

Even through all the negative

thoughts, I still really wanted

to feel God‘s presence and

Page 64

see God‘s work in Korea. I

couldn‘t make a final conclu-

sion so I asked my mom

about it. She said that I

should go, and now, I am so

glad that

she did.

In

the begin-

ning, I was

struggling to

meet God. I was constantly

distracted and felt a little

lonely. But through those

times, God helped me to grow.

He showed me how to focus

on him and keep my mind

from wandering. God gave

me a small group to share my

feelings and thoughts.

Through those times, my

small group members became

my friends. The retreat was

filled with blessings. When we

were praising, I could feel

God and his grace pouring

down on us. When we were

listening to God‘s word, I

could feel his power and truth

in them. I

learned many

lessons through

the retreat. I

was taught

about friends,

love, and many other topics. I

also learned that we are one

body, and that we need each

other. We have to be

―EQUIPPED‖ with one another.

God blessed me by allowing

me to meet every single per-

son there. I felt so free of

burden and purified. God

used all of us to build each

other up.

God showed me that

he is the same even though all

God blessed me by

allowing me to meet

every single person

there.

40

else could be different. Even

though you‘re at a different

church in a different town,

your God is not different. He is

the same God that has been

with you since you were born.

He is the same God that will

never leave you nor forsake

you. He is the God Almighty.

Let‘s glorify him.

As Hebrews 11:40 says,

―God had planned something

better for us so that only to-

gether with us would they be

made perfect.‖

By David Lee

We have to be “EQUIPPED”

with one another.

Page 22

42

Discover Your Life All Over Again H3 Joint Winter Retreat 2010

“O h to be Young and in

Love Again!‖ That's

how I would put my experi-

ence during the H3 Winter

Retreat of 2010. This joint

retreat with several English

Youth Ministries was such a

blessing. It has been a while

44

since I had ministered to

youth, and I was reminded

why I enjoyed it so

much. The passion of the

students, the willingness to

answer the call of Jesus Christ

to follow Him, and the longing

heart to understand truth and

live it out to the fullest really

impressed me. How quickly

they were able to over come

the awkwardness of meeting

new people to becoming close

friends who will pray for each

other really gave me hope

that though it seems like the

"world" is winning, God has

not given up and I can see

Him moving through these

youth. May their passion

keep burning for Christ.

Throughout the three

days of being with the stu-

dents I was refreshed and

challenged to love Jesus more

passionately and un-

ashamedly. You

had to see their

faces as they

worshipped God

in spirit and in

truth, and you

had to be there to

sense how

pleased God was

to be in their

midst. I hope

the seeds that

were planted in

our hearts would

continue to grow

and bear much

fruit. Remember the words of

our LORD Jesus,

"Remain in me, and I

will remain in you.... If you

remain in me you will bear

much fruit."

It's a guarantee!

By Pastor Doug

...I was refreshed

and challenged

to love Jesus more

passionately and

un-ashamedly.

46

GLOBAL MISSION CHURCH

Hello Stem Students! I

hope this letter finds you well

and that you‘re overcoming

this crazy cold spell by warm-

ing others by living out the

Gospel of Jesus Christ.

First of all, I want to

give a shout out to all of you

who attended this past joint

retreat. Thank you for making

it special. For those who

missed the retreat, no worries,

you can join this coming

year‘s retreat!

About a couple of

years ago, one of my teachers

challenged me to rethink the

way I do ministry and to open

my heart and faith to the

possibility that perhaps God

wanted to do more in and

through my life. For those

who know me, I‘m not the

charismatic, strong leader

type. So just like Moses, I kept

giving excuses of why I

couldn‘t dare to accept God-

sized dreams. As time went by,

I began to realize a discrep-

ancy between the messages I

was sharing with the youth

and the life I was living. I

would passionately share that

God desires to use ordinary

people to do extraordinary

things. That no one should

think that they were not sig-

nificant enough to be used by

God in unbelievable ways. It

seemed that the one person

who really needed to hear my

own message was me!

So my wife and I de-

cided to listen to God and

prepared our hearts to obey

anything He led us to do. The

vision we received was bigger

than we expected. It scared

us to death, but at the same

time we knew it was a God

moment. This vision involved

networking with all the

churches, schools, profes-

sionals and families to create

a youth movement in Korea

unparalleled to what we‘ve

seen before. To make things

more frightening, the vision

expanded into Asia and the

rest of the world!

Despite my fears

of failure and insecuri-

ties, I decided that I

would do it just be-

cause God said it. If I‘m

made a fool, then I‘m

made a fool. I just

wanted to honor God

and truly live out my

faith. Although we pre-

viously had joint youth

retreats, the purpose founded

in 2010 was not just for the

sake of ―having a joint re-

treat‖. There was a larger God

-Sized vision in mind—The

networking of English cul-

tured youth ministries (like an

army units gathering to-

gether) under one clear com-

mander and chief, sharing our

resources and strengths and

drawing up a unified battle

I would passionately

share that

God desires to use

ordinary people

to do extraordinary

things.

That no one

should think that

they were not

significant enough

to be used by God

in unbelievable ways.

48

plan to effectively live out the

Gospel and transform your

generation.

In retrospect, I see this

past joint retreat as the cata-

lyst of this movement. All the

pastors and teachers involved

saw the God-given chemistry

at work within our diverse

ministries and how we need

each other to fulfill the Great

Commission in this generation.

I have already begun talks

with Christian International

School teachers and leaders

to get them on board as well.

So far they seemed very re-

ceptive and excited about the

possibilities.

This year we have

planned out 4 major

events to continue the

momentum derived from

the retreat. This year‘s

theme is: ―Discover your

Life all over again‖. On

February 12, Sarang

Church will host our valen-

tines youth rally, ―Love

Discovered‖. Then on

Easter (Saturday April 23)

we plan to pack a local

park‘s amphitheater with over

a 1000 youth based on the

If I’m made a fool,

then I’m made a fool.

I just wanted to

honor God and

truly live out my faith.

theme, ―Hope Discovered‖.

To begin the school year our

hope is to offer a seminar,

―Leadership Discovered‖ to

train and share the vision of

creating a joint network

among our Christian clubs at

every international school. To

round off the year at Thanks-

giving (November 26th) we

hope to rent out a Gangnam

CGV and fill it with all those

you reached out to through

your school‘s Christian Club

for a celebration

centered around the

theme, ―Gratitude

Discov-

ered‖ (afterwards,

we‘ll watch a movie

of course!). Lastly,

we hope to prepare

for 2012 with our

next joint H3 youth

network retreat from Dec. 29-

Jan.1 with the new theme,

―Cleared for Take-off‖.

Now the only thing

missing in all of this is YOU!

We deeply believe in the

amazing and transformative

possibilities of your genera-

tion. So will you step up and

dare to dream God-sized

dreams with us and allow

your faith to really soar? If so,

then come and discover your

life all over again!

By Pastor Eddy

JUBILEE

How do we em-

power the youth of

Seoul to live their

lives with a clear

purpose? How do

we teach them to

reach ―out‖ rather

I could

honestly

say our

God is

really

really

really

Good.

50

than ―in‖? How do we install

vision and passion that Jesus

had for the poor and the lost?

These were some of the

questions that ignited this

past retreat.

The pastors from different

churches met, prayed, dis-

cussed, envisioned and cried

out for God to do something

different in this retreat. I

could honestly say our God is

really really really Good. The

things that God has done

through the retreat are un-

thinkable and indescribable.

I praise God for the greater

unity in the body of Christ. I

praise God for installing vision

and passion that Jesus had for

the poor and the lost. I praise

God for the souls that were

saved through the retreat. I

praise God for lives that were

recommitted during the re-

treat. If I were to list all the

praise reports on this letter, I

would need a Gigabyte of

memory.

Here is the real ques-

tion, I would like for everyone

to answer. What‘s your re-

sponse to

what God has

taught

through this

past retreat?

The retreat

was more than

two months a

go, how have

you responded? Have you

lived with a clear purpose?

Have you reached out to the

poor and the lost? Are you

living a life that is worthy of

the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

To be honest, I think I

myself have struggled to

practice what God has placed

in my heart through this past

retreat. Everyday, I have to

fight against ways of this

world. Day in and day out,

unless we fight against the

patterns of this world and be

transformed

by renewing

of our minds,

we‘ll be ut-

terly de-

feated. Paul

calls this

true spiritual

act of wor-

ship. So whether you have

fought well against the ways

or patterns of this world or

you have been completely

defeated, my encouragement

is for you to cling on to God‘s

word. There in God‘s word

you‘ll find protection, refuge,

truth, strength and courage.

Open up your retreat booklet

God is faithful,

He who began

a good work in you

will bring it to

completion so be

patient

and confident in

Christ Jesus.

52

and revisit the sermons and

QT notes. Read the commit-

ments that you have written

during this past retreat. Go

back to the passages and

spend next few days being

reminded of What God has

placed in your heart.

Remember! God is

faithful, He who began a good

work in you will bring it to

completion so be patient and

confident in Christ Jesus.

Pastors, teachers and I will

continue to lift you up in our

prayers. Let‘s expect greater

things from God this coming

2011. Let‘s pray for our

friends, families, schools, cit-

ies, countries and even more

will turn to Jesus. I miss you

and love you very much.

By Pastor Sangmin

COMPASSION FORUM

As you read the words

written on this page, thank

God for giving you eyes.

Thank God for your ability to

read. During Pastor Brian

Chung‘s Compassion seminar,

something that constantly

resonated in my head was

HOW SMALL OF A BUBBLE

WE LIVE IN. The statistics

showing the disparity of re-

sources in the world was truly

shocking. The stories of vil-

lages Pastor Brian visited

were completely staggering.

We live in a small, small, small,

But what’s the

point of

being blessed

when we

don’t share

them

with others?

very, very small bubble.

Smaller than we think. And

I‘m afraid that most of our

bubbles have never been

popped before. God has

blessed us with so much, and

we should thank Him for that

and enjoy the blessings He

has given us. But what‘s the

point of being blessed when

we don‘t share them with

others? If we don‘t take the

initiative to emerge out of that

bubble, we will never know a

side to the world God has

placed us in. And God desires

for us a selfless faith. After

the seminar, we had worship

time and I remember singing

the words to ―Hosanna‖ and

the lyrics seemed to all of a

sudden jump out at me.

Those of us who attended the

retreat, do you remember

singing these words?

I see a generation

Rising up to take their place

With selfless faith…

We are that generation.

And I encourage you to con-

stantly pray this prayer:

Heal my heart and make it

clean

Open up my eyes to the

things unseen

Show me how to love like

you have loved me

Break my heart for what

breaks yours

Everything I am for your

kingdom‘s cause

As I go from nothing to

eternity

Pray that God will open

your eyes to the things un-

seen, whether it‘s at home or

at school.

Pray that God will

54

teach you how to love like He

loved us, including our ene-

mies.

Pray that God will

break your heart for what

breaks His heart, even for

those who live on the other

side of the planet.

Pray that God will use

you for His kingdom, and that

whatever He asks you to do,

you will do it whole-heartedly.

By Caroline Lee

VISION SEMINAR

As this retreat's

theme was 'discover

your life all over again',

we had our opportuni-

ties to listen to Vision

Seminars. Mine was

nursing.

The nurse Yeonjin Lee told us

about her life with God and

how she became a nurse

eventually. Choosing to be a

nurse wasn‘t an easy decision

but the incident when a man

collapsed in front of her of

disease filled her heart with

compassion and love.

I was truly amazed

how Jesus guided her path

like a lamp when she was

confused and lost. Because

she made

decisions

according

to Jesus,

she could

find the

place God

had pre-

pared for

her. Almost

always we

Because

she made

decisions

according to

Jesus,

she could

find the place

God

had prepared

for her.

choose to go our own ways, to

be our own master, but her

seminar made me realize

once again; His ways are al-

ways right and just and fair—

we should never hesitate to

follow him.

By Hannah

MISSIONARY CHRISTIE KIM

―I am a Korean woman

in love with a

Jewish Man.‖

That was how

she described

herself; a

woman in love

with Jesus.

Unlike many

other sermons that we heard

during the retreat, she started

by talking about herself, her

life. How she did ‗deeds of

darkness‘ in the past, but by

the holy spirit got to love

Christ. The entire sermon was

blessing I had tons of think

about, but I will focus what

she had told us most during

the sermon – her life.

Many of us get blessed

during the retreats and re-

ceive Holy Spirit, yet when we

go out to the world, we fail to

show them our changes, that

makes us frus-

trated every

night, Sundays,

or retreats. I did

that and some-

times still do

that. What I

learned most

from her was that a real

Christian speaks not by words

but by action. There is one

famous verse in 2 Corin-

thians;

...a real

Christian

speaks

not by words

but

by action.

56

―Therefore, if anyone

is in Christ, he is a new crea-

tion; the old has gone, the

new has come!‖

Like this verse, the

story of her life showed us the

awesome power of the Holy

Spirit that frees us from our

old selves, and how we can

change like her, once we

really surrender and accept

Christ into our lives. I‘ve just

learned that surrendering is

not what you do once in your

life and you suddenly change

into pure-white saint; it is a

decision that we must make in

every single part of your life.

By walking daily with Him, we

feel His Presence and love,

eventually spreading it and

equipping each other with it

against Satan‘s daily tempta-

tions and attacks. There is

this verse in a song that I

really like;

Make my life song

sing; bring a smile to you…

So, brothers, let us

pray, that He will touch our

hearts, that we will change in

a way pleasing to Him, so His

name will be glorified through

our lives. Amen.

By Matthew Kwak

PASTOR DOUG

Pastor's Morning Wor-

ship sermon on December

28th, called The Key To Suc-

cess (John 15:1-9), allowed

me have time to think about

the meaning of pruning.

Pastor said 'Pruning'

means God's bigger plan for

...to bear fruit,

which is

'love'.

me. Of course it requires an

unendurable pain or patience

that seems to be endless.

But as a tree becomes

bigger and greater as it is

pruned, it‘s a process for me

to grow stronger

in Christ and also

to bear fruit,

which is 'love'.

It sounds difficult to

prune a tree but it actu-

ally means remaining in Christ.

If we don't know how to re-

main in Christ and to endure

all the pains from the

world, we won't bear the fruit.

Also pastor said that the rea-

son why our own fruit is bitter

is because we attempt to bear

fruit by ourselves.

It just explained all the

failures I've been through. I

was not fully relying on him. I

denied to be close to him be-

cause I preferred the worldly

things to Godly things.

But God just didn‘t

abandon me. Far from that,

He recovered me and gave

everything for me

even though He

knew that I was

filled with the sins.

Unconditional love that

Jesus has shown to me, that

was the lesson learned from

this sermon.

By Paul Jung

7TH GRADER

On the last night at the

retreat I had a chance to do

an activity called "Cardboard

Testimony". When the Pastor

first announced that we were

going to do it, I wasn't that

But God just

didn’t abandon

me.

58

interested. But, because all of

my friends were planning to

do it I just decided to do it

along.

At first, I didn't know

what to write. So I thought

about my past (which means

before I accepted Jesus

Christ). After a few minutes

things what I did wrong be-

fore I met Jesus started to

pop into my head and I got

one word to write which was

"heartbroken".

The

thing I got the

word

"heartbroken"

was from

a hard situation when I had to

make a decision about my

friends. And that time I made

the wrong decision which was

to just not care about the girl

who was getting bullied by my

friends. It was because I was

afraid and also young, think-

ing if I helped the girl I would

also turn up into her situation

too. However, after I met

Jesus I felt very guilty about

many things but especially

that thing, telling myself that

Jesus wouldn't have chose the

decision I made. By this re-

alization I wrote the

word "healed heart" on the

back which we had

to write after we

accepted Christ.

The reason

I wrote "healed

heart" was be-

cause I have

realized now what Christ

would have done and I would

know what to do in those kind

And last,

I would now live

a REAL

Christian life

for God.

of situations. And last, I

would now live

a REAL Christian life for God.

By Julia Park

12TH GRADERS

It was a great honor to

participate in my last winter

retreat as a

STEMer.

This was

a great chance

to meet my God

once again. Pas-

tor Doug‘s ser-

mons really

touched my

heart and made me think

about my life all over again.

Even though I‘m a

senior, I have not shared my

blessings to the lower graders

yet.

I have lived my life only

for myself, not for God. I have

studied and went to school,

academies, just to go to a

―Good‖ or ―Famous‖ college,

not to live a life what my God

wants me to live out. I really

hope that none of the STE-

Mers are

living their

lives as I

once have.

Now

after this

fantastic

joint retreat,

I have

planned out about my future

life. I CAN‘T WAIT TO SEE

HOW GOD IS GOING TO

WORK IN MY FUTURE.

By Ed Song

I

CAN’T WAIT

TO SEE

HOW GOD

IS GOING

TO WORK

IN MY

FUTURE.

60

“For I know

the plans

I have

for you,”

declares

the Lord,

“plans to

prosper you

and not to

harm you.

Plans to

give you

hope and

a future.”

(Jeremiah 29:11)

62

Bible Trivia

1. Who were the two

people in the Old Testament

that God "took away"?

2. How many people

did Jerub-Baal go out with to

defeat the Midianites?

3. Who was the man

that talked to a donkey?

4. What are the Baby-

lonian names of the three

friends of Daniel?

5. How many times did

Naaman dip himself in the

Jordan to be cured from lep-

rosy?

6. Samson was a man

who was dedicated and set

apart from birth. No razor was

“Choose my instruction instead of silver,

knowledge rather

than choice gold…”

(Proverbs 8:10)

64

to be used on his head. What

were these typical people

called?

7. A king of Judah was

very ill and came at the point

of death. When prophet

Isaiah told him that he was

not going to recover, the king

cried out to God and asked for

his healing. God healed him

and added 15 years to his life.

Who is this king?

8. Prophet Jonah re-

fused to go to this place and

was swallowed by a big fish

for three days and three

nights. Where is this place?

9. What did Mary use

to wipe the feet of Jesus after

anointing them with perfume?

10. Who asked Jesus

to perform his first recorded

miracle?

11. What did Herod do

as a result of Peter being

freed from his jail by an an-

gel?

12. Who was cured of

7 demons by Jesus? (Full

Name)

13. What were the last

words of Jesus on the cross

recorded in Matthew and

Mark? (in English)

14. Who at first re-

fused to let Jesus wash his

feet?

15. Paul was shipwrecked on

what island?

/15

(Answers are on page 76)

Ninja: The Ultimate

"Icebreaker" Game

Most people who went

to the summer retreat would

know about this awesome

game which brought every-

one together to have a fun

time regardless of age and

gender. They would also

know that it sometimes can

be very tiresome. Further-

more, this game would test

your ability of how flexible

you are, how quickly you can

react to a certain situation,

and personal integrity. Basi-

cally, it's a game that has

multiple purposes for the

good of everyone.

Now it's time to spread

this wonderful game to the

whole congregation. This

game has specific rules and

regulations, but they are

pretty easy to grasp so there

is no problem.

First of all, this game re-

quires two or more people to

play this game. The more

people there are, the more

fun the game is.

Next, we have to honor

the cod of being a ninja, so we

all bow to each other while

singing the Chinese song:

Dan dara dan dan dan dan

ddan" (I'm sorry, I don't know

why the song is Chinese and

how to explain this rhythm :

( ask someone who knows

how to play)

Third, after the code is

honored, everyone gets to

choose a pose. Now, you're

only allowed to move once

per turn and you have to stay

66

in that position unless some-

one comes to attack, then you

can evade it. (Flexibility &

nimble part of the game) the

order is either clockwise or

counter clockwise from the

winner of the last game. If it‘s

the first game, just choose a

person to start. Now herre

comes the fun part. The

whole purpose of this game is

to get everyone out by

touching the outside part of

their hand. Because of this,

this game can become very

fierce so be careful not to hurt

anyone (especially the girls).

Lastly, if you get hit, you have

to be honest and step out of

that round and wait till it fin-

ishes. (The integrity part of

the game)

Now, I've explained all

the basics you need to know

to become a ninja. Now it is

up to you to show your skills

and become the master ninja!

Like I mentioned before, this

game not only brings fellow-

ship among the people, but

also allows many people to

have time of joy and laughter.

Have a fun time!

By Raymond Kim

Dear STEMers,

My name is David Park.

I was in the Senior Intensive

Bible Study class. I‘ve been in

STEM since 7th grade and I

would like to share with you

some of the things I‘ve

learned during the past 6

years. I pray that God would

be able to work through me in

this letter and help you in your

spiritual life. To be honest, I

don‘t think I deserve to write

this letter at all. Until this year,

I didn‘t come to STEM regu-

larly. I served in the drama

team, but that only lasted for

a short while. In fact, even

WordFrom

a Senior

68

though I was registered as a

STEM member since 2005,

not many people in the con-

gregation know my name and

face. When President Brian

asked me to give a flashback

of the past six years through

this letter, I really didn‘t have

much to say because I didn‘t

do so many things in STEM.

I always seemed to

have an excuse. In middle

school, it was studying. I had

to prepare myself in order to

go to a good high school. In

high school, I found an even

better excuse. As some of you

already know, I go to a

boarding school in Gangwon

Province, meaning it‘s hard

for me to come to Seoul every

week. Also, the pressure of

college admission was even

higher than what I faced in

middle school, so the number

of times I came to church

decreased every year. As I

faced more hardships, the

more I stayed away from the

church. I felt that I needed

time to take care of my prob-

lems. Eventually, I started to

compromise with the world.

Putting grades and friends

before God, sinning without

remorse, and justifying myself

for the wrongs I did. On the

outside, I seemed to be doing

...not many

people in the

congregation

know my name and

face.

Eventually, I

started to

compromise with

the world.

fine, but I constantly felt

emptiness within myself. I

tried love, friendship, author-

ity, popularity, and all differ-

ent things in order to fill that

hole. Nothing worked.

One day, I read from a

book that it was an insult to

God for us to worry about

anything. That was all I

needed to fix my problems. I

thought about the story of the

Israelites and the manna.

From hindsight, the story is

just another display of God‘s

power. But for Israelites who

were in desperate need of

food, they were probably

worried about what the next

day would bring. The actions

some of them took are per-

fectly understandable. Who

wouldn‘t want to store up

food when they have been

starving for so long? Yet, God

made sure that He continu-

ously provided for the Israel-

ites just enough to live for

that day. God provides. That

is the truth. For a long time, I

had been proud and believed

that I could solve my own

problems. As the song

―Counting on God‖ goes, we

are in a fight not physical. We

don‘t battle in order to make a

living or fulfill our own inter-

ests. We fight to give glory to

God. I started to realize that

for all my life I had been in a

different battlefield, one that

God didn‘t want me to be in.

With the coming of

senior year, I began to

change. I started to take the

We fight to give

glory to God.

70

bus to Seoul every

week, coming to

church regularly

and sometimes

having to risk

sneaking out of

school without my parents‘

knowledge during exam time.

I started to become more

active in the ministry, even-

tually finding a place in

Branches. I did all this with

full trust in God. And God an-

swered in amazing ways. Not

only did the problems that I

used to have disappear, but

He also gave me true friends

who could positively influence

me spiritually and teachers

that became mentors. I thank

God for changing my life in

such a way and I regret that I

didn‘t realize this before.

For STEMers who have

more time left in the ministry

than I do, I hope you don‘t go

through the same experience

that I went through. I hope

that you don‘t waste your

time trying to fix your own

problems, when you have

I started to

become more

active in the

ministry,

eventually

finding a place

in Branches. I

did all this

with full trust

in God.

someone so much more

powerful and wise standing

right next to you. I hope that

you won‘t have to struggle or

worry about whether God will

take care of you. I want to

remind you that there is no

valid excuse before God. It is

your responsibility to make

sure that nothing comes in

your way when you meet God.

Show your parents that you

can still do well at school

while you actively participate

in the ministry. Declare to

your friends that you want to

lead a godly life and prove

how you don‘t have to com-

promise with the world in or-

der to earn respect from oth-

ers. As Christians, live as an

example in all areas of life.

I want to thank Pastor

Phillip through this opportu-

nity. Thank you, Pastor, for

your guidance in my spiritual

life. Even when I wasn‘t so

close to you as I am now, you

sincerely answered my in-

quiries about the Bible. Now,

I‘ve learned so much from you

through the sermons and Bi-

ble study classes. Without you,

I wouldn‘t be who I am right

now. I hope other kids can get

to know you better and learn

from you more, too.

I also want to thank all

my past Bible study teachers.

Jackie SSN, Karen SSN, Misun

Show your

parents that you

can still do

well at school

while you

actively

participate in

the ministry.

72

SSN, Eunyoung SSN, Angela

SSN, and David Byun SSN,

some of you are not in STEM

right now, but I still want to

express my gratitude. Even

though I wasn‘t such a good

student, you did your best to

guide me in the right direction.

The amount of appreciation I

have for you increases each

day as I realize how important

your teachings were.

Finally, I want to thank

my senior Bible study class.

You guys are the best friends

that I‘ve ever had. Thank you

for making my life so much

meaningful. I hope our fel-

lowship lasts forever.

By David Park

As Christians,

live as an

example in all

areas of life.

A Word

From

The

President

74

The Three Blessings

―But the earlier governors—

those preceding me—placed

a heavy burden on the peo-

ple and took forty shekels of

silver from them in addition

to food and wine. Their as-

sistants also lorded it over

the people. But out of rever-

ence for God I did not act

like that. Instead, I devoted

myself to the work on this

wall. All my men were as-

sembled there for the work;

we did not acquire any land.‖

(Nehemiah 5:15~16)

Though it isn‘t a very

famous book, Nehemiah is

one of my favorite book in the

Bible. This part, Nehemiah

5:14~19, really touched my

heart. Through this letter, I

just wanted to share three

blessings that God has given

me and has challenged me

with.

The 1st: ―Neither I

nor my brothers ate the

food allotted to the gov-

ernor.” - V.14

→The thing I was blessed

about was Nehemiah‘s atti-

tude towards authority.

Nehemiah was a gov-

ernor and was allotted great

food. However, in those times,

the Israelites were in pain due

to an exile, and they were

devoting themselves to re-

building the walls of Jerusa-

lem. Nehemiah willingly gave

up what was a sign of his au-

thority and was devoted to

building the walls. This shows

that I have to be willing to

give up my authority to start

working for the kingdom of

God.

The 2nd: “But out of

reverence for God I did

not act like that…we did

not acquire any land.” –

V.15-16

→ Nehemiah‘s previous gov-

ernors were taxing people

very highly, but he says that

out of reverence for God he

didn‘t do what he could have

done as a governor. That

blew me away. What was

considered a privilege and a

blessing in the world‘s sight

was just an obstacle in fol-

This shows that I have

to be willing to give up

my authority to start

working for the

kingdom of God.

76

lowing God in His eyes. To-

wards the end of V.16 there is

a word ‗we‘.

If you look in your bible,

there would be a small b next

to it and it would say, ‗Most

Hebrew manuscripts…I.‘ Of

course, the ‗we‘ shows how

much love and fellowship he

had with his people, but the ‗I‘

shows how much he gave up.

He gave up food, wealth, and

even land. This showed me

how much he was willing to

give up for God. And I was so

blessed.

The last: “Remember

me with favor, O my God,

for all I have done for

these people.” –V.19

→ Nehemiah loved his people.

He had shown care through

what he had done. Am I like

that? Do I love my fellow

Christians? It came to my

mind.

The unique thing

about the book Nehemiah is

that it has a verse requesting

God to remember him in most

of the chapters. He did not

seek to be remembered by

men, but he sought to be

remembered by God, and I

believe his reward in heaven

would be huge.

It‘s already been over

a year since I meditated on

this part, but this has always

been a blessing kept inside

my heart. It told me to hum-

ble myself before the Lord, to

act out of reverence, and

What was considered a privilege and a blessing in the world’s sight was just an obstacle in fol-

lowing God in His eyes.

have the willing heart to give

up privileges and treasures of

this world for the treasures

and rewards in heaven.

Through these verses, I was

really able to fix the way I live

my life. And I hope that this

will be a blessing for all the

STEMers. But this is only one

part of the whole bible, which

is filled with blessings, and

this letter is just one story of

the blessings that God gave

me. I hope that all will have

their story of blessings that

God gave to his/her heart.

May God bless, as he has

blessed me through a Man‘s

life filled with blessings.

By Brian Lee

It told me to humble myself before the Lord, to act out of reverence, and have the will-ing heart to give up privileges and treasures of this world for the treasures and rewards in heaven.

78

WORD SEARCH

CROSS WORDS

80

CROSS WORDS

Answers to Bible Trivia:

1. Enoch, Elijah (Genesis 5:24, 2

Kings 2:11)

2. 300 men (Judges 7:7)

3. Balaam(Numbers 22:28)

4. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego

(Daniel 1:6~7)

5. 7 times (2 Kings 5:14)

6. Nazirite (Judges 13:3~5)

7. King Hezekiah(2 Kings 20:1~6)

8. Ninevah (Jonah 1:1~3)

9. Her hair (Luke 7:37~38)

10. His mother (John 2:1~11)

11. He executed the guards (Acts

12:18~19)

12. Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:1~2)

13. ―My God, My God why have

you forsaken me?‖(Matthew

27:46, Mark 15:34)

14. Peter (John 13:6~8)

15. Malta (Acts 27:27~28:1)

82

“Don’t let anyone look down on you

because you’re young,

but set an example for the believers

in speech, in life,

in love, in faith, and in purity.”

(1 Timothy 4:12)