I would like to use this time and space to introduce myself and my family. I am Eugene Cha, and I am the new Timothy/EC pastor at NCFC VA campus. It really seems like life has come full circle. For those who may not know, I grew up at NCFC. I was a part of Timothy starting from the sixth grade, and then joined Impact as I studied at UMCP (Go Terps!). After that, I ended up moving to Charlotte, NC to help my father who had become a senior pastor at a Korean church. What started out as just volunteering to help the youth group became my calling into youth ministry. I still remember praying and sensing God calling me into youth ministry. My first response was “Heck to the no.” However, as I kept praying, God placed in me a passion for youth that has been growing ever since.
It was then that I started attending Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary while serving at a church in Raleigh, NC. Upon graduation, I had the opportunity to serve the youth in Sacramento, CA. Sacramento will always have a special place in my heart because that is where I “met” my wife. Let me explain why I have met in quotations. After I had moved to Sacramento, I got a call from my aunt who wanted to introduce me to a girl (my wife Sophia) who lived in Korea. So I sent her a message via Kakaotalk (thank goodness for Kakaotalk!). We got to talking and things were looking good. We both sensed that God has brought us together at the right time. She told me that she had a long list of things that she had been praying for while searching/waiting for her husband. She told me that I was the first one that met every single item on that list. To this day, she hasn’t told me what that list was in order to keep me humble (she’s a smart lady).
I flew out to Korea for a week, and we finally got to meet in person. I still remember seeing her walking towards me for the first time at Incheon Airport, and I was just frozen by her beauty. We had exchanged pictures, but she just looked so beautiful in person. On our second date in Korea, I proposed to her at Hae Woon Dae Beach in Busan. We got married in Korea almost one year after we first “met.” The first Kakaotalk message I sent her was on 11-11-12 and we got married on 11-02-13.
After I got my calling into youth ministry, I had always wanted to go back to serve at NCFC at some point because it was my home church. Not only that, but I was impacted by the youth pastors that I had there, and I wanted the opportunity to do the same for the next generation of Timothy students. Little did I know that it would happen so soon and so suddenly. My wife was 37 weeks pregnant with our son Andrew, and so we had no intentions of moving anywhere. In fact, we were busy setting everything up for the baby in Sacramento, but God had different plans for us. My wife ended up flying to VA ahead of me and waited while I finished closing up everything in Sacramento. It was truly the work of God that allowed us to move to VA. He took care of our apartment lease in Sacramento, insurance for the baby, and so many other things. One by one, He took care of them as we lifted them up in prayer.
Our son was born on Friday 11-07-14 at 6 lbs. 6 oz. at Fairfax Hospital. I think it’s so cool that he and I were born in the same hospital. We’re thankful that he is healthy and that he eats and sleeps like champ (gets that from his dad). We’re looking forward to getting to know everyone at NCFC and serving God faithfully here back at home. Home sweet home.
From Pastor Eugene’s Heart
November 16, 2014