According to Sofia one of the reasons that our family has close relationships is the separation due to our calling.  She has a point.  Since we only get to see each other once a year or twice, if we get lucky, we try our best to be civil and kind during that short time.   Thus PD warns me, “Try not to nag too much, Honey.” for the time we have together is too short even for the good stuff.  As for the kids, they also know that they need to use the limited time to the fullest.  Therefore this visit was the same as any other time.  When we got home, PD changed Sofia’s tires, got Noah’s car inspected for the Emissions test, placed nice mats on his new used car.  Surely they can do all those things by themselves, but it definitely is comforting to have your dad around to do all those burdensome yet necessary things once in a while.
So by contrast, if our family lives under one roof and together all the time, we might not be this way.  While we were preparing for the message, we found these words in a commentary, “Familiarity breeds contempt.”  So true!  The Jews rejected Jesus because He was their own.  The Gentiles, and the people from farther places have more open hearts than His home crowd.  To them He was a son of Mary and Joseph whom they were familiar with.  Just like that we too take for granted those familiar people.  Somehow my parents are not as cool as the others.  Somehow my siblings are not as valuable as the others.  Somehow my kids are not as smart or delightful as the others. Someone else’s lawn is always greener than mine.  The grass is always greener on the other side.
In the case of the Father, it is pretty similar.  If He comes to see us from far away Heaven once every ten years, we would wait for Him desperately with all our attention for that encounter.  However He is too close, let alone right inside of us.  Thus it is so easy for us to take Him for granted and be indifferent toward Him.  But that is exactly how the Jews and the home crowd missed the long waited Messiah right under their nose.  They were too familiar with Him.  Familiarity bred contempt.
In the SICAP Center we lived with the same old people for sixteen years.  Obviously the students graduate yearly, but they are still part of the SICAP Family.  PD and I’ve had a 24/7 kind of living arrangement.  All those years, one thing we have learned…  These familiar people need the most attention, concern, and respect.  Because they are the ones who will come to my rescue when I fall into a pit and call for help.  Not those who look so cool when you see them once in a while for they would be too far away to hear your cry.  In the mission field by living with the same old same old, we have learned that familiarity breeds security, comfort, endurance, and consistency.
For that reason our SICAP family is the best.  For that reason our kids are the coolest.  For that reason our Home Church is the most wonderful.  For that reason the Father who dwells right inside of us day in and day out is the Best Father in the world.   

From Missionary Ruth’s Heart
December 16, 2012

As most of you know, my husband and I plan to go out as long-term missionaries and are earnestly seeking God’s will regarding where and when.  We visited YWAM in Kona, Hawaii back in April and came back quite excited about the possibility of joining YWAM.  With Elder Frank’s background in computer networking and YWAM bases around the world that could benefit from his expertise, it seemed like that’s where God was leading us.  Then a few months later, we met with Pastor Daniel and Ruth and were challenged to pray about another possibility.  After having run the SICAP Center (equivalent of a Bible college) in Samar, Philippines for the past 16 years with much fruit, Pastor Daniel has been called by God to serve as the GP USA National Executive Director in CA.  As excited as they are for the new platform to mobilize more 1.5 Korean-Americans into mission fields, they are understandably concerned about the continued well-being of the SICAP center.  When they heard about our plan for long-term missions, they contacted and asked us to pray about the SICAP Center opportunity.
Not having been able to make the decision one way or the other, Elder Frank and I plan to visit the SICAP Center in late January to seek God’s will.  On the way back from the Philippines, we will spend a few days in Korea. While there I want to visit the Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery, where more than 160 foreign missionaries to Korea (including family members) are buried.  Trying to obtain the visiting hours and directions, I checked out their website (http://www.yanghwajin.net) and came across a missionary I’ve never heard of.  Her name is Ruby Rachel Kendrick, born in 1883 in Texas who died in 1907 at the age of 25 as a missionary in Korea.  After her arrival in Songdo, North Korea, she led morning prayers, taught English, and took care of sick children, but unfortunately died from exhaustion after only nine months in Korea. 
Missionary Kendrick used to say, “If my work here in Korea is to be so short, I want to write to the young people at home to come and take my place.”  Many young people did follow in her footsteps and became missionaries to Korea, and nearly $120,000, which was a phenomenal amount of money back in the early 1900’s, was raised through the Ruby Kendrick Memorial Fund.  The epitaph on her tombstone reads, “If I had a thousand lives to give, Korea should have them all.”  I was shocked by this statement.  What could have possibly caused a young woman, after having spent only several months in a small, obscure country that no one really cared about, to say something so touching and humbling!  It could not have been just her passion for Korea, but God’s passion for Korea that she carried in her heart.  Today we see many seeds produced by this precious ‘kernel of wheat’ that laid down her life. Korea is the second largest missionary sending nation after the US.
As I sat amazed by Missionary Kendrick’s story, I was reminded that’s what Christmas is all about – remembering and honoring the greatest missionary in history, Jesus Christ.  Yet because we celebrate Christmas year after year, we no longer seem to be amazed by His story. I pray that our sense of ‘shock and awe’ of what Jesus endured for us would be rekindled this Christmas.  And rejoice! You will NOT find Jesus’ tomb in Yanghwajin or anywhere else; He is back on His heavenly throne, waiting to return to earth soon as King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

From Pastor Sara’s Heart
December 16, 2012