Where is home? That was the question that Caleb, our oldest son, asked when we were packing up and preparing to return to the U.S. He was five-years-old and his younger brother, Caden, was three-years-old at the time we had left the U.S. for Thailand, our mission field and home for the last four years.
But before I answer the question of where is home, let me take a moment to introduce ourselves for the benefit of those who don’t know us. Though I was born in Taiwan, I grew up in Saudi Arabia from age one to seven. It was not until my family immigrated to the U.S. that we came to know the Lord through a Chinese church in the southern Bible belt state of Alabama. Lila on the other hand was born in the Midwest state of Illinois, and grew up in a Christian home with Korean parents. It was not until her parents divorced and her dad remarried that she relocated to Maryland. She started attending NCFC in 1992, and gave her life to the Lord in 8th grade at a church retreat.
Fast forward a few years, and the Lord brought us together as husband and wife in 2005 with a passion to glorify Him through our mutual call to cross-cultural missions work. Both of us received a clear calling from the Lord. And so after I worked seven years as a civil engineer and Lila worked eight years as an elementary school teacher, we decided to quit our jobs to attend seminary in preparation for vocational ministry. Eventually, I graduated from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 2009 with a Master of Divinity and joined the pastoral staff of NCFC briefly on a part-time basis. Lila returned to teaching in the public elementary school sector, while we continued to prepare for the mission field. At some point, we had two little boys, Caleb and Caden, along the way!
Currently, we are serving as full-time missionaries in Thailand with OMF International. We have just completed our first term of four years church-planting in South Thailand. We were involved with language and culture studies, relational evangelism, English teaching outreach, and partnership with an existing OMF church plant. Our youngest, Corban, was born in South Thailand, and we joke that he is half Thai!
And so that brings us back to the question of where is home? I must admit that at first I did not quite know how to answer that question. I have had my own personal struggles with answering that question myself because of my own cross-cultural childhood experience. Everywhere seems to be home, and nowhere seems to be home as well. But the best answer I could give Caleb was that home is where our family is together at the time. And so if we are in Thailand together, that is our home. And if we are in the U.S. together, that is our home. We also thank God for you, our church family, because you have warmly welcomed us and made the transition back to the States so much easier. And for that, we are grateful.
Ultimately, I am learning to teach my boys that home is where heaven is as well because, as believers, we are all on a journey towards that direction, and Scripture reminds us that “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20). Even with the reverse culture shock that comes with adjusting back to the U.S., we are learning to be comfortable with the uncomfortable and reminded to always be gazing heavenward.

From Pastor Dave’s Heart
September 20, 2015

I had the privilege of attending the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, GA last Wednesday to Friday. This is a conference for all Christian leaders so you can imagine how many pastors were there along with small group leaders, Sunday school teachers, Elders, Deacons, and etc. The last time I went to this conference was back in 2009 when I was living in Raleigh, NC. I chose not to fly but rather drive 10 hours down. Unlike a lot of people, I enjoy long road trips. I love being in a car and on the road (unless there’s traffic) and just take in the sights along the way. Since I chose to drive down, I had the chance to visit the church I served at in Raleigh and meet up with some of my former youth who are now in college. It was really nice to see how much they’ve grown spiritually. I also had the chance to visit my parent’s house and have dinner with them. I think it’s been around 5 years (?) since I’ve been “home.” I have to say that my mom’s mandoo is still the best in the world.
When I finally arrived at the conference, I was deeply challenged and inspired by the opening session. The speaker was Andy Stanley, who is one of my favorite pastors. In fact, when I was there in 2009, I actually got a chance to talk with him as he signed the book that I bought. It was one of the coolest moments of my life. In the opening session, he was talking about how we as leaders need to stir and disturb the imaginations of the people we lead and awaken the wonder within them.
How many ideas have been shot down not just at church but anywhere because it was “new” and unfamiliar? At times, it’s easy for leaders to say no to an idea because we don’t understand it, but sticking with only what’s familiar is how we become stagnant. If you think about it, stirring up and disturbing the imaginations of the people is exactly what Jesus did. Isn’t that why the Pharisees hated him so much? He did not fit into their religious box. Isn’t that why so many people were following him? No one had met someone like Jesus, who taught the way Jesus did. They were amazed at his teaching. He awakened the wonder of the people.
 Maybe a reason why we try to stay clear from new ideas, is that wonder can be as threatening and disruptive as it can be inspiring. New ideas mean disrupting the norm or the tradition of doing things. We use phrases like “it’s always been this way.” New ideas can be scary because it pulls us away from our comfort zone and puts us in unfamiliar territory. As leaders, we should embrace the unknown. We should encourage new ideas. New ideas have the potential to inspire people and to awaken the wonder within us. Think of all the innovation that is around us. I just read the other day that Japan has now invented a train that goes 1 mile in 10 seconds! It floats on magnets so it has frictionless motion. This allows the train to go really fast reaching speeds up to 374 mph. To put things into perspective, it can go from NY to DC in about 35 minutes.
Ideas like this came to fruition because of thinking outside the box; by thinking outside of “how it’s always been done.” Imagine what can be done if we think outside the box and step into the unknown at church. Let’s not get stuck on doing things the same way just because that’s how it’s always been done. Let’s open ourselves to new ideas and see how God leads us. As a church, let’s start to be a people of wonder.

From Pastor Eugene’s Heart
October 18, 2015