Missions is the name. Spreading is the game.

Welcome back fello amigos!

It's been another week, which means another week of hard training and meditating on God's word. I unfortunately don't have any pictures or interesting stories for you today, poo... but I just wanted to recap on some of the pivotal things that God has taught me within the last week and how God has changed my heart so far.

I am not going to lie, this past week has been a tough little sucker. Can you believe I've already pulled two all-nighters trying to finish essays and whatnot. (like a true college student hehe) It was definitely my fault for not managing my time well enough but in light of these long nights, I have had so many great memories where I just chilled with my fellow brothers and sisters and shared about everything that was on our hearts.

Last training sunday, Pastor Richard spoke on the importance of missions and evangelism. Let me tell you, this seriously blew my mind. In a nutshell, he said that if God just wanted us to worship him, why wouldn't he just send us all up to heaven at this very moment and have us worship him there?? Interesting huh? This is because he wants us to glorify him by spreading the gospel here on earth. There are two kinds of ways we spread the gospel: through evangelism and through missions.

Through evangelism, we reach amongst the reached
ex) our campus, our clubs, work, etc.

Through missions, we reach amongst the unreached

Total People Groups:	16,587
Unreached People Groups:	7,162
% People Groups Unreached:	43.2	%
World Population:	7.03	Billion
Popl in Unreached Groups:	2.88	Billion
% Population in Unreached:	40.9	%

Thats a whole lot of people huh?.... EEKKK! Brothers and sisters, we've got some work to get done! If you want more information on the unreached people, go check out the joshua project! http://joshuaproject.net/

Thus, the greatest way to live passionately is to share the gospel to the lost and the unreached.
So you're wondering what I am going to do about this? Well, I have made the commitment to be BOLD and take the opportunities God provides to spread the gospel to my non-christian friends. And this summer, I can reach the unreached in Uganda and pursue the great commission there. Who knows where God will take me from there? All I can say is that I am excited!

The other day, my brothers Jeremy and Apple Josh had a good talk about how we have such a heart for our fellow students at UCLA. However, what was frustring was the fact that we have a desire to evangelize but we lack the BOLDNESS and the COURAGE to actually spread the gospel. In the end, all we could do for now was to pray for:

1. Boldness: that we would spread the gospel and invite them to come out to KCM/ our churches/ etc.
2. Wisdom: that we would maximize our opportunities by being able to see these good chances
3. Faith: that he would use us and believe that he has the power to do crazzyyy works to their hearts
4. Humility: that we would not focus on the fact that everything works in God's time, not our time.

We have so much to do! And this initiates starting now. I encourage you guys do the same :)
I'm so happy God has finally instilled in me a sense of urgency. Thank you God for continuously changing my heart to find compassion for your people.

Help me to spread the gospel to the unreached this summer by supporting me prayerfully and financially. If you would like to receive a support letter from me, email me at

michelleadrianakim@gmail.com

Or simply donate by clicking me!

or  This!

God Bless,

Michelle 

Food for the tummy and the heart

Today, I had a one-on-one with my teammate Kevin (we will now refer by his new name, Steve). 1st of all, thank you for swiping me in :) Honestly, I thought this was going to be quick little dinner with some chatting about God but man, this was some good bonding time. We started dinner at 5:30 and left the dining hall at 8:30! If I did my math correct, that's 3 hours. Three full hours of good fellowship and bonding.

I unfortunately don't have any pictures from dinner; I thought it would be a little weird to take selfies or even worse, to ask someone to take a picture of the two of us eating haha. Instead, here's a picture of my handsome teammate:

"And God saw that it was good." 

I'm glad to have a brother who also found this training process to be hard and truly convicting. To sum up everything we came up with one slogan that would be our motivation for the week:

THE THREE P's:

Process, Patience, and Prayer

Christianity is a constant process that demands patience and requires prayer.

We found that, especially in times when we are striving for a better relationship with God, we are constantly revealed about our sinful nature. This can be immensely discouraging. Even worse, progress does NOT happen overnight. Yes, it is easier said but I constantly find myself wanting fast and immediate progress. However, we must remind ourselves to be patient and find trust in God's sovereign plan.

Not going to lie, I would have never thought Steve would be able to understand the things I was feeling. But when voicing our struggles, we realized that we were so similar in our walk with God. Today was so encouraging and I am so blessed to have such an amazing teammate.

Sorry ladies, Steve is not single.

Thanks God for physical and spiritual nourishment,

Michelle

Supa Saturday

Last saturday was our first super saturday! These are days when all the STSM trainees come to CMC from 9am to 5pm to learn, bond, and train with our fellow teammates. The night before was UCLA's annual KCN (korean culture night) so a lot of people were pretty tired, but that didn't stop anyone from having a good time. Shout out to all my friends that were a part of KCN. It was absolutely amazing. Made me proud to be a Korean :)

We first started off with some praise and a short message. Then we took this trivia test about basic doctrine and our knowledge of the bible. Thank God it wasn't graded because it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Naming passages about specific topics like "reassurance of salvation" or "evidence of the trinity" made me realize how much more training I needed before going on missions. This simple quiz really helped me see the reasons behind all this intensive training. It was quite humbling. After the quiz, Leo, taught a seminar on missionary living and evangelism. In short, he broke down the definition of missionary living and how to live a missionary lifestyle.

Definition: Missionary [mish-un-ary]

Proactively adopting the posture, thinking, behaviors  and practices of a missionary in order to engage others with the gospel message and live sacrificially for the salvic good of others.

How do we live a missionary life?:

HP (high potency) + CP (close proximity) + CC (clear communication) = ML (missionary living)

In brief, we must personalize our relationship with God, live it out by loving others, and become a contagious christian.


This seminar really confirmed the reason I was going to missions this year-- to fulfill the great commission and live a life that is not for myself for the growth and nourishment of God's kingdom. I am called to live sacrificially for the good of others. I am called to be a good neighbor and not just kick it with my homies.

^^ this above sentence was really convicting because it helped me realize that missionary living is not just feeling holy while surrounding myself with fellow christians. Instead, I am called to be the salt and the light to everyone in my campus, especially to my many non-christian friends. I truly hope that I can be obedient and give everything for Jesus because he is worth it!

THEN... After all the learning, we had Costco pizza for lunch. I guess lunch was also training too, since we were to finish all 3 boxes of pizza and chips. And trust me, PD wasn't lying when he said everything. We had to eat to the last crumb. I must confess, I was strugglin. But I was definitely encouraged by my teammates who stepped up to finish the last slices. Then after lunch, we did group exercises outside.

Game 1: The human knot...with our eyes closed.

good progress

Sam's butt in mah face. Good bonding.

Game 2: The rope game: we had to make whatever shape PD told us to while everyone kept in contact with the rope at all times. We had our eyes closed for this too, of course.

looks like we're praying

PD told us to make a "continental US..." ha.

Game 3: Arranging ourselves in certain orders. The hardest was ordering ourselves by birth month and day. This also without talking and with our eyes closed.

Game 4: Torture: this one was where we sat in chair until everyone went through each teammate's name, school, year, and major without messing up. If a person messed up, they had to start all over agin. 

Kevin (AKA Steve) taking his SWEEETTT time... 

Kyu messing up. multiple times. SMHHHH

I love my team so much. We definitely got closer just from this one day but we definitely have much more to go. Can't wait!

For his glory,

Michelle

Good Things Come to Those who Wait

On tuesday, PD came up to UCLA to have 1-on-1s with each of the UCLA Uganda team members. It felt good to have a casual conversation with PD instead of conversing formally like we did in our entrance interview. In serious times, I swear he can give you this look of death that will make you crap your pants. Instead of asking questions like "What is the Gospel," we talked about the food network, my hobbies, what I wanted to work on spiritually, my prayer requests, and all that good stuff.

After my class at 8, we all went to this not so hole in the wall place called "Hole in the Wall Burger Joint." Apparently it was originally located on westwood where it was kinda in a whole in the wall. Just a warning for any fans of this joint, it's located on Santa Monica now. And for all you hip$ters who rave about any hole in the wall restaurants being "so dank," this place might actually live up to its hype. I don't eat burgers often but it was a good change from the typical in-and-out (although I am still a fan of that place).

Boy was I hungry. Mind you that this is around 8:30 by the time we were in the car! Did I tell you I was hungry? The fact that it was in SM now meant MORE waiting :( I was so hungry that during my 3 hour lecture on the systems of law, I was Yelping this place and planning what I was going to eat. Ladies, I know you're all guilty of this. But God definitely was teaching me patience.

Good thing I waited because this burger joint was WELL WORTH IT. PD graciously bought for us claiming, "Words are cheap." Aight. I wasn't complaining :)

Their veggie burger on broche bun with avocados and chipotle mayo

Trying to take a selfie of our team

Kevin was the first to devour this his burger. I honestly think I came in second and I probably could have eaten 2 more of those burgers. I'm so glad I saved my stomach for this. Good things definitely come to those who wait.

Thanks God for good fellowship,

Michelle 

Good Food, Good Company

Every week we have 2 different prayer partners that we try to either hang out with or at least chitchat with. This monday, I started out strong with some quality time with my amazing teammate Christy.

I was stoked to know that she was down to try some exotic food with me. We went to some Persian/ Mediterranean restaurant called Shamshiri on Westwood. This place is honestly so deceiving. On the outside it seriously looks so janky. But don't be fooled by its facade. Upon entering, this place was like finding Atlantis. Let's just say I felt a little underdressed in my still-sweaty gym clothes. And when you know that a Persian restaurant is in the heart of Persian town with actual Persian customers, you know its dank. This restaurant is definitely some place you can take your girlfriend to. So I guess you can say that Christy and I had a romantic date together.

Janky outside

The bomb food I devoured

I finished this entire plate. It was probably 7 lbs. No joke. If you ever go there, make sure to ask for their spicy sauce. But beware, it may not be spicy at first but it seriously catches on fast. I had heartburn and a monstrous stomach ache all night but it was well worth it. We had some great talks. I'm so glad to have a sister like her that can guide me and lead me especially during this missions trip.

Thanks God for good food and good company,

Michelle

April Chapel: Food, Fun, and Fundraising

So this Sunday, April 7th, was our monthly chapel! Chapel is where KCM members of UCSD, UCLA, UCSB, UCR, and USC come together at Cerritos Mission Church.  This is always a good time to bond with other KCMers and I was super stoked to see my friends from far schools like SB and SD. Shout out to David Wang who said he was going but never showed up. Way to go... Although we didn't have our regular training today, this week our Uganda Team and the Nicaragua Team sold food for missions fundraising. 

I'm not going to lie, when our Uganda missions leader, Pastor David, said we were selling SIMPLE dirty dogs, I thought he meant like heating up some jarred onions and boiling some wieners... Yea. I was wrong. Little did I know that PD was quite the cook!

Everyone came an hour early to get things prepared. The boys helped to grill the wieners and the girls helped to sauté the onions and bell peppers. Aren't we so cute in aprons? Domesticity at its prime.

So happy

Uganda team sold dirty dogs while Nicaragua sold delicious tacos and boba. I'd say we had a good fusion of American, Mexican, and Asian :) 

'Murica

1 fattie

2 fatties

Sam not doing his job. Instead he's eating. Typical....

Kyutie bein kyute

Leia doin some promotin

Edwin in an apron, guys...

We had a good system going on

Thanks for everyone who generously consumed our food. Hope you guys didn't get heartburn. Thanks to you guys, both the Uganda and Nicaragua team sold everything! 

A true man does the dishes in an apron

Clean up crew (aka. the rejects) JK :)

Team Nicaragua selling delicious tacos and boba

I was so blessed to see so many people willing to buy food just to help us out. Just wanted to say thanks to my bro for buying some dogs too. 

Then after... The SUPER down crew went to Guppies! So on the way there, Jane was navigating and this brilliant girl led us to some residential area, where we were lost for a good 15 mins. Note that Guppies was literally 3 miles away. Moral of the story. Don't let freshman who can't drive navigate. Better yet, don't let Jane navigate.

I'm so stoked for super saturday! More posts to come! 

-Michelle 

Follow & Support!

Hello beloved Friends and Family!

Welcome to my new blog! First of all, thank you for taking the time to look at this site :) I guess, I have always wanted to start blogging but I never knew what to blog about. Thank God I finally found something that I can blog hehe :)

So follow and enjoy as I update you on my 4 month journey as I train with my lovely teammates and complete my short-term missions in Uganda! I'm nervous, anxious, excited, and so grateful for this amazing opportunity. The sole purpose of this blog is so that you guys will be able to be an active part of my journey as God trains me and transforms me. I want all my supporters to be able to join me in this experience. So this is for you guys. Follow me, pray for me, and support me!

Introducing TEAM UGANDA!!

Interested in supporting me and didn't get an invite on FB? Fill out this survey if this is you :)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kPWqb_5nZMaRV3TzZluZS-IUMGKehpGiAoel5__KdFc/viewform


With much love,

Michelle