One of my heroes in life is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His life has profoundly impacted me. Because of him, I think of service, integrity and courage in a different way. Since his influence is so positive, he has definitely help shape my values and commitments to godly causes.

So, it was an honor for our Epic Movement nationwide to serve and lead Asian American college students to think about what it means to follow our Hero, Jesus and to become a hero for God’s kingdom; all during the MLK weekend. For students to learn what it means to be all that God wants them to be and be truly themselves and using their God given gifts to serve God and people. We also got to serve the various communities even on that Sunday. I think that honors Dr. King having us serve the community as it reflects his values. We went from passing out boxes of love for those in need. We survey people about their lives and communities. In fact, we saw Asian American students able to initiate so many spiritual conversations that Sunday We were able to see 13 people receive Christ into their lives on that day. These students and their faith also made heroic efforts to trust God and serve others. (We were so proud of these students faith and their hearts!)

We had 2 conferences in San Fran and Philly. It was so fun to have it simultaneously. That is the power of what God is doing in Epic. We were able to see the diversity of His works and yet, the work of his Holy Spirit yet so similar. We were able to be involved in also seeing God deepen their relationships with Him. God moved many of them to give their allegiance to Him.

Thanks for praying for me and our students for that weekend.

Your efforts help all of us to continue to share about the Hero of our lives, Jesus Christ to our communities. We long to see God raise up the next generation of heroes of faith for our communities of faith.

Recently at a conference where I had to do a presentation on the state of our ministry, I found myself learning about me and how I deal with stress. Since I had not planned on doing this presentation earlier, I wanted my director’s notes on this presentation and what he wanted represented.
It turned out pretty frustrating when I discovered that all of his notes to me were just a plain old power point presentation.

I was flustered. I was also very tired since I was already very busy at the conference.
However, I did have some excitement as I love giving the direction or the vision of our ministry.
During those 24 hours, I found myself face to face with the real me.

My first encounter with myself again was to realised that when I am stressed, I turn into a more time conscious person. I also had a strong incident with my teammates because I felt they were not aware of the time. I sort of snapped at them. They were gracious. I did apologize once I heard my own voice of emotions or reactions. I heard my own voice of reactions or my heart.

I also found out that I am different from others who cannot embrace doing things like doing a power point. Although I do not prefer that style of communication as it feels so corporate and not as friendly, I can do use it if I had to. I learned that I definitely prefer a different style. I again found that I have been richly blessed with a different set of experiences as a woman leader than most. I have had to make many more of these types of presentation and I was not overwhelmed by it as much as others who were on my team.

Secondly, I discovered that when I was stressed and tired that I am not as calm. I saw this in myself in how I led the first part of our meeting. I was just nervous or stressed or tired.
I could feel it. I so long to be that calming leader. And yet, I see that I may never be that.
I was a bit down on myself when another older woman leader from another ministry commented on how the second day of my presentation, that I was really in my stride (which I felt as well.).
She noted that I was very much myself (which I always pray for.) and was able to engage all of us since I was so open about myself. She appreciated that.

Upon reflection, I was grateful for her comments. Because in some ways, I love the idea of being a calm presence, yet, I am not sure if I will ever be that given my personality. Perhaps the non anxious presence of leaders that help move a nation or a company or ministry to great works will never be my prototype. I am not sure? I do know that I can provide a presence that looks inward to being ourselves and being open to trust God for what he has for us. I think I can communicate the heart of the matter with a heart to connect with others. I think more than anything else, my desire to be myself can be my best gift to those that I lead and serve.
So, I think I may never be that calming non anxious leader. But I can be me.