erichao

To the fellow believers who make up the church of Christ…
To my dear acquaintances and family in Southern California…
To the beloved friends of my mine in Merced and the San Francisco Area…
And to those who don’t even know who I am…

Introduction

Photo of three of my small group members and me from Intervarsity ChristianFellowship @ Merced

My name is Eric Chao and I have a heart for Missions. What is missions you ask? Missions can be simplified to going somewhere and bringing the love of Jesus Christ to the people and community in whatever form possible. The location could be anywhere from California to Thailand. In the past four years of my college career, I’ve been given the opportunity each summer to experience the power of God through four different overseas missions trips. From my mission trips to India, the Philippines, Japan and Malaysia, my heart for missions has grown and matured over the years.

I write to you today bringing the news that I will once again be participating in an extraordinary opportunity to serve, grow, and learn from overseas missions. God has placed the Country of Thailand in my horizon this summer. Through this blog/email letter, I hope to provide you with all the information you will need to embark on this trip with me both spiritually and financially. For the convenience of my partners in the ministry (hopefully you!), I’ve organized this bundle of words into a few sections:

 As you browse around, please consider partnering with me in prayer and finances! We have all been commissioned to reach the nations with the message of the Good News! It’s important for us as believers to keep a prayerful heart directed towards the world. I also encourage you to support me through sowing financially into His mission!

Thanks for reading!
Eric Chao

Matthew 28:19-20

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

Sections: (please feel free to skip around, Ctrl-F(ind), and skim away!) 

I. Who am I – Further description about me.

II. Past Experiences – What was India/Philippines/Japan/Malaysia like?

III. Why Thailand – Missions is purposeful! In my case, find out why!

IV. Thailand Ministry – What will I be doing in Thailand?

V. What’s Thailand? – Statistics and Facts about Thailand

VI. Prayer Requests – How can you partner with me spiritually?

VII. Financial Partnering – How can you partner with me financially?

VIII. Contact Me – Email and Phone Number.

IX. Mission Details - When am I going? When will I come back?

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I. Who am I?

My name is Eric Chao. I recently graduated from UC Merced as a Cognitive Science Major. I was born in 1989 into a Buddhist family in Southern California. My parents divorced when I was about two months old. God never really entered the picture until I was in middle school. My good friend, Michael, was the first Christian influence in my life. He urged me to visit his church with him where both of his parents were full time pastors. I began attending just to hang out with Michael and eventually his parents asked me if I wanted to accept Jesus into my life. Out of fear and confusion, I said yes and was baptized after the service. Michael’s parents would eventually branch from their mega church with hopes of planting a branch in our city. I was assigned to accompany them and help serve in whatever way I could. On top of serving at a new church, I had been invited by another close friend of mine, Hubert, to a high school small group. There was an instant connection that I had with the community. For the first time, Christianity was more then just elderly people dancing around and reading the bible; it became a group of people my own age seeking after God in the realest form. From there, I transferred churches to my current church, Home of Christians in East Los Angeles. There was never really a moment in my life where a specific life incident or revelation transformed my life from ‘A’ to ‘B’. God was just ever present in my high school days slowly revealing Himself to me. Fast forwarding to current day in this post-grad era, I look at the last eight years of my life and can hardly remember all the times God has been faithful to me. My faith has grown, my understanding of the character of Jesus has matured, and I’m learning each day to depend less on myself, and more on Jesus. 

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II. Past Experiences:

Missions to India 2007

I went to India as a part of a musical band attempting to reach the neighborhood through teaching music lessons. As a freshly graduated senior out of high school on my first mission trip ever, India was a trip full of culture shock and important life lessons. The most vivid thing I remember from India was that we had a family of four missionaries going to India with us. The difference between them and us was that after two weeks, we would be flying back to Hong Kong while they would be staying in India for a few years. I thought to myself, “Long-term missions are insane. Who in their right mind would abandon their lives at home to live in India?” Four years later, I find myself in a position where God has placed within me a heart for long-term overseas missions. Suddenly, the idea doesn’t seem that insane at all.

Missions to the Philippines 2008

My mission trip to the Philippines was easily the most enjoyable missions trip I’ve ever been on. My main ministry opportunity there was going to every slum and school that would take us, and preach the gospel. It was such a joy to do nothing but preach the gospel multiple times a day and develop close relationships to the long-term missionaries in the Philippines. The main take-away I got from the Philippines missions trip was the importance of how we use our time. In America, it’s easy for us to get distracted with work, school and even our friends. Living a Christian life truly means to use every moment you are given to glorify God and preach the Gospel.

Missions to Japan 2009

Japan was a very different country to visit because unlike India and the Philippines, the people of Japan weren’t lacking in finances, food, or shelter. Going to Japan, I knew that my ministry there would be focused on bonding with the people and establishing relationships that would go deep and have meaning. This was difficult because there was a bigger language barrier in Japan then there was in any other country I’ve been to. Going to Japan really changed my ministry back here in California because I learned to honor the fact that I could bond through people and invest my time in them through even just being able to communicate with them.

Missions to Malaysia 2010

As a veteran to missions with three years of experience under my belt, I expected Malaysia to be just another trip where I learn to die a little more to myself and serve the community. While this was true, God was certainly not done teaching me life changing lessons. Ministry was often disrupted by several cases of team disunity through the presence of spiritual warfare. Several times it felt like we were arguing with each other more than we were getting anything done. Through all the drama, God was still faithful to teach me. Though we had our difficulties, I learned a lot about the spiritual realm as well as what humility means in a team setting.

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III. Why Thailand?

There are two reasons why I believe God has led me to go to Thailand this summer. The first is ultimately for the promotion of the gospel. There are millions of people in Thailand that have never had the gospel presented to them before and Jesus called us to be the messengers of the good news. As the Gospel has become central to my ministry even here in America, I look forward to being strongly intentional with those that I encounter this summer. The second purpose for my trip to Thailand is that I want to find purpose in my life through witnessing first hand the tremendous need there is for social justice. As many know, Thailand is regarded as the sex tourism capital of the world. There are few social injustices that enrage the public like sex trafficking. With my undergraduate education complete and my eyes set on law school, I want to be radically broken to see the world as God sees it; to experience first hand the injustice that God despises, and to learn to love on the victims of sex trafficking like He loves them. It’s a life long process to develop a worldview like this, but I am faithful that Thailand will be a milestone for my life towards a more holistic view of the need in the world. By being broken, I hope to return to America with a supernaturally implanted passion to maximize my life towards the service of Jesus and His gospel.

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IV. Thailand Ministry

While on my two-week mission trip in Thailand, I will be serving in a number of possible ways. I could be doing any number of things such as slum outreach, children’s bible camp, church planting, or even general community service. In previous summer mission trips, I’ve been given opportunities to fellowship and bond with local youth around my age. I am hopeful that this opportunity will arise again, and God would be communicated through the love that we show. 

Here are some of the ministries I’ve experienced as well as well as some types of ministry I feel I could comfortably serve in: 

Slum Outreach: Reaching out to the poorest of poor communities was always on Jesus’ heart. Though it doesn’t feel like much, a visitation from an outsider can really be a powerful way to minister to people living in impoverished areas.

Church Planting: I believe that as Christians in America, we often overlook our ability to contribute to the church. Going to other countries to help plant churches really showed me that there is a lot that I can offer through the knowledge I’ve gained being raised in Church. 

Children’s Bible Camp: Teaching and caring for children presents itself in many mission ministry opportunities. The locals really entrust you with their children, which gives you an excellent chance to show them the love of God.

Music Ministry: Music is a universal language. There are often opportunities to help the growing church establish a music worship ministry. This also presents chances to bond with the youth of the fellowship.

Fellowship: My favorite form of outreach is just to befriend the locals and create meaningful bonds. I’ve played sports, gone swimming, and ate many meals with people for the sake of building these bonds.

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V. What’s Thailand?

Notable/Fun Facts and Statistics about Thailand:
64 Million People
0.7% Christian
4.6% Islam
94.6% Buddhism
Capital City: Bangkok
- Primary language: Thai
- 49% of the Work Force are in Agricultural
- Tourism alone makes up 6% of the nations economy
- Thailand is considered the sex tourism capital of the world
- There are roughly 35,000 children below the age of 18 forced into prostitution
- According to the World Meteorological Organization, Bangkok is apparently the hottest capital city in the world.
- It is called the “Land Of Smiles,” because of its ever smiling, inviting, soft spoken, friendly, and hospitable inhabitants.
- In ‘Thai’, the name Thailand signifies “land of freedom” or the “land of the free”.
- Thailand has a high number of Guinness World Records, including that for the man with the longest hair, the biggest hamburger, largest ever aerobic workout, and also for the most linked skydivers.

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VI. Prayer Requests:

- That God would put me in a position so uncomfortable that it would unravel my sumptuous American lifestyle.
- That the Lord keep my team and me safe in the jungles, schools, and cities of Thailand.
- Pray that hearts would be softened to the gospel and strengthened by it to withstand the persecution of the Christian life.
- That in the two weeks there, the Lord would use my team and me to bear everlasting fruit.
- That God would inspire purpose into my life.
- For the favor of our awesome God to be with me as I prepare for missions both spiritually and financially 

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VII. Financial Partnering

Please feel free to donate by clicking on the Paypal Link below. There will be some minor fees applied by Paypal, but after that, 100% of money raised will go to Home of Christians Missions.

If you would like to mail support funds or even an encouraging letter to me, please look in the next section to find how to communicate with me for a mailing address.

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VIII. Contact Me:

Email: Preciouseric@gmail.com

Phone Number: (909) 831-9879

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IX. Missions Details

Program Name: Cell Church Mission Network based in Hong Kong

Duration: Two weeks
Departure: July 17th
Return: First week of August

Estimated Cost: $1400

2007

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2008

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2009

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2010

Today, I am on “Church Arrest”

“Leaders” Orders.

Quite frankly, there nothing I’d rather do with one of the precious fourteen days in this this country than be confined to a room while the rest of my team does work.

Pray:
- For the ability to Obey my modern day pharisee of a leader for the sake of unity
- For the ability to control my anger and not let it control me
- That God could use this scrambled team to do something in our remaining few days.

Thanks Friends
Eric 

Dear friends, readers, and supporters,
Missionary Dick Hillis once said, “Every heart with Christ, a missionary; every heart without Christ, a mission field.” As you know, we (Eric and Jon) will be traveling to the mission field of Malaysia this July with CCMN. We will be updating our blogs to inform you of our final month of preparation before we leave. We hope that as you read, you will be encouraged to continually remember of our ministry in Kuala Lumpur.  One point we agreed upon was that with each blog post specific examples would be provided of how you can be a consistent supporter. Yes, we said consistent. Let’s be honest, consistency is one of our greatest struggles of this day in age. With frequent distractions and shortened attention spans, it is a daily challenge to stay on top of our commitments.  Which is why we are asking you to partner with us to be accountable and faithful to the heart of this trip.  This mission trip is just as much yours as it is ours. It will be as much as you want it to be. As you begin to sow your time and heart into God’s work overseas, we truly believe the Lord will answer your prayers that will make an eternal impact in people’s lives.  We are excited to answer the call to love and serve those in Malaysia and faithfully proclaim the name of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Thank you for your support as you work alongside us to advance God’s Kingdom.

Here’s how you can begin consistently supporting us:
1. Read Luke 10:2- Set a daily timer on your cell phone to pray for laborers that are overseas working for the harvest.  10:02 AM/PM are easy times to remember according to the verse, but pick a time whenever you think its most practical to pray over this verse.
2. Read Luke 18: 1-8 The Parable of the Persistent Widow. Reflect on the teaching Jesus shares through this parable. Ask God how you can play a role in supporting overseas missionaries.

Sincerely,
Jon
Team Malaysia

Dear Friends,
May 5th marks the last large group of the 2009-2010 academic school year.
That means there is no more need for me as a large group coordinator,
there is no more need for me as a worship leader,
and above all, there is no more need for me as an official Intervarsity Leader.

I have relayed my role as large group coordinator to Kim Chiang,
as I have passed on my role of worship leader to David Lee.

My friends, my role for the 2010-2011 academic year has been formally declared as a “floater”.

After lots of thought and prayerful consideration, I’ve come to this conclusion of what it means for me to be a floater:


Here is some Diction Addiction for you eh?

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(Not the real definition..)
Floater |ˈflōtər|
Noun
A servant/leader with no tangible responsibilities…!

I have been relinquished of my responsibilities as LGC and worship leader.

My new role of floater enables me to roam freely in the green grassy knolls of IVCF.


Well the funny thing is, there is no such thing as floater. It was simply something Jeff came up with on the spot at my leadership interview.

The truth is…

I do not consider myself a part of the official Intervarsity Leadership Team for 2010-2011.

If you want to be extreme, you can say that I am calling it quits with formal leadership.

“But wait, If you are not a formal leader, how are you going to serve the Lord?”
“If you are not a formal leader anymore, how can you still be a part of intervarsity?”
“But if you are not a leader, how will the Lord be able to use you!?”
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I think about these questions a lot because I’m sure a lot of Intervarsity students ask themselves these very same questions.

So you applied for formal leadership and didn’t get accepted…
Perhaps you didn’t even apply for leadership and you feel less valuable as a member of the body…

Well I am here to tell you guys that formal leadership means very little to the integrity and quality of leader God has destined us all to be. I’ve worked with teams of Pharisees where I’ve brooded in my intense disgust towards their demonstrated hypocrisy that permeates deep into the root of the fellowship itself. I’ve lead the sheep entrusted to me as a blind shepherd, king of Pharisees, who has fallen into one too many ditches. My quality of walk has fluctuated like the graph of sin(x) cycle after cycle even on my terms as a formal leader (excuse the math jargon).

What am I trying to say?
I don’t hold a reputable venerable position in InterVarsity next year…

So what?

Instead, I will embrace my role as a “floater”

I will do what I am called to do the best I can, not because it is my worldly duty, but because it is my heavenly calling.

I don’t need a weekly sunday meeting to remind me of what I’m called to do.
I don’t need to receive emails from fellow leaders to realize that there is a broken world out there.
I don’t need the prestige and honor formal leadership entices me with to motivate me to serve the God who died for me (this is probably the hardest one for me).

I challenge you, back row large group attenders
I challenge you, languid small group members
I challenge you, formal leader rejects

So we are not official leaders…

So what?

Float with me next year;
Float with Him.
Float for Him.

“Life is too short to not give 100.”

I’ve taken an interest in expanding my culinary abilities lately…so I’ve been experimenting in the kitchen every couple of days.

I just spent around 30 minutes pan frying a thick slab of chicken breast, boiling water and soaking some linguini noodles, heating up alfredo mushroom sauce in a microwave, and throwing all three together to make the ugliest piece of crap I’ve ever eaten.

I mean, my cooking doesn’t taste bad or anything like that, it just looks like someone ate it whole, and hurled it back out. And of course, after creating my freak dish in about 3 minutes, I began scrubbing the accretions of chicken fat that had solidified on the bottom of the frying pan. Sadly, my limited cooking ability and lack of general serving size experience rendered my attempts to satisfy my hunger futile.

In other words, I spent about an 45 minutes cooking and cleaning for myself, and I was left neither satisfied with the portion size, my use of time, or even the aesthetics of my food.

What did I learn?

Cooking is way too tedious.

This realization has made me think about a couple things:
- (Perhaps in light of Mothers Day) I miss my mother a lot. More and more each day, I am learning to understand and respect the love that she has always poured out on me. While I struggle to make simple amateur dishes, she could spend hours in the kitchen pouring into a masterful meal that I’d be absolutely clueless of and skip to go hang out with my friends. What a bad son eh?

Which brings me to my second thought:

- Cooking for myself is far too tedious. I cannot put my mind in a place where i can rationalize the amount of time and effort I use to cook while I could have simply just heat up a bagel.

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I only cook for those I love.

Much like my Moms love fueled her to spend hours of meticulously laboring to feed me in my early years, I too find a joyous reward and satisfaction in providing a loved one with a warm satiated feeling.

In my book, nothing says, “I love you” like a slab of steak in your face.

Y’all know who you are. <3

Draft after draft after draft…

The Publishing is coming! I promise!

There are no sweet words to lather this post with.
There are no long paragraphs to fill the page from top to bottom.

Simply put:

Tonight, I reconciled with my Dad for the first time in 20 years.
I am so at peace.

God is Good.

Before I begin this blog post, let me explain myself and my recent endeavors towards whatever it is I’ve been striving for.

For those of you who know me well, I’ve never been the guy who enjoys reading or studying on his free time. Actually, I’ve achieved quite the opposite for my reputation.
Lately, God has been putting a lot of crazy thoughts in my head about my future and my purpose. He has placed in me a desire to build up an accretion of knowledge as well as working on my ability to articulate and be more incisive. Thus, I have embarked on an adventure of reading through dictionaries (sounds bad, i know), saving words that appeal to me, and learning them through application in everyday conversation and blogging.

So today, I’d like to introduce my few valuable readers to the blog topic known as A Diction Addiction. I will be blogging from time to time about specific words that strike me in personal ways.
*Please!!! If you are able to offer me your assistance by correcting my syntax if I have misused any words in any way, speak up! Through this experience, it is my desire to learn more and more each day by applying my diction correctly!

And as always, even these blogs will be centered on Jesus Jesus Jesus.

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A Diction Addiction
Deference |ˈdefərəns|
noun 
A Polite submission to another out of respect or courtesy

Wow, I really enjoy this word.

A lot of times I try to help guide younger brothers and sisters through a hardship or trial, it always seems so difficult to convey my inputs. In my mind, I’ve been through most of what they are going through, and it does not make any sense to me as to why they would not take my advice to heart! I’ve pondered on this particular matter for several years now, as being at Merced has given me many opportunities to be around people who are younger than me.

Is it pride? Is it because I get no respect from people? Is it possibly because everyone in this darn world is so haughty and headstrong that there is no room to submit yourself even to those who are older and more mature than you?

Looking into my own experiences, there have been FAR too many moments where mentors and brothers to me like Johnny Tsai, Eric Jung, or Hubert Sung have said things to me that I knew!

For example, I would join worship team for the second consecutive season and Johnny would persist to teach me the fundamentals of being a worshiper and extolling God through music. There have been so many times where I’ve been in a car with Eric Jung, ranting off about my issues about certain people, where all he responds with is, “as much as you are complaining about these people, how much are you praying for them?”. I remember numerous occasions where I would pitch my ideas to Hubert about home group activities, and he would question my intents and aspirations as if I knew nothing of the Bible.

“I KNOW!” I would respond.
“I KNOW”

And now that I am somewhat mature enough to pass down whatever little extent of knowledge and advice to others, those are the two words in the english language that I hate hearing the most.

Embrace Deference. Humble yourself before the midst of someone who deserves enough respect from you for you to sit there, shut up, and take it. (Even Especially if you know it already)

As I continue to grow in Christ; as I continue to mature, I find it easier and easier to show deference to those who deserve it. I have many amazing older brothers and sisters who look out for me and want the best for me. It would be beyond foolish of me to NOT take to heart the input they provide for me.

In my single year experience of being a small group leader in IV, I really thought I was doing my job. Simple right? Go to leaders meetings on Sunday, prepare a little Monday night, stay late on campus every Tuesday, hang out with some interesting characters for an hour or two, read some bible, and eat with them from time to time.

Ah yes, the weeks would go by, as I would lead meeting after meeting with my quasi-passionate guise. Going with the small group guidelines presented to me in the beginning of the year, I did everything on the list to ensure I was fulfilling 100% of the tasks required. No matter how torpid meetings felt, I was confident in myself that I was doing my job…isn’t that all that’s required of me?

There is no doubt in my mind that similar mindset/models of small group leading exemplified by myself and other older leaders have been passed down and have de/evolved into what is now know as 09-10 small groups.
Contrary to my thought processes as a sophomore small group leader, I now believe strongly that I cannot call myself the small group leader of Tuolumne Hall 08-09.

Frankly, bestowing that title upon myself after the efforts I put in would simply be…for lack of better words, bullshitting myself (Excuse me) and defaming the role of a small group leader.

Here are a couple things I have found that small group leading is not (which coincidently parallels quite well to exactly what I did all last year):
- Spending one hour on Monday night at one in the morning looking over the passage being covered or “winging” small group hoping my charisma and character would be enough to communicate the message of the cross, the bible, and the God I claim to serve.
- Complaining about all the time small group takes when doing the bare minimum adds up to about 3-4 hours a week.
- Treating small group like it’s a night class. You know, 7-9pm…dragging through it in a desultory fashion.

Small groups should be a place where you go to escape the pressures of school and be with family. Why is it that my small group always felt like a classroom?

Of all these things, the thing I am most guilty/ashamed for, is treating my small group members like they are homeless people.

During my spring break in Sacramento, we had a devotional one morning about how easy it is to be deceptively servile towards the homeless by giving them some food, attention, and maybe some spare change if our pockets would happen to bear such coinage. This was such a disgustingly convicting topic of “loving” on others at arms length.

Well to be very honest, I had almost less desire to invest and hang out with some of my small group members than I would to hang out with a homeless person on the street. To me, if a small group member didn’t fit the mold I was looking for, I would treat them as I would a bum driven to the point of insanity after years of penury.

The result: A long fruitless year. (With exceptions, because God is faithful)

In short, I did what I had to do, and left. 

God, forgive me for my indolent and apathetic “service”.
Forgive me for wasting your gift of time and influence.
I have done little more with these gifts then help produce a cultivated mindset of laziness and apathy that has begun to permeate to the roots of our fellowship.

My dear small group leaders for this year and next year:
I beg you
Do not model yourselves after me
Do not do only what you have to do
But do all you can do
Love what you do
And if its not love and first sight, pray; fast; do what you must to acquire an unquenchable passion and insatiable thirst for pouring yourself into your sheep.
If there is no joy in it, there will be no fruit in it.
Trust me

We are setting the bar for the younger ones.

“Feed my lambs, Tend my sheep, Feed my sheep”

Some of my readers might point out that this post seems like a big contrast to my previous post…however in this situation too, I am glad God didn’t strike me down in my lazy indolent stages so I am able to kneel in this place now and cry out for something more.

I will close with the wise words of a meditating mystic:

God does not require much, He only requires all.
Much you may not have, all you certainly do.
Much He does not need, all of you He does not have.