St. Paul Urban Ministry

January 2012 Update

2012-01-07T14:38:00.000-06:00

St. Paul Urban Ministry – January 2012

            One of my favorite things that happened in 2011 occurred at one of our evening worship services back in the summer. I was supposed to be away on a canoe trip. It was the hottest and most humid trips I had ever been on in my 30 or so trips to the boundary waters. Because of that we came home a day early. A and Shawna had planned the worship that evening and a major portion involved having everything prepared for some foot washing.
            A read from Scripture and announced we would take time for anyone moved to do so, to wash someone’s feet. Thankfully, we had not just arrived back from our trip. (I had had time to wash my own feet.) I felt the Spirit tell me that I needed to go wash one young man’s feet. It was not for him, but for me. My attitude toward him was not very loving. I was frustrated with him and losing any patience I may have had left.
            This young man started sobbing. After I was done, he must have washed the feet of at least six other people. (I did not wash anyone else’s.) It was so beautiful to watch this church of young people wash their friends’ feet. Even more moving for me was watching husbands wash their spouse’s feet and vice versa. (Tina was not there.) It was great to see biological brothers and sisters wash each other’s feet. Especially since that would be something difficult in their culture.
            I told them at the end of the worship service, that they need to remember this day. This was the day, that a young gathering of people grew into a more mature church. If they could keep in mind what they experienced that night, many potential problems would never be seen.

Kids Connection Christmas Party

Thanks to the generous, loving and serving hearts of the Woodbury Church we were able to have a wonderful Christmas party again this year for the kids who have been coming to our weekly Kids Connection class over at McDonough. We were excited to be able to use the Roseville Church building this year for our party. They kids were overflowing with excitement as they moved through the activities planned, enjoyed all the yummy treats that were prepared for them and then as they greeted a “special visitor” who came all the way from the North Pole just to bring them each a special gift! It was a very special time, that had impact on parents, as well as the kids.

Focus for 2012

            I have been telling people lately that this ministry that started with a bunch of five to twelve year olds has become a church of young adults. We even have three couples with children of their own. My focus now has shifted a little from bringing these people to Christ to training them to lead and disciple others. (Although we have never drawn those lines very clearly.)
            We still have our Kid’s Connection class where we work with kids age 5 – 12. We still spend a lot of time praying and having one on one Bible studies. But I am enjoying Tuesday nights when the guys and girls separate for Bible study. I am presently going through a book called Ultimate Warriors. We are having good discussions about what it means to be men of God. We recently finished a study using Tony Dungy’s book Dare to be Uncommon.
            A is meeting with the guys on Friday evening and starting a study about Abraham and finding God’s will for your life. Join us in prayer asking God’s Spirit to teach, encourage, equip, and empower these young adults to carry on the Lord’s work wherever they go and in the hearts of whomever they are with.

Shawna and Tina learn some Hmong culture

2011-11-17T14:07:00.001-06:00

Tina & I have heard for years about a particular Hmong cultural tradition where for 30 days after giving birth the mother goes on a chicken diet. By chicken diet, I mean all she can eat is chicken boiled in medicinal herbs (no salt) & rice; 3 meals a day for 30 days. Oh, and she can only drink hot water, too. It is intended to cleanse and heal the body after giving birth. One can see that there is wisdom behind this tradition, but one can also imagine that this does not come easily for first time Hmong moms. It's actually pretty amazing that anyone would adhere to such a tradition, but a lot of women do. Another factor in this tradition is that the chicken has to be fresh, and I don't mean from your grocers freezer. I mean fresh from the farm, killed in your backyard, brought into the kitchen, prepared, and eaten. This concept is so beyond me.

Well, recently Tina and I got to experience first hand what it would be like if she and I had been born Hmong. We helped two young women from our ministry get ready for their 30 day chicken diet by killing 80 chickens in one evening. We would have made our grandmothers so proud. We were part of the "disassemble line" where we plucked the feathers off of 80 lifeless birds. It was an experience to say the least. We laughed a lot through the process and were definitely laughed at. We accepted the fact that we probably wouldn't have been the best Hmong women. In conclusion, it was an experience we will not soon forget.

the pool of de-feathering

Spring 2011

2011-05-25T13:06:00.020-06:00

Kai Thao

Kai was baptized March 15. He is A's 21

year old brother. Kai had been coming to things off and on, but some thing changed after A took him to a Hmong Christian youth conference in Nebraska. Kai had more of a desire to know Jesus and find out more about Him. He started coming regularly and I asked him if he would like to study the Bible. He said yes and now he is a disciple of Christ.

The power in the Word of God still amazes me. God only needs someone to be open to learning about Him and His Spirit just draws them in. (Sometimes one could even be trying to prove

God doesn't exist and they are still drawn in.) You could tell early on that Kai's heart was in a good place. After a few weeks of study, his main

concern had to do with his family. He shared with me that his mom had been reminding him that now that he was hanging out with us more, he was still needed to participate in the Hmong religious ceremonies at her funeral. Typically, the youngest son is responsible for everything at the funeral, animal sacrifices, ancestor worship, etc. The main reason for the funeral is for the deceased's spirit to find its final resting place. If Kai does not do things traditionally, mom fears her spirit will not find rest. I shared that I believe Jesus determines our final resting place. It does not depend on our children or anyone else. Also, if you really love your mother, you will do the thing you believe is best for her even if she does not agree. Kai was baptized a few days later. It was very encouraging for A to have one of his family members commit the way he has.

Vinas and Nancy Thao

Shawna & Vinas Nancy

Vinas and Nancy are A's younger sisters. They had been coming regularly and really growing in their faith. It was such a joy to have them around Sundays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, etc. When their mom found out about Kai, she forbid them to attend anymore. Such is the struggle many of these families have to deal with. So many times discouragement comes with encouragement. Satan does not give up easily. Matthew 10:34-36 says, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-- a man's enemies will be the members of his own household." This puts alot of pressure on a lot of our people. Please pray for the Thao family. It is encouraging to see what God is doing and maddening sometimes to see what Satan is doing. Pray for strength and wisdom for the believers and pray that God can turn the hearts of those that do not yet believe!

(Steve)

Blessing From Saint Paul Urban Ministry! Wow! It’s already June! In the last few months, I have continued to see God’s hand at work with Saint Paul Urban Ministry. I’m still continuing with my plans to attend Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, Missouri. Pray that as I make preparations to be there in the Fall that God will go before me.

It is great news that my brother Kai recently gave his life to Christ. What a blessing it is to have him in our huge family of Christ. It has been a great blessing to see the ways God worked in his heart and how God change his life. He has been studying with Steve and attending Urban Ministry events since our family moved from Hugo to Saint Paul. With the blessing of a new brother in Christ, Satan will try that much harder to break the relationship between us and God. With Kai becoming a christian, now there are two of us that are christians in the family and my sister is very interested, as well. So, my parent have recently called a family meeting with us. It didn’t go well. They told us that we can’t worship God anymore and we have to return back to worshipping our ancestors. My parents also said that we were breaking the family apart because we don’t participate in the family religion anymore. Again, I ask that you keep my family in your prays as we battle this spiritual tug of war. In the middle of all of this Kai continues to stand strong and put his faith in Jesus Christ. He had said that even though my parents would not permit him; he will continue to follow Jesus because he knows the truth. He does not know it yet, but his faith encourages me.

In all of this, God continues to be faithful to His children. I was so encouraged that I was able to meet with one of Sen’s younger brother Ger Chang. He has been coming to Kid’s Connections since I can remember. He is old enough to hang out with the big guys and do other things with us now. We meet once a week to read out of the Bible and play soccer. He longs to play soccer with us but I think he enjoys they bible studies just as much. I really enjoy that about him. As we read together, I can sense that he has this great passion for God. He already has a foundation and knows about God so when we read we can dig deeper into the Word. He is really able to understand and wants more of it when we study. God used him to encourage me this past week after the family meeting. God showed me that even when things looks dark; He is much better that all of that. God does not stop working!

Kevin Vang is another boy that I have been meeting with on a regular basis. He is 8 and he is the younger brother of Angelie and the older brother of Nancy Vang.

Kevin can be the cutist boy that comes to Kids Connection or he can be the most stubborn kid in Kids Connection. It has a lot to do with the family he comes from. He does not get much love and attention from home so on Thursday he gets lots of attention for 3 hours. We started meeting on Fridays to just hangout. We kick the ball around, play at the arcade, and just play on the playground. He says that Fridays is his favorite day, not because their is no more school but because he just gets to hangout with me. We have been meeting and are starting to have him remember verses that show how much God loves him. I enjoy the time with him but I also know that time changes his attitudes on Sunday worship and Kids Connection.

God Bless,

A Thao

Jesus Loves the Children

Jesus loves the little children,

All the children of the world,

Red and yellow, black and white,

They are precious in His sight.

Jesus loves the little children of the world.

We’ve been singing that song for most if not all of our lives, and it’s so true. I’ve recently been reminded of that truth. Jesus really loves children, and they are so important to Him. I feel like He has been laying on my heart how special the children in our ministry are to Him and how important our role is in making sure that they not only know it but feel it as well. Recently we’ve realized what a large group of little kids we have direct contact with several times a week, not including the kids at McDonough. There are 7 little girls and 6 little boys actively involved in our ministry. Some are younger siblings of our teenagers, and some of them are children of the young adults either presently or past involved in our ministry. I believe God really wants us to focus on these younger ones. One of the ways Tina, the older girls, and I have responded to God’s call is by having a monthly “little girl” day. We’ve done it twice, and the little girls have loved it! We painted fingernails and toenails, baked and decorated cup cakes, washed and braided their hair, and played fun games together. The girls have had so much fun. God has definitely been present in all the little girl giggles. He is pouring out His love and joy on them. It is so neat to watch.

Tina and I have the privilege of playing an active role in helping to raise these little girls up to know the Lord. We also have young Hmong women in our ministry who are faithfully walking with the Lord and have blazed a path for this next generation to follow. Their example and role in the lives of the little girls is imperative. Part of our special time with the little girls involves us praying over each one. We would like to invite you to partner with us in praying for them. We are asking God to help them know how deeply they are loved by Him, how special they are to Him, to instill in them a hunger and thirst for righteousness and a love for His Word, that they would fix their eyes on Him and have ears to hear His voice, that they would love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and we are also asking for God’s protection from the evil one. We can already see some answers to our prayers, and we trust that God will do more than we could ever ask or imagine in the hearts and lives of these little ones. (Shawna)

2011-02-05T20:26:00.002-06:00

St. Paul Urban Ministry Newsletter - January 2011

New Transportation (Steve)

We are blessed to have a big need filled. Since most parents are not involved in the ministry, transportation is a constant concern. God blessed us with a van in 2001 that was only one year old and had only 20,000 miles on it. What a difference it made. I remember making two trips taking kids home from most things we did. Sometimes we even overcrowded our vehicles in order to do that. That van lasted almost 10 years and had over 200,000 miles on it. It needed a new transmission and other minor repairs. I always wondered, "Does God want us to spend $3,000. on this van?" That is a lot of money, and the cost of a new van is not a real possibility.

The best thing to do when you do not know what to do is pray. (The best thing to do when you think you know what to do is pray.) Through some surprise financial support, we were able to get another van. We use it four or five times a week, so it is a big part of what we do. There have been times when I regretted not working in a more traditional ministry where parents can be depended on and transportation is not a logistical nightmare on a regular basis. Then I remember that I have a captive audience several times a week. I talk to these kids when I take them home. I pray for these kids after I drop them off. I am sure there have been times when kids have feared being taken home last because that may mean Steve is going to ask them some personal spiritual question. But that is part of the advantage of our transportation "disadvantage".

Thank you to all who support us regularly and occasionally. Thank you to all who pray for the Urban Ministry regularly and occasionally. May God's Spirit continue to reveal His will to the staff and all those involved in what we do.

Lao Vang and Cher Lee (A)

It has been a busy few months. I am excited to write my part of the newsletter this month because I’m writing about two very important people to me. They are my close friends and they are also seeking the Lord in Bible studies with me. The first person I want to talk about is Lao Vang. Lao is the older brother of Tria and Tong Vang. He is also a younger brother of Mary Lee Vang. Lao has been coming to Urban Ministry for a while now. I don’t really remember when he started to come when he was younger, but he fell away for a long time. He started helping with our Kids Connection class because of community service for school. It was during that time that God started to open his eyes and remind Lao about Him. He was helping kids with Bible stories that he himself heard a long time ago. It was during that time that his mother gave herself to the Lord. This was a turning point for Lao because his community service was over but he continued to come and help with Kids Connection. He was also coming to the guys studies, Wednesday night, and Sunday church with his brothers and mother. I asked Lao if he wanted to start a study with me. We started studying together on Tuesday before the guys Bible study. Lao has been having a Bible study with me and he has been asking good questions. I believe that he is strongly seeking the Lord. Things are going well with Lao, but all good things sometimes seem to stop. He is going to the army this week. He ships out to boot camp on Sunday - 1/30/11. This doesn’t mean that God will stop working in his life but he will be away from his friends and family. I ask that you pray for him as he gets ready to serve us in the National Guard. Pray that he will continue to seek the Lord and to rely on His strength and not on his own will.

The second person that I want to talk about is Cher Lee. Cher is the younger brother of Choua and Yang Vue. He started coming to the Urban Ministry when he was just old enough to come because his two older brothers were coming. We started studying about 3 months ago now. We were recently reading though the Book of John. Last week, I asked, “What do you like about our Bible study?” He waited a while and he answered, “What I like about our studies is that I grow my relationship with God and my relationship with you.” This is why I love what I do. I get to see God work in people that I care about and God also grows our relationship together, too. Cher has been also helping with Kids Connection and he also enjoys the Bible stories that Shawna teaches. We are also now going to start meeting twice a week. Cher’s faith has grown since he started coming and learning more about Jesus from Kids Connection and Bible study. I can see that God is drawing him. He is praying more intently with the words that he uses. Cher and I are reading though Genesis. Pray that God will use the book of Genesis to speak to Cher in a huge way. Also, please pray that God will keep evil spirits away from his heart and mind and that the seed that had been planted in him continues to grow.
I would like to thank you again for your support and prayers. God continues to “wow” us who work here at the Urban Ministry. We would not be able to do this without your prayers and support. May God bless you as we continue to work with each other on this mission.

A Christmas to Remember (Shawna)

Our Christmas party at McDonough was a huge success. I was blown away by what happened that day. We had prepared for about 60 kids to be at the party. Families from Woodbury had purchased Christmas gifts for the kids that were likely to be in attendance and then some extras just in case we had others come. Honestly, I began to get a little concerned the night before the party that we might not have enough gifts. After I had already made the stars with each kid's name and picture for the families to take and purchase gifts for, we started having a consistent group of new kids coming to Kids Connection. I didn't want those kids to come and not receive a gift, so a couple of us went out and bought a few more just to cover our bases. So we're at the party, and we have a ton of kids. Kids whose faces I've never seen before were pouring through the doors. I was writing kids' names down, and my list was getting longer and longer. I looked at Tina at one point and said, "There's no way we're going to have enough gifts for all these kids." However, God made sure that each of the kids had a gift. It was kind of like the 5 loaves and 2 fish. We even had gifts left over. We had anywhere from 80-96 kids at the party. There came a point where I just couldn't keep up with every kid that came in. We had a few people trying to get a head count, but we had a couple of differing totals. Regardless of the total, it was still way more than we anticipated.

One of my favorite moments from the party involved a little girl who typically gives us a lot of trouble in class. She has a tendency to behave aggressively in word and action. I knew she had arrived at the party when she hit me over the head with the Christmas present she had made for me. Thankfully it was a soft pillow. She was very excited to give it to me. She also gave me a card that she had written to Santa that talked about how much she loved him. I guess she gave it to me because she didn't think she would see Santa before Christmas. Little did she know that Santa Claus was coming to our party. When he walked in the door, she was literally shaking with excitement. She ran to me and asked me for the letter she had written to Santa because she desperately wanted him to have it. She was the first name that Santa called to sit on his lap and receive her gift. I've never seen her more angelic-like. I know she felt very loved that day. That was our hope for the party; every child would feel that they were special and loved.

We are so thankful to all who helped organize this special event and to those who bought gifts for the kids. It was a party that they will not soon forget.

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Urban Ministry Update – December 2010 (Steve)

This year in the urban ministry things have been somewhat transitional. Our focus remains the same: prayer and discipleship. But what seems to be changing is the ages and numbers. Our core group, as a whole, is getting older. We have more young adults than ever bef

ore. For a while, we had no adults. It is encouraging to see young faith mature. We also have lost some young people to college and the military. I trust God is using that time to mature their faith as well as using their faith to encourage others.

One example is Tria Vang. In August, Tria left for Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, Missouri. There are about 375 students there, all of whom are majoring in Bible. Tria did not know anyone there, but bravely accepted the challenge, because he wanted to major in Bible. We got to visit with him in October when we picked him and a friend up from Central and drove down to the World Mission Workshop at Harding University in Arkansas. Tria is doing well in school, and he loves it! One of the things I appreciate about Tria is his positive attitude and laugh. He is excited to be at a school where everyone is excited to learn more of God's Word. He and his friend Pang, from Kansas City, both help teach an Asian children’s class every Sunday in nearby Columbia. Please pray for God to continue to lead Tria and bless him.

As I said, our numbers are down as a whole, but I also am encouraged when someone comes back who has not been attending for years. Tong Lee, who goes by "T, has started attending worship and Bible studies pretty consistently. He was one of the first persons baptized in the urban ministry. He is now married and has a four year old daughter named Serene. He was just telling me this week that Serene came up to him and asked him, "Is God real? Can He really see us? Is heaven real?" I think T was moved by those questions and I know I was encouraged that God is always working in the hearts of people drawing them to Himself. Please pray that we will be sensitive to whom God is leading and that they will give their lives to Him.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Shawna)

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love all of the hustle and bustle, the giving, and joy that come with the season. We have a lot going in the Urban Ministry this time of year. I wanted to share a little of what we’ve been up to so far this Christmas with our kids and what’s to come.

Pumpkin Bread: Last Saturday we spent the day making pumpkin bread for all of our families in the Urban Ministry. Tina’s sister has a fabulous recipe that all the kids love and look forward to getting for Christmas. We split it up this year so that we weren’t making all the loaves in one kitchen, which worked much better than last year, if I might add. I made my portion up at the Woodbury church building where they have a double oven. Two of the girls helped me make the bread. We were like a well -oiled machine. We had a good system in place. The bread turned out beautifully, with the exception of one batch that we think we might have left the baking soda out of by accident. It was kind of brick-like, but I’m sure it still tasted good. It was such a good day. We had a great time together laughing, talking, playing Monopoly (the card game), and eating (not the pumpkin bread).

Celebrate theGift: Tina and I took six of the girls to a Christmas event called Celebrate the

Gift at New Life church in Woodbury. It was a special night where we got to dress up and be served dessert by men in that congregation. The night was focused on Jesus, the greatest gift that we haveever received. We were challenged to give Christmas away this year by spending ourselves on others. Tina and I had made special gifts for the girls that we were able to give to them that night. It was a great time, and I think the girls felt really special and loved.

Teen Christmas Party: On Saturday night, the 11th, we are having our annual Christmas party with our teens. This year Dave and Charlene May will be hosting our party. They are the ones who originally started the Urban Ministry. We will be playing games, eating good food, having a White Elephant gift exchange, and doing a service project for our Kids Connection Christmas party at McDonough. They will be wrapping Christmas gifts purchased by members at Woodbury for individual kids that we serve at Kids Connection, as well as children from the American Indian Family Center, and praying over each of the children. Usually the Woodbury church provides money for us to purchase gift cards for our teens from our local Christian bookstore; however, since most of them are getting older, we asked them to focus more on outreach this year. Our teens will be serving at the Kids Connection Christmas party as well. They don’t know it yet, but this year they will be receiving new Bibles that were generously donated.

Kids Connection Christmas Party: Woodbury will be hosting a Christmas party for the Urban Ministry, which will include children from the American Indian Family Center this year, on Thursday, December 16. Volunteers from church picked a star with a child’s picture or name and age off a Christmas tree we decorated and then bought a gift specifically for that child. The gifts will be delivered to each child at the party by Father Christmas. Several women from church have put a lot of time into planning and organizing various games and activities for the kids to participate in and have also put together a Christmas play to be performed by some of the Woodbury children. Each child present will receive yummy treats, a stuffed animal, the crafts they complete, their specific gift, and a Bible story book.

We are hoping that each child that comes to the party will feel God’s love for them and will know how special they are to Him. We are hopeful that this will be a way to help us strengthen relationships with the kids in order to share good news. We are so grateful for the time and energy that has gone into making this a very special event for these kids. Stay tuned for an update and pictures we will share that capture some of this exciting event.

A Generation of Thaos…..(A Thao)

His promises extend for generations! This is what God has been showing me the last couple of months. God has promised that if we stay faithful to Him; He will be faithful to us for generations. In these past few months, God has been working in my siblings’ lives. First of all, God has done amazing things with my sister, Vinas. She is all in for God. In the past few months she has joined Act Up, our drama group, is going to the girls’ bible study with Shawna, and most of all, she has been attending Sunday church service. She wants to be involved so much with the church that sometimes I’m afraid of what my parents might say. God has also encouraged me with her, too. There was one day I got this phone call from her and she asked me, “What is Jesus like?”. I answered, “Well,” as I wondered why she would ask such a question, “Why?”. She answered, “Well, in my art class we need to draw someone that has inspired me and I want to draw Jesus, but I don’t have a picture of Him in my head.” That allowed me to share Jesus with Vinas and reminded me that God is at work.

God is not only working with Vinas, but I see Him working in my other sister and brother’s life, too. My brother, Kai, has been opening up to God. He is the quiet one in the family, but he’s been attending the guys’ study on Tuesday nights. Although he is quiet, I can see that he is thinking about what has been said and talked about. I asked him one time on the drive home, “What do you think about God and the study?” He thought for a while and answered, “Well, there must a God or something bigger out there and I know that I don’t want to waste my life.” So I just encouraged him to keep coming. Now we are doing our own Bible study.

My other sister, Nancy, has also been drawn to God. She has dance practices for the Hmong New Year celebration so she’s not able to come to some of the events, but she comes when she can. Hopefully, she is able to come more now that the Hmong New Year is over. God has done some amazing things in my family! I have been a Christian seven years now, and I made that choice to follow Jesus even if it meant losing my family. It was a very hard choice for me, but I kept praying for them. Now seven years later, God seems to be answering those prayers. I know that he is not done with my family. His promise will extend for generations to come! Thank you for all the prayers and support.

KIDS CONNECTION

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Our Kids Connection class at McDonough Community Center continues to thrive. We are getting introduced to new children each week as kids are bringing their friends, brothers/sisters, and cousins to class. We are currently serving anywhere from 20-25 kids each week. It really is cool to see God drawing all these little children to himself. We have been able to meet more of the kids' parents in the last couple of weeks which we hope will lead to more opportunities to serve their families as well. Just this last week one of the Moms has met with Shawna and expressed interested in meeting to learn more about God. It is so obvious to us that He is at work in the McDonough community, and we are excited to be a part of what He is doing.

We just recently finished a curriculum that focused on the life of Jesus and will be starting a new curriculum this week on getting to know God. We would like you to pray for these kids that they would know how deep God's love is for them, that they would desire to learn more about Him, and that they would be able to see Him at work in their lives. If you are interested in knowing more about Kids Connection and how it started, you can scroll down the blog to a previous article that gives more detail. Thank you for your prayers. They are making an eternal difference in the lives of these kids and their families.

Diana gives her life to the Lord!

2010-04-17T12:59:00.003-06:00

We are very excited to announce that Diana Vue was baptized this last Thursday night, April 15th. Diana first started coming because of her relationship with A, which has developed over time into a closer one. God has been working so obviously in Diana's life for a very long time and we are so thrilled that she has continued to seek God over the last couple of years and that she has come to this place in her relationship in Him. Diana has a very sweet heart and she is fun-loving and loyal. We look forward to seeing what all God has in store for her.

Shawna, Pam, Tina, Diana, Bai, Abby, Sandy

ACU Spring Break Campaign 2010

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In March, we were excited to host another wonderful group for a week from Abilene Christian University, down in Abilene, Texas. It was a wonderful week of sharing, serving and prayer. We asked one of the Campaigners, Megan Goodson, to share her experiences with you, so that you would get an idea of how God blessed our week together.

Written in my prayer journal, on January 23, God showed me Romans 17:26-27.

“From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.”

The Lord put this verse heavy on my heart, and I have been praying about it ever since. I knew that God had a purpose for me to work in St. Paul. He determined that I, along with my 13 campaign-mates, should be there over Spring Break 2010.

On March 15, everything fell into place when we gathered for our first morning devotional where Steve would explain the history of the Hmong people. When discussing the Hmong journey to America, Steve quoted this very same verse that I had been thinking about for months. God had not only brought us to the Hmong people, but he had also brought the Hmong to us.

Placing us together, God blessed this week beyond measure with times of prayer, fellowship and service.

1) Times of prayer:

I have never been surround by such prayerful people. So many prayers of thanksgiving, praise and guidance were lifted up before and during the campaign week. The prayers concerning this ministry have not ceased.

On Tuesday morning, we broke into smaller groups to visit families of the ministry to pray for and with them. My group went to the Vang home, and it was then that I truly realized the spiritual battle faced by the Hmong, as they are torn between two spiritual worlds. It was a powerful experience to pray for the family and each individual member, feeling God’s presence working in extravagant ways.

2) Times of fellowship:

One of God’s greatest gifts is laughter. Through all the work and serious subject matter, He still provided us with outlets to kick back and have a fun and carefree time.

Tuesday night, our ACU group hosted a game night for the Hmong teens. We were running all over the place, grabbing people to form a “three man rowing” group or partnering up with strangers in link tag. For these short two hours, it was complete chaos. But through this madness, we quickly become one group of united people.

3) Times of service:

The leaders of the urban ministry have dedicated their lives to God’s cause. Each one has taken the role of a humble servant in providing for the Hmong in any way they can.

ACU was in St. Paul to serve. We were blessed to help the ministry in whatever was needed. Some of the things we did were help Shawna move homes, clean out ministry buses, organize song inventory, plan Spring Retreat, cook a meal for ministry devotional, host a Kids Connection and pack meals for Feed My Starving Children.

When reflecting back on my time in St. Paul, I can clearly see God’s hand at work in so many ways. I have been changed by my experience in working with the urban ministry and ask God for continual blessings to be showered upon them.

Until we meet again, God bless.

Megan Goodson

Very Exciting News!!!!

2010-02-28T15:16:00.008-06:00

Marylee, Tria and Tong Vang

Written by Marylee Vang:

I began praying for my family to come to know God and accept Him as their Savior ever since I became a Christian and was baptized on August 15, 2001. My parents were very resistant to God, and they were angry and disappointed with me for choosing to make Him my Lord. My father actually disowned me for my decision, but that didn’t stop me from praying for him. I stood up to mom each Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday about going to church activities and/or worship with tears running down her face. She would say that if I walked out the door and chose God then I didn’t love her. I would plead with her to not make me choose, but I had to. Each time I would leave the house saying that I loved her. And I did love her even more because of the example set by Jesus.

My sister, Choua, became a Christian in 2005. My brother, Tong, became a Christian in 2006. In 2008, my brother, Tria, gave his life to Jesus. Together we prayed for my mom to know God. Mom started changing and surprising me when she would ask me to pray for her or ask questions about God. My mom started seeing that those of her children who went to church and professed to love God listened to her more and were different in a good way from her other two children who didn’t believe in God and didn’t go to church.

I saw God pursuing my mom in so many ways. This past spring, my mom and I were at the flee market and a Hmong lady named Mai Nhia came up and asked if my mom knew or had heard about God. I heard pride in her voice saying that she had children who go to church but that she does not. And the lady was quite surprised for she had not heard of children going to church without the parents. It usually is the other way around. She told my mom so, and my mom laughed it off and said, “well that is how it is at my house”. She then asked my mom if she wanted to know more about God, and my mom said, “yes, but not right now” and walked away.

A few weeks later, we saw Mai Nhia again at the flee market, and this time she had her eyes on my mom and headed straight our way. She had a few things to say to my mom. She told my her that she was really blessed to have children who have such strong faith to go against their parents for God and that she is sure my mom’s children have all been praying for the day that she too comes to believe in God. My mom nodded her head and said that she was sure that that was happening.

My mom woke up one day at the beginning of Fall and started praying out loud for us. She said to me as I was waking up that she was really happy and wanted to praise God for it. Wow, was my reaction. And then I too got up and praised God for his goodness and love. After that day, she’s been coming to church each Sunday and wanting to learn more about God.

I want to shed some light into how not easy it is to say “no” to what you grew up knowing and understanding and to believe in something totally different. Maybe you can see a little by what I’ve shared with you that for my mom to be where she is right now is a miracle in itself. It took me 7 years to accept the Good News, and I was 9 years old when I started. I can only imagine how hard it is for her who is 55 years old. But I also know that God is patient and He will have his victory with her and so many others. It has not been easy, but God has shown himself to be faithful and so very good and loving. I would like to invite you to join me in the good fight, not just for my family, but for all those around us that need God in their life. God bless. ~Mary Lee

I am so excited to share with you that in January, Ying was baptized into Christ. She believes with all of her heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, and she wants to live her life for Him. God is so incredible! Ying is the 1st Hmong parent of our kids who has been baptized. We are all so encouraged by her decision. We are excited to see what else God is going to do in the Vang family. Ying has 2 more sons who aren’t Christians yet, but one of them has been helping at Kids Connection since November. I think he’s next. Please join us in praying for Lao and Thai. ~Shawna

Visitors from the South

2010-02-28T14:43:00.006-06:00

Jan Nichols with Taralyn Bailey (Tina's Niece)

We were so blessed to have Philip and Jan Nichols, from our Supporting Congregation down in Lewisville, Texas - Garden Ridge Church of Christ, come and spend a weekend with us back in November. Philip and Jan have been very dear to us for so many years (they were Tina's Youth Ministers from 8th grade through High School). Philip continues to work with the congregation there and so they sent them up to be with us and see the kinds of things going on in the Urban Ministry, first hand. We were so excited to be able to have them come up and be with us.

I asked Philip if he would share some of his thoughts for the blog once he got back.......

What a wonderful work that is going on with the Urban Ministry in St. Paul. We were so blessed to witness all the good things that are going on there. Steve and Tina give of themselves endlessly to serve many teenagers and families. We also witnessed Shawna and Gary as they also give of themselves, financially and personally. These people have definitely been called to a work that they have passion for. We were able to watch first hand as they visited, counseled and prayed over one family in great struggles. God answered so many prayers that weekend right before our eyes. We also had the opportunity to play Bunko with many of the teens that they work with and had a wonderful time. We are even more committed to praying and supporting this wonderful work of love that the whole Countryman family and friends give their lives to. Getting to know Abby, Luke and Phoebe better was also a highlight. We will watch with wonder what God does in each of their lives as they continue to grow in the Lord. Zeke had the opportunity to go hunting that weekend, so we missed getting to know him better. We would ask that you pray for Steve and Tina as they continue to minister to everyone as a married couple and that they will be strong enough to fight the Devil in all ways. Anyone that gets a chance to go witness this ministry will be more blessed and thankful than when they got there. Thank you God for using all of these people and may many more children come to know you because of them. (Philip)

Bunko Night

Kids Connection

2009-11-06T19:04:00.011-06:00

Kids Connection is a children's Bible class that has been a part of the Urban Ministry from the beginning. While the location of the class and the faces of the children have changed over the years, the overall purpose of the class has remained steadfast. We want to introduce as many children to Jesus as we can. Kids Connection is a class for kids age 5-12 where we sing, have a Bible story, play games, and enjoy a snack for an hour and a half on Thursday afternoons. For the last 4 years we have been meeting at McDonough Community Center, which is the largest public housing project in St. Paul. We believe God made it possible for us to use the facility so that we could reach out to the 1700 children living in McDonough Homes. However, for the last 2 years the number of children coming to class has been as low as 8-10. Back in September, at our last team retreat, we started talking about the fact that we don't have many young children left in the Urban Ministry.

Tommy and Johnny sing, "Get Down (He lifts me up)"

After this group of 8-10 become teenagers, there won't be any more children with whom we are directly involved. We began to wonder if the focus of our ministry would be changing to focus only on teens and young adults. We prayed and asked God to make His desire for this ministry clear to us, and He did. At our next Kids Connection class we had 17 kids, half of whom we had never met before that day. Since September we have had a steady 15-20 kids coming to class every week. These new kids represent 3 new families. It is exciting to watch God drawing these children to Himself. It is so fun to see how excited they are to learn about God.

Ger, Sam and Ishmael help make "Job" (Tyler) look like he's suffering

Not only has God shown us His heart for children and His desire for us to continue to make them a focus, but He also created an opportunity for the teens in the Urban Ministry to serve, love, teach, and build relationships with each of these little kids as well. We now have anywhere from 5-10 teen helpers coming each week to do just that. These teens who first learned about Jesus at Kids Connection are now actively involved in helping our current children learn about Jesus. It really is amazing what God is doing. We are all very excited to work alongside Him in His mission to change lives for all eternity. Please be praying for the kids at Kids Connection.

Prayer Groups

Girls Boundary Waters Trip - Summer 2009

2009-11-06T18:03:00.014-06:00

Shawna, Sandy, Bai, Pakou and Na in the Boundary Waters
Steve and Kao led me (Shawna) and 4 other girls on what is now an annual girls boundary waters trip on June 29th-July 3rd. This was the 2nd year for a girls trip but my first experience. I'm not what you would call an "outdoorsy" kind of person. Don't get me wrong, I love the sun and being outside, but I am accustomed to the small luxuries in life like beds and indoor plumbing. Tent camping, fishing (touching, fileting, and eating), latrines, bugs, bears and moose in the wild,and being dirty with no way to get clean are not exactly my idea of fun. This year, however, I decided that I needed to experience the boundary waters at least once in my life, and there is no other way I'd rather experience it than with the girls in the UM. My main purpose in going was to have the time with the girls, and I fully expected to get that while having to endure a week of unpleasantries. Much to my surprise, I actually had a good time doing all the things I hate. First of all, being in the boundary waters is breath-taking. It is so peaceful and beautiful. You can't help but see God everywhere you look. Secondly, roughing it for a week is very liberating. No stress. No distractions. No cell phone service. Just you, your camping equipment, God, and His creation. Pretty incredible! We had a lot of fun and made some great memories. It was cold and rainy/cloudy the entire trip. We never saw the sun or the stars, but we had a great time anyway. Here are some of the girls' favorite memories from the trip.
Shawna carrying a canoe

Sandy carrying packs

Sandy - "My favorite memory was when we were out canoeing in the river, and I suddenly needed to go to the bathroom. It wasn't exactly convenient, but we found an island with just the right amount of coverage to make me invisible to any onlookers. Shawna tried to toss me the toilet paper from the canoe to the island, but it landed in the river. Thankfully I was able to reach it with my paddle."

Shawna with her big catch

Pakou - "My favorite memory was when Shawna caught that big Northern Pike. It was a big one!" Pakou was narrating the video that captured the whole event. She was really excited about it.

Na - "The best thing about our Boundary Waters trip was hanging out around the fire at night...and just talking."

Bai, Shawna, Sandy, Na, Steve and Kao on the rock

Bai - "My favorite memory was playing bomb (a card game) on the rock at the shore of lake Isabell. The sky was so beautiful that night."

Bai with her first catch

Summer Interns 2009

2009-09-23T08:12:00.008-06:00

Josephine, See Huang and Elena Kua (Soo Li)

“It’s not about me,” a declaration neatly written on Steve’s T-shirt, is what I can say about our 1 month-long internship with the Urban Ministry. Just as much as going there is a story of our planning, agreements and disagreements, what we have learned there, and of the impact we have had on the kids, I believe it is equally, if not completely, God’s story spoken, written and impressed through the three of us: Elena Kua Soo Li, Josephine Wong Chung Wai, and See Huang Lim.

I came to Minnesota for a Spring Break Campaign last March organized by ACU, the university I study in. What I thought to be something menial became my salvation – the theory of Jesus’ redemption on the cross made real. Coming from a difficult life in Malaysia, having to suffer for being a Christian and growing up in a broken family, I questioned God and my faith. There in Minnesota, what I considered to be a bane is redeemed. My pains, struggles, and sufferings are known by God and are used by Him to illustrate His faithfulness.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.” John 15:16

Just what are the chances of an ordinary guy from Malaysia who has gone through what he has gone through coming to Minnesota to share his testimony to a group of fellow South East Asians who have gone and are going through similar situations? Now, I no longer look back to the past and feel depressed anymore. I know indeed that I have been redeemed, and that my past is no longer something I hide, but it is transformed into a precious treasure I now use to declare God’s grace.

Indeed, God’s grace is infectious. Back in ACU, God has already set within my heart to serve the Hmong again (1 week in St. Paul is never enough). Slowly, as I shared with my friends about how God has worked in my life, God began to draw them to desire serving alongside me with the Urban Ministry. The very first who expressed this desire is none other than the girl whom I courted some 5 months ago, Soo Li. Recently recommitting her life again to God, Soo Li desired to serve the ministry in order to challenge her lapse of faith.

The other is Josephine, whom I consider my “Ka Cheh,” or Big Sis in Cantonese. Looking for an internship that will fulfill her social work degree’s internship requirements, Jo, as I affectionately call her, became interested with the work done through the ministry. However, Jo could not confirm with us whether she could join us as she needed the green light from her professors. It took her a few months before her professors actually approved her desire to fulfill her internship requirements through serving with the Urban Ministry. Getting her professors to agree proved hard and required a lot of prayers.

Nonetheless, everything did not fall into place at first. We did not know about every minute detail of how to get things done in order for us to serve there. The list of worries is insurmountable: transport, funds, Jo, etc. Yet, looking back now, I can testify that God gave us the wisdom to take one thing at the time, providing for us throughout our planning period.

Indeed, when we raised our funds for this internship by cooking, we only hoped to receive about $200-300. Try to guess how much we funds we raised in the end? We got in total more than $700 each time we fundraised.

So, God provided us the funds. Now, we had to decide our mode of transportation. I suggested to Soo Li that we should go there by car. Both of us do not own a car, and how in the world are we able to find one in time for the internship? Lo and behold, Soo Li’s out-of-the-country roommate, Miriam, agreed to lend us her car for the internship.

What about Jo? As I have mentioned, we prayed a lot for her. At first, we received nothing but bad news from her professors. About a few weeks before leaving for Minnesota, while Soo Li and I are still in Malaysia, Jo confirmed with us that her professors finally agreed to allow her to come with us.

The last worry we had to deal with was the car insurance. Trust me; we went all over in search for an insurance company which will insure our car. None. We wanted to just quit and look up to the Internet for cheap flight tickets. And then a friend recommended us to try State Farm. So, we decided to just try out State Farm, and we went there. Just as we are on way, a lady from the company suddenly called us to inform us that she wants us to come by her office. We are just on the way to her office, we told her. Sure enough, State Farm is a godsend, the only company willing to insure our car. Before we left, the lady introduced us to her colleague, a Korean American. Interestingly, when we told her we are going up north to serve the Hmong, she blurted out that she is married to a Laotian, suggesting that her husband is Hmong. What a coincidence!

Truth be told, everything came into place by God’s grace. God chose the three of us, as He knew fit. And sure enough, all three of us had a role to play, evidently enough as we drove up to Minnesota. Both Soo Li and I are the drivers, while Jo played her part as the navigator. Being inexperienced drivers ourselves, we thank God that He provided us Jo to be our navigator. Sure enough, Jo is at her best as our navigator, helping us to drive without getting too lost on the way. While either one of us drive, the other driver takes a nap. Doing this allowed us to be alert, especially, both of us have never driver so far before, not to mention on the wrong side of the road (in Asia, we drive on the right side of the road). Without each other, I doubt that we could even get to Minnesota in one piece. So, it is really God’s providence that we actually arrived at Steve’s place at the midnight of the 9^th of last month. (July)

Of course, our first week in St. Paul is basically just an exposure to what is done there. Soon, we are by ourselves, organizing activities and planning things to do with the kids. Despite our planning, I again learned that the things that will be done through are nothing than a bigger, grander and more elaborate plan of God. Of course, as I said before, all of us had our role to play. We saw how God used all three of us and all our different gifts to glorify Him.

Being the planner and teacher (as well as the treasurer) Soo Li helped direct the three of us, especially when it came to Thursday’s Kids Connection. She always made sure that there are fun games to play with the kids during the class with them. Jo, on the other hand, is adept at not just hospitality (cooking and the likes), but also in playing and talking with the kids. Jo is constantly reaching out to the kids, and trying to be their friend. Certainly, her big sister qualities benefited her in this area. Of course, this is one of the few handfuls of things that Soo Li and Jo had done. The extent of what God has done through them is undeniable immense.

As for me, I cooked some for the kids too and my kimchi-making skills made it possible to draw closer to some of the kids, like Shernia, who loves anything Korean. Yes, the three of us cook very often for the kids. During one of the devotional nights, we made Malaysian curry and rice for the kids. We could literally see the faces of the kids shinning, as if glittering as they take their respective plateful of curry rice. Furthermore, learning how to swim some two years ago had enabled me to get closer to some of the boys, as I taught them to how swim.

Indeed, God carefully chose each one of us – each with different personalities, talents and gifts – to reach out to the Hmong there. God has also constantly demonstrated that He is the chief planner in all of our plans. For instance, when we wanted to reach out to one of the girls, Mani, God instead brought us closer to Mani’s Mom and her brothers, of whom I exorcised from them the fear of water.

Even in camp, God showed Himself to meticulously place events in a way that will glorify Him. This is evident when both Soo Li and I went to the cafeteria for dinner and a girl called Fawny all of a sudden approached us, and talked to us. We did not know her, but she just started talking to us. After a while, I saw the Chinese character for love, ‘Ai,’ written on the back of her hand. Knowing the character, I instantly instructed her to fetch a piece of paper, of which I will later use to teach her the way of writing the character. It takes 13 strokes to write the character ‘Ai,’ I told her. After showing her how to write the character, I told her to get a Bible. Turn to 1^st Corinthians 13, I asked Fawny. I told her to read it. 1^st Corinthians 13 and 13 strokes to write the character ‘Ai’. I cannot describe to you how she looked that evening.

“Fawny,” I told her, “this conversation is not coincidence. As God has chased after you then, He is doing so NOW. If you want to know yourself, get to know God, as He knows you more than you know yourself. Think about what I’ve said. Remember that He loves you.”

By the time I am done, her eyes became slightly watery, and she walked away, without first giving me a hug. I do not know if she will become a Christian, but I do hope that she will remember that God is faithful.

Of course, God had also taught us a lot through the experience serving with the Urban Ministry. Apart from learning how to fish, I had opportunity to allow God to change my fear of children to love. Before this, I used to dislike children. Now, I cannot help feeling slightly depressed that I would not be able to see Tommy and Johnny, two of the kids that I have grown to love and cherish, for a while. Even Soo Li mentioned that I have changed in this area. While hiking, she told me that she found it heartwarming to see Mani’s brother, Ger, grasping my larger hand as we hiked together. Yes, Ger and Tou, Mani’s brothers have their place in my heart. Gosh, I feel like sobbing in the middle of the library now, thinking of little Ger hugging me so tightly after I told him I’ll be going back to Texas. Ah, the times I’d carry them around, chasing after them, and swinging them around… These are memories worth remembering.

God also used my relationship with Soo Li to His glory in this internship. One of the things we have learned ourselves from this relationship is that if we chose to honor God through this relationship, we can enjoy the relationship more than we can ever think about.

Before leaving Minnesota, the three of us agreed to meet Judy on the way back to Abilene. So, we stopped by in Lubbock, Texas, just to see Judy. Meeting Shawna’s parents, they told us that Judy missed Hmong food. Almost like coincidence, the food she missed most is pho (pronounced fuh), beef noodle soup, which happened to be one of the few food I know how to make, after learning from Tommy and Johnny’s grandmother, Chue. So, we went around to get the ingredients for pho that afternoon, and in the evening, I taught Judy how to make pho, while Soo Li wrote down the recipe for her. That night, Judy downed her pho, and looked at the three of us happily, as if conveying a thank you without words. Trust me, Judy would not been so if I did not know how to make pho, and again, I attribute this “coincidence” to God.

Now that we are back in Abilene writing this, I am amazed at what God had done through us, and I hope all of you will also be amazed at the awesomeness of God. Things could have turned out very differently, but, now I can see that it is indeed God’s will for us to go to St. Paul in the first place. Each of us played a role, none more important than the other. Our past, our gifts, our relationships – all these, God has used to bring others closer to Him. God has indeed chosen the three of us very carefully, and sent us there to serve the Hmong we have come to love. This is the story of God sending three Asian ACU students to serve alongside a group of fellow Asians in St. Paul, Minnesota. Praise the Lord!

See Huang

PS: Although God has done so much in our lives through this internship, it became possible only after we had allowed God to use us. If I did not go for the Spring Break Campaign last March, I would not be writing this right now. So, God expects to do our part, to “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.”

See Huang

Hi Everyone,

How was your summer? I know I enjoyed my 5 weeks in St Paul! Lots of “first times” happened in Minnesota for me, including: catching fish, hooking a worm, canoeing, summer camp, living in a trailer, giant mosquitoes, eating qhob poob & lab, (however you spell it),

annnnnnd….. meeting great people like you! I got to hang out with some of you over dinner, dessert, games, and shopping. I loved your sense of humor and friendliness.

I first heard about you through my teammate See Huang, who visited St Paul earlier this March on a Spring Break campaign. He shared moving stories about people’s lives, struggles and faith, so I wanted to meet you.

We met so many people in St Paul that we can’t list everyone’s name. So, although all of you remain in my memories, I’ll just share about one particular family we met.

Chue is an elderly lady who goes to church on Sunday. Her grandkids Tommy and Johnny Lee are 2 delightful boys you might see at Kids Connection on Thursdays. We spent time with Chue’s family once or twice a week. We had a good time chatting with her son and daughter-in-law, playing with the grandkids, and sharing new songs & bible verses with Chue. They were so hospitable. I was touched by how much they welcomed us to their home and dinner table.

We came to St Paul to serve with the urban ministry and help others, but we also wanted to learn and be taught ourselves. God definitely did that for us! I believe He spoke to See Huang, Jo and myself about things in our lives. Sometimes things we didn’t want to hear.

One thing God spoke to me strongly about was: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit…? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) And not only with the body, but with my whole life. He wanted to me recognize two things. One: “Who has the true right to rule your life?”, and two: “Don’t you see that many of the ways you think are really the world’s ways and not Mine?” (check out Romans 12:2)

So, I’m thankful for the opportunity this internship has given me to get away from normal life & distractions, to focus on God and His constant activity of pursuing us.

Hoping that you’ll keep in touch in us, but more importantly, with the one Person who always wants to hear from you.

Love,

SooLi.

Shawna, Gary, Katy, A, Diana, Steve, Tina and kids enjoying a wonderful dinner with the summer interns at a Yummy Malaysian Resturant they found and took us to in Minneapolis one night before they left. The cook is the one at the far left next to Shawna.

girls boundary waters trip

2009-07-08T16:50:00.005-06:00

Just a little video of some of the action from the girls boundary waters canoe trip.

Spring Retreat 2009

2009-04-29T13:24:00.019-06:00

Each year we head a little over an hour away to Annandale, MN to Koinonia Retreat Center on Good Friday for our Spring Retreat. We never know what the weather will be like - if we will have snow on the ground or if we can leave the coats at home, but we do know know one thing that doesn't seem to change - it seems to always be a highlight of the year for all of us.
I thought I would share highlights from those who were there this year.....

Steve said that he enjoyed studying Jonah - which was part of our theme. He also enjoyed Chair Ball (see video footage below).
Abby said that she enjoyed the encouragement cards. Each year we do some kind of encouragement activity to give the kids the opportunity to build each other up.
Tria said the thing he liked best was the "Asian jumping of Donald" - who was an awesome sport and bonded really well with the group, I might add!! Tria says that Donald (who is a friend of Luke's from school and came for the first time) would "mess with one Asian, then all the other Asians would jump on him and he still wouldn't stop but kept coming back and getting more. He is just so funny and he got Asian Jumped like 5 0r 6 times. I can't wait until the next Spring Retreat."
Yang liked the movie "Jonah" that we watched (VeggieTales). He said he like the theme of the story. He also enjoyed getting some exercise.

Project during one of the sessions
Luke says his favorite part of the retreat was the free time because of all the sports we got to play.
Donald says that he enjoyed staying the night.

Sandy says that even though she got there late and missed the "drawing your future spouses", she said that that activity looked fun and funny. She said that she enjoyed taping the signs up this year (like the one pictured below). One thing she also talked about was how Steve referred to Jonah hating the Ninevites because she hadn't thought of that before. She thought it was interesting how after Jonah preached to the people, they repented, but then Jonah was angry because He knew that God was compassionate and would forgive them. She was amazed at how God chose Jonah to do the job for Him even though he was the way he was.

A with his dog, Yuna.
Gary says his favorite part of the retreat was A showing up and wanting to be a part of things. He also said that he enjoyed seeing the way that the group opened up to new people - Donald and Drew - coming into the group and liked seeing how much fun the new people had.

Quiet Time
Tou said that he liked how we had the Quiet Time because it actually gave us time to think about God and the lesson we had learned during the Retreat.

Tong says that what he enjoyed most was the Quiet Time when he got some time to himself to sit and think and have time with God. He liked it the most he said because he usually doesn't have time alone like that.

What is a Retreat without lots of games and laughter?
Shawna says that the favorite thing for her was playing the games together.

Chair Ball - a Spring Retreat tradition

Birdie on a perch - a Spring Retreat tradition

The Animal Game

Our retreats are a great time for our kids to build relationships with one another through games and encouragement activities. We make some fun memories and laugh a lot each year as you can see in the pictures. Our theme for this year was the Power of the Holy Spirit. We spent time learning about who he is and his role in our lives. Our teens did a lot of the leading this time by facilitating discussion and prayer groups. We’re really beginning to see a lot of growth and spiritual maturity in our teens and young adults. It’s pretty exciting to see how God is molding their hearts. God’s presence was definitely felt during our retreat. We all came away feeling very encouraged , refreshed, and spiritually charged.

This year was no exception.

Bilingual Worship Services

2009-04-29T12:37:00.006-06:00

We have exciting news to share. Thanks to the generosity of the Woodbury Church of Christ, we have been able to purchase a set of tour guide headsets. These headsets allow one person to speak through a headset with a microphone and up to six others are able to hear the translator speaking through their headsets. Mary Lee Vang has graciously volunteered to be used to translate each week and we are so thankful that she is willing to serve in this way.
We have desired to have something like this for our worship services for quite a while for two reasons. The first reason is for Chue Vang - our older Christian Hmong lady who has worshiped with us for years. She speaks some English, but it is hard for her to follow everything every Sunday. We have thought for so long how wonderful it would be to be able to translate everything for her in her "heart language" so that she could really understand each week. It was so fun to show them to her when they first arrived and it is wonderful to see her using them each week!

Chue with Mary Lee

The other reason we wanted to get the translator headsets was because of our hope that other parents who do not speak much English might come to our Worship services if they knew that we would translate the service for them. We are very excited to share that we've only had the headsets for a very short time, and we've already seen this come to pass! Last week Mary Lee's mother, Yeng, came with her. We were so thrilled! We have had relationship with her for years and have prayed for her for years. As she came up to me to give me a hug (Tina), she even got emotional. I could really sense that God was at work in her heart. It really encouraged me. Mary Lee told me that night that God has been doing some big things and has been even more since then. Please keep praying for Yeng and that God will show her that He is True and Real - that He is the God above everything else - and that He loves her so much. May Satan's work and lies in her life be stopped and may her heart be captured by Jesus and what He did for her.

Yeng (holding flowers), with some of her kids: from left to right - son, Thai and wife; daughter, Choua and husband - Frank; son, Tong.

We are already so thankful for the headsets that God has provided and hope that there is much good fruit from having them to use in our worship services. God is very good.

ACU Spring Break Campaign 2009

2009-03-17T20:44:00.004-06:00

Shernia, Abby and Phoebe with sign for parent appreciation dinner

Sandy, Chris and Chigusa at the Parent Appreciation Dinner

Cailee, Chue and her grandson, Tommy, at the Parent Appreciation Dinner

Monday afternoon games with the teens

Monday afternoon games with the teens

Group picture taken at the Parent Appreciation Dinner on Thursday evening

SBC St. Paul '09

2009-03-12T14:14:00.004-06:00

This is my first year coming to St. Paul, and second year on a spring break campaign with Abilene Christian University. I was very excited to get the chance to come up to St. Paul and see the ministry and meet the people involved in it. The urban ministry here is very awesome and extremely genuine. I could tell really quickly that all of the leaders really care about and love all of the kids. I also hope that in our short time here, my group was able to connect somewhat and provide some encouragement and an outlet for fun.

While we were here we got several chances to hang out with the urban ministry group. I felt like these were the most rewarding experiences for me, and very enjoyable for the urban ministry group. Sunday was the first chance we got to meet some of the urban ministry group. We worshiped with them in the evening and made plans to see many of them on Monday. On Monday, my group planned several games for the group and spent the evening with them. We were planning on having a parent’s appreciation dinner on Tuesday night, but we had to move it due to inclement weather. We will luckily still get the chance to meet the parents tonight. We also were able to hang out with everyone during their normal Wednesday night devo. I believe the devo was a really moving experience for all of the students involved largely because Seewang shared his conversion story.

Other than spending time with the urban ministry group, we got a chance to sit down and hear some of the history of the urban ministry, went driving around to pray over each of the urban ministry families, and went to Feed My Starving Children to pack food bags for starving kids around the world. All in all it was a very rich and rewarding week.

Written by Scott Stewart

2009-03-12T13:28:00.002-06:00

My name is Joni Lee, from Penang, Malaysia, and I am a senior at Abilene Christian University. I'm so thankful that I have the chance to visit the St Paul Urban Ministry for the third time! I first came in Spring 2007 as a freshman in ACU, with the Spring Break Campaign team led by Jordan Lyons and Melisha Gomez. What first attracted me to this campaign was that I would get to meet Southeast Asian people, whom I had never even heard of even though I was from there! During that first campaign, I was so encouraged by the work of Urban Ministry and enjoyed getting to know all the teens so much, that I knew I wanted to come back the next year.

I am so thankful that each year I get to see God work so powerfully in Urban Ministry through the team and teens' lives. There is such a difference I see each year as teens rise up as leaders and continue to bring their siblings and friends to meetings. I am especially touched by Act Up, because the members are faithfully using their talents to tell the message of the gospel in such a clear way.

Coming to St Paul every Spring Break has done a few things:
-I have learnt much about the Hmong people and their culture, as well as their struggles of living in a foreign country. I had always thought that I had to go to a certain country to reach a certain people group, but God has shown me that there are opportunities to serve Him anywhere! (Where there are people, there are Asians, right? :D) He has given me a passion to reach out to Asian communities, and Urban Ministry definitely played a significant role in instilling that passion.

-God answers when we ask! I am so encouraged by the constant dependance of Urban Ministry on prayer, to hear of God's power in impossible situations. I am further challenged to pray earnestly and consistently for my family back home, who are in bondage of idolatry and superstition.

-I am also very inspired by the commitment and love of the Countryman family, Shawna, Gary, Katy, Billy and Pam to the urban ministry. Their patience, perseverance in not giving up, and obedience to the Father is a perfect example of Christ.

-The faith and boldness of the teens who have decided to follow Christ despite the difficulties they would face is also very uplifting. I know that God is working so mightily among them, and has wonderful plans and purposes for them!

St Paul Urban Ministry, thank you for showing me more of Jesus!! You all rock!!! I love you guys and will miss you so much! You are in my prayers!

Spiritfest 2008 and Joseph Thao

2009-02-05T17:05:00.003-06:00

We just got back this last weekend from the annual Spiritfest weekend up in Duluth, MN - a time for youth groups from all around to come together for a youth rally and time of skiing together that the kids look forward to all year.
This year we had a wonderful speaker - Willie Sanchez - from York, Nebraska, that spoke straight to the kids about how their enemy prowls around like a lion looking for who he can devour. He encouraged us all to look out for one another as he shared incredible stories from his own life and his testimony. We were all challenged.
The kids enjoyed the time of skiing and playing games and hanging out at the lodge, as they always do....however, towards the end of our evening, one of our teens, Joseph Thao hit a pole on the mountain and was rushed to the emergency room. It turned out that he fractured about 3 vertebraes in his spine. The doctors are saying that he will need to wear his back brace for 3 months. He was able to get fitted for it on Monday and then got it on Tuesday, so he arrived back home from the hospital in Duluth on Tuesday evening. When I talked to him that night, he was in good spirits, but in a little more pain since the pain killers are not as strong now. He was hoping to be up and around soon, but I think his family is wanting him to take it slower than he wants to.
Please pray for him and his healing. We hate so much that this happened, but are very thankful it wasn't even worse than it is. If you'd like to see more about Joseph, we highlighted him on the blog last year. When I told him people were praying for him the other night I could tell it really meant a lot to him. Thank you so much for your prayers.
If you would like to send him a card, his address is....
1611 Clarence St.
St. Paul, MN
55106

New Year

2009-01-07T13:57:00.005-06:00

Well here it is the new year. 2009 is coming in fast. We wanted to post some of the things that happened last month. The biggest thing was our annual Christmas party. It was a lot of fun. The Baurs were nice enough to open their house to us. It takes a lot of faith to open your house up to 30 some teens. We started with some dinner. Not only did the Baurs have us into their home they allowed us to eat throughout it. Then we played some games. boys vs. Girls pictionary was the big hit of the night. (The girls won). Then Santa was nice enough to take time out of his busy schedule and drop by. Not only did he stop by, he brought presents. Even for kids that we didn't know were going to be there. You can't slip anything by that guy. Then it was time to pack it up and take the kids home.

The Countrymans, and Shawna all went back to Texas for the holidays. Steve and Tina had a rough time of it. The Transmission on their car went out in Oklahoma. So, they got a new minivan for christmas. They did manage to make it to Texas and spend time with friends and family. Shawna Took the easier route and flew. Katy and I stayed here in Minnesota. Well that is where we are from so no Texas trip for us. We did get to spend time with the kids though. We played football in the snow one saturday and a little snow basketball another day. I also took several of them ice fishing over the vacation. On Saturday there was 11 of us out on the ice trying to catch some fish. all we could catch were some little perch. The high that day was about 6. I have a little portable ice house that we brought out to hop into when we got to cold. It is only 6'x6'. at one point everyone was in it except me. Thats right 10 kids piled in that tiny ice house. Did I mention that it had holes drilled in it for fishing? Not only is it only 6'x6' but 1' on each side has 2 holes in the floor for fishing. I don't know how they all fit, but they did. It was like the old clown cars when everyone was piling out. We are going to have to try that again. Hopefully we will catch fish this time. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and that the new year is going well so far.

-Gary

Meet Bai Thao

2008-11-13T16:32:00.006-06:00

Bai Thao began coming to the Urban Ministry with her sister, Pakou, a few years ago. She says that when she first started coming she was "pretty amazed at how 'Meka' (white American) people were actually building this cool church bond with some non-christian Hmong kids." She thought that was "interesting".

As Shawna studied with Bai we saw her struggle through many things trying to understand key issues of faith and what Jesus did for her. In the end, she decided "yes, this is the God I want to follow and believe." She made the decision to be baptized during a Quiet Time Retreat with the girls on June 26, 2007. We were happy to baptize her in the jacuzzi bath tub of the home we were all staying in! It was a sweet night.

She says that since then, God has been changing her life by making her feel more hopeful and good. Now she knows that God is always looking down at her. Now He's made her think and understand things better; in a more positive light; and in a whole new way. She says He also gives her the strength she has today.

She says that she really likes to read about heaven - how awesome it's going to be. That makes her feel refreshed, happy, hopeful, etc...

She is currently studying the Bible with Shawna, sometimes with Youa (her sister), as well as others, and meets weekly with Tina, too. She and Shawna have finished reading about Joshua, saying that when we do something for God, we have to do it exactly as He says and not twist it. She also learned from that study to always read and treasure His words in our hearts.

What Bai feels like God has been trying to teach her lately is that He wants her to really seek Him with a full heart and trust Him and His ways. Her goals in life are to help change others' lives for the better and to serve others.

She asks that people would pray that she would be strong and courageous and that she would keep reading Gods' Word. Also, that she will not fall away!

She also asks that you will pray that God will help her to defeat Satan when it comes to the battle for her mind. She desires to stand firm!

Boys Boundary Waters Trip - August 2008

2008-10-23T15:15:00.036-06:00

The Boys traveled up North again this year for their annual Canoe Trek into the Boundary Waters, with Steve and Kao at the lead, on August 21st and they were gone about a week. This year Steve took six of the guys who had not yet been able to go into the Boundary Waters with him, yet. Kao was the only one who had been in before.

The six guys were.....Coua Vang, John Thao, Sen Chang, Tou Lao, Tria Vang and Yang Vue.

Here's a few questions we asked these guys about their time on the trip:

1. What was your favorite part?

Coua: PB & J and a mouse

John: Birds would eat food from our hands!

Sen: One day there was rain that came in in a wall that they could watch quickly approaching.

Tou: Enjoying nature; having fun without modern conveniences.

Tria: Hanging out with the guys.

2. What did you learn?

Coua: Learned that things are more fun with a group - especially PB & J

Tou: Team work (canoeing, getting wood, etc.)

Yang: Learned how to survive without electricity.

3. How did you see God working while you were in the Boundary Waters?

John: Got us to stop and see His creation and draw closer together.

Sen: The BWCA helped take away stress from my life.

Tou: God protected us and provided for us - no bears; and we caught fish.

Meet Joseph Thao

2008-10-22T10:22:00.007-06:00

Joseph, Pakou, Youa, Bai, Faith (Pakou's daughter) and Mai Der Thao

Joseph is a quiet, but very likeable young man who started coming to the Urban Ministry a couple of years ago with his sister, Pakou, and his brother-in-law, Tong Chang. He says that he thought it was fun, and that kept him coming. We were very excited in 2007 at FPYC during our session at camp when he made his decision to be baptized into Christ. When asked about why he wanted to become a Christian, he said that he wanted to make his commitment to God. One of the ways that he says that God has changed his life is that He has kept him out of gangs.

Joseph says that his favorite story from the Bible is Noah, because even though no one believed him in the things God told him to do, he did them anyway. He feels that lately God has been trying to teach him that he wants him to build his faith.

Joseph says that his favorite Urban Ministry activity is playing basketball. He likes how it makes everyone work together.

A goal that Joseph says he has for his life is to help change others' lives for the better.

He asks for prayers for his faith to grow and also for prayers against the things Satan is using to trap him in his walk with God, so please pray against the temptations he faces.

Girls Quiet Time Retreat

2008-08-27T16:13:00.039-06:00

Last year we started something new with the girls - taking a Quiet Time Retreat during the summer for a day or two. Shawna and I have found the value in getting away with the LORD from time to time to be renewed, to rest for a while and to hear from Him in special ways. This discipline has become very special and helpful to us over the years so we wanted to share it with the girls and teach them practical ways to go about having time like that away with God, while having the opportunity to do it together at the same time.

Last year turned out so good (Bai even decided to be baptized during our time away last year, making it even more special!) that we decided to try to do it yearly. This year we went out to Wisconsin to the home of special friends of ours, Dennis and Myrna Buri.

They have a beautiful home with lots of room and neat places to spread out and curl up and read, a beautiful yard - with fountains, huge trees, gardens and even a small waterfall, and also our choice of nice porches with comfy chairs. It ended up giving all of us girls plenty of space to spread out and be alone and it was the perfect setting to get quiet and still and focus our hearts and minds on God so that we could have ears to hear what He had to say to each of us.

In addition to really good alone time with God, we also enjoyed great fellowship, like time together around a beautiful meal Myrna prepared for us and also at other times, like the time we had Saturday night around the fire ring Dennis prepared for us, making smores and "pudgie pies".

We also enjoyed great worship time together, and had fun playing some, too. I think we all agreed at the end, as we were processing our time, that God had really blessed it. We were thankful that He had given us the time away with Him to rest, think, pray and even play a little. We all need those times of refreshing from the LORD. We are thankful for how we've been taught to take these times away. We hope this discipline will become a special habit for the girls as the grow through life with the LORD. We know we sure need theses times with God and always come away renewed again in some way. We are thankful to the Buri's for their hospitality and love to us and we thank God for all He did to bless our time. He's so good to us.

Camp Flaming Pine (August) 2008

2008-08-20T16:26:00.055-06:00

Song Period

Crazy Olympics

The "Candy Makers" in the Granny's Candy Game

Every summer we look forward to packing everyone up and heading up north to Flaming Pine Youth Camp for our camp session. We always have lots of anticipation for the fun we will have and for what God will do with all of our hearts during the week while we get away together in the beautiful North Woods of Minnesota. The week is packed with great Bible classes, fun times around the campfire, multi-ball, worship, silly games, swimming, canoeing and fishing, tether ball, a 5-mile hike, GREAT food (we have awesome cooks at our session!), skits, a talent show and of course lots of swatting mosquitoes! This year was a great year and had many special things about it, but I will let some of the teens share those with you here.......

Na Lee will share some of her favorite memories from this years camp session....
One of the special memories I will always remember is my cabin. During the week, we had one night where Amasa (our counselor) lit some candles and she told us to share somethings that we have been struggling with, but if we felt uncomfortable we didn't have to share. Everyone shared and it was so so so good. We prayed for each other, cried for each other, and it was just so good.
Another thing was the night where all the girls got together in the Dining hall to sing at night. That night was so WONDERFUL. I felt like God was right there with us. Singing and smiling so BIG. It was so good and touching. This was a great idea to do and I hope every year we have this.

Here is a few thoughts from Tyler Lee:What I like about camp is that it's a lot of fun. One of my favorite thing is bible studying. While bible studying Gary and Kao would make us do some hard work which is also fun and it make me learn a lot about Jesus. Some of my other favorite thing is singing praise to the lord. I even sing the song that i didn't know because it just fun to sing, it better then just standing there and listen to other peoples sing. The most important thing that i like about camp is that you have friends right there to do stuff with you. Making new friends is fun too because they are having fun with you and they are there to support you with every help that you need. I hope that they will do this every year because it's fun and just amazing.

Hey everyone! This is Abby Countryman and what I liked most about camp was this one game we played called Granny's Candy, where you try to collect these balloons and there are Oompa-Loompas trying to stop you from getting them by popping them. That was a lot of fun!
Another thing that was really good was that there was a girls singing night. All the girls in the camp gathered one night, and we turned all the lights off, lit some candles, and we just sang our hearts out to God. It was an amazing experience!
The theme "Extreme friendship" that we talked about really hit home for me that week. We talked about many things - about how to be a better friend, and about how such a good friend Jesus is to us, etc. One thing we learned about is carrying each others burdens. Well....my teachers were Shawna and Marylee and on Monday morning, they told us to bring 2 rocks to class. I thought we were going to decorate them or paint them or something. So I grabbed a small rock and a big boulder. (The boulder was heavy too!) Once we got to class they told us that the rocks we had picked out were now our new best friends! We had to take them EVERYWHERE with us! (even in the showers.) Then at the end of the day on Wednesday we did this thing where we threw our rocks in the lake, and that represented giving our burdens to God to take care of, but that was hard for me to do, because I even got attached to this boulder size rock, believe it or not. I even put a mouth, eyes, and hat on it, and named it. So even though it was hard for me to get rid of a real burden, I did it, and it was a relief. That experience had an impact on me so I thought I would share it with you.
Overall, Camp was a BLAST!

The last Urban Ministry teen that wrote something to share on the blog about camp this year was Tong Vang.....
Camp was fun and the funniest thing about camp was the new game that we played. It was called grandma's candy or something like that. The Oompah Loompah's were funny and they were running every where. So I really liked that game.
The special thing about camp this year was that we get to make new friends and seeing Mai Der getting baptized. I liked when all the Asians jumped someone, it was so funny and fun at the same time.
The theme "Extreme Friendship" really helped me to become a better friend to others and learn that we are supposed to be there for our friends.
"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for there work:if one falls down, his friend can help him up.but pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
also, if two lie down together they will keep warm.but how can one keep warm alone?
though one may be overpowered,two can defend themselves.
a cord of three strand is not quickly broken."Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Mai Der Thao decides to be baptized at camp!!

2008-08-13T13:44:00.011-06:00

We are excited to announce that last Wednesday, while we were all up at camp Flaming Pine, Mai Der Thao decided to give her life to the LORD in baptism there in Mirror Lake. Gary had the honor of baptizing her and Abby waded out into the water with them to show her support in a special way, as she and Mai Der have been studying together now for a while. It was a very special day and added a very special air to our week up at FPYC this year. Please pray for Mai Der as she begins this new path in her walk with the LORD.

Sen Chang and John Thao (Mai Der's brother) give her a big hug

at the beach after her baptism.

First Ever Girls Canoe Trek into the Boundary Waters

2008-07-25T18:37:00.010-06:00

Every summer Steve and Gary take a group of the guys into the Boundary Waters for a Canoe Trek and the girls have been after Steve for quite a while to be able to do the same. This was the year. The beginning of July, Steve and Gary took 6 of the girls, led by Pam and Mary Lee. The girls who went were Na, Sandy, Abby and Bethany Olive. (this is the order of the picture: Na Lee, Bethany Olive, Pam Smith, Sandy Chang, Mary Lee Vang and Abby Countryman) They had a wonderful time. I thought you might enjoy hearing Na and Bethany share a bit about their experience with you......

I had a great time being up in the Boundary Waters enjoying God's creation. It was so peaceful and beautiful. I loved everything about it, except one thing. That is, we barely caught any fish, but God was good and gave us some fish. So I'm thankful for that. I loved how close the girls and I got up there. We shared some things about ourselves, like what has been on our chests. I'm glad I was able to tell the girls what I have been going through. So yeah. Anyways, I could go on forever just talking about our trip, but I should stop here and let the other ones write about what they thought. By the way, the trip was AWESOME! Na Lee

Hi ya’ll! Well the girls FINALLY (lol) got a trip to the Boundary Waters with Steve and Gary, so Tina wanted each of us to write a little about it, so here it goes….
Um, well something that I’d like to mention first, before I get into the actual trip itself, was just that I really was touched be the way Steve and Gary treated us like Princesses…. They never complained about stopping 5 gallzion times for bathroom breaks (not like we actually stopped that much), or about how much toilet paper we bought at Wal-Mart, or anything else… (not that we were making it hard on them on purpose…..) Gary was so sweet buying me a fishing license and lending me his lures even though I lost one of them and broke another. :p They tried so hard to make us comfortable and at night it was nice because they went to bed early to let us girls have some “girl time” by the campfire…. Okay, we DID have to carry our canoes and packs, set up our tents and cook all the meals, but at least they didn’t make us fillet the fish!! :D haa haa….
Anyways, something that I really enjoyed was just being out side in the quiet. One time there was a plane flying somewhere in the distance and I was like “what is THAT?!!” After a while it gets weird to hear motors and any sort of “human” noise is really noticeable. At night the loons would cry and one time there was an owl (it sounded sort of scary after a while because it was flying all over the place and hooting every five seconds it seemed like). When you’re out there with out a clock or watch the days just seem to meld into one another… the week really seemed like only a few days.
One thing that I really wanted to see was a wolf (or wolves… even better!!!), but they just didn’t want me to see them I guess… I sat for a while in the woods hoping they’d come, but they never did. Haa haa, I was always looking around hoping there’d be one in the distance at least! :D We actually didn’t really see any big animals. No moose, no bears (Mary Lee and Pam were glad about that!!! Haa haa lol… remember the where they’d always hang the food pack, guys?? Haa haa… that was funny!), no mountain lions, no deer, no wolves…. We did see a beaver though!! That was cool! He hung around our camp for the last few days….
Pam was really into the chick-a-dees… you should have seen her! Haa haa, whenever they called or sang she’d be like “Whoosh!” She’d look all around for it and try to call back… haa haa it was so funny sometimes. I couldn’t believe she had never seen one before, but thankfully she got to see one there…. She would always hear them first, they were like her little friends so we named her “Chick-a-dee”.
I better explain this. Mary Lee had a really good idea about us each getting a name for us to remember the trip. Pam was “Chick-a-dee” like I just said. Mary Lee was “Flame” which was perfect because she always made our fires. She was really, really protective about these things. “No, put that log there. Here, cut some more logs. I need a fan…etc.” LOL Ok, she wasn’t as bad as it sounds… but it was really funny. She reminded me of a mother who was really concerned about her child. We NEVER came between her and her fire!
Abby was helping “Flame” a lot so she was going to be “Little Flame” (she didn’t like that too much, though), but then she was making a lot of “negative” comments (“It isn’t a puddle, it’s a ripple! ROTFL!! Haa haa) so we called her “Downer”, but she didn’t like that either (Man Abby! Make up your mind! JK :p) She made such a come back on her attitude though it was amazing! (YAY Abby!! :D) We were very impressed! Eventually the right name came to us. “ONIONS!” Haa haa, She got that because she always cooked our onions every night! They were perfection embodied.
Sandy… haa haa… Sandy has a really funny, funny name! LOL Well… you see there’s these “things” called “toilets” up in the BW (if any of you boys that went are reading this, you know what I’m talking about) which are really just buckets over holes in the ground. They stink…. really bad. (Steve and Gary say they don’t, but they’re guys.) There’s bugs all over the place, especially mosquitoes, and well Sandy had this GREAT idea of banging a stick all around inside the bucket to “scare the bugs away”… Haa, haa! We’d all be sitting by the fire or something and then we’d here this… “bang, bang, bang, bang, bang” and we’d all know it was Sandy waking the bugs up! LOL SOOO funny. Of course she’s the only one that had thirteen (or something like that) mosquito bites on her backside!! Lol So she’s Bang-bang.
Man! There’s a lot of names here… I’ve gotta speed this up. Okay, so I’m Catching Tree (so dubbed by Mary Lee who was VERY specific that it was “Catching Tree” NOT “Tree Catcher” LOL). This is because I caught nothing but trees (and some rocks) with my fishing pole. That’s how I lost one of Gary’s lures and broke the other. I’d go back for a cast and… well yeah, catch a tree. Or WORSE I’d cast right into a tree!!! LOL Anyways, that’s me.
Okay, Na!! Na is Goldfish because … well I’m actually not sure. I never quite made the connection. Gary called her that because she paddled like “a human-machine” or something like that, and so I guess he was equating her to a strong fish or something… Goldfish?? Anyways, it sounds good and was the first name we got on the trip, so it sticks to her strong. You go GOLDFISH!!! :D
I won’t mention Steve and Gary’s names, not that I’m purposely leaving them out (well, actually, I guess I am) it’s just that I’ve written a lot already and I need to wrap this up since you probably are getting bored. Not that Steve and Gary’s names are boring… there NOT (especially Gary’s…. haa haaa) Just ask them sometime!!! LOL (Note: Gary’s name is “Big Baby”… okay, that’s all I’ll say… you have to ask him or one of us sometime if you want to find out why!)
Well, there’s so much more that could be said and that happened I could write probably five pages… I was so glad and thankful that God allowed me to go on this trip! We all had a great time and became bonded in way we weren’t before. Spending time together was my favorite part of the whole thing! I look at each one of you, and like Tina said herself one Sunday evening, I feel such a love and fondness for you all. I’m SO grateful and happy for the time God’s allowed me to spend with you all in the Urban Ministry. It’s been awesome!! I know God has so much for each one of our futures if we’ll only allow Him to take us there.
Much Love in our King,
Bethany "Gaoshoua " Olive

2008 Graduating Seniors

2008-07-22T13:19:00.002-06:00

Please excuse this belated post (due to my health issues and traveling to TX and camp recently), but I wanted to make sure everyone was made aware of our Urban Ministry 2008 High School Graduates!!

At the beginning of June, after school was out, we had our annual open house here at the Countrymans' to honor the Seniors that were graduating.

This year our graduates are: Tong Vang, Youa Thao and Meng Lee (in the order pictured above)

Tong Vang graduated from Harding Senior High School and is thinking about staying home for a year to think about what he wants to do because he is still unsure. He says that he wants to see what God wants him to do - he is unsure if it is to go on to college or not at this point. He is interested in St. Paul College for Culinary Arts or York College for missionary work. He says that if he doesn't go to college that he will stay home and work. Whatever he decides to do, he wants to please God.

Youa Thao graduated from Como Park Senior High School and is planning on going on to Century College or Metropolitan State this year or next.

Meng Lee also graduated from Harding Senior High and is planning to attend Mankato State University in the Fall.

VBS 2008

2008-06-28T21:12:00.007-06:00

Youa Thao with her crew

Ger Chang and Zeke Countryman

Sandy Chang with one of her crew members

Every June, the Woodbury Church of Christ puts on a great Vacation Bible School that our Urban Ministry kids always look forward to being involved in. There are always a few of the younger kids that will come, but we usually have a good size group of the teens that volunteer to be "crew leaders" for all the kids who come. The "crew leaders" are responsible for a group of kids each day. They take them around to each of the stations at VBS and help their groups within the stations with discussion, activities and projects. We are always very proud of all the teens that give of their time to serve in this way each year. It's a week of lots of activity, but lots of fun!

We thought we ask a couple of our teens to share their experiences from VBS this year ...

"I thought that VBS went really well. Seeing the same kids coming every day was encouraging to know that God is working in their hearts either through the parents that take them there or their own heart desire to be there at VBS. So I really enjoyed this year at VBS, to see all the works that God had done just in that one week. " - Pakou Thao

" I was just there only 3 times, but it went well and all the kids listen well. The theme was great because all the kids loved it and enjoy watching the crew leaders look like nerds. I was just a floater so I helped Youa out and then Gary w/ games, then subbed for Ger's group so it was fun and they listen. I saw the kids changed a lot because the first day they were kind of quiet and then the days went by and the kids got more active and more talkative. My favorite part was helping Gary out w/ games because I get to yelled at the kids and I enjoy doing that. I learn how to be thankful and helpful, because sometimes we are too busy and forget how thankful we are to have Jesus as our savior. I love how intense the kids could be, and just teaching them more about God and just being there for them when they needed. This year was great and I think we got more kids then last year. What was unique was that there were some kids that weren't even Christian and they even came and enjoyed it and loved it so much that they wanted to come back next year. It is just so amazing to see those kind of kids to come and be part of the family." - Tong Vang

Meet Mai Der Thao

2008-06-22T22:56:00.007-06:00

Mai Der Thao (pictured on the right side with her older sister, Bai, and her niece, Faith) is the youngest of the Thao Family, that we want to start introducing you to for a while here on the Urban Ministry Blog.

Mai Der is 11 years old and is a bubbly young lady who is full of energy. We are excited that she has just started studying the Bible weekly with Abby. They both seem to be enjoying that time together.

Mai Der says that started coming to the Urban Ministry because of her sisters who started coming first. She said she thought she would give it a try. What encouraged her to continue to keep coming was the friends that she made. She said that when she first came to the Urban Ministry she "made a whole junk of friends". She says that was also a favorite memory she has from her time being in the Urban Ministry.

Her favorite Urban Ministry activity is singing praises, because it relaxes her, she says.

Something in Mai Der's life that she shared that is important to her is being with her family. The Thao Family is definitely one of our more close-knit families, that seems to enjoy being together.

Mai Der is a sweet, fun-loving, happy young lady that we have enjoyed getting to know more. Please pray for her as she continues to grow to know God more and as she has her study with Abby. She asks for prayers for her confidence with God. We hope that she will come to understand all the wonderful things about the great God who has made her and loves her so much and wants to have a special love relationship with her. May she grow up to be a beautiful woman of God!

St. Paul Urban Ministry Trivia - "Did you know.....?"

2008-05-27T20:15:00.005-06:00

1. Did you know that Steve and Tina Countryman were excellently prepared by God for their work with the Hmong kids in the Urban Ministry? After college (where they had prepared for mission work) they went to Thailand and served there as missionaries for five years. When they came back to the States, Tina wanted to continue to work with Asian people; Steve wanted to be a youth minister. Through word of mouth and a series of “coincidences” they were led to St. Paul where we were looking for someone to work with the children of Hmong immigrants, satisfying both their desires.
2. Did you know that no one planned to begin a ministry with the children of Hmong immigrants – that was God’s idea. We had intended to start a downtown church made up of homeless people who lived downtown and professional people with connections to downtown through their work. Instead, God sent us a free summer intern who started the work with the Hmong kids in the neighborhood and a youth group to do a VBS with them that first summer.
3. Did you know that no one budgeted for an urban minister? That was God’s idea, too. He sent us a visitor who discovered what we were doing and called back to ask if we needed support for someone to work with it full time. Then God sent us Steve and Tina with part of their support already in place.
4. Did you know that there is an informal Urban Ministry week at Flaming Pine Youth Camp every year? The first year we sent three nine year old girls. Since then there have been kids from the Urban Ministry every year (14 years) and it has grown to the point that there are annually about twenty-five “urban ministry kids” there one week each summer.
5. Did you know that more than twenty-five Hmong kids have been baptized by the Urban Ministry and now the Urban Ministry has a congregation meeting in downtown St. Paul every Sunday?
6. Did you know that nine of the Hmong kids have gone off to Christian schools, seven to York College and two to Harding? Three of them have graduated so far and two are actively preparing to be missionaries to their people, both in Asia and in the U.S.
7. Did you know that I have run out of space, but could go on and on about the St. Paul Urban Ministry?

written by: Dave May

**This bulletin article was written by Dave May, who was one of the few people responsible for getting the St. Paul Urban Ministry started. He and his wife, Charlene, were a big part of everything going on with the Urban Ministry for many years. He has a huge heart for people and he and Charlene are loved deeply by many of the Urban Ministry kids - some who are now grown up - as well as by those of us who minister in this work.
Thank you, Dave, for sharing this article on our blog. We hope that others will enjoy reading some of the history of the Urban Ministry that you share in it.
May it bring glory to the God who's been so faithful through the years to this work. He's truly so amazing!!

Great News!! Tria Vang has decided to be baptized!

2008-05-16T07:30:00.004-06:00

We are very excited to announce that Tria Vang, the youngest of the Vang Family (spotlighted many weeks back on the blog, if you'd like to look back and read about him), has decided to make Jesus the LORD of his life. He was baptized this last Wednesday night up at the Woodbury building. He and Tou Lao have been studying with Steve for quite a while and had come to a point where he could see that it was time for him to make this decision. When asked at his baptism if he believed that Jesus was the Son of God, he answered with an emotional, "with all my heart."

(He's pictures above with his excited older sister, Mary Lee and brother, Tong)

Please keep Tria in your prayers as he walks this new path in his life.

Meet Kong Lee

2008-05-12T07:26:00.006-06:00

Kong Lee is the younger brother of Kao and Na Lee, who we spotlighted earlier on the blog a few weeks back. He started coming to the Urban Ministry with Kao and said that it was because "he felt God was sending him a message". He finally made the decision to become a Christian on August 2, 2007 and gave his life to the Lord at Flaming Pine Youth Camp in Mirror Lake. He says that his baptism is his favorite memory from his time in the Urban Ministry.

When asked about his favorite Urban Ministry activity, he said that it's the Saturday Night Game Nights, because he thinks it's fun and he likes getting to just "hang out", too.

Kong can see ways that God has changed his life. One of the ways he mentioned was that he knows he is becoming more patient with his family. When asked about what he feels that God has been trying to teach him lately, he said that he feels like God wants him to tell people about Him.

Last year he was studying the Bible with Steve, but now Tong Vang is leading a study with him and one or two of the other guys in the group.

His goals in life right now are to finish school and then he says that he would like to go into ministry.

Favorite Bible verse: John 3:16.

Please pray for Kong - that his faith will grow stronger, that he will choose friends wisely and will be a good friend, that he will be patient and loving in his family and for his strength as a man of God.

York College High School Days 2008

2008-04-24T07:06:00.002-06:00

High School Days - April 2008
Submitted by Na Lee
On our way to Nebraska it was horrible! I thought I was going to die in the van. It was quite squishy, and uncomfortable. What was so funny was everyone making fun of Sandy’s HUGE suitcase! What I liked about it was that Sandy and I got our own experience living in a dorm room by ourselves. It was really fun meeting new people, going to classes, living in the dorms, and seeing the town. What I didn’t like about High Schoo Days was that they basically let you do whatever because they have so many things you can do, and that left us not knowing what to do because we couldn’t decide! Eventually we did decide what we wanted to do. Songfest was AWESOME; I had fun watching the teams (College clubs) compete. On Saturday, it was basically a “do whatever you want” day, because we just did whatever and I thought that was kind of boring, but we did play MAFIA (a group game we like to play) which we barely do now. Overall, York was fun, and the ride back home was like the ride up there, and of course Sandy’s suitcase still came along. And lastly, I can definitely see myself going to York College.

Spring Retreat - March 2008

2008-04-24T07:02:00.005-06:00

Submitted by Na Lee
Retreat Theme: CHRIST LIKE LEADERS, FOLLOW CHRIST LEAD? Hahahahaha!!
My experience at the Spring Retreat was great. I had a lot of fun hanging out with the teens and adults. While there, I learned how to be a better leader to others and around others. What I liked best about the retreat was the quiet times, and group talks. I thought the quiet times were great. Although they were kind of short, and the group talks were fun. I was able to have a chance to talk to some of the teens and say what I really thought of them. That’s something I wouldn’t actually do, because it just seems weird. But when Steve told us that we had to do this, it was kind of hard. I had to think of what to say to a couple of the people I was with, and in the end I was glad that I did it because it made me feel good. From this retreat, I learned how to be a better leader. I remember a little of what Julius said in the movie “Remember the Titans”. He said attitude reflects leadership, or was it leadership reflects attitude? I’m actually not sure. This made me think about how my attitudes were against others. I’m so glad I went to the Spring Retreat this year, and I am definitely looking forward to next years Retreat!

Na Lee

2008-04-22T12:40:00.006-06:00

We would like to have everyone get to know Na Lee a little bit better this week on the blog. Na is the sister of Kao, who we spotlighted on the blog last time. She is a junior in high school and will be turning 17 this year. She has been coming to the Urban Ministry for several years now. With the girls in our "Fellowship of the Heart", she is known as the "Lady of Light", and she does have a way of bringing "sunshine" into a room.

She says it was her brothers, Kao and Houa, and began bringing her to the Urban Ministry, and it seemed fun to her. She made the decision to become a Christian on November 13, 2005. She says that this was because she wanted God to sit on her "throne". God used "great" people around her, too, she says.

When she thinks about how God has changed her life, she says it comes down to the things she chooses to do. She also feels like she has a bigger heart for God now.

Her favorite Urban Ministry activity is our Spring Retreat. She says that it is a time for her to focus, and to know God more. A favorite Urban Ministry memory of hers was the 30 Hour Famine that our group took part in. She feels that it was such a "great experience!!!!"

Currently she is studying the Bible with Shawna. They are going through the teen version of "Experiencing God", as many of the other girls are doing right now. Lately, she feels like God has been trying to teach her about spreading His Word to others.

Na's favorite Bible verses are Psalm 88 - the whole chapter. Her goals in life are to spread God's good news and to do what He wants and has planned for her.

Please pray that her relationship with God will continue to grow and that God will reveal to her the plans He has for her.

Pray that she will be bold for Him.

Na enjoys Journalism and so we asked her if she would also post about some of the events of the Urban Ministry throughout the year. We thought it would be great to have the perspective of one of the teens writing on the blog, in addition to those of us working with the Urban Ministry. So, be looking for upcoming posts from Na about our Spring Retreat and York Trip last month.

Kao Lee

2008-04-08T10:44:00.003-06:00

Kao has been coming to the Urban Ministry since he was young and it is amazing to see him now - finishing up a Bible degree at York College and preparing to graduate next month! Wow! When we asked him about what first brought him to the Urban Ministry, he mentioned that Tong Chang (another one of the guys who has been around for years) was the one who actually told him about the Urban Ministry and brought him to check it out. He said they needed something to do in the summer and they also heard that the girls that they would often tease were going to the Urban Ministry, too.
Kao became a Christian back in 2000 when he was 16 years old. He was going through tough times and says that he was "needing something more". The friends around him were either going to jail or getting killed. He thought a lot about death and the after life. He say that he was also thinking a lot about his identity. He took a camping trip with the Urban Ministry guys up North and God revealed some important things to him and comforted him in His peace and power through His creation on that trip.
He feels that over the years God has definitely changed the course of his life through His unexpected plans. Plans such as taking him across the world to see other believers in Japan last summer. He says that God has also deepened his faith in his studies. He can also see the ways that God has changed him dramatically, even through his own imperfections.
When asked about favorite Urban Ministry activities, Kao said that it is Worship on Sunday with his Christian Family! He said that it is the best day and activity of the week for him.
Kao says that the goals for his life are to serve God wholeheartedly. He also wants to go into ministry, to teach the Bible, to do some kind of missions work. He wants his plans to be out of his control and unplanned. He wants to align his goals with God's.
Kao's favorite verse: Philippians 3:10 - "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death"
He says this is his favorite verse because he wants to know Christ and everything there is to know about Him. He wants to feel the anguish and the agony of His suffering as well as the power of His resurrection. But above all, he wants to be like Christ in all of his life.

Please pray for endurance and strength for Kao as he finishes up at York - that he will study hard this last month and finish strong.

ACU Spring Break Campaign 2008

2008-03-20T13:26:00.006-06:00

Going on a spring break campaign to St. Paul has been an amazing and unforgettable experience! I thank God for the opprotunity to be able to serve His people as well as learn so much in the process. Through the whole campaign I found that the main lesson to be learned was the power and importance of prayer.

Before we left we prayed earnestly to get to St. Paul safely and I know that everyone in St. Paul was praying too. We made it safely with no problems and even got to Woodbury Church of Christ early enough to hang out with the teenagers for a little bit. It was so much fun! What was weird to me was how most people were wearing T-shirts when it was 40 degrees outside; I had a hard time wrapping mind mind around that. But when we first walked in I knew I was in for an amazing experience.

Sunday another prayer was lifted to God to help provide money for the Urban Ministry to take the teenagers to Thailand for a mission trip and God gave 3600 dollars! That was just so incredible to me! So again God was telling me that if you just pray to Him he will be there for you. It was so fun helping out at the fundraiser dinner and getting to know the teenagers in the youth group! The whole dinner was so helpful to me in giving me a glimpse of the Hmong culture by just talking to people and even wearing the Hmong clothes for pictures (which was a blast!).

Monday and Tuesday God answered another prayer. We prayed to be able to work with the teenagers and the children in the Urban Ministry and be a light to them as well as learn form them too. I cannot speak personally for the people we worked with but from looking from afar it seemed like everyone had a great time and enjoyed being with those of us on the campaign. And I can definitely say I learned so much from the Hmong people and they themselves were a light to me. God continued to answer prayers.

Wednesday was another amazing experience because we got to work at Feed My Starving Children. I had never heard of the program before, but I am so blessed to have been able to be a part of it. Everything throughout this campaign has truly shown me how much God works through his people and that nothing can happen without Him. This program was a prime example because I knew God made Feed My Starving Children to feed his children around the world and see God's love in action. On top of that we went to Chue's house, a Hmong lady in the Urban Minstry who had just moved into her new apartment, cooked a Hmong meal for us and it was amazing! By the end of the day I saw once again that God had answered our prayers.

Thursday was a new experience for me, but was one I know I needed. We went on a prayer drive and prayed for different people in the Urban Ministry. I learned so much more that day about the Hmong culture and the hardships they all encounter and right now I pray God will give them strength and guide them on their walk with Christ. And even in all this God answered prayer because I was learning and God was the teacher.

It is really difficult to put into words the lasting effects this campagin has done for me. I knew before how important it is to pray to God, but this week I truly saw the power of prayer. I got to learn so much this week as well as build a community with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and see God's love no matter which way I turned. The missionaries in the Urban ministry are such fine examples as to how to put God first in your life and make being a Christian a life-style and not just a religion. The Hmong people were amazing and I thank God for bringing me to St. Paul to be part of this ministry.

-Emily Branam
ACU Spring Break Campaign

More than a Ministry

2008-03-20T13:05:00.003-06:00

"Hi y'all!!" This is how our campaign group was greeted upon arriving at the Woodbury Church of Christ in Minnesota. Apparently, we had just walked in as the Hmong kids from the Urban Ministry were starting a game. I wasn't exactly expecting to meet so many outgoing and enthusiastic kids, but the presence of so many fun-loving Asians made me feel very at home.

Growing up as a "missionary kid" in Cebu City, Philippines, I always knew that fun was an important factor in our outreach to young Filipinos. Apparently Hmong kids like to have fun too, so that's what we did during our few days working with the Urban Ministry. We had fun :)

The first thing on the agenda of fun was to learn EVERYBODY'S NAMES, and for those of you who are a little bit familiar with Hmong names, YOU KNOW how fun that can be. After figuring out who little Jerr and big Jerr were, we worked on the preparations for the Thailand Fundraiser dinner. This wasn't a huge part of our activities during the campaign, but it was wonderful introduction to what the Urban Ministry is all about. I absolutely loved watching the ACT UP group and loved the idea of using drama to reach people with the Gospel. As a matter of fact, our campaign group was so inspired by these kids that we decided to call our VBS skit group, "ACU" (pronounced acue). Haha ;)

So after a day or two of VBS type fun and games, we got into more serious business...prayer. I don't think I've ever been part of a ministry that prays as much as the Urban Ministry does. We spent at least one morning just praying over the Hmong kids and their families. After learning what these kids struggle through like persecution from their own families and people, I began to realize just how valuable prayer is in this ministry.

I've learned so many things after working with the Urban Ministry for just a few days that it's hard to sum it all up on this blog, but I will give you three essential things that I learned. One, there is a huge need for ministry to other cultures in America, and the Urban Ministry here in St. Paul is a small but powerful answer to that need. Two, ministry can be creative and designed differently depending on what the ministry is addressing. And finally, prayer should never be underestimated. So please do keep this ministry in your prayers, because it's more than ministry.

-Vanessa Whitt
Junior Graphic Design Major
ACU Spring Break Campaign 2008

Coua Vang

2008-02-20T14:18:00.004-06:00

Hello,
This week we are going to introduce you to Coua Vang. He is one of the newer kids to join us at the Urban Ministry. He started coming by going with us to Flaming Pine youth camp. A friend of his invited him and he loved it. He chose to give himself to Christ while we were there and has been a faithful follower since. He became a Christian because "Jesus is the only way" - his words. John 5:5 has special meaning for Coua as he is a "Soldier for Christ". That is the theme verse Steve and I have started using with the guys. We have Dog Tags for all of them with that verse on them. God has changed his life in ways that are begining to show. He says that he lies less and feels that God gives him strength to stand strong when faced with temptation. Right now his goals are to finish school, go to college, get married, and continue to go to the Urban Ministry. Please pray for Coua to continue to stand strong and for him to keep his focus on God.

Tria

2008-02-15T13:55:00.005-06:00

This week we are going to tell you about Tria Vang, Tria is the younger brother of Mary Lee and Tong. Tria started coming to Kids Connection when he was a young kid. He likes to say that the only reason he came was for the snack. Trust me the snacks aren't that good. His brothers and sisters brought him at first. Now that he is comfortable he doesn't need them to come over. He has not chosen to become a Christian yet. He is in a Bible study with Steve. The parable of the sower is his favorite Bible story. He likes it as it tells of different ways that people look at Jesus. He has been feeling like God is telling him to keep doing the right thing. Several of Trias brothers have chosen not to follow God and have went totally the other way. It is very encouraging that he feels that God is telling him that. The Urban Ministry activity Tria enjoys the most is going to Flaming Pine Youth Camp. ONe of his favorite Memories from the Urban Ministry is when the guys slept over at the Countryman house. We did team building activities. One of which was a four man push-up. Everyone had to push-up at the same time or it didn't work. Tria liked to laugh when it didn't work. He has the most infectious laugh of anyone I have ever met. When he laughs you can't help but laugh. Sometimes I will hear him laughing in the other room and then I will start laughing. I wont even know what he is laughing about. His goals right now are to finish High School(he is a sophomore), and to choose to follow Christ. He has a fear that he will not be able to follow and so is not willing to make the commitment. There is a lot of pressure in the Hmong community to follow the old religion (Animism). If you don't then you are made to feel like you are turning your back on the Hmong way of life. Like you are embarassed to be Hmong. Please continue to pray for the Urban Ministry and especially Tria.

Tong

2008-02-06T16:28:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone. We are going start introducing you to the members of the St. Paul Urban Ministry. Each week we will write about a different person. This week we are talking about Tong Vang. Tong is a senior in High SchoolHe started coming to the Urban Ministry for the snacks. He would go to Kids Connection for the snack, but learned about God. He became a Christian on 9/22/06. He chose to commit to being a Christian because of Romans 6 and the feeling that god was answering his prayers. His favorite story from the Bible is the book of Job. He likes that Job continued to praise God even when everything was being taken from him. He feels that God has been teaching him to be patient lately. God continues to work in Tongs heart. He has changed his ways from some of the bad things he was doing. His favorite activity with us is going to Flaming Pine Youth camp. A favorite memory is going to the boundry Waters in Northern Minnesota with Steve. They paddled across a lake to Canada and had lunch.Tong is leading a Bible study with several of the younger kids. His goals in life are to go to college and major in Cullinary. He would also like to minister to people wherever he ends up. He asks for prayers for his family, especially his mother.

Thank you for all your prayers for the Urban Ministry.

Fellowship of the Heart

2008-01-30T16:06:00.000-06:00

(written by Shawna)

On the weekend of November 30th - December 1st, we had a girls' retreat at my apartment. We started a new thing with the girls called Fellowship of the heart. We modeled our fellowship after Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. There are so many spiritual truths displayed in those movies, and the visuals are so good for our girls. The idea for our fellowship is that these girls will really begin to know each other more intimately. Life is hard, and we are all at war. We need each other. In our fellowship we will learn to walk with God together, pray for each other's healing, and cover each other's backs. We gave each of the girls a gold ring with a crystal heart on it that my mom made. The ring symbolizes our commitment to God and to one another. The girls were so excited about starting this fellowship.

The following weekend we had another sleep-over with the girls. It was basically a continuation of the weekend before. We had chosen special names for each of the girls that reflected their most dominant spiritual gift. For example, Na is really good about being a light in her dark world, so we called her "the lady of light". We also gave each of the girls a gift to remind them of who they are. So, we gave Na a beautiful candle with a heart on it. We had chosen Scriptures for them to read to encourage them in their gift, and we also gave them Fellowship of the heart t-shirts that Tina and I made. The girls seemed to love all of these things. I feel really encouraged about what God has called us to do with these girls. I feel like it is really going to help them grow in their relationship with God and with each other.

Mary Lee joins the team!

2008-01-24T17:19:00.001-06:00

Mary Lee Vang, who has grown up in the Urban Ministry, has begun interning with us now. She just graduated from York College last month with her degree in Psychology. What a joy it has been having her around! She has a beautiful heart for God and a passion to serve Him and make a difference in others' lives. It has been wonderful to watch her reaching out to the girls. Being a young Hmong women, she can have a much deeper understanding of the cultural issues the teens are facing.

She hopes to work with us until at least August right now. In addition to gaining ministry experience, she is hoping to spend time listening to God, to see what His plans are for her. She is currently raising support, but also is open to getting a part-time job, if needed. So far nothing has worked out for that. We are hoping that God will provide for her to work with us full-time. We will see what happens.

Please keep her in your prayers as she serves here and seeks God's will for what He wants her to do after her internship.

a concern

2007-12-12T16:26:00.000-06:00

I was reading in the paper last week about a white guy that shot a Hmong guy in northern Wisconsin. It seems that he was very racist. It is also being speculated that it is a payback for the white hunters that were killed by the hmong hunter in the same area. The two were arguing over an area that they both wanted to squirrel hunt. I have been feeling the need to pray for racial acceptance lately. I think about my dealings with the Hmong elders. How they feel that everything needs to be handled by them and not invole the "white" government or police. I have heard of things as drastic as bumper stickers that say "save a deer shoot a Hmong". I don't have an answer to this. god has written that we should love everyone as He loves them. That is what I am trying to do. The difficult thing is to see it from both sides. I see prejudism from the Hmong and the white people. Please pray for more love from both sides.

Sometimes a reminder is needed

2007-11-28T15:19:00.000-06:00

You ever have one of those days that remind you how great God is. Steve and I had breakfast with Ben Berry today. He is on furlough from Japan. We were talking about how the last year went for the Urban Ministry. Why is it always the negative that we focus on first. After talking about the struggles we started getting into the positive things that happened this year. All the baptisms, how great camp was, Wilderness Trek... I am really happy the way God reminds me of what he is doing. Everyone needs that reminder. Look for opportunities to talk to someone about how God is working in your life. You will be amazed.

All right lets get this going again

2007-11-14T14:44:00.000-06:00

What a new blog entry!!! What is going on! Well I am now married and the honeymoon is over it is time to get back to work. The wedding was fantastic. Most of the Urban Ministry kids were there. The wedding wouldn't have been the same if they weren't there. They are such a huge part of our life. It was a busy summer. We had VBS then I taught at teen camp then I took several of our kids with the Northern Light church to Wilderness Trek in Colorado(very cool). Then up to camp for "Hmong Week" Then the last planning for the wedding. THen the wedding. Then the honeymoon and now no more excuses.Coming up the weekend after Thanksgiving is Hmong New year. THis is always a difficult time for us. It is hard for the kids to avoid all of the partys that are going on that weekedn. It is expected of them to participate. We need to step up on our prayers for the kids these next few weeks. I hope everyone is doing well and I will make more of an effort to get this thing updated more often. Keep praying for us and the kids.

Wilderness Trek

2007-07-25T16:18:00.000-06:00

hey!this is youa =D well um at first when we were planning to go..i was way excited for climbing to the top of a mountain isn't an everyday thing..before youa went..had some second thoughts..yet I'm very thankful that GOD worked in it to having me go =D it was an AWESOME experience and one I definitely wont forget!if it were to be only me going up that mountain i wouldnt have made it or even bother to think of continuing climbing that GI-NORMOUS mountain yet with the help and encouragements of my AWESOME peeps..i did eventually made it to the top in one piece!we all make an incredible team and that's what i love about the whole thing.. =D we all supported one another all the way to the top..and came to the bottom still sticking together!we all went there not knowing who they are and where they came from..yet we left that place with incredible memories and friends that we'll never forget =D going back there is definitely something i'll do again for it is a great place to really hear GOD..there isnt other distractions to keep you away from him and everyone there is just such an encouragement that you wont leave that place being the same as before..the relationships you have with others will definitely be on another level than before especially when you all shared a whole week of trek with GOD and each other depending of each other to get through it..then of course im thankful for the whole trek trip..but one thing that I was definitely thankful for is how my brother Bravo (John Thao) has decided to come to christ! =D I always knew he eventually would..but I didnt know when so it was sure a good surprise =D wow..man so much things happened that im not even sure what to write about yet..lets just say if we were to go again..COUNT ME IN!=DWILDERNESS TREK ROCKS!!

VBS

2007-06-22T15:36:00.000-06:00

Hi, my name is Mani Chang and what I like about VBS was that it was a lot of fun. I love the kids especially, because all of the kids were so energetic. The songs were really good, because it gave kids energy and smiles that were great to see.

I love my crew members Garrett, Timothy, Noah, Drew, and Andy because they were so much fun. They would always ask if we could play Mickey Mouse, Bullfrog, bubble ski what in that, and Stella because it was always fun to try to get someone out and win. They always listened to Bai and I which made it easy to communicate, and have fun.

The games, crafts, stories, and everything else were really awesome because they weren't so boring. The kids never complained, instead every time we finished a station they would always be anxious and excited to know where we'll be going next.

uM .. Uh .. uM ..Uh

2007-05-07T19:23:00.000-06:00

The Act Up retreat was a BLAST!!!! We played games that had to do with acting and boy was I .. ?? I don't know. I was nervous and didn't know what to do, but after the first couple of times i wasn't. I felt like the retreat was something that I did really need to help me know and get used to the whole Act Up business. I was super nervous when we started to plan out what we were going to do for the skit on Sunday. When I was told to be the persecuted girl, I was just like I can't do it because all those times I saw Abby and the others act that part I thought it was funny and never thought that one day I would be acting one of those parts. As we rerun the skit over and over, I started to do better and wasn't so nervous, but at worship, I was so nervous and couldn't stop thinking about it. I kept saying it over and over in my head that, what if I forgot my lines and what if they laughed and I start to laugh. I just couldn't shake it off at first, but on Saturday, Gary asked me if I was nervous(or something like that) and I said I was, kind of, but he said something like we're doing it for God so it's okay =D .. so I just kept saying that over and over in my head. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.. I believe that I just need to get used to people looking at me and that I'm doing it to help point others to God and to glorify him !!! =D !!!

ACT UP Retreat

2007-05-05T14:56:00.000-06:00

Hey! (This is Abby writing) Just wanted to let you know that we had a blast on the Act Up retreat this weekend. We did a lot of games that helped us with our acting skills. Some of the things we talked about was review for some of us, but, we do have two new members - Tong Vang and Bao Thao. They are really great. We had fun together and laughed a lot. But anyway, just wanted to let you guys know that we did that and how it went. God Bless!
-Abby

The Urban Minstry Retreat

2007-04-08T18:40:00.000-06:00

Hello to everyone reading this. It's me, Katy Sutherland, blogging this time under Gary's username. Gary wanted to have someone else's perspective on this particular installment since it's topic is a special one about the annual Urban Ministry Retreat in Annandale MN. This was my first time attending and admittedly I would not have gone if not for my engagement to Gary. I will also say that until this weekend I have not really fully appreciated the usefulness of a "retreat" especially in a group setting. My train of thought has always been, "What do you do at these things anyway? And is it really all that necessary to go out of town?" But what I've come to realize is that necessity has nothing to do with this kind of retreating. It's a luxury. It's a gift! And fortunately for me, it gave me the chance to refocus my involvement in this group, regroup my thoughts and goals related to my relationships to these people, and in turn, relearn what it's like to bask in Christian support, love, fun, and commitment.

It began with me watching the kids run into the familiar dormitory like a funhouse. Somehow they all knew where to unpack, kickback, and wait for the weekend retreat to begin; something that they had apparently needed all year long. And it didn't take long for me to grasp onto what I was there for; for it was the same reason that everyone else was there . Relationship building time with an emphasis on group activity. And it was simply gorgeous. The epitome of the Christian family, in my opinion.

I was reminded how wonderful it is to be presented the freedom of the Gospel in an environment of a spiritual family (in the Urban Ministry's case, biological family) that teaches, cares, understands, and does it in the comfort of a place away from the everyday stress of general life. And while this conclusion of mine may not be a conscious thought of some of our kids it certainly speaks to all of them on some level. And the reason I know this is because they keep coming year after year! It's not as if they're allowed to play video games and run around all day. We were all asked to sit quietly and face our trials as well as our triumphs. Our failures as well as our successes. And at the end of the day we were presented with the most magnificently simple way of dealing with all of these elements of human life. Faith in our Lord's comfort, Hope in his salvation, and Love He gave His people that we are now inspired to give to each other.

And being privileged to have grown up in a Christian home, I was never presented with an adverse reaction to the Gospel. Christ was as readily available as water in my home. Not really the case in the homes of the Urban Ministry kids. Which is why Long Cha's baptism was such a joy to witness. He grew to know the Lord and dedicated himself to Christ in baptism without support from home. And he did it on his birthday. AND he and did it in 20 degree weather!

So what came home with me from my experience this weekend? Retreats are meant for self-discovery? Saving souls? Fun? Getting away from younger siblings? The answer is yes for all of these questions. The next question: will I be going back next year? I really hope so.

2007-03-15T09:28:00.000-06:00

I'm a listing sort of person: grocery lists, to-do lists, reading lists, to-do-before-I-die-lists, whatever. My favorite lists though, are "lessons learned" lists. Since being on this Spring Break Campaign, I've learned a lot, from the testimonies and the lifestyles of the Urban Ministry leaders, the Hmong people, and our host family. As of now, Thursday morning, here's some of the List:

Since being here in St. Paul, I have been reminded that....

--Everywhere is a mission field: every house has a kid (or lots of kids!) that Jesus loves
--Simple things like spending time over fries at Wendy's can be meaningful, personal outreach to others
--As Christians, we need to be dandelions (letting the wind blow our "seeds," our Christian witness, everywhere! Without worrying where they go)
--As Christians, we need to be gardeners dilgently, faithfully doing the sometimes-dirty-tedious-tiring-work that God calls us to: and we will be rewarded with growth
--As Christians, we need to be dirt (Yeah, dirt). As in, we need to let God plant HIS plans and desires for us in our lives, being flexible, and really listening to what/where He wants us to do/go.
--Afterall, God has waaay better plans for us than I could ever come up with...
--"Coincidences happen more frequently when you pray"
--"The Church moves forward on its knees"
--People are so much more complex than they first appear, and I need to look deeper than first impressions, always.
--Everyone has 24 hours in a day to use and to spend, and it IS possible to dedicate more than 20 minutes a day to the Lord
--Satan is creative, and he's active in the world
--JESUS is creative, and HE's active in the world.

I have been so blessed, encouraged and challenged in this past short week we've spent here in Minnesota: I know I've been impacted, and I hope that in turn I may impact others further down this road.

Before we left Abilene, I was thinking about how UNrelaxing this trip was going to be, how much sleep I wasn't going to catch up on, how much lesiure time I wasn't going to have. Now I'm thinking about how amazing this trip has been, and how wonderful it is to see how the Lord is working in the world, and in our lives. And, how much I'd really love to come back.

Kelsey Young, 03/15/07

"'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has concieved what God has prepared for those who love him'--but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit." -- I Cor. 2:9-10

The Spritual Battle

2007-03-14T09:51:00.000-06:00

I knew very little about the Hmong people before we came, so I didn't really know what to expect as we pulled into the church parking lot on Saturday night. From the car window I looked outside and saw them running around playing football. I could see their energy and enthusiasm for life as they boldly chased each other around the church. When we entered the church a lot of them came right up to us and greeted us warmly, happy to make a new friend. Some of them held back a little bit until we introduced ourselves and broke the ice. After a very short time, I could tell that this group of children were all warm, affectionate, and kind. As we left them for the night, I really wanted to know their stories. On Tuesday my curiosity was satisfied when we drove around with Gary and Shawna, stopping in front of the children's houses to pray for them. As we were told what was going on with each family, Shawna said something that really stayed in my mind all day. As she told us of their struggles she said that there was a spiritual battle going on for the hearts of these children. Before Tuesday I really couldn't see the purpose of all the potlucks, retreats, and Bible Studies. Its not just about spending time together. These children need our help because Satan has told them so many lies and is actively working on all of their hearts. Steve told us that many of them are afraid to come over here from Asia because they are afraid Americans will eat them. Many of these families tell their children that the Christian spirits bring misfortune upon the family. Then they will perform rituals to get the spirits out. This awareness of darkness trying to take over the world and even my own mind has been very vivid and frightening to me. Satan is no match for God, but we are no match for Satan without God and each other. Revelations tells us that we have already won the war, but that we still have to keep battling Satan's lies every day. Many of these kids have given their hearts to the Lord, and completely changed their lives. But there are some who are still hesitant, and everyone has to deal with resistance from their culture. I have been very encouraged to see how the Countrymen, Shawna, Gary, and countless others go to battle for these kids every day, and have been amazed by their strength. I have felt privileged to be a part in what God is doing in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Jeannie Daw

ACT UP

2007-03-13T13:52:00.000-06:00

ACT UP is a really great group to be in. We have a lot of fun making up skits and we laugh a lot. I can't imagine myself without ACT UP, and I'm sure I am not the only one that would say that. Overall, it is just a great group to be in. It being a christian drama group makes it even better. It is really fun especially when we do shows for people. We do one skit every Sunday at our church to illustrate the lesson. That is fun, but doing a show is a lot more fun because we get to do a whole bunch of skits in a row. Every one of our skits has a good message in it, and I like that because when we do one I feel that it touched someone. Everybody in the group is like a family. We are their for each other when someone messes up, and we try to encourage each other as much as we can. I could say a lot more about the group, but I am going to leave it at that. As a lot of people say in ACT UP - Peace out!

-Abby Countryman

Basketball

2007-03-08T11:00:00.000-06:00

Basketball is a very important part of our ministry. Steve and Tina own a house with a sport court in the back yard (the picture on the left). Every Wednesday night we play ball outside. All year long, yes even in winter. I cleared the court of snow yesterday afternoon so that we could play last night. The records so far are in the 90's during the summer and -26 (-45 with windchill) in the winter. The ball doesn't bounce as well in the winter. Something to do with the cold air. Why is this an important part of our ministry? Because it gets the kids inviting their Friends to come over. Then their friends play ball and come in for the devo. Then they keep coming back. Some of our kids are now playing for their schools. Which is sweet because then I get to go basketball games (that's Luke on the right #27). It has been a great outreach program for the kids. They get to invite their friends and then we get to meet them and form relationships with them. Then they start coming back for more than just the basketball.

Feet

2007-03-05T10:46:00.000-06:00

A couple of years ago I got a digital camera. When I bought it I asked the guy what the most durable camera out was. The one he recommended was the one I got. I wanted a durable one because I like to give it to the kids at functions and let them take whatever pictures they want. I have ended up with some really great candid shots. One strange thing that keeps happening is that they take pictures of their feet. I have dozens of pictures of the kids feet and shoes. I wont even tell you how many are of Tongs feet (nasty socks and all). These particular feet belong to Abby. In other news Luke had a playoff basketball game on Saturday. He hit the game winner with several seconds to go. It was a great game. We had a guest speaker at game night. Wade Shepard is heading to Uganda with his family to be missionaries there. He talk to the kids about what is going on in Uganda. I went and watched Katy's choir concert that night. So, I will have someone else fill you in on what Wade had to say. Speaking of Katy's concert. It blew me away. The music was unbelievable and the spiritual message was deeply moving. I don't have the right words to describe it. Sunday Act up (the drama team) performed before Steve's lesson. It was fantastic. Abby and Ger were the only ones performing, but it moved me to tears. Some of these kids have major skills. I will talk more about Act up in later blogs. After worship we got together for fun night. This is when us adults get together and spend time doing something fun. We played a game last night and just hung out. It is a great encouragement to me to be with the people that I am working with and just have fun. Well I am going to head out now. I will try and get other people to write soon.

The title is "St. Paul" urban ministry for a reason

2007-03-02T19:26:00.000-06:00

This is what I woke up to this morning. A winter wonderland. Yes, we do live in Minnesota, and the weather is reminding us that it isn't spring yet. We were hit with about 13 inches of snow yesterday and last night. Add that to the 13.5 inches of snow earlier this week and that is a very sore Gary. I am being reminded that I am no longer 20 with every shovelful that I throw. No regrets though. I love how God shows his power to me every day with the weather. Snow now and warm weather soon. He is amazing.

who we are, and what we do

2007-03-01T17:39:00.000-06:00

Hello, I am here to introduce you to the St. Paul Urban ministry. The workers for the Urban Ministry are Steve and Tina Countryman, Shawna Turner, and Gary Weseman (me). We are a ministry outreach to the St. Paul area. Over the years it has evolved primarily into a ministry to the Hmong people. St. Paul has the largest concentration of Hmong people of any city in the United States. It is mostly teens that we work with. A typical week starts with worship Sunday night. We generally have 20-30 people on any given Sunday. Wednesday we have a mid week devotional. Thursdays we have a kids Konnection. This is an outreach to the younger kids 5-12. It is done like a Vacation Bible school. We sing songs, play games, do crafts, and have a Bible lesson. Saturdays we have Game night. Which is just what it sounds like. We get the teens together and play group games. Then we have a Devo. Throughout the week we get together with different kids and have Bible studies, take parents to do errands and try to help out where ever we can. As you can see in the picture it also involve taking the kids out and just spending time with them. No, we didn't catch any fish that day. It was still a very fun day. What I am going to try and do with this blog is to keep you updated with what is going on in the ministry. I will try and have guest writers (the kids, other members...). I hope you enjoy it.