The Cross and the Switchblade

Nicole and I’ve been reading a classic Christian book called The Cross and the Switchbladeby David Wilkerson. This is a true story of a country preacher whose life was completely changed by simply choosing to get rid of his TV and spending two hours every night in prayer. God used him to minister to some of the toughest teenage gangsters in New York in the 50’s and 60’s. His story has gripped us right from the first page and it was exhilarating to see God working in such a powerful way. Here is an excerpt from the book:

“And before my astonished eyes, these two leaders of one of the most feared fighting gangs in all of new york slowly dropped to their knees. Their War Lords followed their lead. They took their hats off and held them respectfully in front of them. Two the boys had been smoking. Each took his cigarette out of his mouth and flipped it away, where it lay smoldering in the gutter while I said a very short prayer. “Lord Jesus,” I said, “here are four of your own children, doing something that is very, very hard. They are kneeling here before everyone and asking You to come into their hearts and make them new. They want You to take away the hate, and the fighting, and the loneliness. They want to know for the first time in their lives that they are really loved. They are asking this of You, Lord, and You will not disappoint them. Amen.”

 Throughout this book, I am amazed at God’s way of unfolding His sovereign plan. I’m a Calvinist in my theology but it’s uncanny how Calvinistic God worked in the story, the way God threaded different people and circumstances to bring these hopeless teenagers to Christ. It reminded us that for any ministry or missions work we do or will do, all we have to do is to be there and take steps of faith no matter how irrational it might be and God will do the rest. We both recommend this book highly especially for those who have lost excitement in their walk. It’s only 175 pages long so you can get through it in a day if you’re a fast reader. You can read more about David Wilkerson and his ministry at www.worldchallenge.org.  We also found out that there is a movie made from this book starring Pat Boone and Erik Estrada.

Getting Ready to Leave Bartlesville

As our walls and rooms start to look bare and boxes begin to stack up in the corners, we are reminded that the last days in Bartlesville are fast approaching. Our moving date is Feb. 26th, back to L.A. Our 2-year project with Kumon is up at the end of February. Thankfully, the Kumon Center I opened 1.5 years ago is going well and is now settled so that I can leave without worrying about its future. I am so glad that our center can help students who really need the service. Many of our students are from single-mom families making less than 24K annually. 

Several things have preoccupied us last few weeks: Nicole and the kids have been struggling with a cold…coughing spells and runny noses. Thankfully they are all better now. Another thing is support raising. I have been dragging my feet on having to raise support for the longest time because I saw it as begging for money. However, the Lord used the Fundaraising Bootcamp which I attended two weeks ago to change my view and heart. It is a blessing to have a team of sponsors who will support you through prayers and finances. I have been meeting with individuals and small groups to sharing my vision. It has been a blessing for me.

Welcome to the Park Press!

After putting off our regular updates, we felt that this probably was the best way to share our adventures with our friends. We hope to update the blog on a weekly basis, Lord willing and my (Sung’s) obeying.

To start our first entry, let me tell you about our 4-day blackout experience just two weeks ago (12/7). Our two year stay here in Bartlesville, OK has been climatologically-speaking…quite extreme, ranging from extreme heat and drought to snow blast last year and this year with a whole lot of rain and thunderstorm including tornado siren going off in the middle of the night and to top it off, the ice storm. The ice storm knocked out all the powerlines and tree limbs sending over 300,000 people back to the day of pre-electricity. The odd thing was that our neighbors across the street and to the left had their power the whole time while we were freezing in cold and darkness. We were the “lucky” grid! But thanks to my well-prepared wife who had purchased a butane gas burner and plenty of butane gas cans beforehand, we were able to cook at home.  

After two days of buring firewood which didn’t warm anything up except the fireplace itself, we decided to ask to run an extension cable from our neighbor into our living room so that we can at least use the heat dish and the portable work light. That was a much needed reprieve. On the fourth day, after plenty of grumbling and desperate prayers, the power was finally restored on Nicole’s birthday (12/13). Our neighbors were kind enough to offer to cook breakfast for us and opened up their home during the blackout. We sure appreciated their midwestern hospitality.

The blackout was a small reminder of how blessed we are to have the conveniences of the modern civilization. But I also appreciated the coziness of gathering around a small fire, flickering candlelights that provided barely enough light for reading, and the warmth of the daylight…reminding me of our Lord who is the true Light and also the warmth the comes with the light.