10 Dec 2009, Posted by steph

About Me

Hi! My name is Steph and I’m so glad you’re visiting my ministry site. Here’s my story:

As a student who entered college with only a nominal faith, I was deeply affected by this ministry and its bold conviction that reaching college students for Christ was a key part of helping fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) – and that, in fact, I as a student, was both able (empowered by the Holy Spirit) and, in fact, the best equipped to reach my friends since I was so a part of their culture and their lives.

I grew up in a home that was not hostile to the gospel, but was also largely apathetic to faith and church. While I knew that church attendance was a regular part of some of my friends’ lives, I simply figured it was just not meant to factor into my own life. My family struggled with conmmunication at times, but I felt supported and encouraged to think for myself and be open to all different experiences. My parents also love to travel so from an early age I was exposed to many cultures and worldviews.

The gospel is most frequently shared (and received) in the context of relationship. In my life, it was my sister’s best friend that invited us to their church, where we were baptized in three years later. I remember the Chinese pastor would stand up and give a grand, heartfelt statement about Jesus and who He was. But the subsequent English translation was too literal at best and could not capture the passion that had been there, and I remember being frustrated at that divide. Somehow, in between the two microphones, the gospel had literally been lost to me in translation. But if God was as great as the church supposed him to be, I really wanted to know him! Through this time, as my parents continued to bring us to church, God prepared a great hunger in me, and when I was finally able to connect with some youth counselors I began to hear about a God who had loved the whole world enough to send his only Son. I felt a guilt that brought me to my knees in gratitude for the gift I surely did not deserve, and I knew at an instant I could not possibly compare any righteousness in my life to a most Holy God.

But it was not until college that I learned that this holy God was a personal one as well. I had always presumed John 3:16 to be true, that God “so loved the world.” But at a heart level I hadn’t yet received that he loved me deeply and personally, not just as another number or face.

Epic is the Asian American ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, an international missions organization with over 3,500 full time staff across a thousand U.S. college campuses. (Worldwide, their influence spans 191 countries and includes over 25,000 staff.) So many different factors within the classrooms and all over campus compete for the hearts and minds of these students, who will go on to change the world with their collective passion, creative energy and love for life. But so many live without a clear or complete understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the radical, upside-down kingdom that his life, death and resurrection ushered into our world.

So Epic’s great hope and mission is that every student would be able to hear a clear and culturally relevant presentation of this gospel. We do this through campus outreaches, evangelism training, and bible studies that address the character and heart of God, as well as specific Asian American issues that typically surface that can inhibit a full understanding of God’s redemptive plan for humanity and missional living.

As a student, I received three main lessons from my leaders: 1) an eternal perspective – that there are so many compelling and yes, important causes in this world, but in the end only three things in this world will last: God, God’s word and people’s souls! 2) the knowledge of the Holy Spirit and his power (that the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us! to fill us and to compel us with the love of Christ 3) and, finally, through their love and acceptance, freedom to embrace fully who God had made me: that my passions were not mistakes – for example, culturally speaking, an interest in humanities or cultural studies is usually discouraged for more ‘practical’ disciplines – but instead, gifts from the Lord to be used for service in ministry. I discovered that my personal value of being fully present made me a great counselor and friend, and I’m most moved by the opportunity to lead students to the gospel as the ultimate source of joy, satisfaction and freedom in his truth and spirit.

In the summer of 2005 I participated in a six-week missions trip launching similar Epic movements all over Honolulu, Hawaii, sharing the gospel and training other students to pursue their faith wholeheartedly and build up other leaders as well. There, I was appointed the role of teaching and training and I realized I had a tremendous passion to disciple others in faith and also to be sent out to the world. After I graduated in 2007 I continued on with Epic at my alma mater, UC Davis, where I had the opportunity to lead a group of 75 students into a deeper understanding of the gospel in their own lives as well as nurture a growing passion to see them sent into the world.

The next step was to move to Orange County, closer to the Epic Movement (Asian American ministry of) /Campus Crusade for Christ regional headquarters, and home to a much more concentrated group of students. So far, my team works at UC Irvine, UC Riverside, CSU Long Beach, CSU Fullerton, Cerritos College and hopefully expanding to more and more campuses as we continue to share our faith and develop student leaders that know God and know themselves, particularly as ethnic students.

I’m also very excited on a personal level to be in Southern California around so many top schools. I am looking into entering a master’s program in the next few years (specifically either a cross-cultural missions degree in seminary or some sort of ethnic studies) to further my education, and in the meantime I joined staff with Epic Movement this past summer so I will continue to build my ministry skills and impact our generation’s top leaders – many who will be our next doctors, lawyers, politicians and artists! I am so blessed to already be seeing spiritual multiplication happen through my years at Davis. Students in our ministry have entered the workforce with a strong faith and the tools to love and share the gospel with others there. Others have joined full time ministry and serve alongside me! What a blessing.

Thank you so much again for your continued love and prayers. I’m so blessed to have supporters like you all who make it possible for me to serve college students on campus!