by Richard Shin

You just got married. You’ll graduate soon. Then you’re going to help plant a church. All this within a year. Are you comfortable with all the changes?

Actually, I won’t be graduating for another year. I’ll be flying up and down every week like some of the Eastbay (now Evangel) guys. That’s something Kathy and I had to think about and pray about. We weren’t sure in the beginning if we wanted to go up after I finished, or fly up and down every week. So we prayed about it individually, and it’s something I had already saved up for, to fly every week. So it wasn’t about the financial aspect. It was about whether she would be on board with me on that. And actually last Saturday, she was like “yep, we should do it.” So I was like “yep, I agree”. Hahaha. So by December I should be done.

In terms of your question, no I’m not comfortable. But then that’s the story of my life, and God has always been faithful through those times. The way that’s been for me is that I’ve always been cautious in terms of getting my feet wet. I’ve never been the guy to be reckless; I’m more the guy who has to be pushed and that’s what Pastor John has been telling me, to take more risks. God’s basically led me that way. I remember my whole plan in seminary has been: be in seminary for four years, be an intern for four years, and then think about going into pastoral ministry. But then all of a sudden I’m 23 and I’m asked to be a youth pastor; I wasn’t ready for that. But God led me that way and I can trust Him. I had never been exposed to the youth before, I had never worked in this ministry, and I had never been in youth group. So that was a big change. But I trusted in God. And He made all these things work out.

Same thing with marriage. I was kind of freaked out before I got married. But just because I’m uncomfortable, who am I to question God? So that’s been kind of my story. I’m back in that familiar place where I’m not comfortable with transitions. But with God leading me that way, I have no reason to not trust Him; I have every reason to trust Him. I’m nervous about what it’s going to be like when I graduate, I don’t know what our life is going to be like up there, what if we have a kid, that’s a possibility, what if something goes wrong with flying and the pregnancy and all that. But as long as I trust in God, I know he’ll work out all things for good for my life.

As a follow-up to the question above, what doctrine/passage from the Bible has encouraged you the most during these times?

Well my life verse at least since a couple years back has been Philippians 3:7-8. That verse has been true in me. I know I’m called to do everything out of my love for Christ it’s not so much about the church plant but it’s more about am I doing what I’m doing because I love God and would I throw everything to gain Him? When that resonates in my heart and whenever I remember that, every decision I make would be a righteous decision. It’s not even about doing things for God, it’s about me wanting to be with God and be close to God. Having that verse has always led me right. It led me to the church plant, and it led me to marrying Kathy.

In terms of a more practical sense, Proverbs 3:5-6 and Proverbs 9:10. I realize can’t trust in myself or my abilities. That’s the thing I always fear, my lack of wisdom but I realize I need to fear the Lord. Not trusting in my own abilities, but trusting in the Lord with all my heart and acknowledging him in everything I do.

Matthew 28:18-20. I just can’t get around that verse. You know, make disciples of all nations. That’s the mission statement of Lighthouse, and that’s the mission statement of my life too. I don’t know… how do you get around that? As authoritative as Christ is, He gets up on that mountain and says go and make disciples of all nations and to teach them to be like Him. You don’t argue with that; you just go.

What will you miss most about LBCSD? About San Diego?

Nothing so much about San Diego…I mean I like the weather here, and as beautiful as San Diego is, I grew up in Hawaii…so SD has always been kind of like second class to me. The beach is nice, but I realized I don’t go there a whole lot any way. Oh, one thing I WILL miss is the zoo! Everyone knows I love animals. I’m going to miss using the zoo pass because that’s been one of the most worshipful experiences for me, going to the zoo and thanking God for His creation. So I’ll miss that for sure.

But really I’ll miss the most is the church, the people. My heart’s always been in the ministry. There’s nothing in San Diego that would make me stay, but the reason that made my decision-making so hard is the people. Some of the guys who I’ve invested in, some of them will stay here to serve the church here. Some of my closest friends will be here. My groomsmen, half of them will still be here. The youth group, I’ll miss. I had hopes of seeing Zach go through high school with the other youth kids. You know the relationships I’ve developed here… that’ll be the biggest thing. The reason I stayed here is the church, so inevitably, the thing I’ll miss the most is the church.

What would you like to see happening at LBCSJ in the coming years?

As general as it sounds, I want to see Christ exalted in the church. I don’t want the church to be about ourselves and this man-centered agenda. I really want to see Christ glorified in everything. I want to see all the members on board with that. To let go of our selfishness and pride, and see God glorified. I want to see everyone ultra-passionate in pursuing that, and not be satisfied with being complacent. It’s hard for me to say what I want to see in terms of practical goals for the church plant because that’s hard. Fruit is the Lord’s work. What I want is our team to be faithful to God’s calling. But do I want to see the congregation to grow to be 100 or something? I don’t know. That’s not the measure of success to me. The measure of success is how faithful we are. I’d like to see the team to be humble before each other and learn to work together. I want to see the younger guys step up into leadership, and some of the older guys to help lead them. I would like to see the San Jose community be impacted whether it be through us or the other churches there. I love Lighthouse and I love what it did to me personally because the teaching that Pastor John, Pat, and the elders provided really changed me and helped me struggle through college. And I know there are others in San Jose who don’t have the resources and I would love to help provide that.

Let’s say you stepped into the building of LBCSD on one Sunday morning ten years from now (should the Lord tarry), what would you like to see?

I would like to see Tim Yu have at least 2 kids and hopefully one of them is a boy and so if we have a boy, we can have them play together. I want to see Eugene Park married. I’d like to see Pat just doing his thing as Senior Pastor. I’m excited to see how that’ll turn out. I’m nervous for him as I watch him struggle through some things right now. I’m excited to see what God’s going to do. I guess Cameron Preslar would be in youth group, so I would want to see what they look like. Hopefully I see more brown people come out. I would like to see the youth group grow… that’s like my baby. I want to see whoever’s taking over the ministry to step it up and have the ministry flourish in the Lord.

How can we as a congregation encourage you and Kathy in the upcoming year?

Be praying for us. For both of us to be individually grow and stay close to the Lord individually. When that’s set, together we’ll be a strong couple. And together we’ll be an effective team for the church plant. Pray for us to work together as a family. Pray for my schooling. I would like to end at the end of 2010 just to make things less complicated. So I can also open myself up for the church plant as much as I love seminary. Pray for the team, that’s been on my heart as well.

Any last words?

I love Lighthouse Bible Church San Diego. I really do. I hope you realize that it was a very hard decision to make. I fasted for ten days! And I’m already thin! Youth kids, I hope you realize how much I love you, and it kills me to be apart from you. But I know this is what the Lord’s calling me to do, to plant churches. I’m going to miss you guys a lot, a lot, a lot. And I’ll be praying for you. And the church body: Know that my prayers will always be with you. You can always e-mail me if you want prayer support. I’ll forever be thankful for the guys who have invested in me, and I mean…I know who’s going up, but the ones who are staying… Pat, I want Pat to know that he would have been the main reason for me to stay because he invested so much in me. Be praying for him a lot. I don’t want him to think I’m ditching him.. and for guys like Peter, Mike, and Tim Yu, and Ted who will be here. All those who have invested in me either as mentors or as brothers. I don’t give up on my friends easily. And all the ones I’ve invested in. You’re not off the hook, man. If I come here in ten years and you’re not in shape, I’ll take you up to San Jose with me, and lock you up in my basement. Hahaha.. I’m just kidding. I’m in prayer for you guys too. I discipled you guys in light of what could happen (the church plant). The whole purpose was to get you guys equipped for ministry to grow in your character to be available and to really mobilize for God. Just be available to do that, and let God do amazing things through you guys. To God be the glory!

to be continued next week with Pastor John…