Written by Steven Hong

In November 2007, the Lighthouse Children’s program launched the Wednesday night Kids Club program. Coordinated by Chris Chung, and lead by a handful of members-servants, children enjoy a time of singing, teaching, small group, memory verses and crafts, followed by snacks and games. The children are split into three groups: Clubhouse (elementary), Treehouse (preschool), and Playhouse (nursery).

It was an opportunity for children to come to church to worship and learn during the week, offering a good change of pace from the fairly limited time during Sunday Second Hour. “One thing that we haven’t had during our Sunday programs is small group time,” Chris explains. “LKC has given us the opportunity to get to know the kids much better through our small groups.” Small group settings help the staff gauge better how the children are doing spiritually, which can be far more difficult in larger groups. Chris believes this “has better enabled us to impact their lives for Christ by gaining a better understanding of how much they do and don’t understand about God, His Word, and true faith.”

The ministry, six months running, is still in a formative stage. This summer, they plan to evaluate the ministry and areas of improvement. Their primary aim is to set strong gospel-centered foundations for these children. In addition, Chris describes the opportunity the ministry has in reaching out to the larger community: “LKC has already been a great way for parents and children to invite their friends and get them involved in the life of the church. We already have had a number of new kids come out!”

If you are interested in helping out with the Kids Club, please talk to Chris Chung.

by Stephanie Shin

“We may not win games, but we may win lives!”

It’s that time of year again! Cleats tossed in with a change of clothes sit in the trunk of cars. Conversations about the Chargers fall to the wayside as coaches and team members talk animatedly about their own practices and playing positions in the foyer. It’s mission bowl season and it’s on everyone’s minds! And thanks to a memorable High School Musical performance at family camp, so is the Lighthouse Bible Church Basketball Association (LBCBA).

The sports ministry is one that a good number of LBC’ers have had the opportunity to appreciate. When asked about the greater motivation behind the sports ministry, Kevin Tse replied: “The purpose of the sports ministry is to foster Christian fellowship in the realm of competitive athletics. A model for the building up of Christ’s body is the weaving of many various parts and members under a single focus to achieve their goals. In a world that seems to reward selfishness and large egos in amateur and professional sports, LBC sports ministry preaches selflessness and teamwork as a means of glorifying Christ among one another. In sports, believers have the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with one another through camaraderie and trust, while also having an avenue with which to welcome new comers to the church. Finally, through sports, LBC hopes to fulfill its mission to be a beacon of Christ’s love and truth to the world by hosting various church sponsored, city wide competitions such as Mission Bowl and LBC basketball.”

With ongoing investments in interchurch tournaments, softball city leagues (and talks of participating in a basketball city league), email lists for tennis, volleyball and other sports actively circulating the Lighthouse pulse, the sports ministry has created a unique opportunity for proclaiming Christ. In an arena easily motivated by and given to pride, anger, and blowing past the next man, LBC’s sports ministry is more committed to opening up more avenues for shining the light. A long-term goal for the sports ministry is focused on fulfilling exactly that purpose. Kevin Tse replied that what the sports ministry hopes to see happen in the next year is: “A greater city-wide scope to spread the message of the Gospel.” Randy Tsuchiyama comments on the involvement of LBC members in the city softball league: “For the most part, the other teams in the league know that we are from a church. The attitudes that we have on the field are a testimony to the other teams. We are representing Christ to the other teams there.”

And encouragement reaches inward towards the body of believers as well. Of his participation in the softball league, Randy Tsuchiyama says: “I really enjoy being able to get to know the guys on the team better. I think especially with the married guys. You are able to bond pretty well with your fellow teammates. Like winning and losing together just builds the relationships with the other guys on the team.”

What can LBC look forward to in the upcoming year? Continuing Mission Bowl and LBCBA as well as pickup games of ultimate Frisbee, soccer, and other sports. And to throw in a token cheesy analogy: we all play for the same team! Let’s play the game knowing that it’s already been won. Applicable especially to the realm of sports, the Word exhorts us: “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12).

by Moon Choi

College Life Searchlight began in January 2001 as an on-campus, student run organization. Pastor Patrick Cho headed, and still heads, the ministry. He started off the ministry with a study of the book of Philippians, a study which he titled “the Joy of Our Salvation.” A typical night at Searchlight is meeting on-campus at 7 o’clock with the night starting off with praise, followed by a sermon usually delivered by Pastor Patrick. Occasionally, the pastoral interns preach and challenge the collegians through their messages. Pastor Patrick also plans to have guest speakers come in to preach this year.

The goal of Searchlight is to fulfill the MVP of Lighthouse by reaching out to the campus and to foster a growth in faith in young believers. Searchlight does outreach is to hold campus evangelism, which is currently held twice a week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 2 o’clock. There are also various events throughout the year, like the yearly luau and car rally. There are still many ministry opportunities available, which are not limited to only collegians but also to singles and married (especially ladies!).

The church leadership thought it a good idea to make Lighthouse’s presence known on campus as an on-campus ministry that is intimately tied to a local church. As Searchlight is a direct ministry of Lighthouse, the importance of the local church is emphasized and all who attend Searchlight can be assured that the doctrine being preached on Friday nights will be aligned with Lighthouse’s doctrinal statement. Searchlight also has Lighthouse as an awesome resource, something that parachurch ministries usually do not have available to them. Though College Life Searchlight is only on the UCSD campus right now, Pastor Patrick hopes to expand to other campuses soon.

This year, Searchlight will begin its study of Mark as PastorPatrick hopes to exposit the narrative in order to go through the life of Jesus. Pastor Patrick calls this task “incredibly weight” but is still excited to go through it. And what’s the reason for going through Mark, specifically? “Since I chose to preach through one of the gospels, it made sense to start with the shortest one in case I realized halfway through that I am way in over my head!” He also plans to go through Mark because, previously, he had exposited the rich theology that was found in Paul’s epistles but since an epistle and a narrative are exposited differently, Pastor Patrick wants to exposit Mark, as it is a narrative, so that it may also serve as an example to the collegians.

Though it was sad to let flocks go, College Life Searchlight brings very exciting opportunities to serve, to learn, and to become better acquainted with the collegians. The collegians, too, are thrilled. Garrett Glende, a third year, said that he was excited about “getting to know collegians better” and having “more intimate fellowship with [fellow collegians] outside of Sundays.” Anthony Kwon, a second year, said that something that he really appreciates about Searchlight is the small groups, with “an actual older person leading it,” rather than an older peer.

When asked about what he would like to challenge the collegians with, Pastor Patrick said, “I know it sounds unfair, but I often challenge collegians to not act like collegians…Unfortunately, many of these collegians use the fact that they are in college as their excuse…Many collegians, as a result, will stay up really late at night, waste hours and hours of time, irresponsibly procrastinate in their studies, and make stupid decisions that manifest their immaturity…Scripture does not segregate collegians and normal adults. Collegians should be expected to act as responsible adults and so this is how I challenge them.”

by Kevin Au

Every Sunday, after Scripture is read, we look up from the opening prayer and are greeted by the familiar faces of the praise team. Within moments, the entire congregation is engaged in praise through song, lifting their voices and clapping their hands, guided by a steady snare, bellowing bass, vibrant voices, gleaming guitars, and crisp keys. It’s a beautiful picture of the body of Christ responding in unison to their God, but behind this scene lays much unseen preparation and prayer. Leading the church in worship is a serious matter for those involved with the team, and it shows on Sundays, as well as throughout the week.

“I’ve been most encouraged by the standard of excellence on the team,” says Tim Yu, guitarist, “God demands our best because He is supreme and worthy of only the best.” The excellence we have come to expect during Sunday praise time comes from a common appreciation and love of music, as well as a lot of effort to improve technically, both individually and together as a team though two practices a week, on Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings. “This is where we iron out the nuts and bolts of the songs: how we start the song, when we decide when different instruments enter, what progressions we play, how many times we repeat the chorus, dynamics of the song, how the drum beat changes throughout the song, how we end the song or how we flow right into the next song,” says praise leader, Eugene Park.

In addition to the technical and practical aspects of playing music, preparation for Sunday worship is both a personal and continual matter; one that isn’t just limited to formal practice times and familiarity with the music set. “[There is] a lot of praying to make sure that my heart and mind are focused on truly worshiping God and remembering what worship is all about,” says Helen Wong, vocalist. An understanding of the nature of worship is essential both for cultivating a heart of worship and for leading on Sundays, which is why the team devotes half their Thursday practice times to discussing readings from Singing and Making Music: Issues in Church Music Today by Paul S. Jones. “The reason we take such a large time doing this is because it’s important that we’re not just a group of people who play music. Really, anyone can do that, and do that excellently at least in the world’s eyes,” explains Eugene. “But it’s also important for us to have a good understanding of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.

Despite all this preparation, the team does still face struggles on Sundays, mostly stemming from the conflict between the responsibilities of personal worship and responsibilities leading corporate worship. “Perfection …doesn’t stop with the absence of personal mistakes; it’s so much greater than that when other people are involved,” says Brian Chan, keyboardist. “Finding the balance between musical creativity and helping other people worship God has proven to be one of the greatest challenges in my experience.” Drummer David Ahn adds, “Another big struggle is making sure that I’m worshiping [God] myself while I’m playing. Whether it’s in trying to sing along (which is hard!) or just dwelling on the words of the song, it requires a deliberate effort.”

Though it does require much effort and heart checking, everyone on the team enjoys what they do. They all share music as a passion and joy in their lives and the ability to fellowship with each other in service to the body is one encouragement that everyone on the team shares. “Just being around fellow brothers and sisters who genuinely and seriously desire to worship God and serve His Church in a biblical and excellent manner has been a great inspiration and accountability to me,” shares Abram Kim, bassist. It is also a unique encouragement to the team to be in a position to see the rest of the body worshipping God. “One of my most favorite things about being a part of the praise team is being able to stand up on stage every Sunday morning and look down at a congregation worshiping God. It is such an encouragement, especially when I see people who seem so joyful to be singing praises to God. It’s definitely one of the highlights of every Sunday service,” says Christine Cho, vocalist.

Many have expressed their appreciation for the work of the praise team and their commitment to excellence, both musically and spiritually. It is not often that the praise team gets to express appreciation to the congregation. But they really do wish to emphasize that praise and worship on Sundays is a corporate thing, not something that they do alone on stage. Though we are not all personally on the praise team, it is something that the body was meant to do together. They encourage the church to worship our God in spirit and in truth every Sunday. We must remember that our praise on Sundays, as with worship at any other time of the week is directed to God. Our attention therefore, should be on God not on the praise team. Their ministry is done excellently when the congregation sees past them and God, for whom all the songs are written and played, receives the glory.

by Stephanie Shin

Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God (Romans 15:7).

Many members of Lighthouse may remember the first time that they attended the church. They might remember driving up to 10695 Treena St. only to see an office building where the church was supposed to be. They might remember the nervous scanning for the familiar face that had invited them to come, and the anxiety that’s common when in a new enivornment. That’s where the New Visitors Team steps in.

Stanley Park summed up the responsibilities of the NVT: “It covers a lot of ground. We cover everything from parking, to greeting at the front door, the nametags, to the New Visitors Orientation, all the way to the follow up.” The first wave of greeting starts with the people who direct traffic. When the newcomers walk through the doors of Lighthouse, they meet the members of the NVT team that pass out the bulletins; first timers are encouraged to fill out the guestbook for follow-up later on and and they also receive their nametags. Members have their own nametags that are neatly organized by affinity groups.

As part of the team that organizes the nametags in the morning, Grace Mao Wu encourages LBC, “We put them up there so people can identify you…they might not know your name! It’s for the new visitors!”

After service, newcomers are asked to walk past the double doors to the first door on the left to attend the New Visitors Orientation. So what exactly goes on behind that door? Grace Mao Wu says, “We follow up with them during the NVO and get to know them better. They get to hear the gospel presentation and the history of the church.” They also get to hear Lighthouse’s doctrine on baptism and membership as well as ministry opportunities for those eager to get plugged in. And the new visitors that stay for the whole orientation get a small gift at the end—pens with the LBC insignia.

Long after Sunday is over, our new visitors receive a follow up email or phone call from one of the members of the NVT to answer any questions. And once every two months, the NVT hosts a Meet & Greet for the more recent newcomers as a casual enivorntment to eat, talk and to get to know the pastors a little better.

All these tasks are carried out with a greater motivation in mind. “How we greet people is a testimony to how Christ changed us. We want to make sure they’re taken care of, that they’ve had a chance to hear the gospel. It’s greeting all the way to the gospel. That’s relationship building, so you can get to the deeper stuff,” says Stanley Park.

by Kevin Au

As a body of believers, we are constantly challenged to love and serve one another. We have been particularly challenged recently, in light of Romans 12, to consider how to be devoted to each other in brotherly love and to give preference to one another. Though the mercies of God ought to be the driving force behind these actions, when we consider all the ways we are blessed by our fellow Christians, serving each other seems to be logical, appropriate, and to some extent, even easy. While we are commanded specifically to love each other in the church, we are also called to love those outside the church. In most cases, we are less tangibly blessed by our efforts to love those outside the church, so loving people becomes quite a new challenge, and when we consider those that can give us nothing in return for our love, the quality of our love is tested, and the character and integrity of our love is revealed.

This is a regular struggle for those who participate in the convalescent home ministry. Being a part of this ministry means interacting with people who are physically and mentally unable to even care for themselves, let alone someone else. Many are even unable to coherently understand the clearest explanation of the Gospel. Loving them means deliberately and purposefully sacrificing time and energy for someone who will not be able to tangibly repay you.

The ministry at Mission Hills Health Care in the Hillcrest area revolves around group activities that take place one Saturday a month, with a second event every other month. These activities, planned and run by members of LBC, typically include a time for crafts, times of singing, sharing of devotionals, as well as ample time to personally interact with the residents and share the Word of God with them. Participants especially appreciate the consistency that the ministry offers. While spontaneity and inconsistency are characteristic of other local outreach ministries, there is consistency in seeing the same people over multiple trips to the convalescent home, giving more potential to the task of discipleship as relationships can develop over time. Since few of the residents are believers, the current focus of the ministry remains evangelism and the sharing of the gospel of Christ in an understandable manner. All this is done in light of the ideal goal of having mature believers living at the facility who can minister as insiders and be a light within the nursing home, without dependence on our church members.

These would have the testimony of Christ in the character of their day to day lives, as well as be more consistent and accessible than the limited activities our church can provide.

The ministry does have its share of struggles. Many have expressed the discouragement of not seeing the fruit of their efforts, even though they have tried to explain the same things to the same people time and again. There is also the challenge of trying to accommodate schedules around other commitments and church activities on Saturdays while at the same time trying to promote more involvement from the church. These issues make consistency from participants a primary struggle as well. Yet, despite these struggles, there has been encouragement through the ministry. Through open communication, there has been a change in attitude in the staff of the nursing home, to a point where the group from our church is openly welcomed and even encouraged to come. This has opened doors to even be able to witness to members of the staff as well.

The residents themselves also enjoy the activities and they look forward to seeing our church come and visit them, often expressing their happiness in seeing groups come for Saturday events. While it is a challenge to make the time there more than just a time to cater to them, there is a welcoming attitude among many of the residents. Those who have been going out to the convalescent home regularly have been greatly challenged in their faith and their own witness. Though they haven’t seen as much progress in many of the residents, the way that this ministry has helped their own walks has been valuable. Some have learned to persevere and the importance of remaining faithful to the Word, as well as exercising the faith needed to remain committed to a ministry despite discouragement, trusting God and knowing that people turning from their sins and towards His Son is ultimately His work. It has been a humbling yet profitable time as some have learned how to better point to Christ rather than themselves, both in action and in attitude.

The ministry as a whole is looking for more commitment from those who do take the time to attend the events, as well as participation from those in the church who might not have had the chance to get involved yet. As the ministry becomes more structured there are many opportunities for more people in the church to get involved and serve. It is by no means an easy ministry, but the convalescent home presents church members with a place to exercise their faith and evangelism, and show the love of Christ in a very real way.

For more information on the ministry, please speak to Teddy Yu.

by Kevin Au

Though we all have our struggles, many of which we feel are very pressing, very few of us, if any, have ever experienced the anxiety of knowing there is no soft bed or warm home waiting for you at the end of the day, or wondering what kind stranger will provide your next meal, or how you can possibly get throughout the next day without relying on the influence of alcohol or substances. Most of us cannot relate with these struggles. For those who go out to the Hillcrest ministry, these struggles and the people who face them are not simply statistics, nameless unfortunates only read about in the paper, or people who are far removed from normal everyday life in San Diego. On Tuesday nights, suddenly the term “homeless” has a face, a personality, a story, and most importantly, an eternal soul attached to it.

Every Tuesday night, a group of LBCers, together with some people from Chinese Evengelical Church and Harvest, meet together for prayer, then head over to the streets of Hillcrest, to care for the physical and spiritual needs of the homeless there.

When asked to describe the ministry, there is a consensus that it is a ministry centered on the sharing of the gospel of Jesus Christ in truth and in love. There is an understanding that the greatest need of the people in Hillcrest is a saving knowledge of Christ, but there is also the sobering realization that the physical circumstances around many of the homeless and the results of those circumstances have made it particularly difficult to embrace faith and life in Christ. So that these things might become less of a hindrance, meeting physical needs by passing out care packages and blankets, buying them dinner, or getting them connected with shelters and drug recovery programs are common practices.

The ministry has its share of discouragement. Many have found that even among those who can coherently understand the gospel, there are few who are teachable and willing to repent and change their way of thinking and their way of life. Inability to understand or even follow a conversation and prideful stubbornness seem to be the primary obstacles in seeing more people follow Christ on the streets.

“I’ve had mixed experiences,” says a regular attendee. “I’ve encountered some people who were intelligent, willing to listen, and kind-hearted. I’ve encountered others who were hostile, and really had to be left alone. I’ve encountered others who were mentally or physically impaired, as well as those who struggled with addictions.”

Despite the discouragement and what many might consider limited success, the group continually strives to be witness of Christ in Hillcrest every week, seeing benefits, even in their own spiritual walks.

“I’ve learned the value of the Gospel in my own life,” says one person. “Just by sharing, God has taught me how much more precious the Gospel is.”

Another one shares “I often find myself re-evaluating my own sin through these experiences, though it may not be as evident as in the homeless that we see have addictions and more blatant sin, it is easy to become Pharisee-like and become jaded by pride, and to keep this in mind.”

Another attendee adds to this sentiment, “We are always reminded that we were no better off than most of the people we talk to. We were just as enslaved to the power of sin. That makes the gospel seem much more real to myself, even in the midst of sharing it.”

The streets of Hillcrest are a dark place. But through this ministry and its effort to be a light in the community, some have come to know Christ, some have thrown off encumbering sins, and many have been given a supporting hand to stand under the consequences of past sins and personal circumstances. Regardless of all the discouragement that comes, eyes have been directed towards Christ, for the homeless, as well as those who serve in the ministry.

by Stephanie Shin