Farewell Memories

I wrote down some memories of my time at CFC as I prepare to move to Chicagoland for this semester’s issue of cfcwrites (publication ministry of CFC). Be sure to check out the the full issue here.

Wiping the sweat off my face, I said to myself, “I live among a land of boxes.” That’s what the last couple of weeks have felt like. Combing over Craigslist for free empty boxes, bringing them home, filling them as fast as possible (but not so fast that I would break anything), my family and I have been trying to wrap up 11 years of our lives in Champaign-Urbana. How do you fit 11 years into a room full of boxes? Of course, you can’t but you can try. The thing about packing things away – once in a while, something in your hand triggers a memory and you’re taken to a place of reminiscing, regretting, repenting and/or rejoicing.

Wedding/Honeymoon Pictures

After a seven-year (five years of it long-distance) relationship, Janet and I got married in June 1999 right before I came on staff at CFC. We were college sweethearts committed to marrying each other since our junior year. Our union didn’t come easy. Only after much prayer did my “reluctant-to-give-their-daughter-to-a-pastor-eventual-in-laws” consent to our marriage. God really worked in their hearts as they saw the Body of Christ lovingly serving at our wedding and reception.

After the wedding, we went to a pastors/officers fasting and prayer retreat. Yes, romantic, I know. It was the best decision we made as a brand new couple. We covered our marriage, our children to come, our ministry, and ourselves in prayer.

Summer Missions & Praise Night VHS Tapes

Remember VHS recorders? I have a box of old praise night and missions video tapes. Until they make everything into a digital file, I am not throwing these away. Even though my ‘94 Ethiopia tape has a grainy line right across the middle of the screen, it still moves me when I watch it. I can still hear the Christians in Addis Ababa greeting me with a hearty “Igzabihar Imesken” (Praise the Lord) while offering me their cheek for a holy kiss. There are also certain skits or songs in the praise night or how to survive videos that just kills me every time. Every video is a reminder of God’s faithfulness through the years.

1 Samuel Sermon Series

I think this was the first “series” I remember Pastor Min preaching. It was definitely the first one that made a profound mark on my conscience. It was my introduction to expository preaching. Over the course of the last two decades, tapes turned into CDs, which turned into mp3s, but the way CFC values the preaching of God’s Word remains unchanged. I will always remember this church as a place where we tried to hear God’s heartbeat through the pages of Scripture. When I was in seminary in Philadelphia, before sermons were posted online the same day they were preached, I used to anxiously wait for the sermon tapes that CFC would send me and devour them. May God’s Word always be central here.

Small Group Apparel

I must admit, small group t-shirts have gotten more wearable over the years. Shirts plastered with clumsy Christian-ese have evolved to nicer designs. Although you’ve got to admit, old school t-shirts like “Life is short. Pray hard.”, which was a spinoff of Reebok’s “Life is short. Play hard.” were pretty hot. OK, maybe not. How many countless small groups have been formed over the years here? That’s thousands of small group meetings, dinners, Turkey Run outings, etc. Just like I maneuvered the moving boxes like Tetris pieces to make them fit in the moving truck, people from all different backgrounds have “fit” together under Jesus the head. I’ve seen the gospel bring many different kinds of people together. As Pastor Min once said, “strange alliances happen around the cross.”

I have been especially privileged to be part of the many different ethnic Bible Studies (Indian Christian Fellowship, LIGHT, International Student Connections, Indonesian groups, etc.). In that sense, I’ve seen CFC become a more varied and beautiful mosaic.

Prayer Realm

Lastly, the thing I thought of while packing was that I live in the realm of prayer. Any time I would go out of town and drive back to Champaign, when getting on Market Street, I would say to myself, “Back in the realm.” I will never forget the countless prayer meetings with pastors, church members, my family, and alone. If I remember anything, it’s this, “Pray like your life depends on it. Pray because your life depends on it.” I will never forget the sounds of fellow saints’ prayers that would ring inside the chapel of CUCC, Stonecreek, First Baptist, Foellinger Auditorirum, or anywhere that God granted us to set up church for that week.

CFC, thank you for reading through this brief moment down memory lane. Thank you for allowing my family and me to be a part of your journey. Thank you for being a part of the last 11 years of our journey. May the Lord bless you and keep you until we meet again.