dave's wedding

my brother got married on dec 4. everything went well. it was a blessing to see our extended family come together to support him. gideon had a chance to be one of the ring boys in the ceremony.

me & barack

apparently president barack obama got a few stitches on his lip after taking an elbow in a basketball game. in my own humble life, someone almost gouged my eye out playing basketball today. luckily my cornea wasn't damaged. i was praying so hard, because my eye went completely blind for about a minute.

home cookin

preparations for the "missionary paul kim dinner"

Missionary Paul Kim & Family

these past few days i had a chance to host pastor paul kim & his family at our home. paul is a missionary in thailand. yesterday was a lot of fun as we did our new york city tour. it was also an awesome eating day. for breakfast we had bagels from one of my favorite places. for lunch it was shake shack. after lunch i finally got to try culture espresso in midtown (amazing). for dinner it was filet mignon, jumbo shrimp & jambalaya at home. the pic at bryant park is a self-portrait i took while i was waiting for them to finish the king tut exhibit.

pittsburgh roadtrip

i went on a roadtrip to pittsburgh w/some of our church guys. i didn't know that it was such a beautiful city. we went to fallingwater (the house designed by frank lloyd wright), & we tried the sandwiches at the original primanti brothers.

funny football pics

i took pictures of our church football game last sunday. in these two pics the facial expressions of the fans from the other church are so funny. it was a great catch by kevin.

carsitting

i got to babysit/carsit my friend's porsche 911s for a few days. it was awesome. nothing i have ever driven even comes close to it. in many ways it's the perfect sports car for everyday driving. i guess it's easier to overcome materialism since i'm not able to afford the things that i want.

finally got a macro lens (for close-up shots)

ihop

a few weeks ago i had the privilege of visiting ihop (international house of prayer) in kansas city. we visited the youth conference & had a chance to see mike bickle (founder of ihop) preach & lead the prayer session. all of the music teams were amazing. ironically we bumped into quite a few korean people that we knew from new jersey. i really enjoyed the rural lifestyle. driving on the big, open & uncongested highways. visiting the gigantic bass pro shop. & trying the best bbq places in kansas city. jack stack & oklahoma joe's were amazing.

food pics from the Philippines

that first dish is "tapsilog" which costed 40pesos (less than $1). jenny is holding a mangosteen, which is my favorite fruit. mangos were literally falling off the trees at one of the retreat centers we stayed at. kenny & dennis ate balut (duck embryo). i was actually relieved that no one offered me balut.

Philippines Mission Trip

we had an awesome mission trip in the philippines. we learned so much from missionary/pastor paul lim and his family. they are leading holy grace church in tangos (the third poorest slum in manila). over 50% of the people in manila live in the slums.

weekend w/george verwer

we were so blessed to have george verwer (founder of operation mobilization) deliver four messages at our church last weekend. i have been listening to his preaching since i was a teenager. it was so fun and energizing to spend time w/him, as he has such a passion for life & ministry. the man is truly on fire for God. & it is so ironic that he grew up in wyckoff, right near our church.

mexico mission trip

more pics at: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbtWrNu5bsmLIfA
we returned safely from an awesome mission trip in the yucatan peninsula of mexico. this is the third year that we led youth retreats in that region. it's amazing to see the jovenes (young people) grow up. & we are getting to meet their younger siblings too. in mexico, many people spend time outside late at night when the weather cools down. and they are so open to conversing & hearing the gospel.

inter-church good friday service

more pics at: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbtWrNu5bsmLIXg&emid=sharview&linkid=link5&cid=EMsharview

living above our means

forbes magazine announced that the world's richest man is carlos slim from mexico. he immigrated to mexico from lebanon, and he grew up very poor. i heard him say in an interview that he raises his 6 children in a two bedroom apartment w/one bathroom. he said that it would make his children better people. what a great example he has set, in a world where so many of us live way above our means.

hosanna youth rally

an estimated 1,200 students gathered for hosanna youth rally. it was a good opportunity to put my 10-20mm wide-angle lens to use.

birth of our daughter

Gabrielle Victory Ha-jin Chu was born on January 21, 2010 at 9:48am. 6lbs 4.7oz & 19.5". More pics can be found at gabriellechu.shutterfly.com

we are so grateful to God for such a precious gift & blessing. unlike gideon, she is very low maintenance. she sleeps w/o crying. even when she's awake, she just looks around w/o crying or asking for anything. she has a lot more hair than gideon ever had & it's very light, almost blond. similar to gideon, her ears are not symmetrical. i guess it's a new family trait.

winter retreat

we had our college & young adult retreat last weekend. our guest speaker (lee king) shared w/us his amazing life story. he is currently the senior pastor of hillside church in armonk, ny. when he was five-years-old, he was found living on the streets of pusan, korea. he lived at an orphanage in pusan from ages five to seven. during that time a couple from pennsylvania supported him $10/month through world vision. when he was eight, the couple from pennsylvania adopted him as their son. he shared many other stories of God's hand intervening in his life.

suicide rates rise among koreans in new york

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/nyregion/31suicides.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=korean%20suicides&st=cse

this is a very sad article about the rise of koreans in new york committing suicide. it also mentions how the rate of suicide is increasing in korea as well, even amongst some well-known political leaders & celebrities.

weekly radio program

my weekly radio program got moved from tuesdays to sundays. it airs every sunday, 3:10-3:40pm on radio station 740am & digital tv station 63.7 (new york city area). includes guest interviews, live music, biblical teaching, etc.