This episode marks the 1 year anniversary of dPod. One year ago on 12/2/22, we published our first full-length episode of dPod (DP's Mind: Faith Journey). Since then we've published 1700 minutes of content. Our top episode ever was Ep.16 The Dating Episode (Part 1): The Bro Staff, which for 27% of you was the first episode you listened to. And we've had over 6000 plays just on Spotify in the past year! A year ago, this was totally an experiment for whether we could get asynchronous content to our students here at UChicago/IIT (which is still its core goal) but I know that a lot of others have been listening in, and I hope that it has been and will continue to be a blessing to you!

Now for today's episode, hurriedly released to be released on the day of the dPod 1 year anniversary, is the final installment of Basics--the series that's all about coming back to the basics of Christian living. For this week, I talk with Tofunmi, Biatris, and Hyuna about Christian friendships, or as we talk about it a lot at our church ... "peer" relationships. What's special about it? What's hard about it? How have they helped us to grow?

It's a marathon episode! I interviewed AGE (Anezi, Gisselle, and Eden), who were part of the first class of students to go through all four years at our UChicago ministry. And in typical UChicago style, they have a lot to share with us! We talk about how God formed them in college, the unique aspects of UChicago life, and how transitioning from student to working life has been.

Also, you'll hear at the end they do some shoutouts for past UChicago staff. Then after we recorded I received this group text: "WE FORGOT GILBERT YAAAAAAAANG" ... so Gilbert, if you're listening/reading this, you're not forgotten (:

This week's episode is a recording of what Ben and Amy shared during our college Sunday Service at Voyage College Church. Yesterday was their last day with us before we sent them off to join the college ministry staff in West Lafayette. We'll miss them a lot in Chicago!

In this week's "Peers" episode, we have Mike Park, whom I've known for 16 years (crazy). We talk about a variety of topics: his exit from a certain tech company which now has a one-letter name, parenthood, soccer, dancing, his brief pioneering foray into podcasting, and of course, his spiritual story as well. Hope you enjoy!

Show Notes:

- Couple of photos of me and Mike (one from sophomore year and one from 2021 with Steve)

- Korean Podcast that Mike started in 2020

Percy and Elaine Chen moved from Berkeley to join us in Chicago this past summer. So we brought back BTS! We talk about their faith journey and their experiences of living in ministry homes of 20+ people.

In BTS (Behind the Staff) episodes, we interview different staff mentors to hear their faith journeys, and the stories that make them who they are today. Have suggestions for future episodes? Or have a question you want answered? Ask at bit.ly/dpod-ama

This week's conversation is with Vincent, who I spent a lot of time with because we both majored in Industrial Engineering for our bachelor's and master's degrees. We talk about his superpower: ordering Chinese food for large groups, about Kaleo ministry, and about what it's been like working in Silicon Valley for the past decade while doing ministry.

Here's a picture from Vincent's wedding with our college friends together

And here’s the picture from his Taiwan mission trip I reference in the episode: (Vincent is the one talking into the mic)

I'm starting up a new series where I'll interview some of my peers from our network. First up is Dan, who ministers to international students in College Park, MD. We talk about his transition to our church and how impactful serving in children's ministry was; we talk apologetics and how he grew in that; and we talk about balancing work with ministry and life!

Here's a picture of Dan and some of our friends when they visited Chicago, and I gave them a tour of UChicago (the tall one in the back right)

UPDATE: I added in a special recording at the end coming to us from the Philippines!

Tof, Bia, Cata, and I talk about our recent mission trip to the Philippines. And we hear from a bunch of the Philippines mission trip members as well!