Hard Conversations

The young man I speak to in this vlog is a brilliant tech geek. He is well-known in the coding world because of his significant contribution to the field as a core maintainer of Babel, which is widely used among some of the biggest companies in the world. He recently worked on a new app, and I had a chance to talk to him about it. He also attends one of the AMI churches.

I had to make this vlog about Pastor Eddie because it has become apparent to me that this man had impacted so many lives, particularly pastors, with genuine love wrapped around his insightful words of wisdom! I, too, want to tell my story of how this man contributed toward what I am actually doing right now. But, before you get to that, listen first to the heartfelt words shared by pastors Joe, Seong and Bryan about the impact Pastor Eddie made in their hearts!

AMI has called Pastor Joe Suh, a long-time associate pastor at the Church of Southland in Anaheim, California, to succeed Pastor Eddie, who recently went to be with the Lord, as the Lead Pastor of Canvas City Church in Philadelphia. This is my interview with him and his wife Betty that I conducted while I was at Southland to attend Pastor Eddie's memorial service on January 3rd. The following Sunday at Canvas, I shared a message largely to prepare the congregation for their new pastor who will make an initial visit to Canvas on January 17th.

The last couple Pastor Eddie married (twice!) shares what it all means to them. They also covered the most ground (or air space) to make it to the memorial service held in Anaheim, California this past Wednesday (1.3.24). Check out their unique and special story.

Tina and Anthony Pham, from Church of Southland in Anaheim, California, have only been in northern Vietnam for three months (as of November 23, 2023). While they were in Ho Chi Minh City to attend a leadership conference AMI was holding for church leaders and pastors there, I sat down with them to talk briefly about how things were going with their missions in its very early stage.

In June, while directing AMI Institute held at the Church of Southland in Anaheim, California, I met a couple—John and Yisho—in their mid-50s who sat through the entire two weeks of the Institute. They had just made major decisions that greatly affected their careers and lifestyle in order that they could serve as missionaries in Guatemala. Five months later, I ran into their son while visiting the Living Water Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. This vlog is about what this son really thinks about his parents who have kissed the American Dream goodbye so they can serve God as missionaries.

This was the first-time visiting Vietnam after COVID-19; prior to that I had made multiple visits to this beautiful country forever linked to America because of the infamous war. Anyway, of all the people I have met there, Phi and Mai stand out as the most genuine believers. I interviewed them so that you can get to know them as well.

I just came back from Seoul, South Korea, and during my time there with my AMI colleagues, I learned something about missionaries to Korea I never knew. It had the effect of deeply touching all our hearts in gratitude of their sacrifice to serve Koreans at behest of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Earlier this month (Nov. 2023), I visited the Living Water Church in Over-The-Rhines, Cincinnati, Ohio. The last time I visited this church was February of 2020, that is, a month or so before the Pandemic led to the shutting down of the country. While the sudden passing of Dr. Johann in 2019 was accompanied by many changes made to the Living Water ministry, some things have remained unchanged, such as former AMI interns deciding to stay in the OTR community to live and to serve the Lord; in my latest visit, I got to interview four of them. Listen to their stories and understand why some people are drawn to this city despite its penchant for violence.

I recently sat down with Pastor Mark and had a conversation about his battle with a serious physical ailment that led him to make a life-altering decision in January of this year. We talked about faith, life and second chance.