Living Life Testimony (19) - Janice Goh

Admin •
August 9, 2026

8 Minute Read

Hi everyone, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Janice.

I first came to this church because of my best friend, Esther Kim. After accepting Christ, I was really excited to begin this new journey of faith, but if I'm being honest, I also felt completely lost. I had so many questions about the Bible, about Christianity, and even about who God really is.

One day Esther came to me and said, "Why don't we take Living Life together? Then you can ask all the questions you've been wanting to ask."

We actually tried to join during the winter, but because we were studying in Guelph and Living Life wasn’t offered online, we couldn’t attend. Looking back now, I’m actually glad we waited because I realized how important it was to experience this class in person.

When registration opened again for the summer, Esther immediately messaged me and said, "Let's do it this time! You can stay at my house every week and I can see you more often this summer." I really wanted to say yes, but there was one problem. Summer was my co-op semester. As an international student, my co-op was really important because it helped support my living expenses and prepare me financially for the next semester. But I still hadn’t found a job, and if I couldn’t secure one soon, I had to drop my co-op. At the same time, saying “yes” to Living Life meant: travelling every Wednesday after work from Guelph to Richmond Hill which takes about 3 hours, staying until Sunday for church, and then returning home.

My mind was full of worries.

"What if I don't get a job?"

"What if I'm making the wrong decision?"

I tried to solve everything myself.

I kept thinking, "I'll find a job first, and then I'll decide if I can take Living Life."

But as the Living Life sign up deadline got closer, I still didn't have a job. That was when I finally stopped trying to figure everything out on my own and started praying. One day, almost out of nowhere, I texted Esther, "Let's take Living Life together. I'm going to trust God. I'll sign up first, and I'll leave the rest to Him."

Looking back now, I think that was the first time I truly chose faith over certainty.

When Living Life began, I enjoyed every class. Every Wednesday I learned more about who God is, but God wasn’t only teaching me through the classes. Every week, He also gave me opportunities to actually practise what I was learning, especially how to trust Him more and more. During one of my prayers, I made a promise to God. I said, "God, if You provide me with a co-op job and help me complete every Living Life class, I'll share my testimony so people will know the great things You have done for me."

Near the end of May, during the last week of co-op recruitment, I had almost given up. I remember deciding that the next morning I would print my résumé and hand it out at shopping malls to look for a part-time job instead. But before I even got out of bed in that morning, my phone rang. It was my previous co-op employer. Two months earlier, I had emailed them asking if they were hiring, and they told me they weren't. But this time, they called me and offered me a hybrid co-op position. At that moment I knew this wasn't just coincidence or luck. God had already prepared a way before I could even see it.

Even my work schedule worked perfectly. I worked from home three days a week and went into the Kitchener office two days a week. Every Wednesday, after work, I travelled straight from Kitchener to Richmond Hill for Living Life.

Looking back, I often told people that attending Living Life felt like a reward every week. Not because travelling was easy. But because every Wednesday became another opportunity to experience God's faithfulness. He gave me energy after a full day of work. He provided enough financially for all my transportation. He helped me stay awake and focused during class after hours of travelling. Even preparing snacks became another reminder of His care. (For Living Life, we would rotate providing snacks for the classes)

Even something as small as preparing snacks for class became another reminder of His care. Since I travelled directly from work, I didn’t know how I would prepare them when it was my turn. But the first time, Esther’s mom prepared everything for me, and another time, my shepherd Joy helped provide them. It reminded me that sometimes God provides through the people He places around us.

One Wednesday especially reminded me of that. Because of a misunderstanding, I thought there wasn't going to be a class that week, so I accepted a nail appointment after work. (PSA: I work as a nail tech as a side hustle.) While I was working, I saw Esther messaged the group to confirm there was no class that day. But the next message was Pastor Caleb replying that we do have class. Immediately, I started panicking. I hadn't packed anything. I had a client. I still had work to finish. And somehow I needed to get to Richmond Hill. Normally, I would've tried to solve everything myself. But this time, the very first thing I did was pray. Right there at my desk, I folded my hands and prayed, "God, I really want to go to class today. I don't care how You do it, but please make a way."

After that prayer, one thing after another fell into place. My manager kindly let me leave early, I rushed home to pack, managed to rearrange my nail appointment, and somehow still caught my bus to Richmond Hill. When I arrived in Richmond Hill, I accidentally got on the wrong bus and ended up one stop away from church. Walking would have taken another thirty minutes. Then I looked at my phone. It had only 1% battery left. I was able to quickly book an Uber before my phone died. When I finally got into the car, it started pouring rain. I remember sitting there thinking, "God... You really didn't want me walking in the rain today." It wasn't a huge miracle, but it reminded me once again that God cared about every detail of my journey.

Another lesson that deeply impacted me was during the class on our identity in Christ. Around that time, people kept asking why I was travelling to Richmond Hill every single week just for a Bible class. Some people looked at me as if I was wasting my time. Others questioned whether it was worth it. Eventually I started questioning myself. Am I being weird? Am I making the wrong decision?

Then during class, Pastor Caleb said something that felt like God was speaking directly to me. He said that Christians should expect to look "weird" to the world because we are called to live differently. He also reminded us not to fear because God protects His children. I remember tearing up during that lesson and even marking it in my notebook because I didn't want to forget it. He ended by teaching that God allows trials only within what we are able to bear and that He always provides a way for us to endure them. That truth has stayed with me ever since.Before Living Life, whenever I faced difficulties, I would immediately think, "How am I going to solve this?" Now, my first response is becoming, "God, how are You going to lead me through this?" Living Life didn't remove my challenges. I still had work. I still had long journeys. I still had stress. But it completely changed how I walked through them.

My favourite verse from Living Life is Revelation 3:20:

"See, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me."

Before taking this class, I thought trusting God meant waiting until I had everything figured out. Now I realise that God wasn't asking me to have all the answers. He was simply asking me to open the door and trust Him one step at a time. Looking back, I realize the greatest miracle wasn't just getting a co-op job. It wasn't making it to class every Wednesday. It wasn't even the many little ways God provided throughout the journey. The greatest miracle was that God was changing my heart. Living Life taught me that God isn't only interested in giving us answers. He wants us to know Him, trust Him, and walk with Him. Today, I still don't know what challenges tomorrow will bring. But now I know I don't have to face them alone.

Before I end, I also want to thank Pastor Caleb for these 13 weeks and for always patiently answering all of my many questions. Thank you to my amazing classmates, my shepherd Joy, Esther and her family for always taking care of me and giving me a place to stay, and everyone else who has encouraged and supported me throughout this journey.

Thank you.

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August 9, 2026 • 8 Minute Read

Living Life Testimony (19) - Janice Goh

Hi everyone, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Janice. I first came to this church because of my best friend, Esther Kim. After accepting Christ, I was really excited to begin this new journey of faith, but if I'm being honest, I also felt completely lost. I had so many questions about the Bible, about Christianity, and even about who God really is. One day Esther came to me and said, "Why don't we take Living Life together? Then you can ask all the questions you've been wanting to ask." We actually tried to join during the winter, but because we were studying in Guelph and Living Life wasn’t offered online, we couldn’t attend. Looking back now, I’m actually glad we waited because I realized how important it was to experience this class in person. When registration opened again for the summer, Esther immediately messaged me and said, "Let's do it this time! You can stay at my house every week and I can see you more often this summer." I really wanted to say yes, but there was one problem. Summer was my co-op semester. As an international student, my co-op was really important because it helped support my living expenses and prepare me financially for the next semester. But I still hadn’t found a job, and if I couldn’t secure one soon, I had to drop my co-op. At the same time, saying “yes” to Living Life meant: travelling every Wednesday after work from Guelph to Richmond Hill which takes about 3 hours, staying until Sunday for church, and then returning home. My mind was full of worries. "What if I don't get a job?" "What if I'm making the wrong decision?" I tried to solve everything myself. I kept thinking, "I'll find a job first, and then I'll decide if I can take Living Life." But as the Living Life sign up deadline got closer, I still didn't have a job. That was when I finally stopped trying to figure everything out on my own and started praying. One day, almost out of nowhere, I texted Esther, "Let's take Living Life together. I'm going to trust God. I'll sign up first, and I'll leave the rest to Him." Looking back now, I think that was the first time I truly chose faith over certainty. When Living Life began, I enjoyed every class. Every Wednesday I learned more about who God is, but God wasn’t only teaching me through the classes. Every week, He also gave me opportunities to actually practise what I was learning, especially how to trust Him more and more. During one of my prayers, I made a promise to God. I said, "God, if You provide me with a co-op job and help me complete every Living Life class, I'll share my testimony so people will know the great things You have done for me." Near the end of May, during the last week of co-op recruitment, I had almost given up. I remember deciding that the next morning I would print my résumé and hand it out at shopping malls to look for a part-time job instead. But before I even got out of bed in that morning, my phone rang. It was my previous co-op employer. Two months earlier, I had emailed them asking if they were hiring, and they told me they weren't. But this time, they called me and offered me a hybrid co-op position. At that moment I knew this wasn't just coincidence or luck. God had already prepared a way before I could even see it. Even my work schedule worked perfectly. I worked from home three days a week and went into the Kitchener office two days a week. Every Wednesday, after work, I travelled straight from Kitchener to Richmond Hill for Living Life. Looking back, I often told people that attending Living Life felt like a reward every week. Not because travelling was easy. But because every Wednesday became another opportunity to experience God's faithfulness. He gave me energy after a full day of work. He provided enough financially for all my transportation. He helped me stay awake and focused during class after hours of travelling. Even preparing snacks became another reminder of His care. (For Living Life, we would rotate providing snacks for the classes) Even something as small as preparing snacks for class became another reminder of His care. Since I travelled directly from work, I didn’t know how I would prepare them when it was my turn. But the first time, Esther’s mom prepared everything for me, and another time, my shepherd Joy helped provide them. It reminded me that sometimes God provides through the people He places around us. One Wednesday especially reminded me of that. Because of a misunderstanding, I thought there wasn't going to be a class that week, so I accepted a nail appointment after work. (PSA: I work as a nail tech as a side hustle.) While I was working, I saw Esther messaged the group to confirm there was no class that day. But the next message was Pastor Caleb replying that we do have class. Immediately, I started panicking. I hadn't packed anything. I had a client. I still had work to finish. And somehow I needed to get to Richmond Hill. Normally, I would've tried to solve everything myself. But this time, the very first thing I did was pray. Right there at my desk, I folded my hands and prayed, "God, I really want to go to class today. I don't care how You do it, but please make a way." After that prayer, one thing after another fell into place. My manager kindly let me leave early, I rushed home to pack, managed to rearrange my nail appointment, and somehow still caught my bus to Richmond Hill. When I arrived in Richmond Hill, I accidentally got on the wrong bus and ended up one stop away from church. Walking would have taken another thirty minutes. Then I looked at my phone. It had only 1% battery left. I was able to quickly book an Uber before my phone died. When I finally got into the car, it started pouring rain. I remember sitting there thinking, "God... You really didn't want me walking in the rain today." It wasn't a huge miracle, but it reminded me once again that God cared about every detail of my journey. Another lesson that deeply impacted me was during the class on our identity in Christ. Around that time, people kept asking why I was travelling to Richmond Hill every single week just for a Bible class. Some people looked at me as if I was wasting my time. Others questioned whether it was worth it. Eventually I started questioning myself. Am I being weird? Am I making the wrong decision? Then during class, Pastor Caleb said something that felt like God was speaking directly to me. He said that Christians should expect to look "weird" to the world because we are called to live differently. He also reminded us not to fear because God protects His children. I remember tearing up during that lesson and even marking it in my notebook because I didn't want to forget it. He ended by teaching that God allows trials only within what we are able to bear and that He always provides a way for us to endure them. That truth has stayed with me ever since.Before Living Life, whenever I faced difficulties, I would immediately think, "How am I going to solve this?" Now, my first response is becoming, "God, how are You going to lead me through this?" Living Life didn't remove my challenges. I still had work. I still had long journeys. I still had stress. But it completely changed how I walked through them. My favourite verse from Living Life is Revelation 3:20: "See, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." Before taking this class, I thought trusting God meant waiting until I had everything figured out. Now I realise that God wasn't asking me to have all the answers. He was simply asking me to open the door and trust Him one step at a time. Looking back, I realize the greatest miracle wasn't just getting a co-op job. It wasn't making it to class every Wednesday. It wasn't even the many little ways God provided throughout the journey. The greatest miracle was that God was changing my heart. Living Life taught me that God isn't only interested in giving us answers. He wants us to know Him, trust Him, and walk with Him. Today, I still don't know what challenges tomorrow will bring. But now I know I don't have to face them alone. Before I end, I also want to thank Pastor Caleb for these 13 weeks and for always patiently answering all of my many questions. Thank you to my amazing classmates, my shepherd Joy, Esther and her family for always taking care of me and giving me a place to stay, and everyone else who has encouraged and supported me throughout this journey. Thank you.

Admin

July 19, 2026 • 5 Minute Read

Growing Life Testimony - Philip Kim

Hi everyone. My name is Phil, and I am currently serving as the Shepherd's Husband for PNG House Church. Today, I want to share how God used the Growing Life Bible Study and the Shepherd's Conference in Houston to transform my heart. Before taking the Growing Life class, I want to honestly share where I was spiritually. For quite some time, I had been struggling with apathy and burnout. My quiet time and prayer life became something I did only occasionally, and even then, it often felt like I was simply checking off a box because it was something I "should" do as a Christian rather than something I genuinely desired. In ministry, I truly love my house church members, but serving often felt heavy. There would be many nights where I would work, get into stressful and difficult situations at work, come home at 6am, wake up, set up and do house church. I would wonder to myself, "when will this become easier? When will serving start to feel normal?" Some weeks I felt energized and joyful in ministry. Other weeks I felt exhausted and discouraged. Looking back, I realized my spiritual foundation wasn't firm. My walk with God was constantly fluctuating depending on how I felt. That was where I was before taking Growing Life. Ironically, I didn't sign up because I was eager to take the class. The men in my house church wanted to take it, so I took it for their sake. But God knew I needed it far more than I realized. There were two lessons God used to begin restoring my relationship with Him. The first was learning what quiet time and prayer truly meant. As a Christian, I always knew QT stood for "Quiet Time," but I had never really stopped to think about what that meant. Quiet time means personal time with God in solace. Quiet time isn't simply reading through a chapter of Scripture and moving on. It's intentionally spending personal, undistracted time with God. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus regularly withdrew to lonely places to pray. He sought solitude to be with His Father. One of the practical things I learned was that sometimes it is better to slowly meditate on one verse than to rush through an entire chapter. Instead of asking, "What do I want God to say to me today?" I learned to sit quietly, reflect on His Word, and ask, "God, what do You want to say to me?" I honestly can't remember the last time I had simply sat in silence before God, listening instead of speaking. The second lesson was learning that ministry is a marathon, not a sprint. Somehow, I had convinced myself that if ministry felt difficult, something must be wrong. But Growing Life reminded me that serving God isn't supposed to be easy. It's supposed to stretch us. Like training a muscle, spiritual endurance develops over time. The struggle itself isn't failure. God uses that struggle to mature us and to help us see the joy of salvation in serving others. Those two lessons answered the questions I had been carrying in my heart. I realized my apathy wasn't simply because I was tired—it came from a distant relationship with God. My frustration with ministry wasn't because ministry was the problem—it was because I had been looking at it through my own limited vision instead of God's vision for His Church. Over those seven weeks with Caleb, God slowly replaced frustration with peace. And through that peace, He gave me confidence. For a long time I wondered whether I was ready to step into greater responsibility. Today, I believe God is calling me to serve as the Shepherd of PNG House Church. I don't say that because I feel capable. I say it because I believe God is calling me, and I want to obey Him. That leads to my experience at the Shepherd's Conference in Houston. I feel like the conference reaffirmed God’s promises, not only to me, but to our church as well. I can speak for all the shepherds and shepherd’s wives that attended, God prepared a table for us to eat, rest, and be refreshed. I also want to give a special thank you to our praise team, who led worship during the conference at New Life Fellowship. I'm normally not someone who raises my hands during worship. But standing there with around two hundred believers singing together, I couldn't help it. Without even thinking, my hands reached out toward God. It wasn't because of emotion alone. It was because I was overwhelmed by His faithfulness. The sermons and testimonies also reminded me how blessed we are. Listening to the pastors throughout the conference made me realize how much wisdom and stacked we are in this ministry. Become a shepherd or a marry a shepherd, just to attend this conference. its worth it. It also reminded me that our church isn't serving alone. The work we are doing through house churches and youth house churches is part of something much bigger than ourselves. God is moving through churches around the world. I want to finish with the verse that God impressed on my heart through the conference. Psalm 23:1 says, "The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing." Before Growing Life, I often focused on what I lacked—more energy, more passion, more strength, more motivation. But God reminded me that if He is truly my Shepherd, then I already have everything I need to follow Him faithfully. And because of that, I can trust Him to lead me, to sustain me, and to use me for His glory. Thank you.

Admin

May 24, 2026 • 7 Minute Read

Baptism Testimony - Youngshin Kim

I was born into a typical Confucian and Buddhist culture in Korea. We had lots of ancestor ceremonies every year, and I didn’t know anyone in my family — even distant relatives — who went to church at that time. But when I became an adult, I started wondering: “Who is the real me? Why was I born? What is the purpose of life? What is love? Is there a God?” I met my husband, and he was a good and caring person. We had two beautiful daughters, but somehow I was still unhappy, lonely, and gloomy. That made me carry so much guilt inside me, and it made me think I wasn’t a good mom. I felt like I was carrying a huge stone inside me. So I started searching for answers. I did counseling and joined some group counseling here in Canada, and it has been such an important support group for the past 9 years. We read a lot of philosophy and psychology books and shared our emotions openly. That helped lighten my guilt a lot. But I was still lonely and gloomy. At the beginning of last year, I concluded that there was no God. I was tired of searching for answers, and I thought, “If there is a God, why is the world like thi” Then a few months later, our family went through a huge suffering. It was such a massive challenge and we had to battle every single day. My husband and I agreed it was the hardest thing we had ever faced in our lives. I was scared it would never end and that we would have to live like that forever. But after four months, we could finally see it was ending. It almost felt like a miracle. I felt so much gratitude then, but I didn’t know where that gratitude should go… to me? To my husband? To the hospital staff? We all did our best, but the gratitude I felt was so much bigger than just us. So I thought, maybe I should go to church and find out. I called Sharon, who I had known her for about 7 years, and she knew about our situation. She had been praying for us. I went to Mokmin Church last October, and that was my first official church visit. I had gone one time when I was 10 years old, but after that I never wanted to go to church again. I felt so awkward, and the gospel song lyrics sounded cheesy and weird to me back then. So guess what my biggest concern was on the day I went to Mokmin Church? The gospel songs. But luckily, I was okay. I even related some of the lyrics to myself and my suffering, and a few times I teared up a little. But I wiped my tears away very quickly because I didn’t want the “church people” to see me crying. I still had my guard up really high back then. After visiting the Korean church a few times, Sharon suggested that I also visit “The Seed” church to experience something different. It was nice. Then one day, after a few visits, our praise team— thank you for playing that song — sang Holy Forever. Maybe because I had watched The Passion of the Christ the week before, when the lyrics started: “Your name is the highest, Your name is the greatest, Your name stands above them all…” from that moment, I started crying so much. Really, so much. I was thinking about Jesus, not myself. Just like the lyrics said, I truly hoped Jesus could hear us singing for Him. He is worthy. And I felt so sorry that He died for us and went through all that suffering. That became a huge turning point in my journey, and after that I became much more open to church, to people, to gospel songs — to everything. Recently I joined the Daniel Fast, and it was so helpful. I had some amazing experiences. My days became filled with the Bible, testimonies, and gospel songs instead of TV dramas or news. After one week, suddenly I had an idea. Since I felt like I was almost becoming a Christian, I prayed: “God, can You please appear in my dream the way You sometimes do for other people? I’m so curious what kind of figure You would be in my dream.” Then I went to bed. The next morning, I woke up at 6 a.m. as usual and started making my kids’ lunches. You know that feeling when you have a really good dream or a really bad dream, and the feeling stays with you after you wake up? That morning, I felt so happy, and my heart felt so warm. I kept thinking about the dream. Then after about 30 minutes, suddenly I was in shock. “Wait… wait a second… really? Was that Jes? Really? Did He listen to my prayer?” So… this was my dream. In the dream, I was staying for one week at my grand-uncle’s house. In Korea, we call older male relatives “할아버지.” I was calling him 할아버지. We spent time together all day long in his yard. He didn’t say much, but I knew he loved me so much. The whole atmosphere was filled with warmth and love. Of course, I loved him too. We were just facing each other, and I talked to him all day long. Then after one week, I had to go back to my mom’s house. So I told him I had to leave. And he said… “Visit me twice a day.” And I answered, “Yes. Yes, I will.” I was so happy because I could see him again every day, twice a day. Then I woke up. So… if that 할아버지 was Jesus, I thought, how do I visit Him twice a day? Ah… I can pray twice a day. And I’ve been doing that ever since, with joy. Jesus wants to see me and wants me to visit Him. Of course I will. I don’t know if that dream came from my unconscious mind or not, but honestly, I don’t really care what it was. Through that dream, I experienced what Jesus’ love could feel like. At some point, I realized I don’t ask those lifelong questions anymore: “How can I be happy?” “Why am I still lonely?” “Why was I born?” “What is the purpose of life?” “What is love?” I’m happier now, and I’m filled with a little more joy. But that little joy and happiness have made a huge difference in me. I’m kinder to my neighbors and greet them with genuine happiness. I’m kinder to my husband and my kids too, and I hope they can feel that. I’m so happy to be baptized today! I am so thankful to all the members of this church who have been so welcoming to me. I want to give a special thanks to my house church members and my shepperds, Sharon & Edward. The encouragement and support of both my shepperds and the house church members are one of the main reasons why I am here today. I also wanted to thank my Friday counselling group and my family, who have been so supportive and happy for me. Lastly, THANK YOU to our praise team for playing Holy Forever. Thank you.

Admin

April 22, 2026 • 1 Minute Read

Living Life (19) Completion

Congratulations to Jeesu Sohn, Lisa Ahn, Janice Goh, Esther Kim, Zhiyong Ye on successfully completing Living Life! May you continue to grow into a mature follower of Jesus!

Admin

April 5, 2026 • 7 Minute Read

Growing Life Testimony - Sean Ahn

Hi everyone, my name is Sean and this is my Growing Life testimony. The reason why I took Growing Life, well I don’t know. I’m not entirely sure why I decided to take it. I don’t remember what I was hoping to get out of Growing Life. If I’m honest, this is how my life looked ever since I joined this church. Take New Family Class, GPS, pick Housechurch, go on mission, join a team ministry and so on. At first, I thought it was because I wanted to do it, but no. I don’t wanna do missions, I don’t wanna dance and perform in front of strangers, I wish I could do more University club stuff instead of doing church, and so on. All of these, I just did, because someone told me to do it and maybe out of fear that I can’t stay here if I don’t do these things. Growing Life was the next step after Living life, so I took it. Growing Life taught me to do Quiet Time, so just like every other thing I’ve done, I did it. I won’t deny it was helpful. During my QT, I experienced healing. I had two chest pains ever since Grade 9, one in the middle of my chest, a feeling of tightness and burden, and another was on my heart, a sharp pain that attacked my nerves from my heart to my fourth finger in my right hand. One QT night, it was gone. Ever since I was young I asked for healing and look, it happened. I’m very thankful that God healed me. But even after all of this, something felt wrong. I think that’s why the last couple of months were very difficult, I couldn’t just do it anymore. I needed some sort of a breakthrough, a goal as to why I’m doing all this. I was getting tired and close to getting a burnout from trying not to be overwhelmed. I didn’t let myself be overwhelmed, “You are not doing a lot, you should be doing more, you shouldn’t be tired.” I was saved, my assurance in salvation has never been this solid and Growing life strengthened my belief further. But it was still there. Despite everything, I kept doing my Quiet Time. I asked for help, and God brought me back all the way to the start, when I didn’t know who God was. At first, I remember being so thankful to Jesus who took on my sin and resurrected with glory. In one sense, amazing! I’m all set for life now, right? But the more I do bible study, the more I serve, the more I spend time with God, a part of me was scared. I had no understanding or context for why Jesus did what he did. Of course, it’s because he loves us all, but what is that? What is love that God would go through hell? So when other people showed any form of love or care to me, I was scared. Why are you so nice to me? I sin and I hurt people, that's all I do. I don’t deserve any of this. At one time I truly believed these. The more I struggled the more I suffered, because now I know enough to deny these thoughts. But the feelings are still there and I can’t just stop feeling. So I fell into a cycle of feeling stress and adding more stress because it felt like I shouldn’t be feeling stress. Growing Life did prove me wrong. One thing I was taught is that God strengthened me to have a choice. If I accept that Jesus is Lord and I am a container, he gives me strength to overcome this war between choosing my old nature, sin, or the new nature, Jesus. Once I let go of the pride that tells me “you shouldn’t ask for help” Jesus comes into my life. In all my prayers, I end with “Let your will be done” and thanksgiving. I don’t understand how God will work through all I’m going through right now, but I can still choose to trust him. Even if my feelings say no to God, I can still choose to say yes to God. Every time I went to God, whether I blamed him or I was angry at him, he was always there. There was a day this week where I couldn’t get out of this suffering and grief that I was physically sick. It felt like something was crawling inside of my chest with fire. I cried out to God, why did I ever do anything just to suffer even more? Why did you heal me and give me something worse? But I still came to him, and he comforted me. I was worried that now that I blamed God knowing that I was wrong to blame him. But God didn’t hate me for being angry or sad, he simply stayed with me. Soon, I prayed, “God, I don’t understand why I have to go through all this, why I have to come to you in such overwhelming fear and grief, in anger and suffering, but I trust you.” Once I gave this prayer, I was healed. and he reminded me why I started this path, it was to chase after Jesus with all that I am because I experienced his love and I wanted to know how to love like him. Now I strive for his love with everything that I am. Already God is showing me why I went through such struggle and pain. Lisa was crying, and she shared that she was overwhelmed, feeling like she needs to do more to be perfect, but she isn’t enough. I also went through this struggle and I overcame through the teachings in sermons and my prayer with God. Then I realized I could comfort her. I thought it was impossible for me to be a help and a comfort to someone, but God did. Now, I’m joyful and thankful that I went through it all. Knowing this, I am excited for what the future holds for me. I may not see or understand why I have to go through certain things, but if it ends up bringing glory to God, I can move forward. For my feelings, I just need to pray to God and ask for help when I feel overwhelmed. When I felt like I didn’t want to pray, I praised God. When I praise God, whether I feel the lyrics or not, just singing them helps, Christ be magnified is a great song. I mean the bridge is so epic, I won't bow to idols, I'll stand strong and worship You And if it puts me in the fire, I'll rejoice 'cause You're there too I won't be formed by feelings, I hold fast to what is true If the cross brings transformation then I'll be crucified with You Amazing song. To conclude, I am very thankful for everything I went through. There are a lot of things I don’t understand, but Growing Life taught me how to trust God despite everything. I was equipped with many tools when I am under these situations again. I want to thank Anthony. He was so patient with me during Growing Life and he taught me so many things. And above all, I want to praise and thank God who is exactly who he says he is, faithful, good, merciful and above all, love.

Admin

December 21, 2025 • 1 Minute Read

New Family Class (45) Completion

Congratulations to Lisa Ahn on successfully completing the New Family Class (NFC)! May God empower you to serve Jesus and his church with joy and passion.

Admin

December 18, 2025 • 1 Minute Read

New Life (5) Completion

Congratulations to Sarah Cho, Angela Kang, Ryan Kang, Esther Byun, Jennifer Kang on successfully completing New Life! May you continue to grow into mature followers of Jesus!

Admin

December 17, 2025 • 1 Minute Read

Living Life (18) Completion

Congratulations to Joyce Kwack, Sophia Sung, Estelle Kim on successfully completing Living Life! May you continue to grow into a mature follower of Jesus!

Admin

November 16, 2025 • 1 Minute Read

New Family Class (44) Completion

Congratulations to Joseph Son on successfully completing the New Family Class (NFC)! May God empower you to serve Jesus and his church with joy and passion.

Admin

October 19, 2025 • 1 Minute Read

New Family Class (43) Completion

Congratulations to Boran Lee, Estelle Kim, Nathan Kim on successfully completing the New Family Class (NFC)! May God empower you to serve Jesus and his church with joy and passion.

Admin

September 21, 2025 • 1 Minute Read

New Family Class (42) Completion

Congratulations to Eunjin Kim, Eric Byun on successfully completing the New Family Class (NFC)! May God empower you to serve Jesus and his church with joy and passion.

Admin

September 14, 2025 • 6 Minute Read

HC Lay-leader Seminar Testimony - Sarah Cho

Hi, everyone. My name is Sarah, and today I will be sharing my testimony about my experience at the House Church Lay Leader Seminar in Houston I attended along with Jeesu and Chan. To give some context about how I felt about house church before attending the seminar, we need to take a short trip down memory lane. Many years ago, I served as a youth shepherd here at The Seed, and at that time, I felt that my end goal would be to become an adult shepherd – specifically, a shepherd’s wife, but for now we’ll just leave it as adult shepherd. I was young, energetic, and had a passion and fire for house church ministry. And then I entered adulthood, which was a whole lot of trials and suffering. Life became extremely difficult, and instead of turning to God, I tried doing everything my own way. Because I had so little of God’s love in me, I had so little love to give to others at house church. Selfishly, I only served out of obligation, or only when it wasn’t an inconvenience to me. I also watched the shepherds around me – my parents, my older brother, my own shepherd – and saw how difficult and sacrificial the role was. It looked too hard. The passion and fire I had for house church ministry died down, and I pretended I never felt God’s push to become a shepherd. I remained in this rut until the beginning of this year when Pastor Chai came to our church for the KSC Revival Meeting. At this point, I had run so far from the idea of possibly becoming a shepherd that I had forgotten about it, but I was also very tired of being in a spiritual rut, so I attended the very last session. At this session, Pastor Chai said that the most unique joy we as Christians could experience is celebrating a VIP coming to Christ with our house church. He also said that one of the most honourable things we can do for God is to serve as a shepherd and live the life of sacrifice to bring the lost to Christ. When I heard this, something in my head clicked. The reasons I found house church to be difficult were because of my own selfishness and how I had lost sight of our church’s mission: to create a church where unchurched people love to belong. I was challenged to repent, and I once again felt God’s push to pray and prepare to become a shepherd – only this time, the push felt much stronger. That night, I decided to turn to God, start actively praying for the heart and means to become a shepherd at The Seed, and to attend the next Lay Leader Seminar. Through Pastor Eric’s lectures during the seminar, God helped me to develop two new perspectives about house church and shepherding. The first is about prayer. I always knew it was important, but I further learned that it is not just important – it is crucial. House church ministry cannot happen without prayer. If there is no prayer, there is no power. If there is little prayer, there is little power. If there is much prayer, there is much power. Choosing not to pray is a declaration of independence from God. When we pray, God speaks to us. When God speaks to us, we obey. So, we are to pray and do house church ministry exactly how God tells us to do it, and this way, we will be able to enjoy the ministry without being burnt out. The second perspective I learned is that house church doesn’t have to be perfect. In Luke Chapter 10, Mary and Martha hosted Jesus in their home. While Martha was preoccupied and stressed about the house preparations, Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to him. Both Mary and Martha served, but Mary chose what is most important. Pastor Eric told us to not be Martha when serving, but to be present. During the house church visitation at Houston, I saw how much of a Martha I was, and how much of a Mary the shepherd, Esther Kwack, was. There was a VIP visiting for the third time that night. I said hello to him, introduced myself, then turned to the kitchen to ask the host if there was anything I can help with. While others talked with the VIP, I tossed the salad. During dinner, the shepherd sat with the VIP and talked with him the whole time. I, on the other hand, was worried about how loud the two dogs were barking, and how one member was so preoccupied with her young child that she wasn’t able to eat and talk with the others. During sharing time, I often thought, “Wow, the conversations are getting sidetracked. They should really stick to the sharing structure.” I would often look at the shepherd to see if she was also as stressed as I was, but, like Mary, she was calm and present. She didn’t try to control the flow of house church. She didn’t stop conversations that were off topic. She led with a peaceful and graceful heart. I know that the things I was concerned about weren’t inherently wrong. It’s good for house church to run smoothly. But if we focus on making everything perfect, we lose sight of why we do house church. Through this experience, God revealed to me the condition of my heart and my need for control. I went to the seminar with a lot of doubts and fears. I lack leadership skills. I’m not a great decision-maker. I’m a closed-off person. Cooking is very stressful for me. There are a handful of other reasons I think I’m not cut out for the role. To be completely transparent, these doubts and fears still remain, but I was able to leave Houston with the promise from God that He will provide, pave the way, and prepare me during this season of my life. Through this, I was able to make the concrete decision that when God calls me in His time, I will obey with a grateful heart and not delay in taking the next step. I would like to thank Pastor Caleb, my shepherds Joy and Phil, and my house church for all the prayers and encouragement I received throughout this process. Thank you so much for listening to my testimony!

Admin