Worshipping In Three Languages
Last night, we ditched our Sunday night prayer meeting, packed up Silas, and drove 98 miles to see a commissioning service at Celebration Church. One of their pastors and his wife will be returning to Cambodia to share the good news of Jesus with the people of Cambodia who have not yet heard His name.
It was beautiful.
The room sang praises to Jesus in English, Spanish, and Cambodian. They took the time to translate everything into Spanish and English.
People were there to worship Jesus, the longer the better. People were clapping off beat. Oddly enough, I’ve missed that. Slides didn’t always match what the singers were singing and you could see the confusion on the singers’ faces. Again, never thought I’d miss that, but it turns out, I’ve missed that.
Worship was eclectic, which was fun. There was an unfamiliarity to this time and place, and simultaneously also a deep assurance that this was what life is all about. It felt like I was on the mission field and I was at home. This was a diverse body of Christ, coming together in unity, to celebrate who He is, what He has done, and what He is doing.
While I didn’t get to hear all that Pastor Gary Tangeman had to say (a 2 year old up past his bed time = lots of running around for parents), I did hear him passionately share about Luke 15 and the celebrations described in those 3 parables. I heard him share how God miraculously spared Sonly’s life in his youth during the time of the Killing Fields in Cambodia. God has already used Sonly and Phalla to plant 5 churches! Then Pastor Gary told us something I hadn’t heard of before - that missiologists are saying we’re in the ‘red zone’ right now. (It’s a football term, for the zone before the end zone. Go sports teams!)
The commissioning service was part celebration, and part rallying cry that this Christian life is war. We believers are all on team Jesus and He gets the W at the end of the day. From our perspective, this Gospel work is hard, and yet commissioning services like this ground us in the mission of God. We’re here for a purpose. Prayer is primary. Matthew 24:14 is central. The King is coming back ya’ll!
After the service, the hosts graciously extended food to us (yes please!). Silas ate white rice and it dawned on me that I’m a lame Asian mom and I haven’t been feeding him the staple of my childhood. Some kids bumped into Jeff while he was holding a bowl of curry and the curry spilled on the floor. And who comes to help clean it up without skipping a beat? Sonly. He could have been schmoozing, he could have been greeting guests, he could have been saying his goodbyes since he leaves this Thursday. But no, he grabbed some paper towels, stooped down low, and cleaned up our mess.
I pray that South Bay Christian Alliance can be a sending church like Celebration Church. I pray that we finish well and (if the Lord tarries) that we are willing to keep pressing into unreached areas, and yes, stoop down to clean up food spills in the hallway.
The livestream of the commissioning service for Sonly and Phalla Goy can be found here: https://youtu.be/f-7MQU4JdtE. Enjoy. May it bless you and encourage you richly.
About 96% of the Cambodian population is still unreached. If you want to partner with the mission work that Sonly and Phalla Goy are doing, you can donate via Celebration Church.
We sat on cold metal chairs in a white room, leaning against a cold metal examining table...waiting. Our beautiful dog Sabrina had been hurried to the back of the emergency clinic without us. She was in danger and distress.
It’s been a minute.
I love that phrase. I probably overuse it. And my repetitious use of it probably annoys those in my listening (or instant messaging) range.
Why did the tomato blush? He saw the salad dressing! Thank you for laughing. I appreciate it.
When you gotta go, you gotta go.
Our friends returned to the mission field last week. They had to go.
Lakes are pretty cool places. One might say that they're refreshing.
Months ago, we taught Silas how to count to twenty. Recently, he has been skipping six. Poor six.
I’m a huge fan of Os Guinness (and his ministry The Trinity Forum.) If you haven’t heard of him, go look him up on your favorite podcast app or on YouTube because he is a gazillion times more articulate than I am.
In the past ten months, I have had to hold fast to Hebrews 13:1-2a, “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.”
Hospitality to strangers is easy to neglect.
What do you think of when you hear, “when strivings cease?”
“When the burden is too much for you to bear, you do not need stronger shoulders, you need weaker knees.”
Dr. Mitch Kim
What do you do when life is rough? If you’re a follower of Christ, what do you do when your pursuit of Christian maturity keeps calling you onward and upward, to terrain that is steeper and more challenging?
What do you do when life is rough? If you’re a follower of Christ, what do you do when your pursuit of Christian maturity keeps calling you onward and upward, to terrain that is steeper and more challenging?
Our cool-factor here at SBCA has been notched up tenfold the past month. Why you may ask? Great question!
Yesterday was Palm Sunday. We had a lovely time at church.
And while no Dickensian Ghost-of-Palm-Sunday-Past visited me, I found myself reminiscing. Holidays and rituals are meant for such a thing, I suppose.
We attended a Christmas party last December and within two minutes of our arrival, Silas (age 2) showed me a toy he had just found. We were outside, in the dark, and on time (meaning not many people were there yet.) Looking around, I asked him, “where did you find this tractor?”
I nerded out this weekend at a ‘Faith and Science’ conference held here in San Diego. Praise the Lord for paid time off and for a grandma who is willing to watch the kid.
In the summer of 2007, in the sticks of San Diego county, Jeff and I met at Indian Hills Camp.
Oh Indian Hills Camp. So dusty. So Wild West-y. So can’t-ever-forget-that-camp-song-y.
No, this isn’t about Eutychus (Acts 20:9.) This is about the first Sunday of March in 2019 when someone suddenly died at the church we were serving at.
It’s early March and the evenings are still too chilly for me, even in San Diego. Since I’ve committed to staying inside in the evening until the weather warms up, it seems like a good time to start spring cleaning.
I am a terrible movie watcher. I don’t cope well with plot holes. Everyone else will talk about the scenes they loved, the parts that captured their imaginations. I, however, will talk about plot holes and major oversights.
During a short vacation to the mountains last summer, I had the time to read a few books
A few Sundays ago, we were singing ‘Be Still My Soul’ at church and my not-so-still two-year-old ran up on stage. Uggh.
Which of the four did I pay attention to (or do I plan to pay attention to) this weekend: the Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, my mom’s birthday, or an anniversary?
This Wednesday is the first anniversary of Cat Lawyer! I love Cat Lawyer so much that I felt it appropriate to give him an homage via blog.
I’m an institutionalist. I believe we’re stronger as a team - that’s dedicated to the mission - than we are siloed off.
Two years ago while preparing material for our homegroup leaders, I came across a word study that shifted my thinking, or at least readjusted my focus: “Created for good works…so that we would walk in them”, (Eph.2:10). The word “walk” in the Greek does not imply the simple straight line from point A to point B, but has a more spherical quality.
I live in suburban America. Here in suburbia, we have companies that come to our houses on a weekly basis and take our trash away. It’s wonderful. Until the week before Christmas, when the magic stopped. The garbage workers went on strike. Womp womp.
Last night, we ditched our Sunday night prayer meeting, packed up Silas, and drove 98 miles to see a commissioning service at Celebration Church. One of their pastors and his wife will be returning to Cambodia to share the good news of Jesus with the people of Cambodia who have not yet heard His name.
Why start a blog? Here is a list of questions that I asked myself before starting this.
Kylene Lopo
Kylene Lopo is a pastor’s wife, a BI Reports Developer, and is the mother of Silas (age 4) and Hosanna (age 0.) She has a masters in Biblical Literature from Alliance Theological Seminary and is an official worker with the C&MA in the South Pacific District.