Day 6 (July 3rd) — Word from Cara and Mason

Cara Liu

Hi everyone!!! This is Cara and it’s our last full day in Washington D.C.! This week has been such a surprise and a blessing. On the first day, I was worried that the kids might not like me or that I would be too tired and get frustrated. But everyday that I went to the Jubilee Center for Little Lights, I had so much fun. There was one day when a girl who I had played board games with the whole week told me I was pretty and her favorite. There were also many times where the younger girls just wanted me by their side to talk to me about everything. It felt nice to realize how comfortable and safe I made the kids feel and that they actually really liked spending time with me. But today, we didn’t have to go to our Little Lights sites because today is Independence Day. So instead, we visited the Museum of the Bible. It was interesting seeing so many references to the Bible in many books, movies, architecture, and other places in the world. One of my favorite parts of the museum was the Old Testament show. It displayed the Old Testament with cool animations, projections, and walk throughs to look at images and artifacts. After we came back, I decided to write a couple encouragement letters to people and just hang out around the house. We had our debrief, prayer group, and then had to clean up the house so it can be clean for when we leave early in the morning tomorrow. And while I was starting to write this blog, Pastor Peter Kang decided that we should finish our week with a competition of strength. Overall, this week has been such a great experience and a blessing to spread God’s word to the kids that may not have experienced the love of God before our visit. I realized how much of an impact we had on these kids and I pray that these students will continue to learn more about God and grow to love Him.

Mason Kim

Hello everyone!!! This is Mason, and this week has been very tiring and enervating, but it also has been so fun. At the start of the week, I thought it was gonna be awful. I really thought that we were not gonna have fun at all and that the children would be very annoying and challenging to deal with. But as I went through the week I realized that the kids were so welcoming and engaging. pulling me to help them in class when we were doing academicis or when we were playing basketball. they would always want me to play and call me “Mr Mase”. which I thought was really cute. but as the week concluded I was saddened by the fact that when I got to know the children well, it was time to leave and say our goodbyes. when my group (hopkins group) began to say our goodbyes to all the kids, they all seemed so gloomy and sad. one of the kids actually started to cry and I was about to cry to. but I had to hold it in because you know I’m like that (im kidding). anyway, as my group began to leave, we reflected on the ways that we helped the kids. It was really heartwarming and even Toby was crying a little. which was a little surprising. As I reflect, I see that this week was not as bad at all. It was fun and I made so many memories that I can’t replace. Even today, we went to the Museum of the Bible and we learned about how important and influential the Bible really was. Also my bday was celebrated and I was so happy and joyful that they celebrated my bday. This week for me was a blast and I’m glad that God has shown me how I could spread his word through not only my voice but through my actions. I just pray and hope that all the students and staff could come to christianity and be changed by God. I’m so grateful and happy that I went on this year youth missions trip. Creating priceless memories and bonds that can never be broken!! :))

Day 5 (July 2nd) — Word from Toby and Noah

Tobias won

Hello everyone! This is Toby, and I’ve been working at Little Light’s Hopkins Center for the past 4 days. Before the mission trip I was very anxious about my health condition called Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome which makes me very nauseous at times. I asked for prayer about it and so far it has been the best it has ever been in months so I am extremely thankful. In the morning when we got to the Hopkins Center, I was helping out with the outdoor group that was indoors today because it was too hot. In our group there is usually 2-3 kids so we decided to play red light green light. After lunch we did the cheers, praise, and we did a skit. Since this was the last day we had to tell all the kids this was our last day. I expected some of the kids to be a bit sad but all of the kids were very sad and some of them were crying and hugging us. I could really see how God had used us to bless Little Lights and the kids. Overall, over the past 4 days I felt like I really built a relationship with some of the kids.

Noah Ong

Hello everyone! This is Noah, and I wanted to extend my thanks to all of our church for helping us all be a part of this missions trip. I felt so encouraged by all the friends and church family showing up for fundraising events and donations. Today marks the last day our team will be at Little Lights and to sum it up, it’s been such a blessing to help out. All of us can agree that the heat was difficult to bear but it was even harder for me telling the kids that we were leaving. I was assigned to be follow and supervise one of the campers. He had trouble staying still and I would constantly find him on the floor after he was spinning around. But he was such a sweet kid and I learned so many things about him. He loves pink, strawberries and claims to own a helicopter. When I told him today was my last day he started crying and asking if he could come with me back to New York. I told him it was okay and we could just enjoy our last day together. As he was leaving he handed me a hand-drawn portrait of myself and it felt so meaningful and surreal. It helped me realize that God had so much planned for me before the missions trip had began and that he used me in ways I never could’ve imagined.

Day 4 (July 1st) — Word from Christian and Charlotte

Christian Kwon

Hello church family! This is Christian, and i’ll be sharing about my Little Lights experience so far. During the last 3 days, i’ve been spending my time at the Little Light’s Hopkins Site. The first two days I was able to engage with, get to know, and play with the children at the site through outdoor activities at the pool and park. Even though the heat has been a burden, I felt really blessed to just take a moment to hang out and have fun with the kids. Today, on the third day, I had a refreshing change in environment because of the switch of being predominantly outdoors to now indoors. During the afternoon rotations, I was able to assist Elder Peter Ong in his station of bible study. For me, this was the first time on the trip that I engaged with the children on biblical discussions. It was very interesting and eye opening to hear the different responses to Elder Peter’s teachings. We experienced both sad and disappointing responses but also some encouraging and hopeful. The positive responses put a smile on my face and a sense of reassurance. Overall, through all my experiences in these 3 days, I’m thankful for my newfound perspective on how I view life for myself and others. Please continue to pray for me and my teammates to finish out the last day and the mission trip on a good note. Also pray for the kids at Little Lights struggling to learn more about the gospel. See you soon everyone.

Charlotte Yi

Hi church family! This is Charlotte writing to you all. I’ve been volunteering at the Little Lights site and it’s been a lovely experience. I’ve gotten to know such amazing and kind people, including the campers, fellow volunteers, and other workers at the site. On Sunday night, I was starting to get a feeling of dread; I thought I would be burned out and drained by the end of the week. However, God really seemed to show Himself and blessed me with a wonderful time here at Little Lights. Now, I’m so sad to leave.

I wanted to share my favorite experience from Day 2. I was helping out with the Bible Study workshop, and I was sitting with Zeph and an 8-year old camper. The two boys had gotten to know each other and were doing an arm wrestle. Zeph let the camper win, and I jokingly said Zeph was weak. Then he looked at me and said “Hey! That’s not nice!” I loved this moment so much. I thought I could really feel God’s presence. I asked the camper how I could reword what I was trying to say so that it was nicer, and he told me to apologize to Zeph and say that I didn’t mean it. I did so and told him that I thought they were both very strong. He smiled at me. This has been my favorite memory from this trip because I felt like he was taught so well. I could see the Lord’s character in this young boy, and it felt so rewarding. It gave me so much more hope for Little Lights and other Christian organizations to educate this next generation and help spread the Word. Overall, I’ve had an amazing time getting to know all of these children. It felt really great when they wanted to talk to me. I really hope that I was able to make a difference in their day, at least a little bit.

I pray that I will continue to approach this mission with a heart of service and that I can always joyfully exclaim the name of the Lord.

Day 3 (June 30th) — Word from Cayden and Zeph

Cayden Kwon

Greetings LFCC family! This is Cayden Kwon writing to you today. For the past 2 days, I have helped out at Little Light’s newest site, Jubilee. This site is amazing and is equipped with an assortment of helpful tools that we have been able to use for the kids. I’ve been able to do my part and help out at the Jubilee site, allowing me to meet new staff, volunteers, and children. My experience so far has been tiring, but more importantly very special! I have been able to connect with a variety of kids from different ages and backgrounds during our service which has been a true blessing to me.

As the days progress, it has become very evident to me, as well as other team members, that the kids are becoming more comfortable and coming out of their shell. Although this helps us interact with the children more effectively, kids are also becoming more familiar with each other, which doesn’t always result in the best interaction. Please continue to keep praying for our team as we push to serve to the best of our ability through the second half of the trip. Our team was also scheduled to attend a Race Literacy class, led by Mr. Steve Park, towards the end of the night. He brought to light the history and origin of the many different races in America, which was very interesting to many of the kids as well as me. Today was the busiest and most eventful of the three. Hopefully the team can get a good night’s rest and get back to serving tomorrow. We look forward to seeing everyone soon. Hi Mom and Dad!

Zephaniah Hoang

Hello everyone! I’m Zeph Hoang and I will be blogging to you all about my experience at Little Lights so far. The site I have been assigned to was the Little Lights Center and I have been enjoying my time working with the kids and helping them. Mostly, I have been working with the boys specifically. There are only around like 4-6 boys but they can be rough with each other and cause some ruckus. I have been able to somewhat gain their respect to an extent that they like to be around me and listen to me when I tell them to be quiet or stop fighting. I feel so blessed with this opportunity of being at Little Lights and I also feel blessed knowing that God is with me and with the kids because it encourages me to do something that benefits children in a place and time that is difficult for them. This night we went to a Race Literacy 101 class led by Pastor Steve Park. One takeaway from that class that hit me was that when suburban areas were first being sold, it was only reserved for white people. This created a geological schism between African-Americans and white people which could explain why there are a lot of African-Americans in certain areas like where we are in Little Lights. This class helped me learn the importance of history because it teaches us the mistakes that people make and how we can learn from it.

Day 2 (June 29th) — Word from Miles and Karis

MILES KIM

Hello friends and family! This is Miles Kim. I helped out at a site called Jubilee. I met many amazing kids and supported the team with other needs. I had a wonderful time meeting new volunteers and interns. One of the kids opened up to me about their rough background. It was hard to hear and I prayed for them silently. Nevertheless, I was blessed to see God at work with all the proactive children. The children are so interactive with me and the other youth students.

After a long day, Peter teacher and Jonathan teacher led us in praise. Peter teacher then lead us into a debrief about how we should handle complaining. It was very eye opening because throughout the trip, I would complain all the time. I reflected and prayed to be more understanding of our situation. I hope God shows us how to be more Christ like throughout this trip!

karis wang

Hi everyone! This is Karis Wang. Today, I helped out at the Hopkins site. I was able to meet so many people, and formed bonds with a variety of different kids. It was such a blessing to chip in. I helped two students make chocolate chip cookies, and to my surprise, having a conversation with them was easier than expected. They talked about their past experiences at camp, and how their cookies last year were terrible because they replaced the sugar with salt. I think our cookies turned out way better. Afterwards, we all went to the pool! It was so much fun. All the volunteers played with the kids, and everyone had a good time. There were many ups and downs throughout the day, but I’m grateful I was able to experience God at work through the children.

Once we got back to the house, we had a debrief on how to handle complaining. I found it especially helpful because a few of our team members (including myself) were struggling with complaining the entire day. Afterwards, we all worked together to construct two skits to perform for the kids. That was my favorite part of the day, because we were able to communicate as a team and create something that was our own to present to Little Lights. I pray that God will instill patience and grace for the rest of our trip!

Day 1 (June 28th) — Word from PK and Julian

Hello everyone! PK here.

We all arrived around 8pm in DC and got settled in fairly quickly and Steve and Mary Park (Executive Director and Deputy Director of Little Lights) greeted us and gave us an introduction of what we will be doing. Afterwards, we spent some time praising and we wanted to reflect on these words from Hosanna:

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like You have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks Yours
Everything I am for Your kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity

I was very moved by how strongly our team sang these words and I am very excited by how God will reveal Himself to us this week.

I ask that you would join us in praying for us to love the kids of Little Lights like God has loved us first! Pray that God would give us the eyes to see others and have compassion that does not pity or belittle but ones that see them and lift them to the Lord.

Julian Au

Hello church family! This is Julian. I along with Teacher Jonathan and Abby were with the students as we rode the LIRR into the city and navigated the busy Port Authority Bus Terminal for a 5+ hour bus ride. Fortunately everything went smoothly, and I was personally blessed with great conversations with my fellow leaders. I am excited to see how God shapes us in leading the students.

After settling down at the Little Lights house, I can tell that this will be a great space for the team to bond in prayer and fellowship. Although we are all tired and are anticipating a lot for the week, we are thankful that the leaders at Little Lights have been very hospitable, and most importantly we know that God will lead us through every activity that we engage in!

Off we go!

Please keep us in your prayers. We will update this page with daily reports from our students!