when those pieces start to fall into place

i've found a church in london! and the service too!

i will be attending North Park Community Church (the one church i never checked out last year); and when I do have a ride, their saturday night service specifically.

The lack of time restriction on Saturday evenings, for the sake of the pastor being able to speak longer, and for its extended praise time, and for the more open expression of fellow brothers and sisters as they praise God and hear the Word - has the familiarity of westside, but also of how it is possible in a much larger church. there are lots of things going on at the church, but one thing is its one year 'Journey to Asia' that is particularly relevant to my journey right now.

One of the ACF counselors that I have yet to get to know is Stephen Cheng, who actually founded the ACF on campus, is part of north park, and has been doing specific things at north park that I didn't even know about until tonight reading their monthly newsletter. There is a sharing tomorrow night that I hope to attend about the mission ministries they have in China. One of their ministries is also in response to the earthquake relief work and they do have a team over there. I am really excited to learn more, and participate. And I do believe that God is the one who has led me to this church just when it has begun on this journey.

While the church is big, there is a realness that is evident, and their involvement in the community and beyond their community is very relevant; so i do hope to learn many things this year, as well as give back in the ways that I can in my limited time capacity.

On another spectrum, in pursuit of learning mandarin, i am 3/4 there to securing weekly lessons with fellow med friends with a local mandarin teacher. You have known of my desire to learn all this time - so now i've actually taken action. And after asking 7 others to join, we are all committed to learning mandarin together. I'm really thankful for this opportunity. It is with the people that I am particularly closer to, and the weekly classes will only be an excuse to get to know them better and be a light to them. 

i can just say that I am utterly completely excited for these lessons...and for finally finding a spiritual home!