REACH Ministries and Tony Campolo

In early August, I finally got to see Tony Campolo preach in person.

Tony Campolo is my favorite evangelist. He tells the most wonderful, real stories, and I really appreciate his insights and challenges into how I live. I have listened to Tony's sermons again and again in my car, but I wondered if I would ever see him preach in person. (He's over 75 now.)

Fortunately, Tony came to Seattle to speak at a fundraiser for REACH Ministries. REACH is a Christian-centered charity that reaches out to children with HIV/AIDS and their families. REACH seems like a wonderful group, but honestly I was motivated to go to the fundraiser because of Tony.

The fundraiser was held at Overlake Christian Church and was a "dessert auction." Local vendors donated desserts, like the cupcakes on the left. We sat in tables, and each table pooled their money to bid on a dessert.

My Auntie Nancy and my roommate Peter also came to the fundraiser. Auntie Nancy really wanted the cake shown on the left. It had marzipan in it. The rest of our table was split on some other cakes, but the marzipan cake came up early in the auction. I think our table leader saw how excited Nancy was about this cake, so she bid on it.

When giving to charities, I sometimes wonder why we need an excuse to give money. By excuse, I mean, for example: running for charity, Girl Scout Cookies for charity, bowling for charity, raffles for charity, dessert auctions for charity. Why can't we just give directly to the charity and save them some time and energy? Are we really so selfish? Or are we really so easily fooled?

Well, at least in this case, I suppose the answers are "Yes" and "Yes." I didn't know how much money we'd need to win our cake, but since it was the cake Auntie Nancy wanted, and since it was for a good cause, and, yes, since I like winning, it definitely made it easier to pledge a larger amount to REACH. (I was writing a check, and I thought we had to write them out before the auction. It was a little confusing.)

Our table leader kept outbidding the other tables for the cake, and, in the end, we won with a bid of over $300! (Suggested retail price: $35-$50.)

At that price, I think the cake deserves a second picture.

From REACH event

Actually, the cake was quite delicious.

And of course, it was for a good cause.

On the left is Auntie Nancy. On the right is one of our partners in bidding!





Throughout the evening there were some very good testimonies from REACH. After the auction, Tony spoke. I pledged a little more again after that. :)

On Tony's website, there are some sermons you can listen to. But if you like reading, here is a transcript of one of Tony's sermons. Actually, I read that transcript before hearing any of Tony's sermons, and it had a profound impact on me.

The REACH website is here.

All good things . . .

I have decided to move to Los Angeles. Why? To attend the church I went to when I was at Caltech. This church is Evergreen Baptist Church of LA, and the senior pastor is Ken Fong.

I first heard of Evergreen more than eleven years ago, when I was choosing whether to attend Caltech. One of the first things my mom said was, "Oh, Caltech! If you go there, you can go to Ken Fong's church." I didn't know who Ken Fong was at the time, but it turned out that his mom was my old Sunday school teacher. Also, I thought it strange to think about church when making a major decision like where to go to grad school. Aren't churches the same everywhere?

Even when I got to Caltech, I didn't think much of Evergreen. I went sometimes because my mom would want me to, but it was a little far--a whole 20 minutes away--so I also checked out churches close by. It took a couple of years before I started going to Evergreen regularly. Even then, after I finished at Caltech after six years, I hadn't met a single person at Evergreen! I had been content to attend the service and tithe regularly, and that was it.

It has been five years since I left LA. My faith is a much higher priority now. I have attended many other churches, but I always missed the sermons from Pastor Ken and others at Evergreen. (I still listen online.) At the same time, I have also learned the value of a church "small group," which is a few people who meet regularly to study the Bible and to share life together. Many times, talking and praying with 1-2 others has had a bigger impact on me than sitting in church.
So, I plan to go back to Evergreen and also join a small group there.

Have you ever wished you could go back in time, bring along some of your current experience, and do something over again? I do. I wish I had been less self-absorbed in high school. I wish I had worked a little before I went to college. And, yes, I wish I had joined a small group at Evergreen while in grad school.

I know sometimes we can't go back, and sometimes we shouldn't go back. But sometimes, I think it's a risk worth taking.

I leave Seattle on September 7. I will drive to Sacramento, stay a few days, and then drive to LA.

Returning to Kingston, again!

Grandma has a funny memory. She called me up one day: "I want to go to Kingston."

"Grandma, you know we were at Kingston just this spring."

"Really? I forgot. . . . What did we eat?"

"Crepes. Remember the crepe place?"

"Oh, yeah."

In the end, we decided to go back to Kingston, again. But this time, it was me and Grandma and two of her elderly friends, whom I call Ms. Green and Auntie Tina. I think Grandma wanted to give her friends a day out, but she also had her own desires.

We drove downtown to pick up Ms. Green, then to Bellevue to pick up Auntie Tina, then to Edmonds to take the ferry to Kingston. Whew! Already an adventure. We even brought along some pots in the hopes of picking blackberries.

At Kingston, we had a great lunch at the crepe place from before; it's called, "J'aime les Crepes Creperie." I think I had a crepe with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and green onions. We also had a blueberry crepe with ice cream. Yum!

After lunch, I thought we would go to the same place we went last time: our old summer home with only a chimney left. But Grandma had a surprise: she wanted us to find something called "Twin Spits." Grandma used to own property there, although apparently it's just an empty lot. (It has since been handed down to a relative.)

Grandma has never been able to drive, but she remembered clues as to find this legendary property. "It's in Hansville," she said. None of us had ever heard of Hansville, and there were no signs to it, but sure enough we found it on the map and made our way there.

"It's at the end of the road, right when you hit the water." Sure enough, at the end of the road, there was "Twin Spits," a very long street. However, nothing else looked familiar.

Rather than give up, Grandma and Ms. Green went to the local grocery store and asked around. They got the number for a local real estate agent and asked her for help with finding the exact address of Grandma's old property. The real estate agent tried but didn't find anything. Then we called my mom, Grandma's eldest daughter. Mom had the address, which was not Twin Spits but a side road. Thankfully, I had just driven past that same road.

It turns out the Twin Spits property was at the other end of Twin Spits Road, which also was right on the water, so that must have been what Grandma remembered. And it was indeed an empty lot. (Actually, it was overgrown with plants.) Nevertheless, Grandma's secret mission to see her old property was successful.

On the way back, we stopped at the remnants of our old summer home. In the picture it's: (left-to-right) Grandma, Auntie Tina, and Ms. Green.



Grandma was clever enough to have me bring some folding chairs, so we sat enjoying the sun and the view. Ms. Green went hunting for blackberries. Most were still green, but we found some tasty ones!

From Kingston

It would end up being a long day, but I think everyone had a good time.




And before we got back on the ferry, I made sure to get another crepe. :)

It had apples, cinnamon, and caramel. Yum!