The “Perfect” Workplace

Sometimes it is hard to wake up early everyday when all that’s waiting for you in the office is unhappiness and stress. This testimony is a continuation of our friend’s search for her purpose in her workplace, and how her supposedly “dream job” was not so perfect after all. 

I wondered why God put me here in this workplace. Although I thought this place was better than where I was previously, I soon realized that I was fooled by what I didn’t know. Isn’t it funny how “human” we are? If you want to read about how God was present throughout my journey to this point, you can read about it here: http://witnessla.org/post/9632040694/the-abundant-harvest-from-our-helper.

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Food For Thought: God’s Little Reminders

God remembers us even when we forget about Him.  He is prevalent in our daily activities and will take the appropriate steps to remind us of our greater purpose in life: serving Him, not ourselves.  Next time we find ourselves acting outside the norm or taking things to heart, we should think and ask: have we forgotten who we live for? 

I’ve been receiving all kinds of messages from different places about God at work. Talking about religion at the workplace can be an odd topic at work due to all the politics involved and although I’m conscious of these things, God has continuously given me the strength to speak out about my faith. He’s truly blessed me at this place and I’m here to do His will.

In the last few days, I forgot about why God put me here and He was quick to remind me.

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Buying Time

Can God move Time for us? Read our sister’s story on how God intervened at her work place.

I can’t tell you how amazed I am with God’s goodness. He has blessed me in so many ways and I hope that my story will encourage you in whatever stage you may be in.

Sometimes, I think prayer is pointless. All of us feel this at times, right? BUT, let me tell you this-God is the God of impossible. I was coming close to a huge deadline for work. I wasn’t stressing out, but I was a little concerned at the back of my head about meeting the deadline by Tuesday.

Where did the time go? I was working like a chicken with its head cut off. I walked in to the office this morning and I couldn’t believe that today was Tuesday – I had so much work in front of me. Silently, in my own head, I lifted up a prayer.

“God, You are the God of the impossible. If anyone can push my deadline, it would be You. I don’t know how You’re going to do it, but I know that I’m in Your favor”.

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His Ways Are Higher

Our sister Liz writes about her path from Los Angeles to Seoul and ultimately, to the heart of her Father.

Last week, I started a new job, moved into a new apartment, and essentially signed a commitment to living in Korea, my mother country (but still foreign!) for at least two years. None of this was part of the plan when I moved to Seoul from L.A.  three months ago - I was going to be here a year, tops, teach some English, freelance for some publications and head back home.

But when I first arrived, I wasn’t even sure if I’d be allowed to even stay in Korea, let alone commit to living here long-term. It turned out that I was registered at birth as a Korean citizen - even though I was born and raised in America - and as a result, the government refused to issue me a foreigner’s visa, but also denied me the right to activate my Korean citizenship. In essence, I was neither Korean nor American and was basically an alien waiting to get kicked out of the country.

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You’ve got a friend. In the sky.

Our foreign correspondent, Alex shares his adventure to pursue His Voice. We follow his story across the globe all the way to London.

How does God speak to you? I was really frustrated because for the longest time I felt that all my brothers in Christ hear Him so much better than me – but I hear nothing. Until recently I learned that He speaks to me exactly how I need can to hear Him.

I recently transferred to London for work – doing the job I’ve been dreaming of since I was young.  Before I left LA, I prayed that I would not leave unless I knew for a fact that God will be with me EVERY single step of the way. No way would I want to move half-way across the globe against His will.

I feel like I’m drinking from a fire hose every week. For example last week was rough in terms of business and personal life – very busy and was feeling like I was taking a huge beating and seeing no hope. On top of that, I had a huge meeting which came out from nowhere on Friday and I had no idea how to handle it: I had to get people on another continent to participate remotely at 2am their time. It was 7pm on Thursday night - I had already done all I could to prepare– there was no way I could be ready by next morning. Feeling completely and totally overwhelmed all I could think of was that I need to just surrender it all to God.  And I did – literally. My prayer was,

“Here it is Lord – take it all. I have no idea what to do. I pray that somehow you will help me be excellent.”  

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The Abundant Harvest from Our Helper

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” - Hebrews 13:6.  Our sister shares an encouraging testimony of how after 4 difficult years of waiting, trusting,and learning, God provided her a new job and new life almost overnight.

Do you ever have those weeks where things just seem to pile on top of each other, problem after problem? I can definitely say that I just went through one of the most unforeseeable and unexpected things in my life.

For about 4 years now, I was extremely unhappy at work. It wasn’t just about being unhappy, but my attitude was bitter for a good amount of those 4 years as I felt like I was being attacked from all sorts of directions. Every day seemed like forever and I couldn’t believe how emotionally abusive my work environment was.

I cried out. “God, why are you doing this to me? What are you trying to teach me?” I repeated this over and over for a very, very – VERY – long time.

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Food For Thought (Dan): Bible in a Year

So after almost two years, I’ve finally finished my Bible-in-a-year reading plan.  I guess that technically makes it a Bible-in-two-years plan, but I digress.  In any case, I can now say I’ve actually read The Word from cover to cover (even the Book of Numbers, which I’ve earmarked for future bouts with insomnia).

As I’ve reached the end of this journey, I took a moment to reflect.  I can’t say that I now know every verse by heart, or even the most famous ones - I’ll still hear verses quoted in church and have no idea where they come from or the slightest idea what they mean.  I can’t say that I don’t swear anymore (I try not to!), that I sold all my belongings and gave the money to the poor, that I have love and patience for everyone all the time (see e.g., LA drivers), or that when I open my mouth only pink daisies and odes of angels come out.

And yet, in those two years, a lot has happened that I just can’t explain or claim credit for.  In those two years, I’ve: paid off all my debt, gotten my dream job when I least expected it, kicked depression to the curb for good, forgiven the unforgivable, bared my soul and my life story in front of thousands of strangers who still recognize me on the street by name, somehow saved someone’s life from jumping off a bridge, started three blogs with people I met by chance and who are now like family, traveled to the ends of the Earth with Asian celebrities and pop stars for Christ, followed a Godly conviction on my heart to go to Asia on a whim and unknowingly met the girl of my dreams there who I am marrying in three weeks.  Coincidence?  I doubt it.

Two bible verses (that I can remember) I think summarize what this whirlwind journey has been like:

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
   out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
   and gave me a firm place to stand.” - Psalm 40:2 (NIV)

“Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.” - Proverbs 16:3 (ESV)

My challenge to all of you, friends, is this.  What can God do with you and through your life in just three chapters a day?  If you are ready for your own God adventure to begin, just turn that first page.  And don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Acting Like a Christian

We’re so blessed to welcome Kytia as the newest Voice in our WitnessLA Family.  Kytia, originally from Hawaii, is a beautiful and talented actress, model and writer with a huge heart for the Lord and a calling for Hollywood.  In this powerful testimony, Kytia shares about her struggles with beauty, identity, and staying true to the Lord in the challenging and competitive entertainment industry.

Being beautiful on the outside isn’t something I’m always striving to be, but knowing that I’m exuding beauty from within is very important to me. Unfortunately, it’s taken me a while to know who I truly am and to accept that person. Before my relationship with God, I struggled to feel beautiful and that’s one of the reasons my mom enrolled me in modeling classes when I was 15 years young. I didn’t know this at the time, but it was her way of boosting my self esteem and helping me to accept my femininity.

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He Knows Best

He Knows Best- this is a story about how God revealed the true meaning of His Mission on a mission trip to a place where no one speaks of Him.

Have you ever heard of that saying, 

“If you want to make God laugh, you tell him your plans”?

Well, this summer I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Asia to share God’s love with some amazing people. For security reasons, I cannot disclose the name of the country, but basically, our ministry worked in a restaurant with a bunch of people who were either new believers or had absolutely no idea who Christ was. This restaurant partnered up with a non-profit organization and their entire ministry is about reaching out to all their workers. I know what you’re thinking, how is that intentional right? I was thinking the exact same thing and the exact words going through mind was: What did I sign up for?

It was definitely tense the first few weeks being there. I had no idea how I was going to execute sharing the gospel, especially because evangelizing was illegal and communication was a problem because I hardly spoke the language. There I was, working in a restaurant with strangers and I had absolutely no idea what to expect, but God knew exactly why He brought me there and what He wanted to reveal to me.

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When the Oceans Rise

What would you do when everything in life fails you? Our sister Clara found her answer when she hit rock bottom recently and this is her story.

“Even if the fig tree does not bloom and the vines have no grapes, even if the olive tree fails to produce and the fields yield no food, even if the sheep pen is empty and the stalls have no cattle — even then, I will be happy with the Lord.  I will truly find joy in God, who saves me.” Habakkuk 3:17-18.

It was a tough month.

Within a matter of weeks, I totaled my car and I couldn’t drive to work, my computer permanently died, I lost my job (and income), a bike I was borrowing to get around was stolen, and I was unable to immediately find another job.  After 2.5 months, I realized I had to move — paying rent and bills without income coming in and no car had become more of a challenge. I didn’t even have any real career path and I found myself feeling so defeated, insignificant, frustrated, angry, discouraged, confused, and disillusioned by post-grad life.  It was hard to live out Habakkuk 3:18.

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