January 2009 Update

[al...@yu1.ca]

Dear Prayer Supporter,

I can hardly believe that January is coming to a close. Time really
flies.

A lot of things has happened in January. I was on my last trip to the
Institute for Worship Studies at the beginning of January to attend my
thesis seminar. As my thesis title began to take shape after rounds
and rounds of discussions, I really felt like the completion of this
academic journey is coming to a conclusion. I was excited about that.

As more friends embark on their doctoral pursuits, I have learned one
thing: never ask a doctoral student what their thesis is about. As it
is tremendously difficult to explain to a layman about an advanced
academic topic, the usual answer that we got for our question is just
a bunch of vocabularies that do not make sense to us. But anyhow,
since I have been asked many times this question, I will try to answer
it in one sentence: I am developing a model of worship service as a
holistic and integrated disciple training course. It might not sound
very interesting to you, but I am truly passionate about this research
as I believe it has some heavy implications to how we do discipleship
in the postmodern era.

As soon as I came back from Florida, I was immersed in the preparation
for the AFC All Hands Training Day on Jan 18, where all volunteers at
AFC get together annually for vision sharing. I gave 2 difficult
messages for those who come about what the Kingdom of God means to us
today as disciples of Jesus Christ, and why do we not see what was
happening in New Testament times happening to us today. I think the
key rests in the missing experience of restoration in our
discipleship, and this is what we will be working on with the students
for the rest of this year, if not longer. If you are interested, you
can listen to the 2 messages at:
http://afcspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/01/afc-all-hands-training-day-2009.html

On the night before the event, I was almost crushed by the heaviness
of the messages that I would deliver. It pushed me to rely totally on
God as I could feel energy being sucked out from me. Thankfully, we
had a great time worshipping God that day. And from the look of their
eyes I knew that God has touched them and has begun to shake up their
lives. It may not be an easy journey for them to be molded by God in
the following months or years, but this process is necessary for the
restoration of the wholeness in their lives. I pray that God will not
let them go until they are willing to completely submit themselves to
the authority and compassion of our Lord.

Besides the ministries, I would also like to share with you a bit
about my health. After going through a thorough body check, it turns
out that I have high blood sugar, high cholesterol, fatty liver
disease, and multiple ulcers in my digestive system. Besides
medications, I have a serious need to lose weight and maintain a
regular eating pattern. So, I have started dieting, and have lost 10
lbs already. My goal is to lost 40 lbs in total to bring me back to
normal weight. I have also signed up for a gym membership. As soon as
this new gym opens, I will start working out regularly.

I am particularly grateful for my team of coworkers at AFC. One of
them offered to cook me healthy lunch so that I don't need to eat food-
court food again; one of them will accompany me to workout; and all of
them rebuke me when I put something inappropriate in my mouth... I
will safe guard my health, because I know I still have a lot to do for
the Lord.

Please pray for me, particularly for the following:
1. my health, that I need persistency in my pursuit for a better
physical health
2. my preaching ministry, that God will continue to speak through me
difficult but important messages to people and churches who need to
hear the implications of the Gospel in their lives

Thanks you again for your prayer support. I never felt as strong a
need for your prayer as I do these days.


Blessings,
Alan Yu

Alan's Engagement in February:
Feb 5: Seminar on Contagious Evangelism at UBC CCF
Feb 6, 8: Preaching at AFC's Jubilization event on
"Restore.Reconcile.Revive"
Feb 8, 15, 22 : Sunday School on Evangelism at Westside Baptist Church
Feb 15: Jubilant Regular Meeting
Feb 22: Restoration Worship at AFC
Feb 26-27: leading AFC's Spring Staff Retreat
Feb 28: Fellowship Counsellor training for Vancouver Chinese Baptist
Church