Tour Journal 2008
check out our pictures here

Day 4 March 11, 2007 - by Alice Kong

Today was the day when I fully grasped the greatness and awesomeness of tour. It started out with a fresh morning run in the beautiful warm California sun. Lee-Shing, Jesse and I ran by the orange trees off of Victoria Ave until my vans (which aren’t good running shoes. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to anyone) started killing my feet, so we walked back until Bevin ran by us during her hour-long morning run, and called us “cute.” Our first gig of the day was at the Loma Linda VA Hospital and it was beautiful. We were able to get some pictures of the ducks and Canadian geese (that’s for Janice) outside on the ponds. Inside the hospital, we first sang in the dining hall for some veterans while they were eating their lunch. They slowly started to trickle in so by the time we finished singing, the room was filled with at least 10 patients (and some of their family members, and hospital staff). Afterwards, we sat and conversed with the patients for at least 45 minutes. It was just so awesome. We met one patient called Daniel* who had suffered a stroke and depression, and had been receiving regular electro-shock therapy treatments for the past seven years. Because of his stroke, he could no longer speak. Instead, he had a huge pile of papers on his lap that he uses to introduce himself to people that he meets for the first time, including his poetry, sermon notes, music. He loves serving other people in the hospital and encouraging them. He let us read through his book of poetry - poems about God’s love, constipation, ambition - and then gave it to us as a kind gift. After the performance, I sat down and talked with another patient called Bob* who had been in the hospital for 5 months because of some eye surgery. It was hard trying to communicate with him because he could not speak very clearly. But I was able to figure out that he had family in California, had served in World War II, played cards with the other patients in the hospital, and used to sing when he was younger. I then chatted with Chad*, a strong believer who was passionate about “saving souls” in the hospital. He was stationed in Korea for 13 months back in the 60s, which sparked a great deal of conversation from comments about the smell of kim-chi to muggy hot weather during the summers in Korea. He was such an awesome and solid guy. He had his Bible on the table and I later heard that while we were singing “Psalm 139,” he whipped it out to see how we would transform that beautiful psalm into a song. We were talking and he was sitting there with his air tank next to him and I told him how much I respected veterans, people like him who had served in the army. He asked me why and I told him, quite honestly, that I was selfish and did not have the heart to serve and die for our country. He was quiet only for a moment until he told me that our a cappella group was part of an army too, an army for God and that serving Him and singing and sharing His love with others was something of great if not greater value than serving a country. And I was totally struck by what he said. It was so encouraging hearing him spur us on to continue to sing for the Lord.

After the dining hall performance, we went to a different wing and sang for patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia. It was an amazing experience filling up the hall with songs of praise and serving these people, even though they very possibly will not remember that we sang for them today. I’m learning more and more these days that I am in no position to demand the fruits of my labor for God, and to expect immediate results. I am merely part of God’s work and God’s kingdom, and he just calls me to obey. As an a cappella group, we need to keep that in mind as we continue to sing on tour. Singing in the hallway was awesome and we were all flexible with our conditions – in one instance, we had to split our group into two to let some guys with carts go through the door directly behind us. I didn’t expect to sing for more than an hour at the hospital and I don’t think any us were anticipating singing in the hallway at all. And it was also encouraging seeing everyone in the group adjust to whatever situation we were put in. We then sang for one specific patient who, as we were informed by one of the nurses, loves music and is a very spiritual man. We sang “And Can It Be” for him, and he was totally singing with us. I think his family really appreciated it, and it was also nice being able to give individual care and attention to him.

As we were driving to lunch, Susie and I were talking about how we are actually realizing and seeing God’s power and greatness through the tour. We ate at this place called “Pat & Oscar’s” where we had some amazing food (two salads, two pastas, BBQ pizza, two types of chicken, and amazingly fluffy breadsticks) for a crazy deal of 40 bucks total! When we got back to Faith’s house we did Puddle (i.e. Bible study) on the grass in Faith’s backyard. First, Kevin shared his testimony, which shed light on God’s blessings and faithfulness in his life, and then, we went through the passage in James 2 about favoritism. I’ve read James so many times before, but I really liked the stance we took on it in relation to our a cappella group. In addition to favoritism, judgment and how we tend to favor the rich and high in status, we discussed pride and how God uses the poor and weak to convict and oppose those who are rich and wise (you know…the Bible with all its great paradoxes). In thinking about the people that we minister to at our gigs, I realized that it is so easy for us to go with prideful hearts, thinking that we are doing a great thing by serving (as if we are in this high and mighty position to serve). In this situation, we are considered the rich and wise students from Yale. But instead of simply serving, I’m seeing how God has been using these literally sick and weak and poor people to really feed ME spiritually, encourage me, and bring me back to the fact that I am only where I am because of God’s amazing grace. The good health, great family, a home…I really take all those things for granted. God has been using the people at the gigues to really convict me of my pride and feed me, instead of me so arrogantly thinking that I can feed and encourage them.

After Puddle, we went to the Amelia’s Light, a shelter for homeless women and their kids. The gig was so much fun. We shoed up by a couple picnic benches outside and sang for the 20 some kids and a few moms and staff members. The kids were dancing, snapping, and clapping…they even joined us and held our hands as we sang our last song. After singing for a while, we played with the kids at the playground and watched the sun slowly set behind the forsaken, dry surroundings. I don’t think I’ve run around like a little kid like that, in such a long time. And it’s funny because we’ve been playing a lot of tag since we’ve been on tour – we played tag in a nearby park earlier in the week and then again today. We ran around with kids on our backs and always spent time singing and talking with kids on an individual basis. It was also interesting seeing how strong these kids were, simply because they had to be (because of their circumstances). I can’t even imagine what it must be like or what it will be like to grow up without a father, without a home… Or it was interesting to see how hard some of the kids were trying to get attention because I think they have yet to experience and understand God’s ability to completely fill us and love us and comfort us. A couple days ago I asked God to really continue to show me his heart and I think he has been doing just that...

*The patient name is made up to protect confidentiality.

Day 5 March 15, 2007 - by Bevin Peters

Day 6 March 16, 2007 - by Susie Park

Today was another exciting day in exciting SoCal with exciting gigs meeting exciting people. We went to the “Someone Cares Soup Kitchen” in Costa Mesa, an hour drive away from Riverside. After a long drive in bad traffic, we finally arrived to the soup kitchen around 9:30 am. First, we met Lo (or Lo-Lo) who was in charge of running the soup kitchen in general (a.k.a. chief manager) who told us to divide into two groups, one to work in the kitchen next to her and another to work on sorting donations and organizing items in the serving area.

            Working in the kitchen was lots of fun, even thrilling at times. From time to time, Lo seemed a bit stressed out with all the business going on around the kitchen, but we soon found out that she had been sick and in fact had missed a day the previous day. She was actually very good-hearted and down-to-earth, though we didn’t always know what we were doing and bothered her with lots of questions. For the next three to four hours, we chopped lettuces, potatoes and carrots, peeled fruits, sorted out moldy ones, prepared fish, made mashed potato, help with laundry, etc. Meanwhile we got to meet some cool volunteers who were of wide range of ages and all came from all kinds of backgrounds. I had no idea that it took so many individuals and so much time to prepare food at a soup kitchen. Everyday too. The result was a gourmet menu of an excellent vegetable soup, baked fish caught from Alaskan fishing trip, solid good salad and real-thing mango salsa, along with a variety of donated delectable pastries. Mmm, the quality of the food was really beyond my expectation (some Living Water members even said it was better than our dining hall food). According to a lady who worked there, about 250 people come every day to the soup kitchen for meals. That’s 250 people who probably would’ve skipped lunch or substituted with a cheap fast food otherwise going back with happy stomach.

           The other group who were working outside the kitchen sorted and bagged a roomful of donated clothes, toys, books and such, as well as arranging food items in the refrigerator and the dining area.

            For the lunch service, Living Water sang in front of those gathered at the soup kitchen at 1, 2 and 3 pm, respectively, “And Can It Be” and “Psalm 193”; “Change in My Life” and “What Wondrous Love”; and “Amazing Grace” (as requested) and “The Lord Bless You.” It was blessing to see some people sing along, clap along, smile or nod, especially encouraging to hear someone express gratitude or compliment the singing. Though I was a little put down at first to see some people with uninterested or jaded looks on their faces and some not even listening to the singing or looking this way, it soon became clear that our singing was not for us, not for our pride or feeling good, not for our enjoyment of singing itself, but was for God—however He would use our singing and whatever His will was, what we should do was to pray for the Spirit and just to sing so that it would be a sweet sound of praising and thanksgiving that would be pleasing to God.

            Later, we also got to sing for the kids who came to the soup kitchen for tutoring. Most of the kids seemed to be no older than ten years old and they all spoke Spanish as their primary language. We sang “Siyahamba” and “He Gave Her Water”: for “Siyahamba,” we got the kids to march around and clap along with us. Ah, how good to see such cute, free-spirited children taking joy out of such simple act! (This brought it back to the Luke 18:16 verse: “But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”’) Father, please watch over these children of yours so that they will grow in Your light, Your guidance, so that they will come to know Your love, whose value of knowledge can be compared to nothing in this world.

            At the soup kitchen, we also had two pleasant surprise visits. The first was the one and only Joe Oh JE ’09 who came out to see us. This cool kid is going to come to Young Nak Church on Sunday to see us perform again and to represent with us. The second was a very special reunion: Amy got to meet her 4th grade best friend Evangeline for the first time in more than ten years. (Moreover, according to Amy, Evangeline was the first one to bring her to church!) Evangeline, who currently goes to UC Irvine, drove up to see Amy and hear our music. Praise God for good friendship and for His workings in our lives through such relationships and faith!

            Afterwards, we got to go to the Newport Beach and chill for a while. We took a bunch of pictures where we jumped, totem poled, ran into the ocean, cartwheeled, danced or drew a butterfly around someone. We marveled at God’s grace that provided the wonderful weather, beautiful ocean and genuine fellowship. Father God, we lift up this group to You, that You will pour Living Water onto us and continually fill us with desire to seek You, to devote this group to Your glory and nothing else, and to build up with unity of love for You and for one another.

Day 7 March 17, 2007 - by Janice Wong

Friday was our fun day, and it turned out to be a most interesting day indeed. During the previous evening, we had reflected on the wonders of God – what about God “wows” us? We marveled in God’s grace in lifting us from a pit of sin and wrath, in God’s beautiful creation…On Friday, we started off the day by waking up at a leisurely time, cleaning out of Faith’s house, and thanking Faith’s mom for her superlatively generous hospitality and love by singing her our traditional closing song “The Lord Bless You and Keep You.” We were so blessed by Faith’s family, experiencing the love of Christ through the hospitality. Next, we went o a local dim sum restaurant, and had some authentic dim sum (including shrimp dumplings shaped like rabbits). For dessert, we tried the yogurts at Kiwiberri (yogurt with fresh fruit and/or mochi). This is my first time in southern California, and now I know why people say that life is good in California. However, life took an unexpected twist when one of the cars needed a jump start, but then we got locked out of the car as we tried to jump start it. Thankfully, after AAA came to pry open the door, the car worked! Another example of God’s providence. All was well as we could drive to the beach at the city of Manhattan Beach. It was so windy that we had to leave earlier than expected, so we played a bit in a park in LA before heading off to Steve Sauk’s place. After making it to his place by calling Steve continually and frantically to figure out the directions, we had a relaxing evening at his polished apartment, munching pizza and fruit and sharing stories about Living Water. There was a surprise appearance by Lucas Kwong on the phone, and we enjoyed some past Living Water clips. We had a beatboxing tutorial from Steve (the “original” beatboxer…it sounded so good!) before debriefing and heading off to bed to prepare for an exciting day in LA on Saturday, as we have 3 gigs to look forward to tomorrow. Although today was a “Fun Day” without gigs, we still experienced the rich providence of God in guiding us in safe travels, teaching us group unity, giving us amazing food and shelter, and allowing us to connect with alumni of Living Water who could remind us of God’s lasting care of this ministry throughout the years. 

Day 8 March 18, 2007 - by Lee-shing Chang

Today highlighted the crazy diversity of places we have the opportunity to sing at on tour – from the intimacy of five pregnant women in a small crisis pregnancy center to the intensity of hundreds of tourists strolling down Third Street Promenade, from the affluence of shoppers browsing Anthropologie and Armani Exchange in Santa Monica to the destitution of 60 homeless men and women in a Salvation Army soup kitchen.

After spending the night with Steve Sauk (BK’04) in Culver City, we headed over to Harvest Home in Venice.  Harvest Home is a nonprofit Christian residential home that provides shelter and assistance to homeless pregnant women, and it does some fantastic work.  It’s based in a spacious house owned by a local church that leases the building to Harvest Home for $1 a year.  Up to 9 women can stay in the house, and the average stay is 6-12 months.  The home helps the women get an education, trains them to cook and draw up budgets, and teaches in-house classes on parenting, child birthing, and nutrition.  Most women stay in the home for a couple months after they give birth and eventually move into transitional housing.  By the time they leave, they have earned or are well on their way to earning a degree/certificate in an area with job opportunities, they have practical life skills, and they have good spiritual grounding.  Pretty neat, eh?  (You can read more about the home at http://www.theharvesthome.net/aboutus.htm.)

We got to sing for five women in the home, all of different ethnicities, ages, and states of pregnancy, from 4 months in to several days overdue.  It was a real intimate setting, the eight of us singing to the five women and Amy, one of the staff, as they sat on couches in the living room.  Some of the women were clearly touched by the music – one, Mia*, beamed throughout the whole half hour of singing, rubbing her stomach gently.  We chatted with the women after, and after Susie offered, we prayed with the women individually – for health, for their babies’ dads, for plans to move across the country.

The shopping/tourist mecca known as Third Street Promenade was next.  It’s a packed pedestrian street in downtown Santa Monica, where musicians, artists, magicians, dancers, you-name-it can get free permits to perform on the streets.  We staked our ground near two giant dinosaur shrub sculptures, flanked by a breakdancing troupe in front of us and a guitar-wielding duo behind us.  That meant we had to pull out our heavy-hitting songs – “What Wondrous Love,” “I Can Only Imagine,” “Change in My Life,” “Siyahamba” – and sing at the top of our lungs, facing down the boomboxes of the bboys and the microphone systems of the guitar crooners.  It was tough to be heard amid the bustle and noise, but more than a few people stopped by to listen, from children who yanked on their parents to pause for a moment to high schoolers who stayed for a few songs to several passersby who whipped out cellphones and camcorders to catch a clip of us.

When we headed back to the parking garage, one of our cars decided to keel over for the second time in three days.  Trapped in by two cars, we couldn’t get jumper cables into place, and as time ticked away, the prospect of making it to our next venue in time grew slimmer and slimmer.  But AAA came in and determined that the battery had indeed died.  After a quick on-the-spot battery replacement, we were on our way.  (A big thanks to Wilbur Hu (DC’09) and Josh Au (PC’08) who stuck around to see that the car was good to go.)

We got to the Salvation Army center 20 minutes late, and seeing that we were the evening service, we started singing within three minutes of arriving.  A crowd of about 40 homeless people had already gathered for the “Message and a Meal” (the pre-dinner service).  Our host Arthur, one of the staff members, started off with a brief story of how a couple years ago, he was on the streets as an addict, coming to this very same Salvation Army center to get a hot meal, but Christ found him and he found Christ, who gave him the freedom to quit and get off the streets.  We sang for half an hour, Kevin gave a short talk, and the crowd headed to the kitchen to grab dinner.  I wish we had the chance to chat with them, but instead, we had the opportunity to hear a little more about Arthur and how he was drawn to be on staff with the Salvation Army.

After, we headed to Alice’s place in Valencia where, after having heaping plates of butterfly shrimp, salad, Korean beef, and fruit placed before us by her remarkably gracious mom, I was reminded of how much for granted I take this Yale education of mine, this chance to head to California for spring break, this banquet set before me.  And in all what we saw today – the prospect of new life we saw in these five mothers at Harvest Home, filled with hope for a home and a future with their babies; the diversity of people we witnessed in Santa Monica, from garden-variety young couples with kids to New Age hippies who joined our half-circle in singing “I Can Only Imagine,” from teens in their high school cliques to old couples walking by hand-in-hand; the desperation of a woman at the Salvation Army center with psychological issues as she screamed angrily at invisible people and the evidence of a new life in Arthur’s story of shifting from a drug addict on one side of the Salvation Army to a clean staff member on the other side – there is a pervading sense that there is brokenness, there is wrong, there is injustice, but there is eager hope, and deep assurance, that this God we sing of can make all things new again, can wash all things clean.

“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes.  These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:9-17)

Day 9 March 19, 2007 - by Faith Lin

Sunday, the Lord’s day…Susie commented this morning that every day on tour feels like Sunday in a way…for me, this brought to mind a previous sermon I heard on 2 Samuel 6:12-15, where King David sacrificed offerings and “danced before the Lord with all his might” after six steps of carrying the ark of the Lord.  The pastor who gave this message drew an analogy between these six steps and the six days of the week leading up to the Sabbath.  If every day of the week is a “step” toward Sunday – a day of worshipping the Lord with all our being – how awesome would it be if every day was Sunday!  I imagine that must be what heaven is like…

We woke up this morning to a hearty breakfast of omelets and berries…many thanks to Alice’s mom for the food that fueled us through the day :)  After a quick warm-up and prayer, we headed to Alice’s home church to sing for the English College Ministry service at 10 a.m.  All of us were impressed with the size and resources of Young Nak Presbyterian Church, which holds numerous services every Sunday.  Pastor Kang of the English College Ministry gave a message on being a “bold witness” for Christ and living out our faith publicly.  After his sermon, we sang a few songs for the congregation, and Susie gave a personal testimony on recent revelations of God’s love in her life – how God knows us because He loves us, how we should aspire to demonstrate the love that God first showed us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8), and how we should seek to be “completely humble and gentle…patient, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2).  The congregation received the music and message with encouraging enthusiasm.  Shout-outs to Susie’s mom and brother (who came down all the way from Northern California) and to Joe Oh (JE ’09) and Devin Lau (TD ’09) for coming out to support us!

After church service we walked to the nearby Mexican restaurant Carnitas and chowed down on burritos and nachos, enjoying the down-time in between performances.  Around 2:30 p.m. we drove to the nearby Union Rescue Mission to participate in Young Nak’s “Love LA” ministry.  “Love LA” takes place every Sunday afternoon, and participants reach out to the homeless of inner-city LA by providing clothing and preparing meals, which are distributed after a time of worship and a short message.  This particular week “Love LA” invited a guest speaker, who gave a message on Matthew 2:1-12 about the importance of coming to Jesus to worship and bringing before Him the gifts that He has given us in the first place.  It was such a blessing to take part in this ministry and to see how Young Nak was utilizing its resources to serve the community immediately around it.  Touring around LA, all of us have realized the extent of the physical and spiritual needs in this city, and I admire the people who take part in “Love LA” as a response to God’s call to be His hands and feet in this world.  During this gig I think that all of us were especially awakened to the reality of spiritual warfare.  We discussed this over dinner (amazing Korean food prepared by Alice’s mom), and Kevin brought up the reassuring truth that all of us are safest at the center of God’s will.  So that’s my prayer…that you and I would always reside and remain at the center of God’s will.

Day 10 March 20, 2007 - by Jesse Dong

Day 11 March 19, 2007 - by Kevin Ing