Detoured into Intimacy

This is a picture of us in snowshoes about two weeks ago! It was fun running around while Jamie was shaking the trees to topple snow on me.

February 20, 2006 Prayer Update

Dear Friends and Family!

I hope this finds you well. It is already the ending of February and I trust that you are keeping warm during this mild East Coast winter.

Happy Belated Valentine’s day, I was reminded of my first love and the gift of this marriage as a glimpse of intimate community. Hope you enjoyed yours, Jamie and I kept it simple and had a quiet home-cooked meal that Jamie prepared (so good!) and we gave out little treats to our neighbors.

This past Friday, Central New York was battered with some pretty severe storms, with wind gusting up to 75 mph! There were downed trees that lead to downed power lines. It was the largest power outage in National Grid’s history, with over 39,000 customers without power. To add to that, there was a winter chill storm that came through. So there were emergency “warm houses” set up for those without power. To read more you can go here.

Long Island Abundant Life Church Winter Retreat Cancelled

Well, because of the high winds, The Sacadanga Bible Conference Center would not have power for three days, so the Long Island Abundant Life Church Winter Retreat was cancelled. I was disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to serve them as their youth speaker but I pray that God continues to bless their church and the youth during this time. They are considering rescheduling the retreat for April.

ESF International Student Night

Since the Winter Conference was cancelled, Jamie and I were able to attend an annual International Students Culture night. There were many opportunities for us to engage with students and I saw my Chinese professor there. We had a wonderful time dancing and mingling and hopefully be able to build some relationships here.

PALM Update

Pastoral and Laity Ministries has launched their new website! It looks great! The website will include a blurb about the Laity Project soon. Due to the change of launch of the Laity Project, I got in touch with Timothy Tseng of the Asian American Center to update him and he gave me some words of encouragement as well as Greg Jao, Regional Director for Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in New York and New Jersey.

If the funding comes through, it would be ideal that the Laity Project could coincide with this year’s Eastern Chinese Bible Conference, this year where Paul Tokunaga will be speaking. I have been discussing the possibility of having a special session with Mr. Tokunaga with Metro Asian American lay leaders. I hope to explore this possibility.

I hope to finish up some of the initial look for the ministry website and get prayer letters out this week! If you would like to be on the mailing list please contact me at peter@palmny.org.

Crossroads Comedian Night

The Syracuse Alliance Church’s Crossroads College and Career Ministry hosted Rich Praytor for an evening of comedy. Over 700 people came out for two evenings of comedy and outreach. I was amazed by how he was able to capture so many of the church’s nuances and quirks. Good stuff. His material about marriage and child-rearing made me think! If you want to see a sample of his work, you can download it here…

Speaking Engagements:

I have been asked if I could speak at Cornell Navigators fellowship meeting. I am praying to see if I could speak at Brooklyn Grace Chinese Alliance Church Summer Conference for the youth (it is one week before the New York Summer Conference and I don’t want to overexert myself). I am preparing for the outreach youth coffeehouse for Chinese Evangel Mission Church-Queens.

Prayer Items

Intimacy

I have been recognizing a deeper need for me to go on a spiritual retreat of some sort. The local pastor recommended some retreat sites and I am exploring a trip to get away to write and to listen to God. I am desperate to start writing again and to have some time with Him so that my relationships with others are rooted on the intimacy I have with the Lord.

Provision
His grace is sufficient indeed…by faith, I can only wait and trust. Thankful for this measure of faith that I can be at peace. I want to praise God for such a patient and loving wife who is so supportive and loving.

Community
I am meeting with two church leaders at church this Thursday to explore ministry and also some mentoring possibilities. I am excited to see what God has in store for this. I am eager to serve and to engage with a church that is growing and yearning to pursue the magnitude of God.

Imagination

Pray that God continues to center Jamie and I on the hope we have in Christ. To know that He is so much more than we can imagine as we plan out future together. Pray for wisdom, grace, faith and passion on our hearts as we seek to engage where we are here.