Emmaus Heartburn: A Christ-Centered Journey

Over the past two months, I have been working with Pastor John Sittema of Uptown Church (where I am currently serving as the adult education intern) to develop a weekly Bible reading program for 2021 based on the mobile app Read Scripture. The above is a sample of the weekly encouragement video to "entice" church members to be diligent in reading through all of Scripture as we allow Jesus to explain to us all things concerning himself in all the Scriptures (Luke 24:27). It is our goal that our hearts will burn within us just like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus as we read of Christ from every page of Scripture. Check out the blog on a weekly basis if you are interested to journey along with us - https://emmausheartburn.blogspot.com/

This winter season here in Charlotte has been cold and wet, with the coronavirus cases for North Carolina reaching about 674,000 cases. Vaccination is now being rolled out for those who are at least 65 years old. Do pray for the US as not only are we going through a health crisis but the political situation is not improving either - with the upcoming presidential inauguration on Jan 20th, security alert is at an all-time high for potential domestic terrorism and violence. Health-wise, all of us are keeping well (appreciate my wife for building into us the habit of consuming daily supplements!) and we are utilizing this winter break to ready ourselves for the upcoming spring semester starting next month. Had quality catch-up time with Eliza when she was with us last month and Eunice is still with us before heading back to Union University end of January.

Here are the subjects I will be taking for spring semester (Feb-May 2021).

1. Personal Sanctification
2. Pauline Epistles
3. Poets 
4. Christology, Soteriology, Eschatology
5. Christ, Culture, and Contextualization
6. Preaching Lab 1

Debra will be taking all of the above classes as well (except Preaching Lab 1) as an audit student - we are truly appreciative to RTS for offering the opportunity for couples to attend classes together! As of now, classes will still be held in-person and we pray that the situation will continue to be so. Being in a "live class" (with social distancing measures) certainly makes a lot of difference! Praise God for His grace in bringing us through three semester thus far and I am starting to enjoy the studying process (after an initial tough first semester when we first landed here in July of 2019). Have to constantly remind myself to be in conversation with the God of the Word as I study the Word of God. My main area of struggle is studying Greek and Hebrew - one of my new year resolution is to be comfortable in utilizing more software tools towards this end. 

I am thankful that for the past three months, there has been an uptake of online corporate coaching and workshops - this has been a timely financial relief for us. Do continue to pray that there will be continuous client interests for the year of 2021. For Debra and myself, pray that we will continue to be in a listening-mode with the Lord - we find that the further along we travel on the path of discipleship, we begin to plan less because we need to make more leeway for the Spirit to direct our steps (Prov 16:9, Gal 5:25).

Do let us know how we can pray for you and your family.

Thanks for partnering with us in this journey of joy.

Joseph, Debra, Eliza & Eunice Tan.

Thankful for Thanksgiving

This is Thanksgiving week here in the US and we are so very thankful that we are able to celebrate it together - all four of us (despite the pandemic .. no worries, we put on our mask as soon as lunch was over!). Eunice is back for her Thanksgiving break from Tennessee and we drove to Georgia to meet up with Eliza. It felt almost like a Chinese New Year Reunion Meal :-) 

The classic hymn says, "When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done." So, here are our blessings, one by one:

1. The Lord's guidance in this period of transition for both Eunice and Eliza as both of them graduated this year - one from high school and the other one from university. 
2. Thankful that Eunice F1 visa issue was resolved just in time (we had to appeal to the North Carolina congressman office for assistance to expediting the application). It was approved just about a week before she entered college!
3. Thankful that Eliza found a job and also a suitable place to stay in Georgia.
4. We found a cheaper apartment to rent and we have such great help from the guys in church in moving from Charlotte to Concord. As part of the rental reduction, we help to organize monthly social events for the apartment residents. Great deal - ministry of hospitality at the same time!
5. Seminary workload is more manageable, now that I am getting used to the study and research routine. Grateful to my wife for her input as to how to improve my study habits!
6. Thankful that all the seminary classes are in-person (with social distancing). The interaction is a helpful part of the learning process.
7. Thankful also for the opportunity for my wife to join as an audit student for the seminary classes which has deepened our theological roots.
8. I look forward to my weekly mentoring session every Monday morning with the interim senior pastor of Uptown, Ps John Sittema who has been the such a refreshing shepherding voice in my spiritual walk with the Lord.
9.  Thankful for a series of online coaching and training projects from clients in Malaysia which is a testament of the Lord's providence. 
10. Thankful for the Lord's protection on the health of family members back home, being so far away do concern us and we are grateful for His grace and mercy.

Do let us know how we can pray for you and your family.

Thanks for partnering with us in this journey of joy.

Joseph & Debra Tan.

Honeymoon 2.0 a.k.a. Empty Nest

With Eliza working in Georgia  and Eunice studying in Tennessee, the both of us now in North Carolina have officially started our season of Honeymoon 2.0 with mixed emotions - a sense of hopeful anticipation of the days ahead and yet feeling kind of empty-in-a-thankful-sort-of-way. This is so strange, we have always worked towards our daughters' independence and now, that it is here, it is kind of surreal. The saying - letting go and letting God - doesn't seem so cliché anymore.

Time flies - I started on my 2nd M.Div. year last month and am grateful to the Lord for sustaining me through the last academic year in RTS. "Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed Thy hand hath provided - Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me". Praise the Lord for providing a number of online coaching projects which gave some measure of financial relief and also kept me in touch with what's going on with my client base back home. I always find it refreshing to talk to people back home (feel so much more relaxed in my Malaysian English accent and jokes!).

Please pray for the outworking of what it means when Paul instructed Timothy to "fulfill your ministry" (1 Timothy 4:5) especially for both Debra and myself as a couple. We so need to be sensitive to the Lord's guidance so that we are mindful of His holy calling - "not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity" (2 Timothy 1:9). Please pray for the outworking of His purpose and for His glory in our lives. More than the honeymoon, we desire the better option - honey-from-the-Rock! (Psalm 81:16). Amen.

Do let us know how we can pray for you and your family.

Thanks for partnering with us in this journey of joy.

Joseph & Debra Tan.

Merdeka! End of Year 1 @RTS

Submitted my final paper yesterday evening, and finally...today I can spend a free and easy day without the "seminarian guilt" of not reading, writing, memorizing and making 3x5 cards 😅

As this is the conclusion of my first year in RTS Charlotte (one down and two more to go), it is an opportune time to reflect on God's faithfulness and providence (and what a season it has been!). Ever since we touched down in the US on July 12 last year, it has been a faith journey for my whole family - I still have times when I ask myself - "What am I doing here, thousand of miles away from familiar and stable environments at home, putting the business on hold while squeezing my brain cells as a student after all these years!?" It all seemed so adventurous when we were planning to come to RTS but reality has a way of setting in at various unexpected places.

With 13 subjects completed in RTS this year, I have picked up certain study skills and tips along the way (with significant help from my wife) - this old dog still need to learn new tricks lah! Yet, I am still working to be more efficient and strategic in my study time management so that my scheduled is more holistic and not just scholastic. On another note, it was interesting that all four of us are attending classes online this semester! (A family that studies together, stays together).

Grateful that both Eliza and Eunice are graduating this year - one from the Asbury University and the other from TPS High School = the graduating class of 2020 is certainly in a unique situation! While Eunice will be graduating virtually, Eliza's session has been postponed to October because the Uni President prefers a physical celebration. Eunice will be starting her freshman year at Union University this Fall in August. The Lord is faithful. Please do pray for Eliza as she seeks for a suitable job here in the US.

One transition for us this summer is that we will be moving to another apartment - located further away in Concord - for a much reduced rent. In return, we will be working with the apartment management to organize regular social events for the apartment complex to ensure higher lease renewals. This is a great chance for us to "formally" connect with others and practice the second greatest commandment. Do pray for our move and also for God to "move" in our hearts as we embark on this new "apartment ministry". Date of move is June 20.

This summer is a precious window God has afforded for us to spend time with Eliza and Eunice before one heads off to the working world and the other to college world. Never in my wildest imagining would I have thought that the four of us will be spending summer of 2020 here in North Carolina together under one roof! Do pray for me to play an active role in facilitating meaningful conversations and to "tie heart strings" so that we continue to be open in our communications.

Thank you for your prayers and support. If it was not for the Lord's presence and His promises, getting through the day (with all the craziness that is happening right now) will be such dry drudgery. "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust." (2 Peter 1:4).

Do let us know how we can also pray for you and your family.

Thank you for partnering with us in this journey of joy.

Joseph, Debra, Eliza & Eunice.

Living on-the-line and online

Greetings from Charlotte, North Carolina. As part of the seminary spring break, I was looking forward to coming back to KL last week for a client training assignment but my flight was cancelled due to the travel restrictions from the US authorities as the flight had to transit through Seoul, Korea. "Cancellation" is becoming a common byword in this trying season where events come to a standstill and people are forced to be still. In the case of my training session, it was reconverted to become an online one instead - spent the last three days staying up from 9.00pm to 5.00am in order to match the Malaysia time zone!

When spring break ends this Sunday, all my remaining classes for the semester will be conducted online. Being in the apartment together with my wife and daughter do make learning into a family project! Eliza's final semester in Asbury University has been converted into an online season as well and she is planning to come and stay with us next week, so our apartment here is being converted into the "Tan Family School" where everyone is a student (but who's paying the bills?, haha)! We are grateful that in this time of health crisis, while there is "social distancing", we have the opportunity to stick together as a family. The Lord is faithful.

Our families back home in Malaysia is safe and healthy - we are thankful. During winter, it was about checking the temperature every day but now it is about checking the number of Covid-19 cases and all of what is happening seem so surreal. The community here is taking the situation seriously - the church service in Uptown has gone online and we are now in day 3 of a 14-day national "shut-down" ordered by the government. This common enemy has certainly united the politicians here and it is encouraging to see how the private and public sectors are working together. Eunice recently wrote a blog post about the current Covid-19 situation and what Psalm 1 has to say about it:

http://toberadical.weebly.com/blog/dont-let-covid-19-take-over-your-life

Over the past two months we have been busy with Eunice's scholarship interview and competition preparations with 3 different universities and we praise the Lord for the positive results. We are in the midst of finalizing the application/acceptance and look forward to her "new life" starting this fall (August). Eliza, on the other hand is transiting to her "new life" in terms of looking for a job (she will be graduating in May). Debra and myself are looking forward to our "new life" as empty-nesters by then! Do pray for us as we go through these transition periods and be sensitive to the Lord's leading and direction. I can often be caught up with my own schemes that I do not seek the Lord as I ought (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

Do pray also for a strong finish to this semester despite the health crisis situation. I am taking six subjects - Classics of Personal Devotion, Evangelism, Greek Exegesis, History of Christianity II, Christian Thought & Philosophy, Christian Encounter with Islam.

Thank you for partnering with us in this journey of joy.

Joseph & Debra.

Fall Semester is Done and Dusted!

Whew! The final exams for the Fall semester ended 9.00pm, Dec 10th and it was a huge relief at the end of an arduous trek of reading assignments, theological papers, quizzes and written exams which started since August. Yet, this is only 1/6th of my journey here in RTS and there is more to come! However, I thank God for His daily sustenance and the opportunity to "be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB).

The day after the finals, we had a sumptuous Taiwanese lunch in the home of a couple who are our fellow RTS students. It was a delightful day of fellowship, playing games and sharing seminary studying tips. 

Yesterday, we drove to Atlanta and reunited with Eliza at Grace Church where she helped conduct a workshop on cultural diversity - it is wonderful to be complete as a family again (she also just completed her exams!) and we will be taking the next few weeks to travel, visit friends, chill and be touristy. We are thankful for the connections Eliza made during her internship in Atlanta last summer.

Over the weekend here in Atlanta, we are staying in the home of Tom and Marilyn Reese - our long time friends through AiG (Anwers in Genesis - www.answersingenesis.org). They hosted Eliza for her first Thanksgiving here in the US three years ago when she was a freshman - we are grateful for their heart of ministry and commitment to Kingdom building. 

Please pray for us

We will be on the road for the next week or so. Do pray for safety and favorable weather as we travel. In the midst of having fun, we are also seeking the Lord's direction for Eliza and Eunice as next year, one will graduate and the other entering college.

I have been given the opportunity to preach in Uptown Church on Dec 29th on Jonah 4:5-11. Please pray for my period of preparation that I may exegete true to the meaning of the text and be relevant in the application. 

Will be taking three classes during the Winter break starting Jan 6th.

Thanks for partnering with us in this journey of joy.

Joseph, Debra, Eliza & Eunice. 

To Thrust and Trust

Well, the day finally came! - the final day of my grueling three week long Greek summer class. The above is the picture of how the class looked like before the final test paper was handed out. Reading the New Testament in its original language has heightened my appreciation of what it means to "rightly divide" the Word of God - not according to my own preference, but in the context by which it was first written.

On another note, we are so, so happy to meet up with Eliza, our eldest who came to visit us after her summer internship - indeed the joy of reunion is quite indescribable! This is an amazing season in our lives where the four of us are all students at the same time (Debra will be attending a few classes as well)! This is such a God-given opportunity - especially for my wife and I - to deepen our roots in Scripture which is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:17). We took a drive from Charlotte to Wilmore, Kentucky on Friday to send Eliza back to Asbury University where she will begin her fourth and final year. Praise God for His faithfulness!

Please pray for us

We are now quite settled down in our apartment here in Strawberry Hill, Charlotte and am starting to get used to the US-life routine. Thanks for praying for us.

Do pray for us in the area of regular financial support - we have a tenant who will be moving out end of this month and thereafter, the rental income will stop. Also, my online coaching project is not kicking off as expected. Hence, the cash flow visibility is not as clear as we planned initially. As we thrust ahead with fulfilling God's calling for us, we also aim to trust Him with all our hearts, leaning not on our own understanding but to acknowledge Him in all of our ways (Proverbs 3:5,6). 

Classes will begin 21 August and there are many more subjects to look forward to!

Thank you for partnering with us in this journey of joy. 

Joseph, Debra & Eunice.