An Open Letter

Dear Epic Summer Project,

For those who don't know me, my name is Dennis Chen and I'm on staff with Campus Crusade's Epic ministry. This email is the first step of what will hopefully become an extensive network of alumni from Epic Summer Projects and Epic movements. I directed the Epic Summer Project in 2004 and had one of the best summers of my life. For those that spent the summer with us, "aloha", friends. It has been over a year now since our summer in Hawaii. The days of Waiola’s shave ice and plate lunches have long since passed. Our days of sweating atop Hale Aloha Lehua are but a distant memory. Whether our time on the Epic Project was a couple of years ago or if it was just this past summer, we’ve all taken on other challenges and made new memories since then. While some of us may have to reach back into the archives to recall some of what we experienced that summer, I hope that the lessons learned remain at the forefront of our lives. The struggle is just as much against forgetting as it is against whatever else we face each day. Remember the Lord in the days of our youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when we will say, “I have no delight in them.”

Don’t read this, then, as if mine is like a voice from the past, reminding you of what has long since passed. Instead, hear me as I share a bit of what God is doing in and through Epic and know that what you experienced that fateful summer was never meant to be the end, but a beginning...a start of something more wonderful, more challenging, more eternally significant.

Epic is growing and we’re going to blow the lid off of it in the next two years! Here’s what we’re doing: We’ve compiled a list of the top 60 campuses in the U.S. with the largest Asian American student population. We’re talking about getting an Epic presence on all 60 campuses (we’re only on a handful at this point). We’re talking about getting to all the major metropolitan locations across the country. We’re talking more summer projects, more locations, and more sending...more Asian American students going to the world. We’re talking about taking on 1,000 new Epic intern/staff. We’re talking about dropping the Gospel bomb on as many campuses and on as many students as the Spirit of God will allow.

Who will do this and how will this be done?

The answer to “who” is, first and foremost, God. But we believe that God works through the lives of students in more significant ways than ever before. You are the ones. You and others like you. There is nobody else. I believe that God calls many more to His work than actually answer. The idea of a large movement of Asian Americans answering the call isn’t new. The challenge has been posed to previous generations. Not enough have answered. Now, the job has come to you and you must decide. We can’t wait for someone else.

There are but one or two chances in life for any of us to do something truly "great". Our culture teaches us to excel...excel in our schoolwork, in our chosen professions, and in our duties. But excellence isn't the same as greatness. Our culture is not predisposed to greatness. We're predisposed to taking care of our own business, of maintaining order and of being safe. That's not the "greatness" that has propelled the Gospel forward from a few weary disciples huddled in Jerusalem 2000 years ago to our very own lives. That kind of greatness, well...that can change a culture and we've been missing it. Let's change that. I'm talking about something that transcends our personal lives. I'm talking about impacting the lives of many, allowing Jesus to take our five loaves of bread and two fish and watching Him multiply it beyond our imagining. We're not called to seek greatness for ourselves, for that is driven by pride and conceit which displease God. To seek to do great things for God and to make His name great, however, requires faith and a submission to Him and that pleases God and He is honored by that. I'm talking about doing something that has not been done before. Make no mistake, we (whether it's this ministry or even the Church as a whole) have yet to see a force of Asian Americans raised up for God’s work...not to the degree that we’re praying for. You’re up. Scary? Maybe. Exciting? Hopefully. Worth it? Absolutely.

The answer to “how” is by recruiting massive amounts of interns, people who will be ready and willing to give a year to work as Epic staff. By tapping into the existing Asian network, we’re not only asking you to intern with us for a year, but to recruit a friend or two to come and do it with you. Recruit an entire team, for that matter. Call up some of your friends from the Epic Summer Project and do it together. We will be astonished to see what He can do!

Here’s what I’m asking you to do right now. Put aside the immediate objections that have come to mind already. You have a job. You have loans to pay. You have classes to finish. You have parents to please. You have your ambitions to satisfy. Put aside thoughts of why you can’t do this...if simply for a few days. Instead, ask yourself whether you believe that God can use you in a year’s time to make Jesus known to those who need Him. Can you be a part of something historic, whose impact can transform an entire culture? I know that some of you are already on board. Welcome and thank you for following Him into the spiritual frontier. Others of you, I only ask that you pray. Don’t pray while looking only for a certain answer. Don’t pray with your mind already made up. Lay your heart open and ask Him if this is what He wants from you.

If you are willing to do that, please email me AND another friend (this gives you bit of accountability), telling us that you’re praying about this, if you want in, definitely let me know...that's all for now. Many more details will follow. For now, I'm asking that you do business with the Lord and not get caught up in the details. I hate email spam, but in this case, I'm also asking that you forward this to whomever you think this can apply to (within your Epic movements or even outside of it). Know that there isn’t an email I won’t write, a phone call I won’t make, a conversation I won’t have, a group I won’t speak to, or a distance I won’t travel to see this happen. I am convinced. As they say in Texas Hold 'em...I’m “all in”. Join us.

For He is worth it all,

Dennis Chen

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.”
- John 12:24,25

Curse of Promise, Part Deux

I talked about the curse of promise in my personal life last time. For something a bit less personal, but equally gut wrenching...football season is starting up again. When I realized that the brilliant journalists of the Associated Press have the mighty Longhorns of Texas ranked #2 in the preseason poll, I confess that I thought that was a bit high. The pressure is on the Horns to set the earth back on its proper axis by beating Oklahoma.

Fans' expectations have never been higher, at least since I can remember. The media is feeding it with lofty rankings. All this means that people's jobs will be on the line this Fall, depending on the Oklahoma game. Fair or not, much has been made of Texas losing 5 in a row to OU. You know, Baylor's also lost 5 in a row to OU, but you don't hear anybody getting too worked up about that. The difference, of course, is that Baylor is terrible (possibly the worst Division 1 program over the last 5 years, although that is really difficult to measure...they're in the neighborhood, regardless). Texas is supposed to be good. Texas is supposed to beat Oklahoma this year. Texas has the curse of potential hanging over its program. In fact, there's not a program in American more cursed by it's talent and potential than the University of Texas. A curse can be broken, though. I think it gets broken this October and the Eyes of Texas will again be sung by the Longhorn faithful in the Rose Bowl next January. Hook 'em.

Curse of Promise

After an eight month hiatus, it seems appropriate to resume my blogging. I'm sure this bit of news will be greeted with much rejoicing amongst my faithful readers...right, okay, moving along. Being on Campus Crusade's staff means I live my life according to the academic calendar. With the start of the year looming just ahead, it bears mentioning that I received a promotion of sorts this past summer. It's a typical promotion, minus the bump up in salary or the bigger office or an assistant to handle my paperwork. No sign of personalized stationary or keys to the executive washroom. Also missing are the various forms of suck-up from underlings attempting to ingratiate themselves into my all-powerful good graces. This is a common thing, right?!?

I also don't have a title, but in this case, not having one is like going through the McDonald's drive thru at 2am and, upon receiving your order of Chicken McNuggets, you realize that they didn't include the sweet & sour sauce. At that point, you let out a cry of frustration and exclaim into the night, "Fuggeaboutit!". Why? Because you have more important issues to deal with...namely, the fact that masterminds over at the Golden Arches have replaced the dark meat nuggets of goodness and turned your beloved McNuggets into 20 pieces of all-white-meat blandness. As you can tell, it's crucial to maintain perspective in these situations.

Even without the title, my role functions like that of national director for Epic. People don't really want to call me that and, knowing me the way that I do, I can hardly blame them. But what my job lacks in clarity, it more than makes up in vision. I get excited every time I think about my job and I have an intense desire to do it well. I feel fortunate because on this point, I know that not everybody can say the same.

That leads me to my main idea (and title of this post). I had a conversation with a friend of mine, who works in Human Resources. An interesting observation that he made was that there is a tendency to look for those who are excelling in their given roles and, upon finding them, "promoting" them to something else. This tends to happen multiple times over, until the Promising One finds himself in a role that he is no longer best suited for. He may still do a credible job, working hard and producing results, but the role never feels quite right. Then it dawns on all involved that the Promising One was actually ideally suited for the job that he was in a few promotions ago! So, in effect, this person's promise/potential to do a job well was the catalyst that lead to a move away from what he did best. Ironic.

I don't want to find myself in a situation like that. So far, what I've shown to be most skilled at (in terms of my job) is simply getting promoted. I'd prefer that not to be the case. As far as goals for this year go, becoming competent and knowledgable in my role is definitely one of them.

The Right to Vote

Anyone else fascinated by what's going on in Iraq these last couple of days? I don't care what your political (or even moral, for that matter) views are concerning the war, some of the stories floating out of Iraq are incredible. Over 60% of the voting population braved mortar shells and machine gun fire, suicide bombers with explosives strapped to their bodies, threats and intimidation from extremists, long lines and disorganized polling stations...all to cast a vote for their country's new leadership. It's the first democratic election the country has seen in over 50 years. 85 year old grandmother, crippled and illiterate, was carried to the polling station by her grandsons so she could excercise her right to vote. Blind man, who has been waiting in line since the crack of dawn, has his son read him the ballot so that he can cast his vote. And the truth is that what awaits them all in the near future is more death, more fighting, more suffering. They endured all of this because they hope that their votes can bring peace to their country. Amazing what people will endure when they have hope.

This is the caption for the picture above:
An Iraqi citizen, turning his head to protect his identity, proudly displays the indelible ink on his finger as proof he has voted in Iraq's first free election in over 50 years on Jan. 30, 2005. Everyone voting in the historic election has to mark their finger with the ink to indicate they have already voted as a means to deter voting fraud.

Accountable

Mondays are the worst...what more can be said about that? This Monday, in particular, found your's truly sitting in a large room, listening to some lecture on how to use Crusade's new company credit card. For the uninitiated, we basically have a credit card that is to be used whenever we need to purchase something on behalf of the ministry. I feel bad for the guy giving the group of us the tutorial. He tried not to bore people. Definitely deserves props for that.

I read an article on the ESPN site a week ago and it reminded me of something spiritual. I was pretty amazed at that. The article was about Derek Jeter (for those of you who don't know America's pastime, he plays shortstop for the hated New York Yankees) and his baserunning skills. Here's what I found interesting:

"Jeter made one (baserunning error) as a rookie in 1996. He was caught stealing, the dreaded third out at third base. Manager Joe Torre was livid about such a rookie mistake. A half inning later, after playing in the field, Jeter came in the dugout and sat right next to Torre on the bench. Without saying a word, Jeter was telling his manager, 'here I am, I screwed up, let me have it, I'm accountable.' Torre looked at him, laughed and said 'get out of here.' It was probably the last big mistake Jeter made on the bases."

I'm only a mild Derek Jeter fan, so I don't say this because I have his poster on my wall or own three dozen of his rookie baseball cards...but I think that's a pretty good example of being accountable. We talk about wanting/needing others to hold us accountable, but that really only works if we hold ourselves accountable, too. When I screw up (which is multiple times a day), the last thing that I want to do is to face up to the music. I'd rather go hide and keep to myself, hope that nobody noticed. At the very least, I'd rather just get chewed out and after that, avoid the one that I've wronged or is keeping me accountable. I don't need to look any further than Genesis and Adam's response to God after his sin in order for me to see that this is true of me, too.

It takes a lot to go face up to my mistake and hold myself just as accountable as someone else is. To not hide away and try to avoid it, but to deal with it and grow from it. Derek Jeter may or may not live this way in any other aspect of his life. He's really not the point. The point that I see for myself is that if I can hold myself up to a higher standard and be accountable in one area of my life, then there's hope for me in many other areas, too. But only if I'm accountable.

Epic Conference 2005

We just returned from Southern California yesterday. This year's Epic Conference was held out there over MLK weekend. I didn't think it was possible to be so mentally tired that one could not think, no matter how hard one tried...but that's how I felt after the Conference was over. Directing a conference is more work than I imagined. More work than I care for, really.

On the subject of being tired, I used to think that was a bad thing. Somehow, to be tired meant that something was going wrong. If things are well, why would one be tired? That was stupid thinking, by the way. We grow tired, regardless of circumstance. Energy and passion is an expendable resource. Renewable, but expendable. Most of my life, I've tried to hoard my "energy and passion" and to spend it at times of my choosing (usually times when it would benefit me the most).

What a difference I see in how Jesus spent his. The times that I see him pulling away from the masses, even his own disciples, all came after great investments of his time and energy in others. The tiredness that I feel after giving something to others, of investing in others feels somehow different than the tiredness I feel when pursuing my own ends. Late night conversations with college students while at a conference gave me a recent reminder of this. I pray that He can teach me to be more giving, more generous, and more gracious with my energy and my passions.