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2009/8/4 Testimony (Austin Chinese Church New Member's Class)We were required to send a copy of personal testimony to Pastor Gaylord at the new member's class. This gave me a chance to review my spiritual journey over the past few years. I'm actually not new to ACC at all; my close connection with ACC has started ever since I got Austin in 2003. Now I'd like to officially become a member of ACC. After all, this is where my root is. July 1st, 2009 This March I had my seventh anniversary of baptism. “Seven” is a perfect number in the Bible, so I think this anniversary was extraordinarily special to me. Seven years ago (in 2002), I was baptized in Taipei, Taiwan, and officially became a Christian. Seven years later (in 2009), I finished my Ph.D. in UT Austin and got a teaching job in a high school. When I looked back upon the past seven years, from a baby Christian to a Christ-centered Christian, I just want to thank and praise God unceasingly.In November, 2001, my purse was stolen and I lost a huge amount of money. Before that I had been accumulating a lot of negative emotions in my life, so the “purse event” was like a trigger – I didn’t know how to handle those unpeaceful emotions anymore. A college friend invited me to the small group he was attending. I liked those people and the atmosphere in the small group, so I stayed. A few months later (in March, 2002), I decided to get baptized. Later on I realized that the “purse event” was actually a guised blessing from God, as He used this event to lead me into His kingdom. I came to Austin for graduate school in July, 2003. Ever since I was a new student in UT, I joined the Mandarin-speaking student fellowship – ACCCF (Austin Chinese Campus Christian Fellowship), where I was tremendously nurtured in my spiritual life. I was so blessed to know those very wise elders in ACCCF and to be taken good care of by them. ACCCF is a very evangelical group; we have many seekers with us. Even though I was still a new Christian at that time, I was asked if I was willing to be a co-worker. So I learned how to serve and gradually understood the meaning of doing ministry. My faith was deepened through studying God’s Word and serving with other brothers and sisters in Christ in the Fellowship. In December 2006, I attended the Urbana conference in St. Louise. That was another great impact on me. I was in the International Student Track of the conference and heard a lot of messages concerning cross-cultural missions. God led me to the international student Sunday school class at Hyde Park Baptist Church in early 2007. There I met a very gracious American couple who devotedly served in the church and international students. God also used me to support that group, as there were also many seekers. In May 2009, I finally finished my study at graduate school. It had been a process of relying on God: taking classes, preparing for the qualifying exam, dissertation writing, passing the final oral defense, and countless meetings/discussions with supervisors and revision afterwards. Had I not relied on God, I absolutely wouldn’t be able to achieve it. My life journey continues, and a new life chapter is about to start. Getting a teaching job in Austin is another grace from God. God also led me back to Austin Chinese Church, where my root is. May God help me to be a good teacher, and always be a good testimony for Him. One day when it’s about the time for me to leave the world, I hope people will remember me as a person who loves God and loves people. 2009/5/21 Counting God's BlessingsPraise the Lord: For giving me this faith in Christ, which is my
strongest foundation. This list can keep going on and on…. Always
remember to count God’s blessings… 2009/5/12 Learning through SinglenessAbout relationship… I just feel so thankful that God grants me peace in this regard this year. I’ve never been having such 前所未有的平安. If I can choose, I’d still choose to get married and have my own family, because I hope to experience God’s wonder in marriage (as He is the one who sets up marriage…), and to have someone serve the Lord together. But if marriage is not God’s plan for me, I pray that He would give me peace and contentment, until the day I’m about to leave the world, I wouldn’t be feeling sorry for my life because I’ve never got married. Here is what I recently shared with a friend who is struggling with her singleness: “I feel I've learned a lot through singleness. If I were not single for so many years, I wouldn't have been such understanding (and maybe compassionate) when I see people who have passed their socially-appropriate-getting-married age and are still single. I wouldn't have got a chance to learn to count God's blessings – focusing on what God has given me rather than on what He hasn't given me (or isn't going to give me). I wouldn't have been seriously contemplating the meaning of marriage to me and why I want to get married if I can choose. I've also learned to take relationship issues easy, to keep a positive mind, to arrange my life well, and to take good care of myself in every aspect. I keep myself open, while I do treasure, value, and enjoy my single life now.” : )
2009/5/11 "Mary Did You Know"A great song not only on Christmas, but also on Mother's Day... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFPHIK9ann8 2009/3/9 7th AnniversaryToday (March 8th) is the seventh anniversary of my baptism. It’s like another birthday of mine, and is even more meaningful than my physical birthday. “Seven” is a perfect number in the Bible, so I think this anniversary is extraordinarily special to me. Lately I’m particularly grateful for God’s leading in my job hunting. Right now I’m facing a critical transition – from a student to a young professional. I’m approaching the end of my student life (finally!) and am about to launch a new life chapter. I feel God really favors me and is opening the door for me along the way – the process of successfully transferring my teacher certification from Taiwan to Texas teacher certification last year, and the perfect timing of a job interview this February so I was able to catch up the working visa application deadline (April 1st) and got enough time for my attorney to file my documents to the relevant government department. This is completely out of my expectation and makes me feel like God is performing a miracle on me. God’s provisions are beyond what we ask and imagine. Now I’m praying for the result of visa application… I’d like to share a Bible verse which pops up in my head again and again recently: “For we brought nothing into the world, and we take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (1 Timothy 6:7-8). This passage is originally talking about love of money and exhorting people not to fall into the temptation. But I think we can make an extension and apply it to other aspects of our desires. God has given me so much, and I feel very content. I ask for no more at this moment. : ) 2009/3/1 Done!I’ve finally passed my dissertation final oral defense this week. Don’t really feel rapturous. What I have is more like a relief. To be precise, I even didn’t feel anything when I finished my defense, no specific feeling at all. I didn’t feel happy or relieved or anything else at that moment; it was just like I’ve finally got it done, a thing which I had been waiting for so long. I called home that night and told dad I passed. Dad said congratulations and something else really nice. His nice words served as positive stimulation and brought me a sense of delight. I was having a smiling face with peace and joy in my heart when I was lying on bed that night. What a journey! When I look back upon the past five and half years, there were just too many things. I’m not a highly intelligent person, and thus I had to rely on God more throughout the whole process… qualifying exam, proposal meeting, final defense, countless meetings/discussions with supervisors and revision afterwards. Had I not relied on God, I absolutely wouldn’t be able to achieve it. To me it’s certainly not only a matter of a dissertation/ degree/gaining knowledge/intellectual training. I think it’s more like a personality training – building up characters such as patience and perseverance, as well as a social training – developing and learning communication skills, as I needed to communicate my ideas with my supervisors and interact with other relevant people. Most importantly, it's a process of relying on God. I feel extremely grateful for God’s grace. He gave me a very supportive supervisor and a lot of great friends. Thank you all for your support, your company, your encouragement, and your prayers. : ) 2008/12/27 Austin Chinese Church Chinese SchoolWe had the last class of this semester (Fall 08) two weeks ago. Can’t believe how time flies! Teaching the first-grade class in Austin Chinese Church Chinese School (ACCCS) is definitely a blessing to me this year. Initially I was sort of worried about teaching the first graders, because I was inexperienced with little kids. I thought… gosh, how can I deal with those “little animals”? I was joking myself that I needed to learn how to be a “zoo principal”. Thankfully, things weren’t as terrible as what I thought in the first place. Those “little animals” were actually so adorable and were a great source of my happiness! Well, of course there were moments they acted like handfuls (after all they are just kids), but overall ACC kids are quite well-behaved (I had experience dealing with really difficult kids previously so I know how good they are). Also it’s a small class so not too hard for me to handle it. Plus ACC parents are supportive and put high values on children’s education; all these factors have made my teaching here much smoother. Teaching at ACCCS also equips me for my future teaching career, as I hope to find a Chinese teaching job here after I graduate. Having a background growing up in Taiwan, I’m more familiar with the phonetic system used in Taiwan (注音符號) than with the Pinyin. So I’m taking the chance teaching in ACCCS to get used to Pinyin. It’s actually not that hard but certainly takes time to practice. Teaching at ACCCS is more than teaching Chinese itself, as it is a church setting where the parents are Chinese immigrants who expect their next generation to maintain the Chinese heritage. I usually remind myself that I need to hold a ministry mind and a serving heart to do it. I tried to integrate Bible verses into the class. Kids in my class were required to memorize a few simple Bible verses in Chinese. I taught them to do motions to help their memory – this is another fun part of my teaching. I learned this from ACCCF; we usually like to do motions when we sing worship songs. Another great thing of teaching at ACCCS is the reconnection with ACC. This past semester, I usually attended another church (Hyde Park) in the morning and got ACC around noon on Sundays. Since I started to explore other churches two years ago, I hadn't been coming to ACC on a regular basis over the past two years. It’s certainly great to come back and to see people here. After all it’s my home church in Austin and where my root is. I’m kind of sad that I won't continue to teach the first-grade class next semester. Because of administrative rearrangement, I was asked to teach another class in Spring 09. That will be the bilingual kindergarten class - gosh, even younger kids (littler animals)! I'm inexperienced with kindergarten kids! But I believe it’ll be a fun and great new experience to me. I’m learning to open up myself and to accept new experience God brings into my life. Let’s wait and see what will happen next semester. : )  2008/11/29 My Thanks on Thanksgiving (1)The first thing I'd like to give thanks around Thanksgiving time is that I am able to remain a very close relationship with God over the past many years. There is nothing to boast about myself, but I thank God that He leads me so well and makes my heart stick to Him. I found some of my Christian friends are spiritually unstable, not because they don't want to seek a complete faith in Christ, but somehow they just struggle with various trials and get distracted by the worldly things. Seeing these friends struggling with spiritual matters, I just feel what a blessing to be able to remain a close relationship with God and to have God as my strongest foundation and my cornerstone. My Christian faith is my greatest support in many amazing ways. It helps me to go through difficulties and makes me still keep a positive mind. When I recall those difficult lessons in my life, I just can't help praising the Lord... oh God, how can I handle those things without You? The peace, joy, and strength I have experienced in my Christian faith are never found in others things... 2008/9/11 Happy Birthday, Serena!This is my 6th birthday in Austin. Just looked back upon each of my birthdays over the past years, each year I had something to memorize. Got countless blessings from friends today and feel extremely thankful for all the friendships around me. Wishing myself a happy birthday! : ) 2008/8/25 Wishing to Move OnLife is in a good order and with a clear sense of direction. Very focused now -- dissertation, and the following teacher certification exams. Hopefully I can get everything done by the end of this year. I know UT is definitely a wonderful place, but emotionally I have a strong urge to move on now. One of the most blessed things in Austin over the past five years is that God gives me two spiritual homes here. The first one is Austin Chinese Church (ACC)/ Austin Chinese Christian Campus Fellowship (ACCCF), and the other one is Hyde Park Baptist Church/ The graduate and international student Sunday class. Learned and grew a lot in both. Have a lot to share about these two spiritual homes. Will write more when I get time. Right now I feel God's leading is quite clear in terms of my future way and my church life. At least for this coming semester (should be the last semester of my student life... if everything goes smoothly...), I'm very clear about my goals and my direction. God has given me a very clear vision, which is worth giving my genuine thankfulness. I'm praying for God's continuous leading and help as I continue on my life journey. God is my foundation and my cornerstone. 2008/8/15 He Watches Over YouPsalm 121 I lift up my eyes to the hills -- Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip -- he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel, will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you -- the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm -- he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. 詩篇 第一百二十一篇 保護你的是耶和華， 耶和華要保護你，免受一切的災害。
Somehow this Psalm came to my mind tonight, so I opened the Bible and wrote it down. God's word is always comforting. My help comes from the Lord, and He watches over my coming and going.I don't understand why some things happened in my life, but I believe that since God allowed those to happen, He would be walking with me and help me to go through it. Only He alone can be my strength, my shield, and my protection.I make myself be still in front of God. I let the Holy Spirit take the lead. I ask the Lord to fill my heart with His peace. He is there in control. 主在那裡, 做王掌權. Since He is there in control, I believe things will not go wrong.Sometimes my emotion is very subtle. I think overall I'm doing well, but there are still moments I cannot completely handle it well. I think that's my own lesson -- maybe my lifelong lesson.Lord, please help me to guard my heart. Have me under your wings.
2008/6/3 "Maybe Tomorrow"A friend of mine forwarded this to me. I feel this is so touching so I want to post it here. Since I came back from Taiwan, I have been quite sentimental for a while. I constantly think of my family and some dear friendship in my life. This short article really catches my heart, especially the last sentences... "stay close to your friends and family, for they have helped make you the person that you are today." Here is the article... "Around the corner I have a friend, In this great city that has no end, Yet the days go by and weeks rush on, And before I know it, a year is gone. And I never see my old friends face, For life is a swift and terrible race, He knows I like him just as well, As in the days when I rang his bell. And he rang mine but we were younger then. And now we are busy, tired men. Tired of playing a foolish game, Tired of trying to make a name. "Tomorrow" I say! "I will call on Jim Just to show that I'm thinking of him." But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes, And distance between us grows and grows. Around the corner, yet miles away, "Here's a telegram sir," "Jim died today." And that's what we get and deserve in the end. Around the corner, a vanished friend. Remember to always say what you mean. If you love someone, tell them. Don't be afraid to express yourself. Reach out and tell someone what they mean to you. Because when you decide that it is the right time it might be too late. Seize the day. Never have regrets. And most importantly, stay close to your friends and family, for they have helped make you the person that you are today." 2008/5/14 Dad is Hospitalized...My dad is hospitalized right now because of hemorrhage of the stomach. That happened this afternoon (just a few hours ago) and the situation was terrible. I just came home from the hospital and my mom is still there. We got an ambulance to send my dad to the hospital this afternoon... After the blood transfusion and gastroscope test, the situation has been under control right now. It's a long day to go through the urgent happening today... but I feel thankful that I'm home in Taiwan while that happened, so I can be with my family and be part of the support. I feel I'm in a completely different world here in Taiwan... the contrast between Taiwan and Austin is so large and I really need to adjust myself. Pray that God will heal my dad soon and grant peace upon my whole family... 2008/4/30 Time to Go HomeNow I’m fully in the mood of flying home. Ever since I came to Austin in 2003, this has been the fourth time going home. Last time I went back was last January… that was a very short trip, only 9 days. It has been almost one and half years from last time going home, which is long enough to accumulate a strong emotion saying that “Yes, I want to go home!” Home is a place that makes people feel complicated. What happened at home may be not always pleasant. It’s good to be away from home in a sense, for distance creates a sense of beauty. But home is still home, somewhere you belong to and you know your root is there. It’s good to have a place you can go back and feel everything is so familiar. Interestingly, sometimes I feel Austin is more like my home now, especially when I’ve been staying here longer. Family and friends in Taiwan are very far away and not really very much involved in my current life. It’s a great blessing that God brought me to Austin, where there is full of beautiful sunshine and wonderful friendship. It’s hard to explain how much intricate emotion can be
triggered by a long trip. It always makes me think a lot each time I fly
between the east and the west of the Pacific Ocean. From Taiwan to Austin,
Texas, my cross-cultural journey is still going on. Sometimes I’m so curious
where I will be next year at this time? My student life is approaching an end (finally!)
and I definitely need to move on. Sometimes I have an urge to go to a whole new
place and start over, putting everything behind… 2008/3/27 Data CollectionMy Dear Friends,
I'm currently working on my dissertation and am in urgent need of participants to help out with completing an online survey. The topic is about Chinese international students' cross-cultural adjustment. If you are an international student (graduate, undergraduate, or ESL student) or a scholar from Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, or Singapore, may I ask for your kind help with completing the survey, which takes about 20 minutes? I'm very sorry not being able to provide financial compensation for your time, but I'm willing to provide other possible help if there is anything I can do for you in the future. Thank you very much! May God greatly bless you!
Best wishes,
Serena : ) *************************************************************************************************************************************************
Dear participants,
I would like to invite you to participate in my dissertation survey, which is regarding Chinese international students' cross-cultural adjustment. It is intended to investigate several factors (e.g., acculturation strategies, self-views in relation to others, perceived cultural distance, and English self-confidence) which might impact Chinese international students' cross-cultural adjustment while they study overseas. It takes approximately 20 minutes to complete the survey (please try to complete it once online, otherwise the data will be missing). Please click the link below to start, and please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions. Your participation is highly valued and appreciated. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=5YNIrRPlEc01ukBrVisu0g_3d_3d
As an international student from Taiwan, I greatly enjoy my cross-cultural journey over the past few years since I came to the U.S. Meanwhile, I deeply understand the psychological and social/cultural challenges which Chinese international students might undergo. The generation of this survey is an integration of literature review and my personal experience. I hope this survey will provide you with an opportunity to reflect on your cross-cultural experience and enable a perspective of reaching a better cross-cultural adjustment. Thanks and best wishes, Wei-Hsuan Serena Wang Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Educational Psychology The University of Texas at Austin
Email: loso@mail.utexas.edu 2008/2/3 Poor AnkleI sprained my left ankle accidentally about two more weeks ago. It was kind of silly... I kicked the curb and didn't step well... fortunately I didn't fall. Glad I didn't wear high-heel shoes that day, otherwise I would have killed myself! Iced my ankle for a few times within 48 hours after that happened. It's not hurt now but I can't fully stretch down my left foot. Got a good excuse not going to the gym...well, but I actually hope I can go to the gym now! I need to workout... ate so much snacks recently. I usually like to jog on the treadmill, but now I have to reduce the burden of my ankle as much as possible, at least two or three months (according to the advise of my nurse friend). I'm soaking my left ankle in warm water now...Hopefully it will be completely recovering soon! 2008/1/30 Sister Group Ministry
The sister group Bible study of the Chinese Christian Fellowship last Saturday went very well. We studied the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28) at a sister’s apartment – it is always awesome to learn the great faith in Christ from the figures in the Bible. This was the first sister group meeting this semester and we got 18 people, probably the most over the past one and half years. We meet every alternative Saturday morning in different sister’s apartment, and it is usually an enjoyable time learning and eating together with sisters, and having women’s talk. I appreciate all sisters’ wonderful input, including opening their apartments, bringing food and sharing their good cooking with us, helping with facilitating the discussion, or just coming and showing their eagerness to learn God’s words. Especially thanks our dear counselor – Auntie Ruth, who is always being so supportive to us, practically, emotionally, and spiritually. This has been my 4th semester coordinating the sister group. This semester I got another sister to coordinate the sister group together because I think I need to gradually hand it over to another sister who will stay longer in UT. It’s a huge blessing from God for me to do sister group ministry in the Chinese Christian Fellowship. About one and half years ago (Fall of 2006) when I promised to take care of the sister group, honestly that wasn’t because I really had a heart for the sister group at that time; I promised that just because I wanted to share the load with other co-workers. But now I have truly realized it’s a blessing for me. I enjoy the ministry; I myself have learned a lot from the Bible while preparing the Bible study materials, and I enjoy the fellowship with sisters. Most important of all, I feel like I really do something for God in the sister group ministry. Doing ministry is one of my life goals which I want to pursue continuously in my life, and I feel thankful that I can be used by God in such an enjoyable way currently. 2007/11/3 September and October
September:
October:
2007/8/24 May to August
Haven’t updated my blog for long. Life is well and full of blessings and thankfulness. Constantly experiencing God’s love, mercy, and interesting arrangements. May: Moved into my new place. A totally different new community. June: a) Somehow I was going through depression. b) Pre-doctoral research project completed. July: Regain my hope from God. God brought some new people into my life and I truly enjoy the friendships. Again God answered my prayers that He would help me to enlarge my scope. August: Busy with a series of welcome events, taking care of new students. Got realized that I still love people in my Chinese Fellowship so much. 2007/8/11 Bible VersesProverbs
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