News > North America

2014 Annual Review

past year God revealed the importance of putting all of our faith in Him -- to cling to Him in prayer, in trust, and to completely be dependent on Him for all things. We thank God for the many blessings and also hardships we received, through which we learned that He is our sovereign God who loves us.

In January we began with our New Year’s retreat. Our church plant team and one sister traveled to Corpus Crisiti and spent time reflecting on the past year, praying based on one verse for the coming year, sharing out with one another and spending time in fellowship on the beach. This was her first time doing this and said this was the most meaningful retreat she had ever been to. We thank God for moving her heart.

As this was the beginning of our new year as a church plant, we began to plan out more concretely the elements of our ministry. We moved our Sunday meeting time from 11 am to 3:30pm in order to allow more people to attend who found it difficult to wake up early on Sunday. We worship together and then eat dinner together, and sometimes hang out and explore the city together. We continued our study in Mark’s gospel and completed our study in September. We are now studying Matthew’s gospel focusing on the Sermon on the Mount.

God began to open opportunities to meet various people in our various walks of life. Because of this we created “meet-up” groups. Through one sister, Jihan and Mary were introduced to her friends, and they started a married women’s meet-up group at their apartment complex. A separate single women’s meetup group was established as well. Eventually one brother joined us and we began a men’s meet-up. We also briefly had a student meet-up on campus for those who could attend. The content of the meet-ups were kept open for creative exploration. Sometimes we study the bible, share reflections, other times watched video series (Authentic Quest for Manhood and Illumination Project), used books and sometimes we just spent time in fellowship.

We also established a new rotation for our Saturday meetings. Two Saturdays of the month we study the upcoming Sunday’s passage, one Saturday we spend in fellowship and the final Saturday is dedicated to prayer. Through these meet-ups we prayed to grow deeper and deeper in His word, as a family and in prayer.

In March, we had a small Mark’s symposium where we shared reflections on Mark 8:29 (who do you say I am?) where we shared who Jesus is to us. The following week we memorized and recited Mark 8:31-9:1 and shared reflections on this passage. In various ways we explored how we can engage deeper and deeper in His words.

In April we held a special two week Easter celebration. One week we studied Luke 23 together and the following week we heard a message on Luke 24. Mary and Christine shared their life testimonies, and afterwards we had a neighborhood BBQ where we gave free food to those in the community.

In July, our very first member to our ministry, decided to move to Dallas. We sent her out in prayer that she would be the church in Dallas. Although we were sad to send our first member, God began to send various people afterwards. A sincere sister from Josh’s school began to join us along with her 3 cute children. For a little while we also started a children’s program with David and Alice and her two children. Two faithful and sincere grad students from UT found us on the internet after google searching “discipleship, kingdom, community, church” and also joined our ministry. Josh also began studying the bible with a brother from UT. Our ministry attended a Christian conference for UT freshmen called Ignite, where we had a table set up to invite students. Several students signed up, but only two students visited through this conference. We are grateful still to have met so many students seeking God and we continue to pray for all those we met at that conference. Overall we’re thankful for all the various people we’ve met through work, our neighborhoods, campus, parties, volunteering, and even while at restaurants and bars.

In August we had a one day Summer retreat. About 19 people attended, including Houston UBF members. We studied Romans 12b, by giving each person a section of the passage, and had them share out their thoughts and reflections on that verse. August was also the month we celebrated our one year anniversary of being in Austin. It was at this anniversary service we had our very first communion as a church.

In November we celebrated thanksgiving together at the Jeons’' house. All kinds of different people attended this humble gathering; members brought their roommates, parents, and friends. We read Luke 17 and Mary shared her reflections on the story of the ten lepers healed by Jesus. In this month we also went to Dallas to visit our sister who moved, and then went to Ft Worth to visit one of our member’s parents’ non-profit organization called Hope Farm. Our church also volunteered at the Empty Bowl Project and there we met and invited one student from UT who the following week came to our Sunday gathering. We’re thankful God was reaching out to her and opening her heart to Him in various ways.

In December we held our Christmas service based on Matthew 2a where we focused on the importance of seeking Jesus in our everyday life. We also took a special offering at the service that would go to a local Christian non-profit organization called Imagine Art. This organization’s mission is to transform the lives of artists with disabilities for His glory. After meeting with the director our hearts were moved to partner with this ministry in serving the disabled community in some meaningful way.

We have many things to be thankful for, but our greatest thanks topic is for God who saved David Jeon’s life after falling out of a two story window. Although he broke both arms he suffered no long term injury. We praise and thank God for revealing His sovereign grace and power. He taught us to always put our trust and faith in Him despite all circumstances, and to know and believe that He is protecting and watching over us.

This year Josh and Isaac’s family purchased separate homes in a very competitive Austin housing market. We are thankful for his constant provision for all things, and pray that God will use our homes for his glory and purpose.

We also thank God for the struggles we faced as well within our leadership team. Although it was heartbreaking at times, God taught us the importance of prayer, to unite in prayer for one another and to put complete trust in our Father, who loves and cares for his children way more than we do.

Through hardships, God has sharpened us in our focus. We realized that at the end of the day, we want to devote our strength to seeing genuine disciples of Jesus being made. There was some fluff surrounding our vision and direction, but God has helped us become clearer on what he wants us to do here.

We specifically praise God for the work he is doing in one couple’s lives, who accepted Jesus this year. Through personal hardships they met the God of the living. We pray that they may continue their relationship with Him that they may continue to grow as children and disciples of Jesus. We are so grateful for every person God has brought to our ministry.  They are all so precious and a great encouragement and remind us of how beautiful God’s kingdom is. What a wonderful privilege to be used by God as he builds the most meaningful thing on earth, the Church, the household of God, his body, his dwelling place.

2015 Vision and Strategy

We started the new year studying Ephesians 2:22 once again as our New Year’s key verse. We wanted to remember our identity and calling as His dwelling place, as a community and also individually. We pray to also remember who we once were, and how much God has done for us, that through this grace we may continue to live out our identity as His church.

At the end of January we will have our second annual New Year’s retreat. We rented a cabin for 3 days where we will reflect on this past year, choose a verse to hold onto and pray for one another and also spend time in fellowship. We will have approximately 14 people attending, and we are praying that each person may spend deep time in communion with God.

We also pray to hold onto Matthew 6:33, to seek His kingdom and righteousness above all things. We want to continue to carry out God’s calling in each of our lives to serve UT, our neighbors, our co-workers and our friends. We pray to meet more brothers this year.

We also are working towards establishing ourselves as an official club on campus. There were requirements we needed to fulfill including having 3 students represent us, and we now have fulfilled that requirement. We pray this may open up more opportunity to meet the students where they are.

Josh and Isaac also participated in a covenant of accountability group with east Austin pastors. We pray to continue to work together as one body one heart with Christ in serving specifically the eastside of Austin. Specifically, we will be joining the Austin Disaster Relief Network to serve the community together, as well as participating in the “Love where you live” campaign.

We are also praying about a permanent location for our ministry. Currently we are using Isaac's office space for Sunday Worship, and then renting a small room for the children (which is only temporary). At times we are unable to meet in the studio due to other events that take place there. So we are praying that in his right time we may eventually find a more permanent place to gather on Sundays and for God to use to bless the city.

Overall, we want to make Jesus our greatest pursuit, to be fueled by the grace he shows us, to cling to Him in prayer and fellowship in His word, so that all that we do, may be for his glory and his kingdom.