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Mandarin Baptist Church of Pasadena

501 N. Santa Anita Avenue, Arcadia, CA 91006

(626)446-2976

I consider Mandarin Baptist Church of Pasadena my home church. This was the place where I first began to serve the Lord, and I experienced Him there in a new way that was so real and meaningful to me. Those experiences were unlike any other up to that point in my life. I also had many painful growing experiences at this church, and I thank the Lord for them. Without the pain, I would've never learned the lessons I needed to grow and mature in the Lord. I was baptized at this church, and went on my first missions trip. It was here that I learned to play the guitar, became a worship leader, led Bible studies, and even preached a few sermons at fellowship and on a missions trip! For the first time in my life, I was lit on fire for the Lord! So you can see why MBCP will always be dear to me, no matter where on earth the Lord sends me.

Both Terrence and I came to this church on the same day, in the same way, by "accident". Before Terrence and I attended MBCP, we used to attend MBCLA (Mandarin Baptist Church of Los Angeles), the parent church of MBCP. Back then, we attended Total Devotion, the youth fellowship at MBCLA. I must admit that we were a bunch of immature dorks. I can't fully speak for Terrence, but I definitely had a lot of growing up I needed to do.

At that time, Paul Cheng, Harvey Chin, Terrence Shay, and I were inseparable. We were the best of friends, and the worst of enemies. Though we were inseparable buddies, as young immature kids we were also often very mean to each other.

To make a long story short, Paul left MBCLA because of a relationship that went sour with his then girlfriend Grace. Then, for some strange cosmic reason, all the friendships I had worked so hard to build began to collapse all around me. To this day, I still have no clue what exactly happened. This strange phenomenon occurred to both Terrence and myself simultaneously because we had a lot of friends in common. One day, without warning, Terrence also decided to leave MBCLA. Harvey didn't leave MBCLA until much later. When Terrence left, I was at a loss. I felt my world had just collapsed from underneath my feet.

Also at that time, I desperately wanted to serve in some kind of ministry. Unfortunately, I had a notorious reputation with the adults at that church. I was always somewhat of a "troublemaker" in my youth, and with a few exceptions most adults at MBCLA despised me. Because my reputation always preceded me, nobody was willing to let me serve at that church. Although I had already given my life to Christ, repented of my sins, and became a born again believer, nobody could get it out of their minds that I was willing to change for the better. Specifically, I wanted to serve as worship leader. However, my pleas fell on deaf ears. So eventually, not long after Terrence left MBCLA, I too decided to leave.

A few weeks after I left MBCLA, I received a phone call from Terrence. He asked me to find a new church that we could go together. For some reason, we totally forgot about Harvey, and never included him in our quest to find another church. As a result, he ended up becoming very bitter at us for a long time.

So I told Terrence: "Great, let's go find another church!" He insisted that I pick the church, and I insisted that he pick the church. The argument went on for a while until I finally gave in and agreed to pick the church. The next Sunday, Terrence showed up at my doorstep and asked which church we were going to. I told him I had no idea. I hadn't picked a church yet. Because we both had only known MBCLA all our lives, neither of us had a clue where to even begin searching for another church. So we became despondent. In my sadness, I decided to open the yellow pages to where MBCLA was listed for the sake of remembrance. I wanted to wallow in my own pity for a while, but things didn't turn out that way. As I opened the yellow pages, I discovered that MBCP was listed right next to MBCLA. Wow! The name sounded just like MBCLA, and so we decided to visit this church. We got into Terrence's car, and drove to MBCP.

I still remember the first time we showed up at MBCP. We were very late to service, and Pastor Ray was preaching from the book of Leviticus. Both Terrence and I were touched by his message. I had been starving for a good spiritual meal for a very long time, and God used Pastor Ray to satisfy that hunger. That same day, I met Peter Lee, Lee Kuo, Michael Tong, and a host of other people for the first time.

My days at MBCP was a time of growth. The growing didn't always come easy. There were definitely a lot of growing pains. I considered Terrence my closest friend when we first came to MBCP. By the time I left for college, that friendship was shaky. I had to learn to accept him for the way he was, and for his calling in life. While my friendship with him began to grow distance, I became very close with Lee Kuo. Lee and I had such great times together. He was definitely a great friend! One of the reasons I was so sad to leave MBCP was because of Lee, Peter, and Pastor Ray. But we all make decisions and choose our own paths to following life.

I must confess though, if it were not for my experiences at MBCP, my faith in Christ today would probably be very weak. I thank God for all the people he has brought into my life, and all the things He has done through those people.