Christmas Greetings to Family & Friends - 2024

God Came to Us
Merry Christmas, dear family and friends.  Once again, we are caught up in the celebration of Christmas.  Christmas is celebrated in many ways around the world, but Advent comes with only one message:  Emmanuel—“God with us.”  God came in the Person of Jesus Christ.  It is because of the Advent of Christ that we can be encouraged this Christmas—because He came to be with us.  Now it’s our turn to come to Him.

The hymn, “O Come All Ye Faithful,” invites us to come joyfully, sing to the LORD, and tell of His glory much like the unnamed psalmist did in Psalm 96 (emphasis added):

Sing to the LORD a new song;
    Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
    Proclaim good tidings of His salvation
    from day to day.
Tell of His glory among the nations,
    His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
                                 - Psalm 96: 1-3

It is with this spirit of praise and thankfulness to God for His greatest Gift-- the Way of salvation through His Son Jesus, that our letter comes to you.  We have no intention to boast of family accomplishments; but rather, to inform you about our family and encourage you in the process.

Come and Be with Us
It was a highlight for us this year when our son Brad and daughter Mindy, and their loved ones each said, “Come be with us.”  In February, Brad and Raquel invited us to share a condo with them in Naples for several days.  It was a welcome break from the Ohio winter to enjoy some warm-weather activities with them. We were also privileged to spend a couple of weeks with Abby's sister Donna and her husband, Larry, in Winter Haven.  

Brad, Raquel, and their partners are now in the 20th year of their faith-based ministry to children, the Little Leaders Company.  They are marking this milestone with the launch of a series of colorful “Backyard Adventure” books that complement their faith-based video series.  The video series focuses on teaching character qualities and basic skills like learning the animals.  From our experience introducing the videos and books to the 2-year-olds we teach at our church, these resources are well suited for parents looking for meaningful ways to teach their children. [[Click HERE for website.]

In March, Mindy, Steve, and family invited us to enjoy their time-share with them in Myrtle Beach and to celebrate Abby’s and Della Rose’s birthdays.  On the road trip down, we enjoyed meaningful conversation with granddaughter Kiara and her husband, John.  The trip was a welcome break for Mindy who works for WellBe Senior Medical as a clinical educator of nurse practitioners locally and out of state.  Our granddaughter, Della Rose, and her friend, Lily, were also with us and enjoyed their break from school—and we enjoyed them.

We look forward to being together as family again this Christmas, especially to see grandson Caleb and his wife, Soni, whose schedules often prevent them from joining us from their home in the Pittsburgh area.  Caleb is a truckdriver for Papa John’s Pizza and supplies fresh dough and accessories to stores around the tri-state area and beyond.  Soni works in the medical health services.

We Can Come to Him
Each year we are becoming more aware of our age.  But we still enjoy walking together, relaxing in our sunroom or deck, gardening and landscaping, and playing games or watching old movies when the weather is cold.  One of us enjoys reading and writing more than the other.

In addition to our home, we enjoy being with our family and with our church family.  Regarding our church, we are privileged to attend and co-lead our small group which meets weekly in our home.  We pray for each other and encourage one another as we seek to apply the teaching/preaching each Sunday from God’s Word by our pastor, Zach Swift.  Our small group recently enjoyed a night of caroling.  In order to keep ourselves young (or make us feel old?) Abby and I have been teaching the 2-year-olds one Sunday each month as part of our church’s Christian education program.  John also co-leads a mid-week, Scripture-fed prayer fellowship with a brother in Christ, Brad Will.

In summary, the past year was like the quiet waters of a stream flowing through a gentle landscape, but then becoming turbulent as it passes down steep valleys.  In March, Abby’s sister Donna passed from this Earth into God’s presence after nearly a year of bravely battling cancer.  [Read more HERE.]  Thankfully, in April, our turbulent waters were calmed by the announcement from granddaughter Kiara and her husband John that they have the prospect of being parents in January, 2025.  Elizabeth Maetta regularly makes herself known to her mommy and we are looking forward to meeting our first great-grandchild.

As Summer turned toward Autumn, our dear friend and brother in Christ, Rex Young, slipped away into Heaven on his 75th birthday after courageously bearing with a six-year bout of cancer.  [Read more HERE.]  We were reminded of the promise of Psalm 23: 2b and v. 4 (paraphrased): “You lead us beside the still waters…  Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with us LORD, and your rod and staff, they comfort us.”

Many of you who read our Christmas letter can relate to both the quiet and the turbulent waters.  But, we can find comfort in remembering that Christmas is the story of God taking on human flesh in the Person of Jesus and dwelling among us.  He came not to condemn us, but to bear our sins and our sorrows (Isaiah 53: 4), and to lift us up through His Spirit that we might be saved (John 3: 16-17).

We thank each of you who have stayed connected with us in some way in 2024 through various communications or by your invitations or visits.  We invite you to leave a greeting using the "Comments" link below.

Have a blessed Christmas and New Year,

God’s Love In Action from the Solid Rock

In our previous blog, “Thanksgiving for Multiethnicity – Part 2” [See HERE.], we featured Lapman and Ching Ching Lun and family who are demonstrating an obedient response to God’s Great Commission to go and “make disciples of all the nations.”  One of Ching Ching’s journal entries describes the ministry of Bileg Solid Rock Mission in Kampong Thom, Cambodia [See HERE].  Her description perfectly captures a local Body of Christ when it is on mission.

Love of Christ in Action
Today, we got to witness how village outreach and feeding centers change the lives of the local community.  In addition to their own Sunday morning service, every Sunday afternoon, the staff (along with the orphans at the home) from Bileg Solid Rock Missions would travel to multiple villages to preach the Gospel.  By modeling and practicing this together, these young people saw the importance of sharing the Gospel and living on purpose.

After the program, the kids that come to the feeding center all received a warm meal.  These kids came from poor villages, and many of their parents had to find work in a different city, or even in neighboring Thailand or Vietnam.  They came hungry of course, but the most important thing is that they are also spiritually hungry.  These same kids would be registered for the program and followed through and mentored all the way through school until they become adults! 

Pastor Yean Rith grew up in this village, and went to MANNA Worldwide’s feeding center as a young boy.  His family was poor, and the feeding center gave him food, but more importantly, they taught him about God.  He got saved, and years later, came back to serve his own village.  This is just a beautiful example of God’s amazing grace!!   
[From:  Ching Ching Lun, 12-15-24 in Kampong Thom, Cambodia]

Bileg Solid Rock Missions
At the heart of Jesus’s teaching both by His example and His Word in Scripture are His Great Commandment (Matthew 22: 35-40) and His Great Commission (Matthew 28: 18b-20).

A lawyer asked Jesus, “Which is the great commandment in the law?”  Jesus replied (emphasis added):

“ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’  “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’  “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 22: 35-40

As the Risen Christ was preparing to ascend into Heaven, he spoke to His followers, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  -- Matthew 28: 18b-20

The Vision of Bileg Solid Rock Mission is to carry out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission in Cambodia through various humanitarian services that will result in the improvement of the quality of life of the people in the areas of health, education and culture.

The Goal:  To significantly contribute to the delivery of medical and health services, education and livelihood opportunities to the people in the covered communities so that they may become more productive and useful citizens of their country and of the world.

How Will We Respond?
Ching Ching Lun’s account of the ministry of love and compassion at Bileg Solid Rock Missions reveals Christ-followers who are living and serving in obedience to Christ’s "two Great’s” in the Scriptures above.  God’s Great Commission, when carried out in the spirit of God’s Great Commandment, adorns the Gospel of Christ with His love in action.  Sharing the Gospel of salvation brings lives from spiritual darkness into the Light and Eternal Life through faith in Christ.  Sharing God’s love through provision of food, medical and health services, education and livelihood opportunities complements the mission’s evangelism and discipleship in practical ways that help meet the needs of the whole person.

A new commandment I give to you,
that you love one another, even as I have loved you,
that you also love one another.
By this all men will know that you are My disciples,
if you have love for one another. – John 13: 34-35

Our Cambodian brethren and the Lun Family provide examples of how members of the Body of Christ ought to respond to Christ's call to love one another as He loves us; and, to go and make disciples of all the nations.  During this Advent season and as we consider goals for the New Year, let us pray for 'God's Spirit to convict and lead us in using our time, talents, and treasures in ways that show the love of Christ. 

Thanksgiving for Multiethnicity -- Part 2: Advent for All

Christmas is celebrated in many different ways among the nations and ethnic cultures of the world.  But the Advent of Jesus Christ proclaims ONE MESSAGE:  God loves the World!  He loves people of every nation, culture, and ethnicity.  And, whoever believes in Him [Jesus Christ] will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3: 16).  The Advent of Christ, conceived by the Spirit and born of virgin Mary, occurred 2,000 years ago in a world of confusion, fear, and uncertainty just like ours today.  Into that world, the angelic host announced the Savior’s birth to lowly shepherds on a hillside outside Bethlehem (emphasis added):

Do not be afraid; for behold, 

I bring you good news
of great joy which will be for all the people;
for today in the city of David there has been born
for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  (Luke 2: 10-11)

The shepherds immediately responded that night with joy and excitement:  Let us go straight to Bethlehem and see… (v. 15b).  And when they had seen the Child, they went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them (v. 20). 

The shepherds’ enthusiasm to spread the news of what they had seen is amplified every Advent season when people of every nation sing the hymn, “Joy to the World” (emphasis added):

“Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th’ angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

The message of the Advent of Christ is Good News for all nations, cultures, and ethnicities.   After Jesus’s death and resurrection, He commissioned His followers to go and make disciples of all the nations… teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matthew 28: 19-20).  Because of the courage and faith of Jesus’s disciples, the Gospel of Christ has been passed down to us.

Do You Know Your “Spiritual Genealogy?”
Have you ever wondered about your “spiritual genealogy?” Each believer in Christ is linked spiritually to the person or persons who introduced them to the saving grace of God.  Likewise, each of our spiritual parents have their spiritual genealogy extending back to the disciples who saw the Risen Christ and believed (1 John 1: 1-4).  Regardless of our culture or our ethnicity, our spiritual genealogy very likely passes through multiple ethnicities linking back to the Middle East where Christ-followers received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  Their bold witness carried the Gospel of Christ westward into Europe and Africa, and eastward into Asia and the Far East.  

Serving the Nations:  The Lun Family
In this Part 2 of our “Thanksgiving for Multiethnicity” [See Part 1 HERE.], we highlight one family that has taken seriously Christ’s Great Commission to “make disciples of all the nations.”   Currently, Lapman and Ching Ching Lun of Wooster, Ohio are on their most recent missionary journey to share the Gospel and encourage believers in Southeast Asia.  While ministering in the churches, schools, and medical facilities in Cambodia has been an ongoing focus for Lapman and Ching Ching, their short-term mission trips have allowed them to serve in Thailand, Mongolia and Nepal among other Asian nations; and, in Kenya, Africa, several European nations; and, in Cuba and Guatemala among nations in Latin America.

Before we share more about this amazing family, several disclaimers are in order.  First, the Lun family members do not consider themselves “amazing.”  Instead, they consider their international ministry for Christ as merely a humble expression of their gratefulness to God for their salvation and spiritual calling to spread His love to many nations.  Second, our tribute to Lapman, Ching Ching, and family encompasses only what is known to us.  And to us, it is their meek, quiet, and humble offering of service that encourages so many others that makes the Lun family worthy of our tribute.  In this spirit, our prayer is that this blog above all will honor Jesus Christ.

Lapman grew up in the US and dedicated his life to Christ as a high school student.  Ching Ching was saved at the age of 13 in Hong Kong.  In 1993, the two met in Maryland during Lapman’s fellowship training in oncology and hematology.  Ching Ching had finished her master’s degree at University of Pittsburgh and was awarded an internship working in the Washington DC area.  Her pastor in Pittsburgh recommended that she attend Chinese Bible Church of Maryland in Rockville, and it is there she met Lapman.  They both grew in Christ under the ministry of Pastor Jonathan Liu who later joined them in marriage.

Cambodia: Nation in Ashes
Meanwhile, the decade of the 1990’s saw the decline of the Khmer Rouge, a Communist government which had oppressively ruled in Cambodia since the Vietnam War of the 1970’s.  During those years, the Communist rebel known as Pol Pot had taken control of Cambodia.  In his attempt to create a classless communist society, Pol Pot eliminated the educated people, urbanites, “ethnic Vietnamese, civil servants and religious leaders.” Pol Pot is responsible for the deaths of 2 to 3 million people due to “starvation, execution, disease or overwork.” [Read more HERE and HERE.] 

Today, Cambodian survivors and their descendants are still chilled by the memory of Pol Pot’s “Cambodian Genocide” as a dark shadow upon their nation. Cambodia lost a whole generation of educated people and those who survived were left without nutrition, medical services and education.  However, the resulting pain and hopelessness created a massive hunger for the Gospel.  Thankfully, the God of all comfort was moving in the hearts of his children to respond by providing practical expertise to meet basic needs for improved quality of  physical life while also responding to Cambodian spiritual hunger through biblical evangelism and discipleship.  It is this God who eventually inspired and led Lapman and Ching Ching to serve the Cambodian people through their many short-term trips to minister to them spiritually, emotionally, and medically.  

Maturing in the Lun Family
Meanwhile, Lapman continued his career as an oncologist at Cleveland Clinic and Ching Ching responded to what she considered as the greatest calling in her life--i.e. loving and serving her husband and their children as a stay-at-home mom.  Now, she says, "I need to remember to thank God every day for giving us our family --and the fact that we ARE indeed, living in Harmony (the Chinese meaning of the name, "Lun"), all serving Christ in our own surroundings/ministries.”

We were blessed to meet Lapman, Ching Ching over a decade ago when they along with their three children attended West Hill Baptist Church.  It was especially memorable to recall Wednesday evenings when the Lun family attended the weekly prayer fellowship.  Alongside their parents, the children eagerly participated with their open Bibles and warm smiles.  Now, over a decade later, the three children, Jonathan (27), Jeremy (24), and Abby (22), have all attained academic excellence at Cedarville University and are preparing for service in the field of medicine.

Jonathan has finished medical school at The Ohio State University (OSU) and is now matched into Mayo Clinic's pediatric residency program in Rochester, Minnesota.  After traveling with Samaritan's Purse to Tenwek Hospital last year where he saw the dire need of children with heart valve disease, Jonathan decided to pursue a fellowship in pediatric cardiology with plans to serve on the mission field.

Currently, Jeremy is in his second year of medical school at OSU.  He married Nicole, a neonatal nurse whom he met at Cedarville University. Nicole’s parents are serving on the mission field in Hungary and her grandpa served in Liberia as a surgeon for many years.  Lord willing, when Jeremy finishes his training, the couple hopes to serve on the mission field as medical missionaries.  Jeremy is pursuing internal medicine and pediatrics so he can see a wide age range of patients in the field.

Abigail is now a senior at Cedarville University, majoring in Biology, and will be applying for medical school next year.  This past year God has really spoken to her about her career.  Even though she had thought God might lead her along a different path from her brothers, Abby finally decided to pursue medical school as well.  She has been travelling with her parents to Asia to visit orphanages for years.   Abby’s heart is in Cambodia and Thailand where she hopes to serve when she finishes her training.

According to Ching Ching, all three of her children and the Lun family owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Melissa Burns, a Cedarville professor (See above photo).   Ching Ching elaborated as follows: “[Dr. Burns] has mentored all my kids, not just academically, but even more spiritually, into the persons that they are today.  All three of them can attest to her impact on them (and of course, coincidentally, they were all in the pre-meds program).”  She adds, “By the time they graduate, Dr. Burns becomes their lifelong friend.”

This Christmas, we thank God for the Advent of His Son and His gift of salvation-- Good News for all  people and for all nations.  And we also thank God for the Lun family and their calling to bring the message of New Life in Christ to the nations, especially Cambodia that was once reduced to ruins, ashes, and death.  Through the Lun's and other ministries of God's grace like theirs which serve the "whole person" in body, mind, and spirit, a new generation is sprouting from the ashes and ruins.

Lun's Advent Ministry in Cambodia
As we conclude this blog, Lapman and Ching Ching are still in Cambodia.  If you'd like a more personal exposure to their ministry and that of their partners, please use the links below.  Two links provide video recordings of Cambodian children and youth, respectively, expressing their vibrant faith.  The third link includes an account from Ching Ching's journal for December 15 as she and Lapman are serving with Bileg Solid Rock Missions. 

Cambodian Children singing:                     Click HERE.
Cambodian youth singing:                          Click HERE.
The Lun's at Bileg Solid Rock Missions:    Click HERE.

We close with the lovely poem, “Beauty for Ashes” and the Scripture from Isaiah 61 that spoke prophetically of the mission of Jesus Christ to all the nations, words that Jesus the Messiah read in the synagogue in Nazareth, 700 years later.  [CLICK on text box to enlarge.]