My Life with Jeff

 

Performances

Yi Qiu is now in a graduate program of Engineering in UW-Milwaukee.

I enjoy connecting people from East to West which is how the dancing groups pictured here made their way to Blackhawk Church. The group’s leaders and some of the dancer’s mothers are my friends. They have performed for Asian communities as well as other ethnic gatherings in

which I participate outside of church. So when Blackhawk's International Club needed performers, I knew just where to turn. You can see by the photos, their performance was colorful, fantastic and, above all, entertaining. My special thanks to Dalan Urbonya and her Huamulan Dance Group and Joy Chen and her Asian Pacific Dance Group.

I may be biased, but I believe Chinese children are the cutest among all the wonderful youngsters we have at Blackhawk Church. Please don’t hold it against me!

Our own Korean families of International Club sang a traditional Korean song sang at Lunar New Year.

View a slide show of the entire celebration, please click the following:

http://www.math.cmu.edu/~jrute/lunar/

Family Lunch and Birthday Party

There were about three hundred people met in room 162, 163 and 164 for a delicious lunch which broke the first record in 2008 in the new church building. Mandarin LIFE groups and a few donors ordered extra dishes for our guests, manifesting warmest Asian hospitality tradition and agape love.

Culture and Fun

This celebration includes three activities:
(1) Artwork Display and Games for Children (10:00 am to 12:30 pm)
(2) Pot-Luck Lunch and Birthday Party
(12:15 to 1:45 pm)
(3) Performances: A Variety of Asian Talent (1:45 to 3 pm)

Got a go ahead from Global Impact Team

In just a few days, Fred approved my proposal to have the three-part event on February 10, 2008. I guess Fred's working experience in Singapore years ago helped; he knows the importance of Lunar New Year for Chinese. We were allowed to use Fireside room for crafts display and children's game, both room 162 and 164 for pot-luck lunch and West auditorium for talent show.

In our initial planning meeting, one brother asked if I had experience directing a show like this. I said no. Actually, I should say yes; I was the chair of Drama Club in my senior year at National Taiwan University. The question in my mind was not if we had experience or not. It should be if it brings glory to God from the beginning to the end. Pastor Ray Steadman used to say, "Every thing comes from God, nothing comes from me." I have nothing to boast. With this in my heart and mind, I hosted two prayer meetings on Sunday and sent out a few prayer requests to both the planning committee and Asian brothers and sisters at large and church prayer e-sheet.

Those prayers were very effective; they actually sustained not only the outcome of the event but also committee members' working relationship and me. For instance, one night my car took a 360-degree turn on Beltline when I was heading home after visited one Mandarin LIFE group on a snowing night. God's hand protected my life, because people had prayed for me.

The Idea Was Born

It was the day that Blackhawk had the ground breaking at its new site on Brader Way on April 2006. I was in Monona Terrace attending Asian culture event and wondering about the great event in Blackhawk history which I had missed that afternoon. What if we have some kind of culture event held at the church building? Just like we have Good$ense workshop to learn how to manage our money, Lunar New Year Celebration can foster Blackhawkers' understanding of Asian culture without missing church activities. We can also use the occasion to invite non-church-goer friends and Asians in Madison to play some games, see some Asian crafts, share a meal and watch some talent shows during Lunar New Year.

Time fast forwarded to 2008, a few months after we moved to the new building, with these two purposes in mind, I then invited Chinese Christians and International Club attendees for a planning meeting in earlier January. There were about twelve people showed up; we had great discussion and idea exchange.