By Pastor Samuel Choi

I remember my first flight headed to Los Angeles, CA three days after Christmas 22 years ago.  I was overwhelmed with thoughts of living in a different country and culture with feelings of uncertainty about the future.

I was not alone.  My father who left his home in North Korea at the age of 18 was sitting right next to me. It was my father who decided to leave his home again after forty years. This time, it was not North to South, but East to West. My father decided to move his family from one continent to another and from one culture to another.

How did he do this? I believe that his favorite hymn provides an answer to that question.

“I Need Thee Every Hour” words by Annie Hawks and music by Robert Lowry

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.

I need Thee every hour, teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.

Refrain:
I need Thee, O I need Thee, every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.

I believe that my father now 80 years old expects his Savior to bless him every time he comes to Jesus.

With only a few days before the 1st Federal Way Campus Launch meeting, feelings of anxiety and uncertainty about what lies ahead remind me of my first flight to the US.  As we expect possible departures from familiar faces and places, let us come to Jesus for his peace, his strength, his joy, and his fulfillment of our expectations in us and in the new campus.
Do you need Jesus every hour?

For more information on the Federal Way Campus Launch Meeting that will be held at the West Seattle Campus this Monday, May 11th at 7pm, please click HERE