Creasmans World

Sunday evening we visited my father’s grave site at Forest Lawn. It gave us a good opportunity to thank God for the heritage he has given us, for the investment of our parents and grandparents and the generations before them in working to make a good life for us, and for their modeling of godliness and goodness for us. Lord, help us follow their example.

Sunday afternoon, we visited MacArthur Park in downtown LA. Jim remembers going there as a child with his parents and grandparents.

Nearly everyone in the park now is hispanic. As we were sitting on the grass, three friendly people came over and started witnessing in Spanish to the other people sitting nearby. When we got up to play catch, there was a church holding an outdoor service in one corner of the park. We were reminded not only of how the world is changing, but also of how the Christian Church is changing as it becomes larger and more vibrant in Latin America and Africa and Asia. Praise the Lord for for how he is working, even among all the ethnic groups in LA!

One of my favorite places to visit as a child was Farmer’s Market in downtown LA. My grandmother and mother loved to go there for lunch.

When we came back from Singapore last year, we asked ourselves, “Where is there an outdoor food court like the ones we eat at in Singapore?” and the only place we could think of was Farmer’s Market.

This weekend, we had Singaporean friends visiting LA. They had attended the annual national conference for Christians In Theatre Arts, where Kimberly taught a track on drama overseas. Sunday we took them for lunch at Farmer’s Market.

Yes, LA has a pro football team (no, I don’t mean USC) - in the Arena Football League!

Saturday, Cameron and I took the metro to Staples Center and enjoyed cheap seats close to the action, and even got to meet players after the game. A fun father/son outing!

Wednesday night, Pasadena City College held their drama department awards ceremony.

Kimberly won an award for outstanding technical achievement, standing here with her professor Eric Larson on the set she designed for the school’s spring production of “Bus Stop.”

It was a busy week for her finishing up classes, as she sang at a Jazz Cafe in Sierra Madre on Thursday night, and performed in a Dance Recital at PCC on Friday and Saturday nights.

As our resident mother is attending a conference in Austria, we visited with our two beloved grandmothers, Lynn in Fullerton and Sue in Yorba Linda. We are grateful for their love and care for us through the years. They still find ways to encourage and support us!

We love football! One of the highlights of our year in the US has been attending UCLA home games at the Rose Bowl, just 2-1/2 miles from our apartment. We also loved watching the Chargers on TV on Sundays.

Saturday was a last football hurrah for us before we head back to Singapore in July, where we won’t get to watch any college football games and only an occasional Chargers game. UCLA held their Spring Scrimmage at the Rose Bowl, with a chance to meet the players and coaches on the field afterward. We got autographs from just about everyone and had a great time!

Our best friends in China and our best friends in Singapore both have one daughter, and both girls enrolled in Pepperdine four years ago. So this year we had the pleasure of seeing both families come to visit LA for their daughter’s graduation!

Our friend LiJia from Kunming, China with her daughter QingQing, who will start a new job in Beijing:

Our friends Dave and Pat from Singapore, with their daughter Erica, who will start working at Pepperdine:

This week our family went together to Hawai’i for the first time, and it was a perfect family vacation!

Ever since our boys saw “Lilo and Stitch” years ago, they have wanted to go, and we knew this would be the year.

We stayed on Oahu for a week, and just about every day included snorkeling, boogie boarding, football, and then some sightseeing to please mom and dad (USS Arizona, Punchbowl, Universtiy of Hawai’i - Tyler’s pick, North Shore, and Waikiki/downtown).

On Friday afternoon we had a good meeting of the CRM Singapore Executive Committee. It was a time for me to share what I’ve been learning and vision God is giving me for the future of CRMS, and to take care of some business in our operations this year.

God has blessed me with a great team of supportive Christian leaders who have a passion for building godly leaders in Singapore and Asia, and are committed to building an empowering ministry that redefines the Christian leadership culture in Asia.

Read what one of our executive committee members writes about CRMS on his blog.

I had a great time going back to visit Singapore! After being away for 9 months, it was a fond visit of seeing familiar faces and places. I had fun showing my CRM colleagues around. Every morning we ate breakfast at this outdoor stand next to our hotel, and a couple of nights we found nice local restaurants for me to catch up on the dishes that we can’t get in the US.

I spent a couple of days catching up with CRM Singapore staff personally, and then together as a group. Last year, three men joined the ministry staff: Andy Lim, Shoo How Beng, and Koh Seng Chor. This month, we welcome a fourth ministry staff member, Ruth Tan. We also have executive support from Joanna Foo.

It was great to catch up and encourage them in their individual growth and ministry, and dream together about how the Lord can build the ministry to empower more leaders in Singapore and throughout Asia in coming years.

Our vision in the next 5 years is to see 300 Christian leaders go through CRMS mentoring networks and train 75 facilitators, to raise up 10 new staff and send 5 staff from Singapore to other Asian countries.

We also had four other CRM staff who joined us for the week from other countries, and created a great sense of comraderie and synergy in learning from each others’ ministries. While we have developed four dimensions to our ministry in Singapore through mentoring, drama, coaching, and partnership facilitation, these other brothers are working in spiritual formation, worship training, youth leadership, and community service.

Monday night we had a gathering of alumni who have completed CRM Singapore mentoring networks. We were going to have Dale Burke share with the group, but he had lost his voice by then. I bought copies of Dale’s book to give those attending, and we had a good time catching up. I also took half an hour to update what I have been learning on my study break, and renewed vision for CRMS this year. I also had CRM colleagues visiting from other parts of the world who shared a little of what God is doing in their contexts.

Dale & Becky Burke from the First Evangelical Free Church in Fullerton came to Singapore for a few days ministry this week. I flew from LA and we all arrived on Saturday. Dale and Becky came from a hectic week of ministry in Thailand, where they didn’t get much sleep and had caught a virus. On Saturday night when I met them, Dale had lost most of his voice and they were both feeling terrible.

They got a good night’s sleep and Dale gave it a go preaching at two services at a large church. Sunday night they were kept up by noisy (American) neighbors at their hotel. Dale was scheduled to teach all day at a seminar based on his book, “How to Lead and Still Have a Life.” 120 Evangelical Free and Baptist pastors attended. By the afternoon, Dale’s voice had really been strained to the limit and we showed DVDs of the teaching sessions and he answered questions. He was really well-received and prepared the way for a longer week of ministry with CRM’s sponsorship in Feb 2009.

Tuesday Dale and Becky returned to Thailand for the last few days of their trip visiting other missionaries. This is the second, and by far the most trying, visit they have given us in Singapore. One of the characteristics of their leadership is an unquenchable positive attitude that speaks faith and hope to others, even when they are going through very difficult times. Way to go, Dale & Becky!!! You were a blessing to me and CRM Singapore, and to many Christian leaders this week!

Me introducing them:

Visiting CRM staff with CRMS staff and attenders:

Kimberly and Jim celebrated their 24th Valentine’s Day together, this time with a lot of snickering from other members of the household.

Blast from the past…