Ho Family Update

2 Hours Late

Chris Ho — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 00:35:33 +0000

As many of you know, we’re in the process of selling our house in Jersey and moving the rest of our stuff to Kansas City. The closing on the house was yesterday, and it went pretty smoothly. But the process of moving has been a bit challenging, to say the least. I feel like the theme of my trip has been “2 hours late”. For example:

My flight from KC to Newark was delayed 2 hours.
When I went to pick up the moving truck, it took 2 hours longer than it should have because they had to send me to another rental location because the first truck was not driveable. (Turns out the second one wasn’t either. More on that later.)
The day we loaded the truck, it was raining heavily, which I am estimating slowed us down by about – you guessed it – 2 hours.
My friend who was helping me went to pick up his kids at school, and the normal 15 minute drive turned into 2 hours due to flooding.
The moving truck I ended up with had 5 different warning lights on. They told me I could still drive it, but as I was driving down to my in-laws to pick up more stuff, I realized that whenever this one particular light was on, I could drive no faster than 45mph. So the drive took much longer than usual. Maybe not a full 2 hours, but close enough.
When we arrived I discovered we had left much more stuff at my in-laws than I thought, so I had to unload and repack about half of the truck.
This morning I brought the truck in to get repaired. Thankfully they will be able to fix it (I was dreading having to unload the entire content of the 24′ truck into a new one), but it won’t be done until tomorrow morning. Now this list is turning into “24 hours late”, so I’m going to stop it in the hopes that this will be the last entry.

I was a bit irritated yesterday, but the Lord reminded me today that sometimes when we face resistance it is because we are doing something significant. So despite the challenges, I am encouraged and excited about this next chapter in KC. I just hope the rest of our trip goes more smoothly!

Transitional Season

Chris Ho — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:10:37 +0000

Ten years ago I went on a 40 day fast and though I did not realize it at the time, I was in the midst of a major transitional season in my life and things would never be the same after that (in a good way). Now I am on another 40 day fast and it seems like it’s going to be another major transitional season for me. God is stirring so many things up in my life. Part of it is that He’s reminding me of things I should have already known about myself, but somehow I lost sight of them or forgot completely. There are other things He is showing me that are just flat out different than what I thought previously (about my identity, future, calling, etc). I feel like He’s reshaping and refining my identity and calling. It’s definitely a good thing.

Lots to catch up on (part 3)

Chris Ho — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:34:16 +0000

Once week 7 (Feb 15-21) began, we knew we had reached a milestone: the internship was now half over and we had officially begun the second half. The first half has gone by quickly, but it has been so full and rich. I know the second half will also fly by, so I am determining to make the most of it and get everything I can out of it.

The week started out a bit slow as we were all still tired from our trip. Also in the middle of the week Eunice started to feel a bit sick, but thankfully after a few days of rest she felt a lot better.

The end of the week really picked up as for the first time in several weeks the whole family felt relatively healthy. This meant we were all able to attend the Saturday night awakening service, as well as the Sunday morning church service. On top of that, we’re finally getting some interest in our home in New Jersey which we are trying to sell. Thank you for all your prayers…the Lord is hearing and answering them for sure!

To make the end of the week even sweeter, we got our taxes done AND we found a decent Chinese restaurant in town (Eunice especially loves and misses the good Chinese food in Jersey, so we’ve been hoping to find a good place here but haven’t had much time to explore).

Lots to catch up on (part 2)

Chris Ho — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:49:37 +0000

Week 6 actually ended up being somewhat of a mid-internship break for us, as we decided to drive back to New Jersey to officiate a wedding for our dear friends Nick and Christine. Unfortunately, the trip ended up coinciding with February’s first wave of sickness (we also had one back in January). The night before we were supposed to leave, Jeremy woke up vomiting. So our planned departure time of 9am got pushed back to 2pm. Jeremy was pretty miserable that first day in the car (along with yours truly), but somehow we managed to stay on track and make it to our first stop in Indianapolis. The late departure may have been a blessing in disguise as some snow was falling in Indy that day, but by the time we arrived the snow had stopped and the roads were basically all clear.

The rest of the trip was really a whirlwind. We arrived late Thursday night to Eunice’s parents’ house in Pennsylvania where we found 3 feet of snow on the ground! The next day we drove up to Northern New Jersey to meet some friends and attend the rehearsal dinner. Saturday was of course the wedding, and then Sunday and Monday were travel days back to KC. The good thing is that we were all feeling progressively better as the trip went on, so by the time we got back to KC our sickness had mostly passed, even though we were physically tired from the trip.

Even though we missed a week of internship activities, it was such a blessing to be able to participate in Nick and Christine’s wedding, and it was great to see many friends and our family, even if only for a short time. We are hoping to make another trip back East sometime in the spring or summer, only this time we’ll be able to stay a bit longer!

Lots to catch up on (part 1)

Chris Ho — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:30:30 +0000

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. February has been a busy month for us as we had a whirlwind trip to Jersey and back, sandwiched by 2 waves of sickness, and basically that’s the reason I haven’t had much time to write.

Week 5 of our internship was amazing as the theme was “The House of Prayer”. During that week I was reminded of why I love ministries like IHOP so much and why I feel so connected with the prayer movement. It’s more than just a calling; it resonates with the very fabric of who God made me to be. I can’t explain fully why or how, but something awoke in my heart during that week.

Wednesday night was quite memorable as well. One of the couples who lead our internship is in the process of adopting a little girl from Honduras, and a Chick-Fil-A restaurant in the area agreed to donate a portion of all the sales between 4 and 8pm who mentioned this couple toward the adoption. Our family absolutely loves Chick-Fil-A, so any reason to go is a good one for us! But to be able to eat AND support such a great cause at the same time was just amazing. A bunch of our small groups from Intro went there together for dinner and a good time was had by all.

The week ended on a bit of a down note as I woke up Sunday morning feeling pretty sick. The weather here has been pretty up and down with lots of temperature drops. Usually when that happens our kids will sometimes get sick, but this time it was me. Thank God for Tylenol though, which helped me get through the rest of the day.

Breakdown or Breakthrough?

Chris Ho — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:11:19 +0000

Week 4 has definitely been a challenging one so far. Toward the end of last week, Abby had a stomach bug and was vomiting. She recovered quickly, so we thought we were out of the woods. But Wednesday Jonathan and I started vomiting and we were pretty wiped out for half of Wednesday and a lot of Thursday (yesterday). Once we started feeling better, Eunice started feeling nauseous and Zach started throwing up!

On the positive side, I (Chris) feel like the Lord’s really been setting me free from some subtle mindsets and lies I have believed. It is amazing that so many times the thing that keeps us in bondage or distant from the Lord are the lies we believe (about who God is, who we are, how God feels about us, etc). In the awakening services, so many are testifying how they are being set free because these kind of lies are being broken off.

I recently heard Jillian Michaels (trainer on NBC’s The Biggest Loser) say “When you feel like it’s a breakdown point, it’s generally a breakthrough point.” She is referring to physical exercise, but I definitely think this is often true spiritually. Though we have been challenged by the illnesses this week, we are keeping our eyes on the bigger picture of what God is doing in this season.

Week 3 recap

Chris Ho — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:31:51 +0000

Week 3 is in the books and what a week it was. Most of our time during the week is spent either in class or in the prayer room. We also spend several hours each week in team building (meetings, small groups, and serving together). We will also be doing some outreach in the coming weeks. The prayer room hours include time in the awakening services. If you haven’t already heard, God has been moving in a powerful way at IHOP since this past November, where people have been getting healed physically and emotionally. You can watch these meetings via webstream on Wed-Sat nights. Check out some of the testimonies they have archived; they will blow your mind. You might think some of the manifestations are weird, but hopefully you’ll be able to see beyond them to see that God is really setting people free. They emphasize over and over here that the main thing is not the manifestations, but the fruit of changed lives.

As you may have guessed, we’ve been spending a lot of time praying for Haiti. IHOP has a crisis response ministry which has people on the ground in Haiti. They will be training and deploying teams from IHOP to go and serve there over the next few months at least. I’m sure many of you are aware of worthy ministries and organizations who are joining the relief effort, but if you’re looking to give or get involved and don’t know how, they’re worth checking out.

After 3 weeks, I think we’re getting pretty adjusted to the schedule and life here on the missions base. Yesterday Abby was throwing up, but she seems to be doing much better today. Other than that we’ve managed to stay healthy since coming to KC. For those who’ve prayed for us, we thank you! Please keep it up. Also, we are currently trying to sell our NJ house, so please pray for that too.

Lastly, this Tuesday Eunice and I are celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary. Thank you Lord for all the blessings of these past 8 years!

What Only He Can Do

Chris Ho — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:24:31 +0000

Week 3 is in full swing and I’ve unofficially titled it “Getting Rocked By Amazing Testimonies Week”. Tuesday in class we heard from a member of the IHOP community who is a Holocaust survivor. He’s one of the youngest survivors as he was actually born in a death camp. I can’t do his story justice in this brief post, but basically try to imagine the most horrible things you can imagine happening to anyone, and then imagine every single one of those things happening to the same person, beginning at his birth. He shared his life story, and how the Lord has brought him through a journey of forgiveness. Needless to say, it left most of us with our jaws hanging open, sobbing, or both.

Wednesday and Thursday (today) we heard the testimonies of the husband and wife who lead the inner healing ministry here. It was a bit less heavy, but amazing nonetheless. I don’t know how much liberty I have to share the details of their story, so let me just say that it is amazing how the blood of Jesus can heal and restore lives.

On a personal note, I feel like my heart is slowly coming back to life as I progress through the internship. Rather than an electrifying jolt, I think the process for me is going to be more like a slow thawing.

I’ll take my cold, cold heart
I’ll take my unrenewed mind
I’ll take Your word in my hand
And I’ll give You time, to come and melt me
Do what only You can do – Come fan the flame
-”What Only You Can Do” by Misty Edwards

When we first arrived in KC the ground was covered with snow and ice and it basically stayed that way for the first week and a half. Then, after some sunshine and rain, the ice began to slowly melt away and as I write today there is very little left. You can actually see the ground and the pavement again! I feel like this is a picture of my heart in this season. Slowly but surely, I believe my heart will become fully alive, burning with passion for the son of God.

Week 2 recap

Chris Ho — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 03:52:15 +0000

This past week we got to see what a full week of internship life is like. They keep you busy here, but the schedule is designed to be very focused and intentional. You definitely don’t have any time to waste!

Since Abby was not adjusting well to her 1-2 year old class, we decided that Eunice and Abby would not do the internship at this time. Instead, they are going to the prayer room every morning while the boys and I are in class. We also get to go to the prayer room as a family on Wednesdays, and also attend the awakening meetings on Friday and Saturday nights. We are all happier with this arrangement, as the schedule otherwise would have been much too hectic and stressful!

One of the highlights here is definitely the children’s ministry. They really seek to cultivate a deep love for Jesus in the children. They have been learning Scripture and engaging in age-appropriate prayer meetings. Well, at least they’re trying to =) And they do really cool crafts. We’re going to have quite the scrapbook when we’re finished.

As we approach our day off, we are a bit exhausted but thankful to be here in the grace of God.

P.S. Congrats to the Jets fans out there!

A Day of Rest (sort of)

Chris Ho — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:30:21 +0000

During our internship, Monday will be our day off. The internship is about 50 hours/week and we have activities every day except Monday. Even though we’re only 3 days into the internship, we really needed this day off! Unfortunately, we weren’t able to completely relax because we still had a lot of errands to do (grocery shopping, laundry, etc), but we still managed to take the kids to ToysRUs to use some gift cards they got for Christmas, and have a nice lunch at Chick-Fil-A, one of our family’s favorite places. By our family’s standards (especially the kids), this ranks as a pretty good day!

The 4 main activities of the internship are:

1. Prayer

2. Teaching

3. Team building

4. Service & outreach