Here’s a little bit more about myself.

Faith

I love Jesus.

While I became a Christian when I was a freshman in high school, it wasn’t until I was discipled in college that I learned how to have a relationship with Jesus. It was then that I experienced incredible healing and freedom from the things that held me captive in the world - unhealthy relationships with men, the things of the world, my eating disorders, depression and anxiety. That was just the beginning. In the past twenty-ish years, Jesus has entered the darkest depths of my heart only to bring healing and freedom in ways I could never have imagined - in my heart, in my marriage, in my family, in my relationships, all for the good of generations to come.

I am the woman who loves Jesus much because I have been forgiven much. And I love sharing about the goodness of God in my own life.

Family

My husband, RJ, and I met nearly 20 years ago at a Summer Training Program (think Christian summer camp for college students) in Estes Park, Colorado and are in our sixteenth year of marriage. He is my partner-in-life, my best friend, and my biggest supporter. While we’ve enjoyed several years of adventures together just the two of us and our Daisy dog, infertility has been a big part of our journey as husband and wife. By the grace of God and through the generous and nonsensical gift of a stranger, we now have our son Regi (5) and our daughter Clementine (3), our children of promise.

In my free time I enjoy napping, throwing rocks and sticks in the creek with my kids, nerding out (specifically to Lord of the Rings, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Harry Potter), eating terrible(-y delicious) foods, and silly dancing in the kitchen with our little family.

And Disneyland. As residents of Orange County, California, of course we love our Disneyland!

IDentity and design

I am second generation Taiwanese American and spent nearly half my life in Penfield, New York (home of the garbage plate!) and the other half in Southern California. Over the past decade, God has had me on a journey of embracing my identity as a Taiwanese American woman (ironically while working in majority culture and male-dominated spaces) and leading out of the overflow of all of who He has created me to be.

Other miscellaneous “specs”: I am an ENFP (though a “work J”), an Enneagram 4w3, and my top five Clifton Strengths include Strategic, Restorative, Positivity, Empathy, and Woo (message for the rest if you’re interested!). My spiritual gifts are exhortation, discernment, and mercy.

ministry and work experience

I graduated from the University of California in Irvine with a Bachelor of the Arts in Environmental Analysis and Design…then went straight into full-time ministry with an international Christian organization called The Navigators (much to my immigrant parents’ chagrin). I later received my Master of Science in Marital and Family Therapy from Loma Linda University and eventually became a licensed marriage and family therapist. I have worked in inpatient and intensive outpatient hospital settings in San Bernardino county and provided individual and family therapy with county-contracted outpatient clinics serving the under-resourced population in Los Angeles county.

Of my nearly twenty years connected with The Navigators, twelve have been serving in the local context on various college campuses in Southern California, discipling students and equipping them to disciple those in their everyday lives. I, along with a team, have also facilitated a series of cultural competency trainings all over the United States Navigator work, helping our organization move towards God’s heart for justice and a beautiful mosaic of diversity in unity in Christ. Additionally, I have served with our Asian American Network Leadership Team, which exists to equip and empower Asian Americans in The Navigators to minister out of the fullness of their God-given identities.

In recent years, my primary work with The Navigators has been in the area of leader development. I am currently serving as Director of Leader Development in The Navigators, developing and equipping leaders at all levels all over the world to lead themselves, their people, and their mission better. Why? Because when leaders get better, they are able to more effectively lead through their people, the gospel is advanced further, and as a result more lives are transformed, more families are healed, more communities are restored. When leaders get better, everything gets better.