Dasonii

Over two years ago Bryan Chae, an Asian-American from Korea, visited North Way Christian Community in Wexford for the first time.  One of the first things he noticed when he entered the church was a display in the lobby for LAMP.  He walked over to it, picked up a brochure, called me during the following week, and about six weeks later he was matched with a LAMP mentee from Homewood.  He and his mentee have had a lot of fun together over the past couple of years, and in many ways being a mentor has changed Bryan even more than it has changed his mentee.  LAMP has caused him to make some unique decisions in his life.

Bryan is a successful businessman who has a nice house in Cranberry Township, an affluent suburban area well-north of downtown Pittsburgh.  As the owner of a business that is well-established, he could afford to live comfortably and go into work as he chooses.  At this stage in life, he has achieved what many people consider to be the American dream:  Successful businessman, nice house in the suburbs, semi-retired early because he could work when he wanted... the good life.  But becoming a LAMP mentor messed with his paradigm.  Through his many trips to Homewood, God has given Bryan a strong call to take risks and do some incredible things.  First, he decided to be a leader by mobilizing many of his Korean Christian friends to become involved in the Homewood community.  His Christian friends have participated in neighborhood clean up efforts in Homewood, and they have big plans to help out where ever they can in the months and years to come.  He is a bridge builder between his Korean friends and North Way and Homewood.  And instead of sitting back and living comfortably off of the earnings of his successful business, Bryan has decided to utilize his business skills as mission by launching a new restaurant in Robinson Township.  It just opened a few days ago, and he decided to call it "Dasonii" which is a rare ancient Korean word that means "loving people."  He is intending to use the profits from the new restaurant to repair and restore old boarded up homes in Homewood (I have heard that as many as 48% of the real estate properties are abandoned).  He hopes to mobilize hundreds of volunteers to help to create housing for single moms and other people who may be in need of stable housing in Homewood.  I took my family, Bryan's mentee, and his mentee's grandmother out to eat at the new restaurant tonight and we had an amazing time.  When I asked Bryan why he decided to start a new business, with all of its hassles and long hours, at a time in his life when he could be living the comfortable life, he simply said, "LAMP."  He wants to do all he can to make an impact in Homewood with the skills that God has given him.

I think there are several important lessons to be learned from Bryan's story.  First, transformation begins with relationships.  Before Bryan decided to start a restaurant to help others or build a house in Homewood, he built relationships with a child and his family in Homewood.  This is such an important thing for leaders to understand.  There are many people who want to try to help people in need, but they build programs first instead of building relationships first.  Transformational leaders build relationships with the people being served first, and then the great innovative and life changing ideas spring out of those relationships.

Business is mission.  Many businessmen go into business simply to make more money for themselves and their families.  That story is too small of a story for a person to live in.  God desires for us to utilize our business skills to serve his mission to reach others.  When we hoard money for ourselves so that we can have bigger houses and nicer cars and fatter retirement accounts so that we can live comfortably, we may be missing the point of why God has gifted us in the area of business.  God may bless us so that we can give ourselves away to others.  Bryan is a great example of a simple principle... when effective businessmen are good at what they do and they generate prosperity, they can do harm to others along the way or they can do good.  And life is not all about advancing ourselves and our own families.  God gifts us to reach others in his mission, and business is a big part of that.  Work is not a cursed condition.  Good business is not evil.  Good business can help to transform society when businessmen act as stewards of God's resources (and I'm talking about much more than just tithing ten percent of personal income).

We should not be afraid of cross-cultural ministry.  Sunday morning is often the most segregated time of the week in America because most churches tend to consist of people who are similar racially and socioeconomically.  That should not be the case.  Christians should be leading the way in racial and socioeconomic reconciliation.  We should be leading by example.  My friend Bryan is leading by example.  His path has not been easy, but he has been paying attention to God's call on his life to be a bridge builder.  I have prayed many times since I've moved to Homewood that God would help me to have the heart of a bridge builder.

Christians should take risks and give ourselves away to others.  We should never reach a point in our lives where we have "arrived."  Comfort and safety are not necessarily things that we should be striving for. Many Christians will be called to experience suffering.  God wants us to embrace risk as a central theme to our lives.  And God has a tremendous heart for reaching people who are in need.  Dasonii is a beautiful word.  "Loving people."  That's what being a Christian is all about... not just loving ourselves or our own families.  We are called to love God, and we are called to love people.  Dasonii.