Crazy Faith

by Pastor Sunny

I took a deep breath and said, "Yes."

Even as I spoke the word, I wondered if I was crazy. I was certain the church leadership would think I was being reckless. Yet deep down, saying yes felt like the right thing to do.

On the other end of the phone was Pinky. She was calling to tell me that the Tribal Council of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was inviting our church to come and partner with them in mission.

I met Pinky a year earlier when I led an advance team to Pine Ridge to explore the possibility of a mission program for my church. She had noticed that the Korean teenagers related differently with the children on the reservation than white church youth. Before leaving, I made it clear that I wanted to bring out a team the following year, but I would never bring a group to the reservation unless we were invited. It was their land, and any ministry there had to begin with their invitation.

The timing, however, seemed impossible.

The call came in the middle of June, and they wanted us to come in July. That left me with less than a month to develop an entirely new mission program, gain approval from the church leadership, raise funds, obtain parents' permission, and prepare a group of teens for the trip.

It sounded impossible. Perhaps even foolish.

In Matthew's Gospel, when Jesus comes to the disciples walking on the sea, they think they are seeing a ghost. Peter responds with an extraordinary request: "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." We are never told what Peter was thinking, but I imagine the other disciples thought he was out of his mind.

Peter's impulsive act quickly leaves him sinking beneath the waves, crying out, "Lord, save me!" Yet that is not where the story ends. After Jesus rescues him and calms the sea, the other disciples worship Jesus, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

What first appeared to be Peter's foolishness became the very moment that deepened everyone else's faith.

That unexpected phone call from Pinky became one of those moments in my own ministry.

Four weeks after saying yes, twenty-five people boarded two rented vans for Pine Ridge on what became the first mission partnership between an Asian immigrant church community and the Native American tribe. None of us could have imagined what God would do through that simple act of faith.

Over the past thirty-five years, more than a thousand young people have traveled from the suburbs to Pine Ridge. They have witnessed firsthand the consequences of poverty on children, systemic racism and its impact, and the enduring strength and spirituality of the Lakota people. For many, the experience transformed the way they understood faith, justice, and their neighbors. The connection between Korean and Lakota culture was so significant the National Korean Presbyterian Council placed a permanent Korean missionary at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Faith often looks unreasonable at first.

Like Peter stepping out of the boat, we are called to trust Jesus even when we cannot see how everything will work out. Faith does not guarantee that we will never falter. Peter certainly did. But it does promise that Christ will meet us with outstretched hands whenever we begin to sink.

Perhaps the greatest miracles of faith are not what happen to us, but what God does through our willingness to say "yes." Our acts of trust can strengthen the faith of others in ways we may never fully know.

May we have the courage to step out of our boats of security, trusting that Jesus is always nearby. And may our faith become an invitation for others to discover the presence and grace of God.

Pastor Sunny