Morningside Ministries has registered for the August 14th softball tournament at Cunningham Park in Queens.  Come join the fun as we challenge other English ministries throughout the tri-state area.  If you are interested in joining the team or want more information, please  contact Mark Lee at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Dear Morningside Family,

I've been a part of this community from inception and cherish it.  You have touched my life through good and bad - especially the bad.  And for that I'm very grateful.  I'm especially grateful beyond words how everyone who has met Z saw him for who he truly is.  His lifestory is incredible and I thank God for the gift of this incredible child.

I just requested Z be removed from our church's prayer list.  He's been on it for years and I THANK YOU for praying for him faithfully every Sunday but it's time to let go.  One of my blogs (pasted below) tells all.  I invite you to follow my blog at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . I've been pleasantly surprised by what I write.  Join me.

Peace,
Jeannie

============================== =
(posted Monday, July 5, 2010)


Letting go is a hard thing for me. Really hard. Such a control freak that I map plans out months in advance. I'm good for spontaneity but only occasionally. Don't ask me to pick up and go frequently cuz I won't. It means letting go of control.

I did my scariest letting go yesterday. I let go of Z.

Z is my baby who from conception has had me on edge. At the mid-term sonogram, the technician and radiologist advised that I see my OB quickly to get an amniocentisis. They noticed that there could be complications - indications of ventricular megaly (this was the start of medical school for me - I have learned so many medical terms because of Z). This is a condition where the ventricles, the holes in the middle of the brain are too big and could mean there's Down Syndrome. What the F#*%?!?! Just 18 months earlier, I had an uncomplicated birth. My heart was pounding. My OB, Dr. Ledyard really didn't want me to have an amnio but he let us since the idea was planted in our head. The really, really crazy part was that they told us we'd have to make a decision about whether or not we would continue our pregnancy before we got the results. You see, NY state law permits medical abortions until 24 weeks without a court order. I was already 20 weeks pregnant when I was told to get a sonogram. Results take 2 weeks to get back. Do the math. It was too tight a timeframe to have discussions after we got the result and so we had to start talking about it. I learned so much about my family that I'd rather have not known - some said if you have any questions about this baby, terminate - if not for any other reason, one very good reason - it wouldn't be fair to Kobe. That one sticks with me. I'm sure there were other arguments and rationales but when you bring up any one of my kids, I HAVE to listen and be open to the idea. Well, the drama was all for naught since the amnio came back clean.

Well, this was not to be an easy pregnancy. He was breech. I already had one c-section and wasn't looking forward to another one. There was too little fluid to attempt an inversion - try to turn the baby using hands in the doctor's office. I tried eastern medicine where they burn tiny blocks of herbs on your pinky toes every day for 7 days - that hurt like hell but I was doing anything I could to avoid another c-section.

We scheduled a c-section for May 16, doctor thought 38 weeks was enough and I was ready to give birth. Nope, Z had to come into this world on May 14. The c-section was scary. It took the doctor 45 minutes to get to him and 1 hour to close me up. (I had a complicated c-section recovery from Kobe where the doctor had to "rip" open the wound to let an infection heal. For 6 weeks, a nurse visited to remove and pack bandages in the wound so that it healed from the inside out. That hurt.) Dr. Fiss came to me afterwards and told me that having another baby could put mine and the baby's life in danger. Well, that made me feel better about the decision we had already made to not have anymore children. 2 was more than enough.

So you see, Z's story didn't have an easy beginning and it went downhill quickly. He was born with a HUGE head - the pediatrician said that if you laid 10 babies down in a row according to head size, Z was number 12. But everything seemed fine so all we could do was wait and see. It was at his 4 month check up, Dr. Clemens was alarmed at the rate of head growth that he sent us to a neurosurgeon. That led us to a neurologist. Dr. Clemens heard a heart murmur. Yeah, it's probably nothing but go get an echo and the works from the pulmonologist. His skin seems irritated - go see a dermatologist. It was one thing after another. Dr. Clemens knew this was a special child and he wasn't taking any chances. By the time Z was 12 months old, he had 13 doctors I was keeping track of and making appointments with.

My mother noticed from early on that Z only looked to his right side and told me I should check it out. I waved it off - already overwhelmed with everything. I learned that listening to her was more imperative than ever. Dr. Clemens (our medical savior by now) heard this concern when I casually bought it up and did notice that Z was not developing at a "normal" rate by the time he ws 9 months old and sent him to be evaluated through the Early Interventions program. Well, that was a floodgate that opened - it was recommended that he receive physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and special education. At 13 months old, our lives revolved around his schedule of services - 9 sessions a week. For 2 years, our lives revolved around his therapy sessions.

From Early Intervention, he went through the Committee on Pre-School Special Education process of the Department of Education where he was placed in a special education pre-school. It broke my heart to put my 3 year old on a school bus and hand him over to strangers. Those fears were for naught as the staff of the Harry H Gordan School were uh.maz.ing!

Two years later, it was decision time again. To mainstream or stay in special education?!?!? We were torn - teachers, therapists, us as parents. Z was doing great but where do you place this child? We needed to make a decision in March for where he was going to be in September. This was hard. Especially hard because for a 5 year old, 6 months can make a HUGE difference. No crystal ball to see if Z was ready to be mainstreamed but we took the risk. Enrolling him at Central Park East II Elementary School in East Harlem was the BEST educational decision we could've made for him. He's thriving. No questions about his academic and social development. He continues to receive speech and occupational therapy. The 2 last remaining pieces of his Individualized Educational Plan. And these services continue to be reduced over time as he improves in these areas.

There's so much more to Z's story.

God inspired me (Damian was cool with me choosing the name, just didn't see the God part of it, but that's another story to come) to give him the name he was given. For Z- means "God with you." And if anyone in our family needed God, it was him. God has been with him all along. God was with us all along. His Korean name, given to him by my father, WonKyu means "high foundation." I'm scared to think about this. This is the child who wrote a letter of advice to President Obama completely on his own because he was bored. Told our president what he thinks he should do. (You can find it in one of my status updates. BTW, he got a letter back from the president. Yippee!!) SMH. Almost scared to think what he will do with his life.

Letting go....

Z's biggest challenge has been his speech. I never knew how important speech was to a child's development. We've invested a LOT of time, energy and money into his speech. Even paid out of pocket for an outside speech therapist for extra sessions to supplement what he was already receiving in school for free through the Department of Education. I've spent hours with him going through drills for years - using worksheets provided by Gina, Debbie and Maria, his amazing speech therapists. He's spent hours sitting through sessions. It's been hard work but for whatever reason, even though he had mastered all the mechanics, he wasn't executing and applying the lessons he had learned. I knew it was only going to happen when he cared enough. In this I didn't worry too much, just got frustrated when I couldn't understand him when I knew he knew how to speak clearly. This past week, I noticed that he was much clearer all of the sudden. My heart was relieved to see that all the hard work was finally paying off. I didn't figure it out why until I let go yesterday. It was his new setting. He just started another summer of camp and was thrown in with a bunch of new kids and teachers. Don't kow what's happening there - maybe he's working on a new girlfriend or trying to impress the boy next to him or is just simply tired of not being understood all the time - really don't care. Just happy to know that he cares enough about being understood ALL of the time (not just when he's trying to get something out of us), that's his speech is clearing up. He's finally articulating all of the time, not just some of the time.

Through all this, Z has been on our church's prayer list. I've been tempted to let his name be dropped and was waiting for our church to move him off the list. I mean, so many need prayer and isn't there a quota of how much prayer one should get? His name has appeared on our church's prayer list every week for years. Each week, whether we were there or not, I knew his name was being lifted to God and the world. His name was heard. A whole community was being reminded to keep him in their thoughts and prayers.

Yesterday, I let go of that.

I asked God and my church community for forgiveness for selfishly leaving Z's name on the prayer list this long. I cried, sobbing because I could finally let go of Z and completely place him in God's hand. But you know what was crazy? God was there all along. I thought I was letting go of Z into God's hand. How ridiculous. I was letting go of my own fears and anxieties, my own issues surrounding Z. I thought I was doing the work, but it was actually God who was doing it all along. Sweet relief. Letting go was sweet.

Letting go takes risk because it's so scary, especially when it's something you've held onto so long.
Letting go takes hope because none of us knows what the future holds
Letting go takes faith because... just because
Letting go brings hope because the future then opens itself up

My heart is lightened today and the future looks so much brighter. What will I let go of next? What will you let go of?

Thomas Hong, Judy Limb's brother, is looking for housing in NYC beginning on August 3 for one year. He is looking for an affordable place to live in NY ($700-800/mo) and is open to having a roommate. If you're looking for a roommate or know of any housing opportunities, please contact our office: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or speak to Judy.

We will be having joint services at 11am starting Sun, Jul 18 and running through Sun, Aug 22.  Please note there will be NO 1pm service on these Sundays.  Like last year, we hope that these joint services will foster a sense of unity within our church between the morning and afternoon services.

HJ Lee, together with several Morningsiders, have begun a non-profit organization called KoreanAmericanStory.org, Inc. dedicated to collecting and telling the stories of Korean Americans across the nation.  Please check out their website for more information. You can also check out their Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/KoreanAmericanStoryorg

Our new women's small group is starting!  We will have our first meeting this Wednesday, April 21st at 7pm. If you are interested, please email Ellen Huang ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ), Young Eun Lee ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ), and Nancy Kang ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ). 

Missions Support: Are you planning to go on missions this summer?  Do you need prayer and/or financial support?  Please email our Outreach Chair John Kwon ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Coordinator Sunyoung Chon ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) with your plans so we can keep you in prayer.  If you wish to request financial support from Morningside Ministry, please fill out the form at this link: http://www.morningside-nyc. com/index.php?option=com_ docman&task=cat_view&gid=69&& Itemid=178

Jesse Lee, our Worship Director, is looking for people who are interested in joining the Morningside Ministry Choir. It will be part of the first worship service, but is open to congregants to both the first and second services. If you have an interest in becoming part of the choir, please contact Jesse at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or in person. 

A big thanks to our council for a wonderful Leadership Retreat a few weeks ago. Our 2009 theme is "Reaching Out." This year we hope to explore what it means to reach out to people in need, to newcomers, and to fellow members with the love of Christ and we also will see what it means for those who are in need to reach out to others to help. May God's grace be with us as we focus on this theme. 

Family Bible Study

Pastor Mark leads a Family Bible Study on the 2nd Sunday of every month from 12:30-1:30 in the fellowship hall. All families are encouraged to attend for fellowship, Bible study and group prayer.

Westchester/ Connecticut Fellowship
Westchester/Connecticut Fellowship takes place every other month, about 6 times per year.  This is primarily focused towards couples and families who live in Westchester/Connecticut area.  Childcare is provided and there is usually much food, fun and fellowship.  If you are interested, please contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

New Jersey Regional Group

New Jersey Regional Group meets every other month, gathering together families and singles in New Jersey for fellowship and Bible Study. The group is led by Yoon Son: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

NYC Small Groups - 5 groups are available in NYC, attended primarily by young adults, college and graduate students:

• Tuesday Evening: Tom Oh leads a group that meets on Tuesday evenings. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Thursday Evening: Mike Rhee leads a group that meets on Thursday evenings. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Women's Accountability Group: Christina Kim and Minnie Park lead a women's group each week for personal accountability and Bible study. Contact them at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Disciple Bible Study: Pastor Mark leads a 34-session discipleship group beginning in the fall and ending in the spring. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
• College: Dan Phai leads a group for college young adults. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Couples Small Group
Couples Small Group meets once every other month for couples who are married, engaged or dating. Come out and get to know other couples for mutual accountability and encouragement! Contact Pastor Mark: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it