A farewell interview with Esther Chuang, who has served as Savior’s Pastor of Music & Worship for the past 2 years.
What is taking you and your family to Malaysia?
My husband, Tony will be working for his family business which manufactures semi conductive plating. I'll be teaching worship at a Christian Seminary in Penang.
What are you looking forward to?
I'm looking forward to living closer to family. We have no family in the States. My family lives in Korea, so when we move, it will be a much shorter flight to see them. Tony's parents live in Taiwan, and his brother's family lives in Penang, Malaysia (the same city we are moving to), so it would be nice to be able to see family more often.
I'm also looking forward to new ministry opportunities in Asia. Tony and I have a heart for the nations, and before we had kids, God opened doors to many countries where Tony preached the gospel, I gave worship concerts, and we taught Christian seminars. I'm hoping we can do more of that ministry in Asia.
What are you anxious about (so we can pray for you)?
I'm anxious about living in a new country. It's also a Muslim country. And the COVID situation is pretty bad there and they haven't gotten many vaccines yet. That means that we will probably live in COVID world for a bit longer, which makes it harder to make new friends. Please pray that we will find a good church family there, and that God will open doors and the hearts of our new neighbors in Malaysia, so that we could minister to them.
How have you grown or changed during your time at Savior?
I have been at Savior for less than 2 years, but one of the biggest things I have learned at Savior was to slow down and keep the Sabbath. Since coming to Savior, Tony and I have kept our Sundays as a day of rest and lots of family time, and it has been rejuvenating!
Also, I have been to a liturgical church before, but I have never attended one weekly. During my time at Savior, my love for the liturgy and the weekly Eucharist has grown.
And lastly, my perfectionist side for musical worship has changed quite a bit. After 1 year and 2 months of Zoom church at home with a toddler that does unexpected things all the time, I learned to "let go." No matter what is going on -whether it's Adrielle pulling my hair or Aidan crying in the background- I have learned to let go of my perfectionist side and to still focus on the Lord and worship him. I'm also very grateful for friends of the Savior for being so understanding and loving of everything Adrielle does at the worship service!
Anything you'd like to say to the church?
In the short time I was at Savior, you have blessed me so much with your prayers, cards, and warm words, both in my lows (like my miscarriage) and my highs (the birth of our baby). Church of the Savior has been so amazing in its worship services, leadership, and people, and I will definitely miss Savior a lot.
As a farewell gift, I want to gift you 2 songs. The first one is called "Beauty out of Brokenness," a song that is based on my testimony. The second one is a piano hymn arrangement of "Great is Thy Faithfulness". I hope these songs minister to you.
Pastor Esther's music comes from her albums, "Beauty out of Brokenness" and "Esther Shin Chuang Plays Hymns." For the lyrics and full info about the albums, visit www.tonyandestherchuang.com/music.
Photo taken by Kristen Page on Easter Sunday morning 2021.