About

Hi, I'm Tin-Trung

For those who don't know, I'm 24 and have been living in San Diego ever since 2019! I went to UC San Diego and eventually stumbled into a job here in San Diego doing software engineering. In the years that I've been living here, I began to attend a church called Redeemer Presybterian in Encinitas.

My time in San Diego has felt like quite the journey. It has become a place that has gone from unfamiliar (when I first arrived), to home (when I met all my college besties), back to unfamiliar (when they all left rip), and slowly into home (meeting a whole lot of great people) again.

As I reflect on what has brought me to this moment in time, I can confidently point to Christ having a hand in all of it. Before college, my faith was my identity because I was blessed to be raised in a Christian household, surrounded by loving parents and siblings who modeled Christ for me. While seeing that definitely encouraged me, I really felt like I was going through the motions. It wasn't until going to college that my faith became my own. Through the challenges of seeking out community God guided me and drew me near. He blessed me with great roommates throughout my time in college, guys that would become brothers and mentors of my faith. I believe that it was in these formative years that a desire for the Lord began to stir within me. And so when I graduated and found myself staying in San Diego, I decided to make the formal declaration of my faith, being baptized at Redeemer.

Indeed, that was the beginning of a new chapter. I do not know what I expected, but it wasn't what ended up happening. A lot of my community left San Diego or grew a bit distant. As I entered the young adult stage of life, it felt quite lonely and isolating. I felt like it was difficult to connect, difficult to put myself out there, and difficult to feel at home despite being with my church family. This was made more jarring as I felt I was putting in work to be disciplined spiritually, and yet felt so dry. There was a great divide within my heart that I couldn't quite put a finger on. That a fruitful spiritual life is not built solely upon a disciplined life, but one that is nurtured and walked alongside community.

Which brings us to the present day. After a few years of young adult life, the Lord has nudged me toward fellowship and community within the church. Connections that strengthened my desire for the Lord, held me accountable in discipline, and supported me in hardship. To this, my cup has overflowed. With gratitude and thankfulness, I see the work of the Lord at hand. I see the progress of transformation within my own heart. I see the impact of the love which comes from knowing Christ.

And so, here I sit. Writing an about blurb for a fundraising page as I raise funds and support for both Hope for San Diego and a London Mission Trip with Redeemer. Because in this transformation, the Lord has blessed me with margin to be able to share the joy, the gratitude, and the love with those around me. It is in Him and through Him that I write these things. And I hope and pray that my affections for the Lord would continue to grow, that my love for Him would continue to overflow toward my neighbors whether they be in San Diego or across the globe, that my life would be a pleasing sacrifice to the Lord. And I thank you dearly for being a means by which the Lord has moved my heart to seek such things.