Podcast Sunday with Jannie Tamo-o

Join us as we speak with Chemist and mercy sound tech Jannie Tamo-o about her story and how God has been present in her life since  she was a child.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Yo, welcome and thank you for tuning in to Mercy Youth Podcast Sundays. Mercy Youth is all about connecting with God and connecting with others. Our goal is to provide students with community and stories and testimonies that they can identify with in hope that these testimonies will resonate with us. We believe that sharing our personal stories of faith is a powerful way to present the gospel, encouraging self-reflection and a sense of shared faith. Well, join us this week as we talk to chemist and sound engineer Jenny Temu. Announce them up. You guys know who she is, but you probably don't know her story, okay? And I'm really excited to have Jenny come up because uh Jenny's full name is Jenny Del Vindoy Tamu. That's that right? Almost. Almost, almost. She was born in Ozamese City, Philippines, and spent the first half of her life there before her family moved to Minnesota. Uh when where she spent her first, when she was 10, I'm sorry. She spent four years in Bozeman, Montana, earning her degree in chemical engineering. Then she came straight back to Minnesota, praise God, uh, and has been here ever since. And by day, she works, get this, as a chemist at a dairy lab. And on the weekend, she is our tech director here at Mercy. And also, like, she does really cool things like lead us in worship, right? Jenny is one of the brightest shining stars at Mercy, and I and has been just a present, a great presence for me on staff this past year. Uh, she's also served in youth ministries for a majority of her life. She knows a lot about ministry, a lot about worship, and uh she follows God wherever he may lead. So, guys, can we give it up for our guest Jenny as she's coming to the stage?

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Hello, hello. Welcome, thank you for coming on. Yeah, absolutely. And we I think we we scheduled this a couple months out.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

We did.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

We it was November.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

It was November. We were like, oh, we gotta have you come in, we gotta have you come in to talk about your story and your life. And uh podcast Sundays is really about us having a way to connect with people that are inside of mercy and outside of mercy to learn their story and learn just about like where God has brought them and how God has brought them to be. And so um I planned a few questions for you, and I'm gonna just dive right in if that's okay. Yeah, awesome. So I want you to take us back to your early years. And am I saying this correctly? Osami City.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

Osami City.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Oh, say it again. Osami's Osami's city. Thank you. What was your understanding of God then and what was it like as a child?

SPEAKER_00 3:05

So my mom's side of the family is very much filled with like worship leaders, pastors, and we were all stuffed in one house, five families in one house. Wow. So wow, yeah, yeah. The God was not something that I I found out later on in life. I was always born being surrounded by people who love talking about God. So, but but the to me, like the the main the main thing that I got from my childhood was like a lot of focus on God the Father, being the creator, the planner, the sir, the the sustainer.

SPEAKER_03 3:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

And it's really cool that I like in different sections of my life, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and the God the Father was highlighted in different sections of my life. Yeah. And in my childhood, it was a lot of about God the Father. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

That's really interesting. I I do think uh when when we when in society, when we hear God, we only think about God the Father and not God the Son and not God the Holy Spirit, right? I think the reason for that is because a lot of people don't have the language for it, or they don't have the understanding of it. So as you were kind of growing up, you started to see different attributes of God. And before I get too far far ahead, um what when was your first encounter with God, the Holy Spirit?

SPEAKER_00 4:33

That wasn't until college. Okay. And it was in the youth group. And I have I was never part of a youth group because our church was too small to really have a youth group. Yeah. So my experience in youth group was being a youth leader, but I also felt like the youth. Like in terms of spiritual maturity, yeah, I felt like I could relate to the youth.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Amen. That's good.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

I feel like a lot of adults um are also that way, if if we're honest, yeah. Can relate to youth, especially in in as far as spiritual maturity.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Because I think with spirituality, we're all in different growth areas, and a lot of adults can identify more with you, too. So that's good. So growing up between two cultures uh can be both beautiful, but also very challenging.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

So did you ever struggle with your identity as a person in those cultures? And how does your faith anchor those moments?

SPEAKER_00 5:31

I think I was really blessed to have uh a school, predominantly white, and honestly, there were only like two of us who weren't white in there.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

And probably uh the whole school in general was only five percent people of color. Wow, and uh the thing is they were fascinated, they they they didn't think badly about it, they wanted to know me more, they wanted to include me. Yeah, so it was really easy to get along with people in that way. But also in the weekdays I had my my school, and then on the weekends I went to Filipino church, so I could speak my language, I could eat my food.

SPEAKER_03 6:09

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

It's it's like I I had a switch. And even if you see me around with my sister, the second I see her, I'm switching languages. The second I see Darrell, I'm speaking English, right? But then I also have a third language, and that's a whole not other thing.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Wow, but most folks can't master one.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

I'm a confused person, it's not yeah. I love it, um, but also like just in general, God has given me so many good people in my life and in the right the right people at the right time, yeah. That even though I could have struggled with my identity, it it was more reassuring that I could have multiple cultures in one space.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

I love it. I love it. Thank you for sharing that. And I think it's beautiful that you were able to share your culture with those who didn't who don't understand it, yeah, but then also in this like way of wonder because a lot of people who don't who aren't familiar with certain cultures don't come with the attitude of wonder, they come with the attitude of fear. Yeah, and so it's it's a beautiful thing to hear that you didn't have to overcome any complex issues, and it was more like, hey, I'm wondering about this culture, and you're able to teach it, but also stay true to your culture with your bring you know being able to speak it and eat the food and and and still bring home to Montana or Minnesota. Yeah that's beautiful, that's beautiful. Um, we're what was there a specific moment when faith, your faith became personal? Because I I see that you grew up in the faith. Um, when did you when when you realized like your relationship with God was not just about your family's faith, but it was like your own.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

I think that happened when I made the decision to go to Bozeman, Montana. I didn't have any family there. I didn't have any friends, I knew nobody. And honestly, I think that probably stemmed from the fact that like I was comfortable to do that because when we moved to Minnesota, we didn't have any family or friends, we didn't know anyone. Yeah, so I feel like there was a parallel in that where when I moved to this country, nobody knows who I am, nobody knows what I've done. I've I'm literally a blank slate clean. I get to choose who I want to be.

SPEAKER_03 8:26

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 8:27

And does that include God? Because if I was brought up in a family that was so focused on God, I still have the choice. Do I want to keep going it down that route or not?

SPEAKER_03 8:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

And when I was here in Minnesota the first time, yeah, God was heavily involved. I was in worship for seven years. I was basically serving every week for seven years from middle school to high school. And but that was like I didn't really have a full grasp of worship until I moved out. Because then now I'm moving out to another state. Nobody knows me. Yeah, I'm a clean slate. Do I after like being burnt out in in worship, do I still want to include God in my life?

SPEAKER_03 9:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

And I, yeah, I I needed him. I really needed him during college. It was I tried, I tried for a year saying, like, I'm so burnt out, I'm not gonna volunteer, I'm not gonna go look for churches because they're gonna find out that I know I can sing, I know how to play guitar, and they're gonna be like, okay, come join us.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

That's typically what happens too in church culture. Like you find out someone is gifted and talented, it's like, oh, let's let's plug this person in, right? And and sometimes we need seasons where we're we're just like, I just want to receive. I don't want to give.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

So I don't think I even realized that I could receive. Yeah, it was it was more of if I'm at church, I I should be volunteering, I should be giving, because we're here to worship, we're here for a sacrifice. Right. We enter the temple. And I I've never had the receiving mentality of coming into church.

SPEAKER_03 10:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

So when I realize I need I need community, I need people who will like make it clear for me what I should be doing when I'm so confused because I don't know what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_03 10:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

And yeah, when I chose that and when I entered into the youth group, suddenly people are looking at me as a guidance. I'm like, from for what? I'm like, I don't know anything. I just play music at church on stage.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

You know, it's something um, it's something powerful about being able to worship uh freely. And I think folks, when they see, like even now, when they see you worship, it's the Holy Spirit is is using you, and you're allowing that to be communicated, and it's so powerful. And I think it's profound to see people worship and that bring worship to like an excellent space where it's like I know exactly the notes I need to hit, I know exactly the notes I need to sing, right? And it's it just the music and the worship and the presence of God just it abounds in that, and I think that's why people see you and like you know something that I don't know, and it's really just your relationship and your um your relying on God is what makes it so much more intimate and easy to follow. But during your college years in Montana, was there a season of doubt? Was there like loneliness or spiritual wrestling or a moment where you felt like I don't know where God is and I need to find him?

SPEAKER_00 11:38

Yeah, I I'm pretty sure three out of my four years in college, I just experienced radio silence from God.

SPEAKER_03 11:46

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

And this is this goes on to something that I'm still working on today, is that ministry for me was like the driving force of my relationship with God. And I needed to figure out my like I I felt like he wanted me to run after him because he knows he's I know he's there, yeah, but I just am blinding myself to to see where he he's actually at.

SPEAKER_03 12:13

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

So for the longest time I was just I was searching for him, and you know, he eventually met me. It took it took a lot of work, yeah, a lot of discipline, um, but you you can't stop.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

You know, in the the Bible tells us uh to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And it's interesting because a lot of times we're we're going through life, especially in those moments where it's like, Lord, where are you? Where are you? Where are you? I don't feel you, I don't see you, I'm not hearing from you. And it's really on us to seek. Seek and find, knock and the door will be open. I think sometimes we feel like we're when we walk into a church or we walk into a service that we're just expecting like to feel God right away. It's like, no, we have to be willing to seek. Yeah, and I think in that seeking, that's when we find. In that seeking, then the things of the kingdom will be added onto our life, right? Uh so it so the faith is a constant pursuit. And it's this pursuit of trying to find out where God is moving you and what God is doing next.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

When I think about you in college, right? Uh, and and you studied engineering uh and science, right? And so science requires a lot of logic and evidence and you know uh testing and conclusion. And has your scientific training like was it ever challenged by your faith or or vice versa?

SPEAKER_00 13:45

It it was it was an evidence of my faith, really. I feel like the deeper you get into um science, the more philosophical it gets. Yeah, and when you just see the parallels like microscopically and macroscopically, and how God has designed the world, yeah, it's like this isn't by accident. Wow, this is carefully made, and really it's only done by somebody who's greater than what we could imagine. Wow because we're never gonna get through the depths of science. It's like that it's impossible. Wow, it's and I don't think we're supposed to get there.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

And would you say that science is an evidence that there is a God?

SPEAKER_00 14:27

Oh, yeah, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Because how do we explain the the Big Bang? Yeah, or how do we explain the cosmos and the earth and atoms and all of how do we explain it without saying, Lord, we really don't know.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

Yeah, but it had to be intentional, yeah, and the delicate balance, not just like in our solar systems and like the chemicals that are in the air, like you get a little bit more of oxygen, we're kaboom, we're dead. Wow. Like it's all such a fine balance, and the fact that we've been surviving for this long just means that we have a God who loves us and who's so intentional in keeping us and protecting us until the time comes.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Amen. We're we're we're definitely gonna have a time for questions at the end of the interview, so just hold on real quick. Um, so as someone who has served worship now, and our as the Mercy Tech Director, which you're doing a great job at, um, you're often behind the scenes, right? I don't know if you guys even knew she was our tech director, but she's often behind the scenes. Have you ever had a season where you felt like heavy or unnoticed, or like, and how did God grow you through that?

SPEAKER_00 15:48

I often find I think it I think I served worship and tech in the right order because worship is a lot, a lot more spiritual than tech is. Tech, you have to be so logical about things, almost to the point where you have to remove yourself, but like there's that weird balance of you still worshiping, but being able to remove yourself from from what is happening so that you can serve and let the Holy Spirit lead. But I find that in worship it's often hard when there's friction and what the definition of worship is, yeah, and just being able to accept that you know we're all at different stages in life and we're all just here trying to serve God. That's definitely I mean if you guys hear Antoine's message, it hits home. It hits home.

SPEAKER_03 16:41

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 16:42

It's so it's so good. But in terms of in terms of tech, I think I think the part that is difficult is that separation from being able to be logical, yeah, and still being in the room without getting caught in whatever is happening. But also because I understand what it takes on a worship perspective, I can a I'm able to support tech in a different way.

SPEAKER_03 17:14

Yeah. That's so good.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Yeah, it's a it's a it's a strange relationship, and they're so different, they're like polar opposites.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

Yeah, because one's in one's in front and one's in back.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

But they all feed into each other.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

Yeah, absolutely. And you get to witness the Holy Spirit from the back, and I'm like, you're you're helping support this. I'm like, like, God, you're you're actually using me. You're you're using the people, and using the people's tithes and offering to to provide this space, yeah, provide the lights, provide the sound. Right. Everything is like it's provided by him, and we're using it for him. And that itself is also worship.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

That's so good. Amen. Can you I I want to actually give you a curveball here because uh last week we played a song for worship, and some of the students were like, I don't know if that's a worship song, or that doesn't feel like worship, and but the song was about Jesus. So I just want to ask your opinion on what qualifies as worship. Oh what qualifies as worship and what doesn't qualify as worship?

SPEAKER_00 18:22

Wow, I think it goes back to what I said during Huddle today.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

Let's talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Uh what did I say? Uh worship is the innate response when you experience the presence, the goodness, the glory of God. So because worship stems from God, that means worship should only be about God.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

So when it divulges into anything but that, that's no longer worship. And if I could give very specific examples that I have been through, yeah, specifically in worship, it's like I my guitar is having feedback, therefore I can't worship because it's not, it doesn't sound good. Uh the mic stand is not at the right height and it's bothering me, and therefore I can't worship. Like you being comfortable should not stop you. You being uncomfortable should not stop you from worshiping.

SPEAKER_03 19:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:23

Regardless of your circumstances, regardless of what you're going through, it's a blessing that you can still worship because you should worship with everything that God has given you. That's with your mind, that's with the ability to move, the ability to breathe, come on, the ability to walk, yes, and even speak.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

Like these are all ways to worship, and nothing should stop that.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

You should that's so good. Nothing should stop our worship, not our circumstances, especially when we're going through. That's when we should worship the most.

SPEAKER_02 19:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

Because in worship, and not just singing, but in in what we do for the kingdom, we we get to invite God's presence into every aspect of our lives. And when God's presence is in your life, you can see change. It may not happen immediately all the time, but it does happen. Healing takes place. Chains are broken, people are set free because of worship. And worship is very important for a believer. And so thank you for sharing that, Jenny. It's about all it's about him, not about us.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:39

Um, can you share a moment when you clearly felt God redirect your path? Even if it wasn't what you originally planned to do, but you were just like, oh, oh, that was definitely you, Laura.

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Yeah. Honestly, I worked so hard and also with the help of God to graduate in chemical engineering. I really did not enjoy my time in Bozeman. I'm not gonna lie.

SPEAKER_02 21:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

I think everything that I experienced here in Minnesota, I experienced the opposite in Bozeman. Wow. And this was also during the time of Asian hate. So yeah, I was in the thick of it.

SPEAKER_02 21:15

Oh man.

SPEAKER_00 21:17

And uh wait, what was the question?

SPEAKER_01 21:21

So the question was um, share a moment where you felt like God clearly directed your path where you were just like, I thought I was gonna go this way, but no, Lord, you're calling me here.

SPEAKER_00 21:30

Like Yeah, and like it was it was weird to me because I was able to graduate in chemical engineering when I thought that was so beyond me.

SPEAKER_03 21:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

And but then it made me laugh because by the end of it, even though I knew I graduated in it, I knew I wasn't gonna have a career in it.

SPEAKER_03 21:47

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

Yeah, it was very obvious. Man, there's a lot of conf conflict in terms of like the morality of it. Yeah for me. This is my conviction. I'm not saying that that. Is like what is going on.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

So please pray about it before taking my word for it. But my personal conviction was that there was a friction between like the moral views between a chemical engineer and what God had planned for me.

SPEAKER_03 22:15

Right.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

So I and I think he still respected the fact that I I do love to do science. So then instead of just going down the engineering route, I went down the chemistry route.

SPEAKER_01 22:27

Wow. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

Amen. Yeah, and he's blessing me through.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

Can you talk about that? Recently, uh, some things have changed. So can you talk about what the the new change?

SPEAKER_00 22:39

Yeah, a lot of things have changed. I today is actually my last Sunday as a staff member here. And um, but I'm still in this church.

SPEAKER_01 22:49

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

Before I was employed in any capacity, I chose this as my home church, and that's gonna be how it is after I'm employed in any capacity.

SPEAKER_03 22:58

Amen. We love it. We love it.

SPEAKER_00 23:00

Um yeah, I made that decision because they my current job promoted me as a group lead. Woo! And right now there's a current overlap. So like I'm I again, I'm in the thick of it. Yes, but it's a great opportunity, and God just keeps opening doors left and right, and he's just so so so gracious.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

I just want to say congratulations, seriously. That's huge. It's gonna be hard to see you not on staff.

SPEAKER_02 23:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Because in the staff meetings, she's normally on Zoom with us. Yeah, and she's always mid-bite because she's eating her lunch on Zoom. It's so funny. I'm like, Jenny, Jenny, you got something to say? Wait, I'm mid-bite. I'm mid-bite, mid-eating lunch. But we're um we're gonna miss you. We really just appreciate all the work you've done, all of the effort that you have put into building our volunteers and the sound space and making sure we sound good and look good online, and so that's gonna be missed, but we're we're we're gonna still see you. Yeah, so we're we still get to we probably have you more back in here. I know. I mean if you're game.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

I'm planning on okay.

SPEAKER_01 24:10

We'll see y'all see more of Jenny back here in you for sure. So, Jenny, what was the time? Uh actually, what has been the hardest? I'm gonna dig deep here. The hardest time, hardest spiritual battle that you faced. And what did God reveal about himself once you come out came out of that battle?

SPEAKER_00 24:30

I think it did it does go back to that relying on ministry as my source of as like the driving force of my relationship with God. Because even in youth, oh, I'm leading girls' Bible study, but I don't really know anything about like I haven't really dug deep into the Bible that much. I know Bible verses, but but am I just reading the Bible because I have to lead girls' Bible study? Yeah, or am I reading the Bible because I want to get to know God more? And it was always those kinds of scenarios that that I had to figure out and taking a step back into ministry for for I think for like six months allowed me to just realign with why I'm doing it in the first place. Like because God is so gracious in my life, and what can I do but actually return back whatever he's given me? And that I feel that's how that has always been put in my heart, but also I need to know that he in the very first place he wants he wants me. Yeah, not what I can do and what I have to offer, but me.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

Hey man. You you that answer just answered my next question I had for you. So I have one final question for you, and then we can end the recording. So if someone who's listening right now who feels lost, or they feel uprooted, or they feel like they were they were 10, and then they moved to another country, and then they were moved to another college, and all of these things that happen, they feel the same way you feel. What would you say to them from your own experience about God's faithfulness?

SPEAKER_00 26:21

Honestly, it's not good to be alone. In my in my old youth group that I was serving in, our our original, our original statement, it got changed.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:32

Was if you're doing it alone, you're doing it wrong.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Wrong.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

And I I love to support churches because my life has been molded by by the church, yeah, basically. Having a support system, having community. And I'm not just talking about coming to church like every Saturday, like every sorry, we had Saturdays, every every Sunday, but actually having a select field of people, yeah, having friends that you can trust, you can be honest with, and who will be honest with you, but also having mentor mentors that will actually guide you through and and walk you through difficult parts of your life and being able to just speak honestly to them.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

Love it. Amen. If you're doing it alone, doing it wrong, that's that's good advice. Because what is our what is our theme here at Mercy You? What is it, Bennett? Yes, yes. Wonders though. Um, so we're all about connections, we're not all about doing things alone. And so it's it's a beautiful theme. And thank you for sharing that advice. I pray whoever is listening on the other end of this gets something from it. I believe they will. Thank you so much for tuning in for another episode of Podcast Sundays. To learn more about Mercy Vineyard and hear about Podcast Sundays, please visit us at www.mercyvineyard.org. That's www.mercyvineyard.org. We're looking forward to hearing and seeing you as we grow in our faith, connecting with God and connecting with others. God bless.