Leadership Team
Tony & Michelle Sun
Tony Sun
I’m ethnically Chinese but grew up in Korea. I felt like I was always negotiating my identity growing up, and as a consequence learned to wear masks in order to fit in. I continued this when I immigrated to the US. I found it tiring at times, but I was too afraid to find out the true me. I entered UC Berkeley and was invited to church for the first time, and God met me. I was convicted by the Word of God that He loves me unconditionally, just as I am. He rescued me from falsehood and I was given undeserved acceptance and a new identity that I am proud to display to everyone: a child of living God. No more lies, no more masks.
Since joining our church as an undergrad over 30 years ago, I’ve served as a covocational minister in almost every one of our ministries: children, youth, college, post-college. In 2000, I moved to Tokyo with my wife and two young sons to plant a church there and lived there for two years. Since then, we have also led church plants in San Diego and New Jersey. Perhaps because of my experience growing up in Korea (and also my love of travel), my passion is foreign missions. My wife and I pray that one day we can go back to the foreign mission field.
Likes: Morning runs, food, and exploration of new cities and countries
Michelle Sun
Growing up in an atheistic home, Christianity was the furthest thing from my mind. But I started asking questions about life and death that I could not answer for myself. During my high school years, I managed to take a bus through Koreatown to attend church and heard the gospel.
But it was not until I came as a freshman to UC Berkeley in 1985 that I found a community that explained the Bible to me and the meaning of being a disciple of Jesus. Since graduating from Berkeley, I caught the vision of ministry and started serving at our church while working as a civil engineer.
My husband and I now both work full-time in ministry. Our two grown sons are also serving alongside us, one in our Chicago church and the younger one in the UC Berkeley college ministry. I am amazed at how God took an ordinary girl with not much vision for her life and has multiplied my life into something much bigger than I ever imagined!