For the last twelve years Derek has traveled the world to help raise over $1.2 million through media projects and faith-based events focused on relief efforts such as food distribution, medical outreaches and educational scholarships. Currently he lives in Los Angeles with his wife of seventeen years, and spends most of his time writing and producing.

I was born and raised in the New York of Asia.

After being raised in Hong Kong the first fifteen years of my life, my family returned to the City of Angels where I’ve lived ever since. For the last twenty plus years I’ve owned my own businesses, worked for several non-profit organizations and have pursued my dream to write and produce projects that make a difference.
My claim to fame was rooted in a church.

I helped launch an indie record label that became widely known within church circles because of its mission to use the income generated from sales to reach out to the forgotten. Before it was popular or relevant in the Christian music industry, we had already raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, sold tens of thousands of records and traveled the world to help bring awareness and help to those who live in extreme poverty.

Gratifying? Well, yes and no.

Sure, I crossed paths with the forgotten who overcame the odds in pursuit of something greater. They had a relentless hope that God would save them from the pain and heartache they had endured. I loved the belief that what I did on a daily basis was making a difference in their lives. I pursued my passion to live on the edge, often times without a net. I had a relentless desire to be someone who didn’t talk about what needed to happen, but chose to be someone who took action.
I believed all Christian’s embraced the same mantra.

During my decade long pursuit within the church I discovered a battle between self-ambition disguised as God’s unique calling. I found it not only within the Christian industry, filled with record labels and celebrity artists, but behind the scenes of denominations and unique leaders. For me, after ten years battling in this arena it all came to an abrupt end.
Life took a dramatic turn when my phone stopped ringing.

I was burned out on religion and the religious. My achievements in ministry vanished. I even wondered if I had become a forgotten story too. While I had not yet reached the depths of physical poverty, what I encountered in the church left me feeling spiritually broke. I struggled to find a dirt road that would take me back to the foundation of my faith. I refused to walk into another religious institution and hope for the best. I needed to cut through the BS to find what it really meant to follow Christ.

I struggled to find my place.

Faith was no longer rooted in a building, a ministry position, or following a uniquely gifted leader. My survival was found on a dirt road that required me to leave my own pity party and look honestly at who I had become. It moved me to return to the forgotten in the world to rediscover my faith.
Why am I telling you this?

I believe God has created each one of us for a unique calling — we all have unique stories. Some will live out their story in vocational ministry while others  walk out their faith in the marketplace. Stories of tragedy and triumph. Stories filled with unanswered questions. Stories that cause us to face the truth about ourselves. Stories that are defined in written biographies with vast achievements or personal journals filled with pain, agony, hopelessness, prayers and dreams that shape their very soul. These forgotten stories are like  parables that challenge our culture to fight for more than religious rhetoric but for the forgotten who might be living right next door, in the depths of a city dump thousands of miles away or in the back pew of our sanctuaries.

These are the stories I am compelled to share.

I’ve danced with the Creator in the midst of a hurricane in my search for answers. On my  journey I am still searching for an authentic faith filled with triumph in the midst of tragedy, humility within the thrill of success and honesty that rips away religious jargon to reveal a simple faith rooted in love.

I never would have thought this is how my story would unfold. But it is this life that is turning me into the disciple I hope to become.