ABOUT PASTOR BEN
Hi there. Thanks for stopping by Redeeming Community Ministries website. If you’ve stumbled on to this site then you have already made the first step in working toward healing your relationship(s). I’m glad you took this step and I look forward to walking with you through this process.
Before we go any further let me tell you a little bit about myself. I grew up in a Christian home. That can mean a couple of different things for you depending on how you grew up. First, it can mean that you grew up secure in your identity as a Christian and your parents had pretty solid grounding of their faith. You probably respected your parents as they were good examples and you had no major setbacks as a family. Not that you grew up in a perfect home but a “redeeming” home. If that’s not you then you might be in the other category like me. I grew up in a Christian household with a lot of screaming and yelling, shame, religious but no love at home, serving at church but chaotic at home. Yes, I grew up confused because my family was in shambles. I vowed to myself that this would never happen to me and my future family.
After I got married I landed a decent job and my future seemed to be pretty secure. Had a couple of children and we did everything that good parents would do for them. Got them in swimming, Tae Kwon Do, SAT prep, after school program, and everything in between. My wife and I were committed. I continued to serve in the church and became an elder of a local church. We thought everything was fine…until it wasn’t. My wife and I struggled with our childhood issues. Our feelings of inadequacies surfaced and it leaked on our children. There were angry accusations and we finally had to get some help through couples counseling.
All this was happening while I was going through seminary. I sat in pastoral counseling 101 and that class changed the course of my ministry goal and life long ministry. I understood why my family was in so much pain and I learned how to deal with them. After years of going through my own personal counseling, I finally dealt with my clinical depression, PTSD, and anxiety disorder. It was difficult. But it was worth every moment.
Dealing with our past and our family of origin is no walk in the park. We have to talk about our homes, friendship, and various relationships that make up who we are today.
I am a pastor counselor and my goal as a pastor is to build healthy families which leads to healthy churches. God took me through a unique path in life to not only study the Scriptures but to study human brokenness. I have training and certification in couples counseling, pre-marital counseling, relationship coaching, family healing, and for individual counseling I specialize in depression, PTSD, anxiety. I am not a licensed therapist. My field of study was Systems Theory developed by Dr. Murray Bowen who saw the family as one emotional unit. I have an MA in Pastoral Counseling from Biola (Talbot Seminary), MDIV from International Theological Seminary, and currently working on DMIN. I hope to walk with you in your journey to redeeming family, redeeming relationships, and redeeming yourself as the Lord guides you through this extraordinary step.
In Christ,
Pastor/Relationship Coach Ben Cho