Staff
Pastor
Pastor Derek Nguyen
Pastor Derek Nguyen is a graduate of Claremont School of Theology and earned his Master of Divinity in 2019. He has been commissioned as a Provisional Elder at the June 2021 California-Pacific Annual Conference. He and his wife, Christine Nguyen, have a two-year-old girl named Madeline Ayla Nguyen.
Pastor Derek has experience in leading youth groups earlier in ministry. He also did his internship at Exodus UMC, where he engaged in a cross-racial cross-cultural program. Pastor Derek also has experience in Clinical Pastoral Education and served as a chaplain-intern at the VA Medical Center in La Jolla.
Pastor Derek’s calling began when he was a child when he almost drowned in a stream where he went swimming with his buddy. He believes that he had heard God’s voice guiding him to safety. He believes that God has saved him for a reason, and that is to become a bearer of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and share the love of God with other people.
Pastor Derek is a Wesleyan at heart. He likes the United Methodist’s General Rules of doing no harm, doing all the good you can, and attending to the ordinances of God. He interprets the general rules as ways to love God and neighbor as God intended for us to do.
Youth Pastor
John Mun
My name is John Mun, and I feel privileged to be the Youth Pastor at LinC. I appreciate all the parents and feel that they have loving concern for their teen’s emotional and spiritual growth. The team at LinC is God-assembled, I believe, for a particular time and purpose to bring LinC youth into God’s kingdom and a stronger relationship with God that will continue throughout eternity. God is the author and perfecter of our faith, and we want to be used by Him to show His Glory to the ends of the earth. We want to be a light in the middle schools/high schools and show the reality of God in the working of the Holy Spirit at any age.
I attended Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and completed my masters in Christian Counseling at Regent University. My heart has always been for second-generation Korean youth and the specific struggles they face growing up in American society. I was a therapist for youth in the department of child and family services, psychiatric hospitals, as well as youth in the department of corrections. I served as a youth pastor for my father’s church as well as a campus pastor/leader at a megachurch in the Virginia Beach area. I have found that only Jesus can solve the problems in this world, everything else is just temporary.
Please join me in this journey to develop our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Children's Pastor
Sandy Song
My name is Sandy Song, and I am excited to be the Children’s Pastor at KUMCSD- Kingdom Abundant Kids Ministry. It is truly an honor to be a part of a community focused on caring for the spiritual needs of our children. I feel blessed to join a team that is faithful and committed to raising children centered on God’s word. The commitment of the teachers and staff at Kingdom Abundant Kids Ministry with the loving families of our children make for a strong team, and I am blessed to be a part of it.
I’ve been in public schools for 27th years as a teacher, Math Coach, Coordinator, Associate Principal, Principal and Executive Director at three district schools in Los Angeles County and San Diego County. I’ve served as Children’s Pastor and Youth Pastor in various churches in Los Angeles as well as serving as a College/English Ministry lead teacher for 15 years. I am thrilled to bring my skills, passion and love of Jesus Christ to the students, teachers and families at the Kingdom Abundant Kids Ministry. Together, let’s model a life lived out abundantly in the Lord.
I look forward to meeting you and learning more about you in the coming days.