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I think I will miss the lunches. Well, breakfast and dinner too. I will miss the meals, for sure. Because this was the time we got to sit with the students. This was the time when we learned how long the train ride was from their hometown to the center. How many brothers and sisters they had. What their parents did. This is where they shared their life goals and aspirations. This is where we were encouraged by their true love for God.
Is it dangerous to hold house church (churches not sanctioned by the government), I ask?
Dangerous he nods, but without fear, totally undeterred.
They live their lives for God! In a country where a man's faith can cost him his life, they live it boldly for Him anyway. They have a singular focus on God, there are no distractions, there are no dichotomies in their lives; the world has lost its pull. They are only led by Christ. They wake up at 5, pray one hour. Quiet time one hour. Eight hours of class. Then prayer and sleep.
On weekends they get a break. On weekends they wake up at 6.
Some of them come from very poor families, ones that could not even send them to a high school for further education. They do not have much, so why do they live so fully? Why is there a richness in their lives that we find absent in ours?
We have so much more, we think. Or do we?
Our blessings are also our curses. Ephemeral wealth, fleeting notoriety, and egocentric pursuits all distract and detract us from the joy of following God wholeheartedly. If I just get this seven digit salary, or this nice house, or this beautiful girl, I will be happy, we think. But the students know where true joy comes from: through their Simplicity of life, they find it everyday. Imitate Christ, and you will find everlasting joy.
See how we say it, we tell them in class. Repeat it. Imitate. Again.
See how they love me, God says to us. Repeat it. Imitate. Again.
So we laugh together over the goofiness of our dancing and outrageous skit presentations. We cry over the sadness of departing so soon.We smile together about the Goodness of God, allowing us to meet each other, encourage each other, change each other, bless each other.
We talk. And learn.
Over shabu shabu.
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| I found out last Wed that my childhood friend was one of the victims of the VaTech Shootings, and even though I have not talked to him since he moved away in second grade, I still feel the loss. He was probably my first best friend. I use to go over to his house to play basketball, we'd pretend we were the World Champion Pistons, we'd take turns being Isiah, Joe Dumars, Vinnie Johnson, and Mark Aguirre. We'd go inside and play our now primitive Nintendos, or build snowmen in the winter.
I started googling more stories about him. I learned he was an engineering major and was at VTech for grad school, and had a job lined up in Baltimore after he graduated. He also had an uncanny ability to rattle off sports statistics and was a big time Detroit Tigers fans(he had this worn out Tigers hat hat his friends always told him to throw away). I realized this description resembled a lot of my friends and I, and I have little doubt that if we had kept in touch, we would have been pretty good friends. However, the thing that struck me was that he was a Christian. Brian’s faith and work with the Baptist Collegiate Ministries was what he loved most. I think my heart rejoiced upon reading this, and I felt a redemptive quality to Brian's story. The media has pounded the story of Seung Hui Cho over and over, pondering what might have went wrong, playing the chilling video he sent, and it has created this cloud of darkness depicting the fallen nature of man. However, no matter what darkness we find ourselves in, there is always this light, and in this case is exemplified in one of the victims, in what he believed and how he lived. Hopefully, we can realize that the polarity is caused by God's saving grace.
Me, Brian, His sister Angela, and my sister Teresa.
A friend said:
“Brian was a Christian, and first and foremost that’s what he would want to be remembered as.”
and Praise God for that.
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So after violin virtuoso's violin concert (bravo, btw), we went to out eat.
Introducing the fun random group that will probably never convene again:
Yoku (24), Jason (23), Me (25), Bori (22), CK (21), Eddie (20), and mother matriarch Mihae (25)
Then after the supposed "young and hip" went home..
Why are there so many pics of yoku? (Maybe cuz he was lookin' so GQ that night) | | |
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