MAY
2003
My
dear American Friends:
Everybody needs a little place to cry. I used to have a rock on a hill
behind our Home, where I could sometimes cry all night. Usually a home is such
a place for many children. When they had hard time at school, even if they
couldn't cry there on account of pride etc., they will start to cry when they
come home. And the home is a good place to cry. Our children of Geon Home did
not have that Home until they arrived our Home. Even if they found our place,
it will take sometime until they come home crying. So WHEN ONE OF OUR CHILDREN
COME HOME CRYING, IT MAKES ME HAPPY.
Actually,
I feel like crying. I couldn't do much last month because of my physical
problem. This shingles problem was not a simple problem, coupled with my
existing neck problem. I felt like a big rock pressing on my head for a whole
month. Besides, I couldn't wear a hat, neither glasses. Without a hat and
without a glasses, I AM A LOG. There wasn't much a log could do but praying. I
made a list of people and things to pray about and I kept on praying. I prayed
for you too. And a whole month was not enough. Many years ago, one of our dorm
mothers visited me in a hospital. She found her name on my prayer note and
started to cry. And people thought that I beat her up or something....
The left side of my head was burning like a hot coal and I couldn't lay down my head anywhere. And I thought of Jesus when He said that He "has nowhere to lay His Head." In fact, throughout the lent season,. Jesus kept teaching me something through my pain. It was as if Jesus was right there walking and suffering beside me and it was glorious experience.
At
the hospital, I met a man who was saved recently. He said that his business
bankrupted and he decided to commit suicide. On his way to jump over a bridge,
he happened to see a Gospel tract on the street trampled by many people, and
he thought that it looked like his fate, so he picked it up and it had a
message to turn him around. "FROM DEATH TO LIFE" was the message and
he did it exactly, In fact, it was one of our Gospel tracts! When we passed it
around, nobody seemed to read it, some people tore it, some threw into a trash
can, some even brew his nose, but you shall never know how many lives a Gospel
tract will turn from death to life! I just cried in the hospital bed when I
learned it.
The
Gospel broadcasting was also something that I had to do no matter how sick I
was. My face had scars all over (and they said that it will remain until the
resurrection), so I covered my face with a big mask. In these days, however, I
was not the only one with a mask. On account of this strange disease called
SARS, many people are wearing the masks in the street. In fact, the government
is encouraging people not to go out unnecessarily. Recent wars and these
strange diseases remind me one thing....that JESUS IS COMING SOON. Didn't He
say "at the end", "you will hear of wars and rumors of
wars" and "there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in
various places."
On
Easter, we boiled 200 eggs to give to the children. But that was nothing. A
platoon of American soldiers visited us in afternoon with 300 face-size
hamburgers and almost palm-size hot dogs for the children. What surprised me
more was the fact that the soldiers were led by an Army chaplain and the
CHAPLAIN WAS ONE OF MY STUDENTS at San Jose Christian College. As I recall,.
they were having some marriage problem at that time, but he overcame it
beautifully and now an Army Chaplain! It was one beautiful resurrection story
to me.
The
month of May has many holidays. It starts with the Children's day, Parents'
day, Teachers' day and I usually get a carnation on all of these days. Our
children can not afford to buy real carnation, so they make paper flowers and
paste on my jacket. You also deserve these flowers, so I am enclosing one for
you. Happy Parents' day to you!
Yours
because of Calvary,
YOON KWON CHAE