“I first came to care for Adam but it is him who taught me a lot more.
Adam became my blessing. I found Jesus through Adam.
Adam was the best teacher and guide in my life. He was my dear friend.
It was Adam who led me to a higher understanding and awareness.
I came to care for him but he changed me.”
The Havard professor Henri Nouwen served at “Daybreak”, the community of brothers and sisters with intellectual and physical disabilities. The quote above is what he wrote after he met ‘Adam Arnett’. Nouwen saw Jesus working through Adam and realized that God uses even our weakness for His precious mission.
A lot has happened last year. There were a lot of great and happy memories, but difficult and challenging times linger on as well; loss of loving family members, hardships that broke both ours’ and our children's hearts, tough times at our workplaces, pains rendered by illness, and spiritual attacks that shaked our church community. Looking back at the challenges of 2021, even in our walk through the darkest valley, I can recall the precious church members who worked through their weakness to bring our community as one through God’s love.
When Jesus said, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me,” he was saying that He and they are bound together, that their pain is also His pain, that if you treat them well, you are also treating Him as well. Those who are sailing through in the midst of darkness are opening up the opportunities for us to see Jesus. Their hardships become the pathway to love. They let us see our loving Lord working within us by surrendering themselves to God. They are the precious ones who turned our church into the Adullam community. Maybe they are the most precious ones carrying out the most challenging mission of the Lord.
This goes not just to only a few church members. I opened my eyes in the morning of new year, but I am still the same person as yesterday, I am no superman yet. We will still live with our weaknesses in this new year. I pray that we realize that through our weakness the Lord’s power is revealed, and that the confession of Apostle Paul ,”For when I am weak, then I am strong” becomes our confessions in the community.
I leave you with my prayer that only our Lord will be glorified through our church community this year as well.
Following the shepherd..
Pastor, Jiwon Choi.
정태현 정용숙 파송선교사님 소식