Hyun woo Jun
201402934
Caught in the Arms of God
It is a very bright, sunny day around two o clock afternoon. I arrived church early for Sunday service, as I see that there is only one middle-aged man with short, black hair in the room. He is about 5 feet 9 inches tall and wears glasses, a light black shirt, and short pants. This man named Kim Jin Hyuck is rumored to be a man who changed his personality completely after returning from the army. I think he could be interesting so I ask for his time for an interview about his story. I guess there is enough time for us to talk before the service. I begin asking questions such as how and what made him change his personality, how was his personality before and what else was involved during his change in the army. Jin Hyuck emphasized that people should never give up during hard moments.
I asked him about how he first got to know about Christianity. He replied, "I was born in the year 1992 and I am the elder brother of the two in my family. I started to attend church just because my friends were there. But in my first year during middle school, I stopped going to church because my parents had a divorce. Sometimes the deacons would call me to come to church, which I did go at times, but as expected, there was no change in me."
"How was your personality during childhood?" I asked with curiousity.
Staring somewhere afar, Jin Hyuck said that he was actually a very shy kid during childhood, but the divorce has affected his personality. He started to become angry easily and his heart was full of hatred. He was basically wearing a mask of pride and strength to protect himself from others. Because of this, he would also get into arguments and fights with infamous kids at school and cause trouble.
I asked him if he had tried changing his personality. He answered "Yes, but my personality got worse as the time passed by. I started to not trust anyone because both of my parents lied to each other. I enjoyed being with my friends, but they never became my best friends because deep inside I did not trust them. So I would draw an imaginary line between me and them. I did not like to be honest with them. I also liked to be alone especially during group projects and homework. I did not like to be in synch with other people so I would do them all by myself."
I asked him how life was in high school. He replied that as soon as he became a student in high school, he applied himself to become a member of Student Guidance Leadership group, a group of students who would punish those who disobeyed the rules of the school. He did not care whether they were seniors or not, as he would forcibly grab them to the disciplinary office. Jin Hyuck spoke scratching his head "At that time, I felt like a very proud and arrogant man who did not care about the hierarchy and relationships of Korean culture. But during my third year in high school, I was now assigned to be the leader of the Guidance group, which made me realize all the responsibilities and my own disadvantages. My life was full of stress because I had to handle many problems at once. I was worried about how to lead the group, my future, personal family issues, and studying. At that same time, I met Navigators Missionary Church under the invitation from Mr. Kim Hyo Yeon. The original reason I went there was to study English from him. I needed to study English as soon as possible to get ready for college preparation. But one day, Mr. Kim proposed me to study the Bible as well, which it did give me a little of interest. So I accepted his proposal and started to study the Bible. It was very boring as I would not invest much time reading it and would also not pay attention during Bible study. Nothing was felt in my heart during meditation and that of course did not help me to change my personality."
"Then how did you begin to believe and have fellowship with God?" I asked after drinking a sip of water. Jin Hyuck answered, "My father's job is a taxi driver. One day he picked up a Portable Music Player (PMP) in his taxi and gave it to me as a present. I thought this was useful to me so I registered it in the company's homepage to receive service. While doing that, the owner of the PMP had reported the police that someone had stolen his device. The police had found the device on the homepage by chance so they called me and came to the front of my house. My father explained the situation truthfully that it was lost, not stolen. The police had to do some research about this incident so they took my father with them. This was the first time I prayed earnestly to God, worried that my father might be arrested. Hours later, my father returned with no problems. After a few days, I had given thanks to God and decided to accept Jesus Christ."
"I have been very anxious to ask you about the scar in your face." I asked with a look as if I were expecting something. He replied, "Oh, this… It was during my second term in my first year in college that this horrible event occurred to me. In the year 2011 November 2nd, I was riding a bicycle down the road until suddenly a man appeared in the way. I avoided hitting him but this made me lose my balance and I bumped against a pillar that supported a bridge. The pain was too severe that I couldn't feel the pain. When I looked down the floor, a huge amount of blood began to flow from my nose and my head. Luckily, I was able to regain my consciousness and someone nearby helped me to get to the taxi. I arrived at a college hospital and went to take emergency measures and the doctors told me that I needed to take a surgery right away. But according to the CT scan result, I couldn't take a surgery right away because of a few amount of oxygen have entered through the hole in my head. It was dangerous to do the surgery so I stayed in the hospital for about two to three weeks. The doctor said that the left side of my head was severely broken with some nerves disconnected in the process. On the fourth week, I finally had my surgery. They have also placed around twenty screws into my head to reshape my broken bones. After the surgery was done, the doctors had dried my neck so that no type of liquid could flow through it. I was not allowed to drink water for three hours, which it was a very painful moment and an experience of hell for me, as it reminded me of the story of the rich man and Lazarus from the Bible. After the surgery, I began to worry about upcoming college Finals tests, hospital bill, and the possibility of the shape of my face to become bad."
I asked about what he did to solve all these problems. He said, "During my time in the hospital, I was not able to do anything, so I decided to spend my time praying about my worries to God. A few days later, I was discharged from there, and all my worries miraculously disappeared as my grades were better that I had expected, the surgery bills had decreased, and the surgery was very successful. I then realized that God had planned this to change my arrogant personality. So I became more interested to learn about Him. But after four months, I had to go to the military even though I was injured a few weeks ago. It was because the surgery was very successful."
"Tell me about the army." I begged earnestly. Laughing he said, "Well, I went to the army at the age of twenty two. At first, I thought that I could spend the military life in peace. Unfortunately, it was not as good as I had imagined it to be. In boot camp, my pride was broken all because of the military rules not fitting well with me and the treatment from others. After boot camp, I was assigned to the artillery group. My pride was once more broken here. It was very hard to get accustomed to the work and the hierarchy of the military. Getting a good and constant relationship was a very hard task too. Each time I struggled with these problems, I would meditate and study the Bible. I began applying the Word into my life style, as this helped me to not get angry easily anymore and become more forgiving, I also began to believe that hardship comes from God with a purpose."
"What do you think about your current self?" Jin Hyuck answered, "I had realized that I cannot change my own life. It was God who had done it all. In conclusion, I had matured through hardships and sufferings with God not leaving me. I had become who I am today through God and the military service. Now, I thank God everyday for changing my life."
I learned many things through this interview. Sometimes you can have a lot of trouble and worry about future such as studying in college. If you are a man, you might also have to worry about military service. But if you think back, all these hard tasks were actually easier than you thought. They were never impossible in the first place. I believe that all hardships will turn into experience that will help you live wisely and enjoy life to the fullest so make sure to never give up.
No comments:
Post a Comment