Bryant

Hey B-Boy,

It has been 10 years that you have promoted to heaven, how time flies! Although you are not with us physically but those whom you have impacted still remember you fondly. How do I know? People are still posting on your FaceBook page in April this year remembering your birthday. Some of us are still dealing with that void you have crafted in our hearts. Imagine, if you hang around earth you would be 37 years old, most likely married with kids playing with their cousins since you and Melissa were so close. On the other hand, heaven is definitely a better place where there is no more death, mourning, crying, illness, or pain. When your Gog-gog and Po-po past away, I told them to look for you playing basketball in the streets of gold!

I just want to update you on your Simba whom has turned into the king of the jungle where he roams the whole house except your mom’s room which is forbidden. Your dad will give up his bed for Simba to sleep and treats him like a king as he might have promised you?! Anyway, whenever I came across an old “X File” episode, I remember that little boy crawl up to my bed trying to hide under the blanket to watch it with me since he was too scare to watch it by himself! Every time I order a Japanese Ramon noodle, I think of you and your red Nike shoe!

I don’t know why God healed me from cancer and not you… maybe He loves you so much and desires your company in heaven… I know your job is done on earth and I have more to do! I went to help care for my aunt in Seattle in July, she was in her last stage of brain cancer and past away last week. I don’t think you will find her in heaven since she refused this gift of eternal life from God. Don’t worry about your mom and dad, they are doing fine and busy with church and grandkids sitting! Melissa is still dealing with your physical departure in her own ways, but God has blessed her with a great loving husband and 3 adorable kids: Naomi, Jude, and Noah!

I don’t know how long God wants me to remain on earth, but I’ll see you when I see you… B-Boy!

Noah

Noah did everything just as God commanded him. (Genesis 6:22)

Mr. Noah, I wonder what were you thinking when God told you He was going to destroy the world with all the people due to its wickedness. Maybe you were not surprised since you lived in such a sinful time. When God asked you to build an ark with specific instructions, you didn’t ask why, how, or when; you just listen and did everything just as God commanded! Some scholars calculated that it probably took you 55-75 years to finish building the ark, then you have to prepare for Doomsday!

I bet you didn’t know how long you were going to be inside the ark with all the animals. I can imagine the smell with no air conditioning or ventilation except a window. Mr. Noah, what was it like to wait inside the ark for 7 days before the rain finally came pouring down for 40 days? Did you hear the people screaming and pounding on the door of the ark? Then total silence, on the 150th day, the whole earth was washed up along with all the people, all their sins, and all their processions, gone with the water! By the time God tells you to come out of the ark, you and your family have been living inside it for about an year long already!

It seems like you were a man of few words or was it when God speaks, you prefers to listen and obey? The only recorded words in the Bible spoken by you were curse to Canaan, your youngest son Ham’s descendents because he looked at your nakedness in the tent instead of covering you up like his brothers. I guess you didn’t know the wine you made got you drunk!

Mr. Noah, thank you for being righteous, blameless, and walked faithfully with God. Thank you for listening and obeying God without question in building the ark. Every time I see a rainbow, I remember God’s promise because of you! You have lived a very long life of 950 years; I guest you have seen it all. Men’s utter wickedness and God’s wrath, redemption, and promise! I am looking forward to meet you in heaven someday, so I can ask you how was it like to rebuild the world with only the eight of you?!

Wally

Wally, you know what? God really spared me by not allowing me to see you during your last 6 months on earth. From the photos of people had taken with you while visiting, I saw you had lost lots of weight, no more baby-face, only pain and tiredness from the look in your eyes. I was shocked and teary but tried hard to sound calm when you called to let me know that you have diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It was very brave of you to have tried chemotherapy for a time, but decided quality of life meant more to you and your family than quantity of life. You used those times to prepare your family and friends to live as best as we could without your physical presence on earth.

You had a pastor’s heart, a mentor’s soul, and a counselor’s mind; your love for your wife, sons, daughter-in-laws, and grandchildren was evident. At times, how I wish I can still call you for some insightful and wise advices to help me make better decisions on important issues in life. Thank you for caring enough to come to Dallas to challenge my ministerial path before I graduate from seminary. I shall always remember what you’ve said to me more than 30 years ago: if God did not tell you to turn left or to turn right, you should keep going forward. A simple statement, yet what you’ve tried to say was, submission to God is more important than my own plans, desires, or benefits.

Thank you for setting an example in accepting one’s aging and mortality. I remembered challenging you to continue writing after your semi-retirement since your column, “Yew to You” benefited so many people for so long. I don’t remember exactly how you responded, but something related to your mind was not as sharp and it took longer or more difficult for you to grabs in-depth concepts. Wally, I am at where you were now, but I shall try to continue writing before I am not able to anymore! Thanks for encouraged and inspired me to write. Maryann said my style somewhat has your shadow, maybe it was your influence or I stole it from you? I can imagine you probably say, it doesn’t matter as long as others are benefited and they can draw closer to God, right?

I am glad you are pain free in heaven and with a new body, but I do hope you get to keep your baby-face! Many people I know have gone to pardise recently, you guys can have a party up there while those of us on earth must strive on being a witness and a living sacrifice for Jesus. Thank you, for being my friend, my mentor, and my counselor!

Robert Morrison (1782-1834)

“Now Mr. Morrison do you really expect that you will make an impression on the idolatry of the Chinese Empire?” “No sir,” said Morrison, “but I expect that God will.”

It was a misty day when I visited your grave in Macau with a group of missionary candidates. While others gathered around the Chinese headstone, I lingered behind and gazing at the inscription on top of the graven slab: Sacred to the memory of Robert Morrison DD., The first protestant missionary to China, Where after a service of twenty-seven years, cheerfully spent in extending the kingdom of the blessed Redeemer…… You were 52 years old when you have completed your task on earth; thanks for chosen the Chinese people over Timbuktu. Thank you for risking your life for translating, printing, and publishing the Bible in Chinese.

It was interesting to me that you spent your only furlough in 1824 to 1825 to teach the Chinese language to the ladies and gentlemen in England. I wondered why would they want to learn Chinese at that time? Maybe you didn’t want to talk about the hardship and the isolation of being a missionary in China or the sickness and the death of loved ones. Mr. Morrison, you have chosen to share of learning one of the most difficult language in the world as a way to sparkle interest and to bridge the Western world to the Eastern. You also wrote “A Tour Around the World” for the Chinese to learn of the European customs and ideas of Christianity. You have acted as a mediator between the English and the Chinese speaking world!

Mr. Morrison, I am sorry you were cheated and ridiculed by the very Chinese that you’ve so much wanted to share the Gospel with. You have continued to demonstrate your love for my people holistically by establishing medicine dispensary and schools. I have never doubted that you ever considered quitting because even before you step foot on China, you have the unwavering faith to expect God will change the idolatrous heart of the people in China.  Could it be the 7 months traveling at sea from Britain to China provided you the time and place to tune into God’s heart? You were right, God did, but it took 7 years for you to baptize the first Chinese convert!

Mr. Morrison, how is like for you to see so many Chinese saints in heaven now? Every single one of them have read the Chinese Bible that you had first translated it! Do you still pray and praise in Chinese or in a heavenly language? Thank you for being the first protestant missionary to China and stayed until you went home to be with Jesus. You might have already know many faithful missionaries have followed your steps to come to China, so one such as I can become a missionary also.

Thank you for setting an example of a missionary life cheerfully spent in extending the kingdom of the blessed Redeemer!

John the Baptist

“He must increase; I must decrease.”

John, as I remember your birth was an answer to your parent’s prayers in their old age. What was it like for you to grow up as a Nazarite, consecrated to serve the Lord all your life? I guessed you probably didn’t missed the alcohol since you had never tasted any, avoiding the graveyards shouldn’t be too difficult, but never cut your hair, eating bugs and honey while living in the wilderness could be something else! Did you sense Jesus’ presence while Mary was visiting Elizabeth? Was that the reason you jumped for joy in her womb? You were born to be the messenger, forerunner for Jesus, proclaiming the inward repentance of sin for men instead of the outward rituals of sacrifice.

You’ve gained popularity and followers despite of your exotic appearance, life style, and harsh words. All your life, you pointed people to Jesus, the Messiah and you had the honor to baptize Jesus and witnessing the Holy Spirit descending on Him. It must have been like playing the second fiddler all your life, maybe you didn’t mind it but how did you feel when your disciples left you to follow Jesus!? You might be happy for them yet at the same time, could there be a hint of apprehension bubbling within? I am sure you were constantly aware of your life mission of pointing people to Jesus, including your own disciples, that’s why you said, “He must increase; I must decrease.”

I appreciate your daringness to stand up for your conviction John, fearlessly proclaiming what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong. You did not succumbed to say the politically correct which landed you in jail. Physical torment along with spiritual isolation might have caused you to doubt and question, was Jesus the one, the true Messiah? I remembered I had doubts like you when I was down and out in the dumps, but each time Jesus would shown His love and blessing to assure me just as He did with you through your disciples’ eye-witness of His deity.

Jesus described you as being: no one born of women had ever been greater, was it due to your character or being chosen by God as the last prophet bridging the Old Testament to the New, the ending of the Law to the beginning of the Promise? You had fulfilled your life mission by preparing the way for Jesus, you did finished well even though ended up with your head on a silver platter as a gift to Salome, the daughter of the one you condemned. You have a new body in heaven now and probably dressed in finer clothing than camel’s hair! Thanks John, for modeled a life of humility and faithfulness while shining for Jesus all your life.

Abel

I have known a few Abel in my days, but I’ve chosen to converse with the first person got murdered in human history. You were that brother referred to in the familiar phrase “am I my brother’s keeper?” As a shepherd, it could be natural for you to offer a sheep, yet you took the time to select the first-born and the fat portions. This intentional preparation of the offering was accepted by God. It is interesting to me that you were the second born son in the family yet mindful of what was pleasing to God. I’ve searched high and low to see if you have uttered any words in the Bible but found none.

When Cain asked you to go out to the field, you just followed without any question or reservation. Maybe you trusted you big brother; maybe he needed your help in the field; maybe you wanted to console your brother after the Lord had rejected his offering. On Cain’s field, his familiar territory, you were attacked and killed! I wonder were you there when God warned Cain that sin was crouching at his door and he needed to master over it? Cain’s response to that warning was to ask you, his little brother to go to the field! No, he didn’t listen; he was outrageous and sin has taken over him. Cain killed you with his own hands and buried your body to hide his murderous act, but God confronted him by directly asking him of your where about. That was when Cain popped the famous question of denial, “am I my brother’s keeper?”

Abel, under the ground your blood cried out to God for justice. Did you ever wondered why didn’t God stopped this murder in the first place, so you didn’t have to die at such a young age? Didn’t God just accepted your offering? I don’t know if Cain is in heaven, what will you said to him if you run into him? Maybe you won’t said anything since you seem to be the silent type. These are my questions, you might already have the answers. After all, you have been in heaven the longest. Oh, I forgot, time is irrelevant since heaven is eternal, but then you have witnessed many people stepping into heaven’s gate since your first arrival which is a long time on earth.

Vera

Vera, it has been two years to this day that you took your last breath on earth. I still remember how frequently you whispered wanting to be “home” with Jesus lying in the hospice’s bed with such pain. I know you are in a much better place now, actually the perfect place full of love, joy, and peace since you are in the presence of the All Mighty. We were indeed kindred spirits not because we shared the common role as counselors to missionaries, but we’ve connected from the first cup of coffee that lingered for several hours until the sun came down. How time flies when we were engaging in meaningful conversation and that is exactly how I feel for the 10 years we’ve served together side-by-side.

I dare not converse with you sooner for I might not be able to contain my tears. Time might be a healing factor but more so are the grace and mercy of God. I can imagine you are arthritis and pain-free now; are you being recruited to play piano in heaven? I remember how you love to eat, how is the food up there? Do they serve your favorites like chocolate cake and stinky tofu in heaven? As you might have already know, your husband seems to be doing ok, he is keeping himself busy traveling to different fields and planning to go back to Thailand where you and him had served for 19 years after his official retirement. Maybe he wanted to fulfill the plan you guys had made together.

You shared during chemotherapy on how you see time as experiencing four seasons in a day rather than a year. According to your calculation all those days turned into years which allowed you to live a long life in a short time. Long or short is relative, what matter is how we invest the time given to each one of us. I do miss you still, for being such an encourager, the reluctant mentor, and a trusted friend and partner in ministry. Thanks for your life motto of “glorifying the Lord and rejoicing in God” and for being such a unique Mok C Neug (pastor’s wife). I must linger on earth a little longer before we meet again, but that’s ok since according to God’s timing a thousand years is like a day, so we shall see each other real soon!

William Carey (1761-1834)

“Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”

Mr. Carey, you went to heaven 273 years ago yet many missionaries still remember you and are continue to be inspired by your famous quote. No wonder you are called the “Father of Modern Missions.” I didn’t realize the sacrifice and suffering you went through during your 41 years as a missionary in India until now…… How did you deal with the lost of your 5-year-old son on the field? Did you ever feel guilty regarding your first wife, Dorothy’s mental breakdown and eventual death? After all, she didn’t want to go to some foreign land in the first place but somehow you have successfully persuaded her to follow you.

I know you had to be determined when I read the following dialogue from your biography when you tried to mobilize missions, “Whether the command given to the apostles to teach all nations was not obligatory on all succeeding ministers to the end of the world, seeing that the accompanying promise was of equal extent,” Dr. Ryland shouted, “Young man, sit down: when God pleases to covert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine.” Having someone in authority telling you “sit down” is equivalent to “shut up” in today’s language. No one was interested in missionary work and no missions agencies existed at that time, yet you went against the current. How could you not give up with no one came to Christ for the first seven years laboring in the midst of oppositions?

“Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God” was not just a slogan you used to recruit people; you actually lived it; you walked the talk! As a missionary myself, I would like to “Expect great things from God; [and] attempt great things for God” also, but it’s easier said than done. As I ponder upon your quote, “expect” regards to my attitude and “attempt” my effort, both have to do with my relationship with God. In another word, do I trust God to give me great things and do I love God enough to follow through? Mr. Carey, you were the man with God in the center of you life regardless of what other people said or think. You did the best of what you could with your family members’ needs and demands, yet ultimately you aimed to please God more than men!

Mr. Carey, thank you for your unwavering determination and sacrifice. Thank you for your vision to disciple a nation through education and medication besides Bible translation. Thank you for setting an example of holistic missionary effort that aimed to uplift our Lord! Thank you, Father of Modern Missions!

Mary

Mary, you were such a fair maiden chosen by God to give birth to HIS only Son. This news came while you were engaged to Joseph; how did you plan to tell him? “Hey, Joe I got pregnant from the Holy Spirit; God called me blessed, so let’s get marry anyway!?” How can you be so submissive when Gabriel (the angel) explained how you shall conceive God’s child as a virgin? I had to look up your response again, “I am the Lord’s servant,…… May your word to me be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:38) Wow! No buts, no what ifs, no let me pray about it.

Mary, were you ever concern that Joseph might not want to marry you when you were pregnant? Maybe your total submission came from your total trust in God or was it seeing yourself as a servant that has no right? I had to revisit your song in Luke 1:46-49, “My soul gloriefies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me- holy is his name.” You were joyful, thankful, and grateful for being God’s chosen one.

Mary, did you witness any miracles prior to Jesus turning water into wine at Cana? Were you offended when he said to you, “Woman, why do you involve me?…… My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4) Maybe it is natural for a mother to tell her son what to do. You brought Jesus into this world, you fed and bathed him, you saw him became a Rabbi and finally crucified on the cross. I can see how unbearable it was for you to witness Jesus’ physical suffering as any mother would. On the other hand, you must have been so proud of Him in carrying out His Heavenly Father’s mission to the end. Jesus cared for you even on the cross by asking his beloved disciple, John to care for you.

How is it like for you to reunited with Jesus in heaven? Do you get to gazed into his eyes and pad his head like when he was a little boy? I know, once a mother, always a mother! A mother’s love never dies. Thanks Mary, for you joyful spirit and total submission.

Adam

Adam, you were the first man on earth, God had also created a mate for you that was from you. The whole human race came from you, therefore I am one of your descendent. You were the apple of God’s eyes; His beloved even after you and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. I wonder what went through your mind when Eve handed you that fruit? Could it be because you couldn’t resist Eve more than that fruit? Your love for Eve seems to be greater than your love for God?!

After one bite, gone are the innocence and shameless relationship with God resulting in the need to hide. You have chosen the consequences of death with Eve over staying in the Garden of Eden with God! I wonder did you ever feel sorry about disobeying God’s one specific command? I don’t recalled you ever apologize for sinning yet God has forgiven you by killing an animal to use the skin to cover you. What was it like Adam, having to put on clothes for the first time? Did it feel awkward and uncomfortable? How did it feel having to leave home (Eden) and never allowed to return? Such are the consequences of your decision and action.

I trusted that I will see you in heaven when I get there someday. After all, I wanted to ask you Adam, did you ever missed that close intimacy with your creator? Your Abba? Maybe your were too busy having to toil in sweat to provide for Eve and the boys. I can definitely relate to that; the demand of life and ministry can leave us no room for interacting with God in a more intimate level. Oh, Adam, many of us prioritize our time like you, love our mate, provide for our family, and commit to ministry demands over sit silently just to be with our creator.

Now that you are in heaven, you know better God’s heart and desire. How are you enjoying eternity since time is no longer a factor!?