Dong-Soo Ham

Went to a worship hour at Berclair CoC. Shawn’s prayer at the beginning of the service really served to prepare my mind for worship. I wish I had written it down. I did write down a phrase from Dong Soo’s prayer led toward the end of the sermon he gave:

“Take us far beyond what we can imagine.”

*Love* that! His prayer was just after he quoted Ephesians 3:20-21: “ . . . to [God] who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. To him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Then, Dong Soo said, “Whatever it is, it can be done . . . through the power and skill that God provides. If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Earlier in his sermon he commented regarding his love for the churches of Christ. Apparently he was once contemplating whether to participate in the Presbytarian denomination, which is very common in S. Korea, or the churches of Christ, which make up like 0.5% of Christian claimants. He said something like:

"I love the simplicity . . . the restoration plea . . . the openness to unity . . . the leaders' passion in the early days of the movement . . ."

I also took note that he said, "I am weak . . . and short in many ways."

This was his farewell address to the Berclair CoC since he and Myung-Hee, Joon, and Jimina are all moving to Texas for six months and then re-entering S. Korea. So he told them: "You treated my family as brothers and sisters . . . You put up with my clumsy speaking . . . And you gave my family a pounding! a baby shower! and many gifts and cards!"

He also said, just before the Ephesians 3 quotation above, "I'm going back to Korea . . . I have tried to hide from the voice that says, "You should go back to Korea," but I will listen now . . . I can't be a coward anymore. I need to be courageous."

And then, of course, he prayed, "Take us far beyond what we can imagine."