Vulnerable—April 8

[Sam Park]

I never knew the kind of affect that our two year old daughter Sophia and her 2 ½ year old cousin, Lana would have on our young congregation. They definitely brought laughter and warmth to everyone. I did not expect them to be the way through which some would find healing. It’s not always the case, but within Asian homes there is quite often a tremendous struggle between family members to connect. The main reason is probably cultural, though it’s not the only thing. The lack of emotional health within families is a generational pattern. When some of our members saw us interacting with our children, they could not believe that such relationships were possible. They watched us constantly to see if in fact what they were seeing was true. But it was when Sophia and Lana began to embrace them and share their absolutely unabashed love with them that they completely broke down. They said that was what they have always longed for—just to be loved.

The young are truly the most vulnerable. We have met so many people of many ages who, at the first sign of crisis, revert back to the age when they were young and most vulnerable, and were hurt with devastating results. The wounds that we nurse and the lives that we nurture after their “new birth” are deeply scarred—with wounds from, especially, when they were young. No matter who we minister to, the shepherd’s work as a midwife and nurse never ceases. The prospects of contending with culture and generations of junk in our lives overwhelm us, because they are so… huge. But they must be dealt with if a life of freedom is our goal. I do tell them one thing that seems to encourage them to press on though—that the cycles and patterns of our past generations and even the unhealthy ways of our culture can stop with us.