Children of Jesus
Father & Son
Jin Yong Oh (Dublin, OH)
I would like to share with you
about the grace of God that I
experienced during the short-term
mission trip in Peru last summer.
This was the first time, I had gone
on a short-term mission trip, and
it had a special meaning to me
because I went there with my dear
son. In early 2015, we decided to
participate in a mission trip and
joined the COJ (Children of Jesus)
mission team. Even though we
asked the small group members
at our church to pray for us, to be
honest, I did not know what God’s
plan for us was. Although we could
not see it at that moment, I was
sure God would pour out His blessings on us.
Every evening before the trip, my son and I-as a matter of fact
the whole family-watched the praise videos sent from COJ and
practiced the songs and motions for the praise songs, which was
the beginning of God’s blessings. During our trip to Peru, from
the day of our departure, my son and I read and shared the daily
devotions, and I was surprised that we were able to have this great
conversation together. In the past, the relationship my son had
with my wife and myself was not very close at all.
My Son: Matthew
To tell you little bit about my son, God gave him to us five years
after my wife and I got married. He was and still is the joy of our
lives. We named him “Matthew,” which means “gift from God.”
I would often tell everyone that Matthew is our “perfect son.” I
later came to realize that in saying this I was ignorant and was not
acknowledging the fact that only God is perfect. My son is a good
child. He is very bright and likes all the things that I like, which is
pretty amazing.
We got along so well together and he listened to me even though
sometimes he had different opinions. But as soon as he went to
middle school, he had his own thoughts and wanted to have things
his way. Even though we consider these as the growing pains and
are natural things that everyone goes through, it put a strain on our
relationship and our love was not as strong as it used to be. The
relationship felt like a bundle of entangled yarn.
10
HHK World Mission Center
Until they came to Peru,
they were ordinary father
and teenager son, trying
to figure out who’s in
charge. However, God
brought them to Peru and
molded them into extraordinary people in just one
week. No