Family Remembrance and a Brief Account of His Service
As far back as I can remember, I recall that my dad was an extremely busy man. Every night when we went to bed, he had not yet come home, and in the morning when we got up for school, we often did not see him either. In fact, I was never quite clear about what my dad did; I only knew that he was always very busy and worked very hard. And because he so rarely saw us, whenever he caught us behaving badly, his discipline was especially severe, so from childhood both my older brother and I were very afraid of our dad. Yet despite this, my brother and I both knew that whenever we ran into any problem, we still had to go to our dad, because anything he said was "no problem" was certain to be no problem. And I remember that he never once said there was a problem, so from childhood my brother and I both held our dad in awe and admiration.
From childhood, because of my dad, I grew up in Taiwan Gospel Book Room; and because I traded on my dad's name, I ran wild in the book room and often caused him trouble. In those days I often played with the computers in the editorial department of the book room and often corrupted the data on them, so back then if the Holy Word for Morning Revival came out a little late, it was probably to my credit. In those days I also did not study hard. So when it was time to take the high school entrance exam, my dad saw that my grades were really too poor and that I would probably not get into high school, so he used a scheme to trick me into going to study in Seattle. When I first arrived in Seattle, I still harbored some resentment toward my dad—why did he have to trick me into coming to a place with so few Chinese people to learn English? But resentment aside, every time my dad came to see me, I hoped he could stay a little longer. At that time in Seattle I had joined the school choir, and whenever there was a performance, as long as the timing allowed, my dad would go out of his way to detour through Seattle to watch my performance, and only then fly back to Taiwan from Seattle. I remember one time I had the timing wrong, so when my dad came to see me there was no performance. I thought my dad would probably be a little upset, but not only was he not upset, that night he even kept me company in my room, eating peanuts and chatting together—that was the most beautiful memory I have of Seattle.
Later, after I graduated from college, my dad first arranged for me to work part-time at the book room. In those days I often commuted to and from work together with my dad. Being able to be with my dad so often back then was quite a joy, and I finally came to understand why my dad had to spend so much time on the affairs of the book room.
Later I went to work in Singapore. At first I was actually very unaccustomed to Singapore's climate and culture. In those days my dad often flew to Singapore to fellowship with the brothers, but he really came to fellowship with me, to tell me to learn to adapt to my environment, and to assure me that I was "no problem." Every time after we fellowshipped, he would take me out for another good meal. Because I had my dad's support, I ended up staying in Singapore for thirteen years.
My dad served many people in his lifetime, but the one he served the longest was probably me. And because of this, I often relied on my dad. As soon as those three words "no problem" came out of my dad's mouth, I had incomparable confidence that I could see the matter through. My dad has now gone to be with the Lord; perhaps it will not be until the time when we are reunited again that I will be able to hear those confidence-giving words "no problem" once more.
Recently in Singapore we have been reading the Holy Word for Morning Revival—Knowing and Experiencing the All-inclusive, Unlimitedly Extensive Christ. In my dad I saw that he truly experienced the unlimitedly extensive Christ at all times. No matter what he encountered, or what physical sickness he bore, he was willing to experience Christ as his all, leading him to continue going forward. He set a wonderful pattern for us of relying on the Lord in all things. Even in our most difficult and most sorrowful moments, we should also go on to experience this Christ as our peace and rest. Finally, I want to say to my dad: Dad, I love you. This time it is my turn to say to my dad, "No problem." My brother and I will take good care of Mom; we will continue to have a good church life; we will continue to serve the Lord, taking you as our pattern. You have only gone ahead to be with the Lord first. We will surely meet again in the future—no problem. Thank you, Dad. Dad, I love you.