While we were in Hong Kong this past week, Meowmeow and I got to see Suyen, Chanyoung and Sunyoung. In fact, we stayed at Chanyoung and Sunyoung’s apartment during our brief, 3-day stay there. (We spent a half day in Macau) We had breakfast and dinner with them a few times, and it was so nice to catch up with them: what’s happening in their ministry, the opportunities that they foresaw in Hong Kong, how their lives were going.

And as we recapped the past year with them, we felt like we were just catching up with a fellow brother and sisters as we talked about things. It was so refreshing as much of our China trip was spent with relatives, government officials, and lawyers–which meant that we needed to maintain a certain image. They asked about what was happening in the International Student Ministry, how things were going with Gracepoint Berkeley, and asked about various people: Chul and Sharon, Pastor Ed and Kelly Kang, Peter and Jina, Jae, and a lot of ISM old-timers. And we saw that though they are geographically far from us, their hearts and our relationships still remained close because of our common commitment to the gospel.

They also were such a blessing to us–they not only let us stay in their home, but they were such wonderful hosts. We were taken to a nice dinner, cooked a delicious dinner, and we had breakfast each morning. They helped us get from campus to campus, gave us travel advice, and even saw us off at the Airport Express checkin at the metro station. (a wonderful idea that should be implemented in the U.S., by the way!) When we objected, they insisted–”let us serve you, and when we are in Berkeley, you can serve us!” Though our time with them was short, it was a great time and we look forward to our next trip to Hong Kong… hopefully next year!

I paid my rare visit to a movie theater lately to see Batman II.  As this movie came out, I was greatly impacted by the death of the actor who played Joker, Heath Ledger. He is from Australia, quite handsome, and in many ways quite admirable outwardly. In fact, he was kind of my idol or role model until not too long ago. I watched him in a teenager movie called “10 Things I Hate About You.” I was just drawn to his cool and confident character there. There was a line that says “don’t let anyone make you think you don’t deserve what you want,” as he was encouraging a friend in wooing a girl. That was so cool.

In his real life, he was a talented actor, became famous, made a good fortune, was handsome, and had dated very attractive women. He had it all. There should not have been anything that he lacked. So I was very surprised by his death and sad. He was the same age as me, and was similar in looks to me–good looking. I thought I lost a dear friend. But it made me realize one thing. All the things that the world is going after, beauty, fame, charisma, and money–all these cannot fill us humans at all.

When I was in Thailand last month, I got to visit a hospital and a facility for the lepers. I met an elderly gentleman who lived there for most of his life. His face was all mangled, had all his fingers deformed, and he was in no form to be attractive. Probably everyone in the old times had been scared to see him, rejected him. Looking at this person, there is no hope in worldly eyes. But as I saw this man, I saw a child of God, dearly and deeply loved. I understood that our main hope and joy and strength can be found in God right now–for this leper… and for everyone else.