Grandpa

After two years of Chinese in college, I have tried, since I've been home, to use it as much as possible. Tonight, during dinner I was able to do so with my parents. And tonight, I thought I'd share a story about my mom's dad, which I found, for many reasons, quite powerful.

My grandpa was in Japan during his college years studying, working, and supporting his relatives back home. His family was hardly a wealthy bunch. The more he worked, the more he money he earned to send back home. But, he also had to support himself during school but working to support relatives took away money and time that would have helped and supported him in school. In the end, his studies yielded a failing business that drove him to the brink of suicide.

It was at this time that my grandpa remembered as a child living off the shores of Taiwan, a preacher coming to their village and staying with them. This preacher taught my grandpa the Bible and shared the gospel message with him, but, at the time, my grandpa's mom was vehemently opposed to any stranger coming in to convert them. So, my grandpa, as a small child, never went to church.

My grandpa, recalling this, decided to go to the Salvation Army post in Japan. Back then, the Salvation Army could legally share the message of Christ to the people it served, and so, it was here, that my grandpa was reintroduced to the Scriptures. He quickly read through the Bible, soaking everything in, but, in the end, came up with the following conclusion: "I believe everything that the Bible says is true except that I cannot believe that miracles such as those performed in the Scriptures really happened."

Now my grandpa was a TB sufferer; he many times ate ice in a futile attempt to soothe the pain. It was during this time that he said to God, "If you make it so that I do not have to eat ice again, then the money I used for the ice, I will give to you." Some time later, my grandpa was sitting on a train when a mother and her children came on. As he was offering them his seat, he saw a figure at the end of the train declare to him boldly, "Your sins have been forgiven." From that point on, my grandpa was cured of his disease.

My grandpa, now a believer, would return to Taiwan and meet my grandmother, who was not a Christian at the time. They would marry anyway (in part because her family had money--it was the trend back then), and my grandma would eventually accept Christ. Then, they had my mom, and the rest of the story continues today.

I never met my grandpa; the only memory I had of him was having my parents call my school to tell me when I was in the third grade. And yet, it's family stories like these that really help me understand, in part, why my parents believe what they do. It helps me realize what drives them to be the type of people they are. Its stories like these, the very same testimonies that I might here over and over again and not think anything of it, that help me realize that to follow Christ is about living a life that is transformed and that serves as a testament to his glory.