I come to the dawn prayer service to give thanks to God, especially for allowing my eldest son to reach his 20th birthday. Though he is far away in Azerbaijan with Handong University students, I pray he celebrates his birthday joyfully and safely there. When he was born in 2006, the difficult delivery put both baby and mother in danger. It felt like being in a pitch-black tunnel. My wife’s bleeding wouldn’t stop, and she received 23 units of blood transfusion. Yet she never let go of the thread of life. Thinking back on that time still makes my vision go dark. That son, born so miraculously, has grown into a university student and is now studying far away in a foreign country. It truly fills me with profound emotion.

Also, our second son is scheduled to be baptized this week, and I am praying for the strength of his faith and conviction. During adolescence, he wandered spiritually and felt anxious, unable to find a faith community. Thankfully, he became close with English-speaking children, started attending worship again, and decided on his own to be baptized. I cannot express how grateful I am. I hope that through the baptismal rite of being immersed in water and then emerging, his soul will awaken and he will be able to look more closely to God.

Finally, I lift up the prayer request for our youngest child entering an international Christian school. We pray he will follow his brothers’ example in developing a strong faith and grow into a Christian leader. Though it is a financial burden, we pray God will provide and enable us to contribute even larger donations to the school’s development. We trust that God will provide the funds for the school entrance donation and generously cover the monthly tuition. We will take one step forward in faith toward the vision of a Christian family of distinction. Amen!