Like many others locked down in 2020, I finally tackled an “I’ll do it when I have time” project by working with my mom to translate my grandfather’s autobiography from Korean into English. But this project was more than just creating a family heirloom. This became a redemption story in which I believe God redeemed time itself: the past, present, and future.
Redemption of the Past
God redeemed the past by mending the broken relationship that I had with my Korean heritage. Since both of my parents moved to America at a fairly young age and could therefore speak English, I never needed to learn Korean. Given the toxicity of white normalcy, I rejected anything to do with Korean culture and refused to learn the language even when I was given many opportunities to do so. That left me as a husk of a Korean: I can understand Korean pretty well, but my reading, writing, and speaking skills are weak.
My mom and I translated my grandfather’s autobiography in an unconventional way. She read aloud each paragraph to me as I reinterpreted it in English. If I still didn’t understand the passage well, she would give me more details and context until I knew what to write.
We spent two to three hours translating every night and our translating sessions became my favorite part of the day. I felt God filling the empty places in my heart that made me feel too ashamed to call myself Korean.
Korean historical events that felt impossibly far away from me such as the Japanese occupation, Liberation Day, and the Korean Civil War became real-life stories that I could feel an intimate connection to thanks to my grandfather. I feel more Korean than ever, more accurately seeing myself the way that God created me to be and readily embracing the history he desired me to have.
The Present
God is redeeming the present by using my grandfather’s story to remind me why I serve the Lord. My grandfather’s name was Kwanghoon Kim (김광훈) and he wrote his autobiography Fallen Seed (떨어진 이삭) in 2002 after he retired from a 50-year career in ministry. The autobiography begins when he became a Christian as a child in the 1930s and goes through his whole life – his marriage, imprisonment and torture for his faith, escape from North Korea, and life as a war refugee. It also recounts his time in seminary and the first church that he served.
We translated his recollections of the death of one of his daughters, his short-lived career as a seminary professor as he was fired after the board found out he was from North Korea, many fruitful years as a hospital chaplain, his long-term residence as senior pastor of a North Korean diasporic church, a courageous move to the United States, and countless other testimonies of his faithful life.
To know Reverend Kim and his story is to know the life of a man that the Lord used faithfully. His life was filled with devastating obstacles but he never stopped asking, “How can I continue to serve the Lord?”
The coronavirus pandemic is a devastating obstacle in its own right, and it is often tempting for me to lose hope and passion for the Lord during these times. But that is exactly how and why the Lord brings redemption to the present. He turns my hopelessness to fruitfulness by referencing my grandfather’s life and leading me to the same question: “How can I continue to serve the Lord?”
Fallen Seed was never just my grandfather’s story. It’s part of God’s much larger story, which he now beckons me to join.
Redemption of the Future
God is redeeming the future by making this story available for generations to come. I’m not sure what the future holds, and I don’t know whether my children (if I even have any!) will know Korean. I already have cousins and relatives who are worse at Korean than I am, and it would be such a shame for my grandfather’s testimony to fade away just because of a language barrier.
But because of the pandemic and the resulting lockdowns, my mom and I retold my grandfather’s beautiful story in a language that is easily accessible to his descendants. Sooner or later, the chaos of 2020 and coronavirus will be long gone, but this story will endure and continue to inspire people to dedicate their lives to serve the Lord.
God can use one small project to mend broken hearts, beckon daily servitude, and influence generations to come. It is this type of cosmic redemption that inspires me to obey the Lord in knowing that he only has the best things in store. His goodness and faithful redemption make me long for so much more than what is right in front me. I am reminded of Apostle Paul’s closing prayer to the Ephesians:
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
The Lord brings extraordinary redemption through ordinary means. Let us head into 2021 with faith that God is always doing immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.