On June 19th, there will be a graduation ceremony of KAPA(Korean Advanced Preparatory Academy) for the class of 2016. I am so proud of what the graduates have accomplished to get to this point where they graduate high school. The year after my own graduation went by so quickly. All of my classmates went to college, but I am still doing valuable things that would be difficult to do when I get into college.
A Journey with Music
After completing all the required classes, I chose to get out of my comfort zone. This choice turned my life upside down, but mostly in a good way. I became a member of the NSD Golden Angels, which is a group of 8 missionaries whose main focus is music ministry.
While traveling with the group, I got to visit many countries and it was quite an experience. I had the opportunity to sing and to share the love of Jesus in Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the U.S and Japan, where a lot of people were waiting to be comforted.
While traveling, communication was the weakest point of the group. Thanks to the education I received at KAPA, I was able to translate most of the things for the other members. Since I was the youngest among the members, I made some silly mistakes within the group throughout the journey that frustrated the director and the rest of the members. However, the faces of the people listening to the songs we sang encouraged me to continue this journey.
Christopher is a bass singer of the Golden Angels group 12 (1st in the left)
60th General Conference Session in San Antonio, Texas
The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) holds a General Conference session every 5 years with all the church leaders from all over the world. The leaders of the church bring reports of what the church members in their regions have done and share ideas of their vision for the next 5 years. Last year, the latest one was held in San Antonio, Texas and I had a chance to participate in the session by performing a special music with the Golden Angels.
Of course, I was very interested in how other music ministries work in various areas. There were different groups that gave special music during the worship hours. 40,000 people filled the stadium where they had the conference session and worship. I had a chance to sing on the stage as well. Every group sang beautifully and their harmonies were sublime. I will never forget those moments.
Encouragements
The time has come for my college life to start, and I do not have any tips to share about college life. Here are the important questions that I would like to share with some of the young people who are making plans for their future education. What do you want to do? What do you want to be? My choice might not have been one of a long term plan, but I wanted to do it and actually brought it to action. My time as part of Golden Angels taught me a lot.
I came back to KAPA to help out with a program. It feels very good to be back, and I had several chances to talk with most of the students. Most of you know what you want to do and what you have to do, but some of you are not bringing them to action. All of the work that you are given today is to prepare for the future that you will have to face soon.
Go for it! Make some changes to your lives and if there are things that you really like, do it and do not give up until you actually learn something from it. Even though I really like singing the past year was not always happy, but I strived to improve and eventually learned important life lessons and values in those times. Do not be afraid of the future, but be encouraged while you execute your future plans.
Article by Christopher Jeong(Golden Angels’ 12 Group)