MissionsRYAN SHARES HIS TESTIMONY

I joined Disciples FC and Green Angels soccer academy in freshman year of high school. I believe I met Philip (aka Gunwoo) in high school, who brought me to the team. I came out to the Saturday practice at Emery Park. That was how my journey with Disciples started.

 

In my junior year in high school, I was hospitalized with cancer on my left thigh. I went through chemotherapy, weeks of treatment then rest, treatment then rest…. Eventually, I was cured, but I wasn’t fully free from it, considering not just my physical aspect of health but also emotional and spiritual. After a year of treatment, I went back to America because I was in Korea for the treatment, but my spirit was still destroyed and unclean.

 

To be honest, I was just existing. I wasn’t living a life that God meant for me to live because I was addicted to computer games and pornography. My relationships were shallow, I didn’t have true friends so I didn’t really enjoy school, I was constantly gripped with fear, and I was a people-pleaser. Now, people-pleasing is not a bad thing, but we have to understand like are we pleasing people because we love the fact that God created us, or are we trying to flatter people and earn their acceptance or something. Anyways, I digressed. I was also failing classes so I had to receive individual education plans and take classes at another high school for all the wrong reasons not because I was a high-achieving student but because I was at-risk of not graduating on time. But again going off tangent, we don’t have to be “on time” by this world’s standard because God’s standard of time is what we should follow.

 

Anyways, that year was before I came to Christ so graduation probably felt like a life-or-death situation to me. But for several more years, I avoided God and was walking in the darkness. In October 2017, I came to Christ when God used Coach to pour the grace and favor of God upon me. He said one word to me that night he dropped me off home after the soccer practice that changed my life: Pray. So I came inside my house, feeling weary and out of energy. I showered and got dressed, went into my room. After a minute or two of silence of just standing still, I knelt down beside my bed and just prayed something like, “I don’t know God. Are you there? Please help me.” It was around midnight so after praying that prayer, I climbed into my bed and slept. In the middle of the night, I woke up with a strange sensation. I thought I was sweating or developing a cold, but something just woke me up. So I talked to Coach about this light that I saw, and day after day, month after month, year after year, I shared with him about all my experiences, and he told me everything I was curious about. To this day, I am forever grateful to Coach for being patient with me. I am thankful to God and thankful that God put Coach in my life to be my mentor, my teacher, my coach. He’s like a father to me so I will always be indebted to him for his love and kindness.

 

That’s what Christianity is about and what our God is like. He loves us no matter what we do or what we say. He is patient and shows love under all circumstances. His love conquers all things. He is love, redemptive and self-sacrificing. So as followers of Christ, we have to just learn. Study how Jesus Christ lived and follow His example. Accepting God’s free gift is the best decision we’ll ever have to make in our lives!

Ryan Jang