Learning to Love

Chu Kit-wan and her husband

　　Three years flew by smoothly thanks to the grace of God. My years of study at the seminary are part of my journey of discovering God, self-exploration and life reorientation. For me the acquisition of knowledge has often been secondary to practicing love, which is the most important lesson that I learned during these past few years.

God’s Love in My Family

　　The first thing I would like to talk about is my family. I got married less than three months into my new school life. I thank the Lord for preparing a home for us and for sparing us the headache of finding a new home. I remember almost breaking into tears of joy when I was notified that we were allocated a place in the Married Student Quarters of the seminary, knowing that such arrangement was not something to be taken for granted. The Lord understood our needs and made preparations for us in advance. It was a difficult time because I had only just begun studying at the seminary when I also had to plan for the wedding and then adapt to being married. On top of the heavy workload, which was a challenge in itself, I had to organize our wedding. Just as my classmates remarked, it seemed like I was taking more credits than everyone else.

　　I thank the Lord for giving me understanding and helpful classmates and a caring husband at home. Because of their support, I could focus on my schoolwork despite my busy schedule.

God’s Love among Fellow Classmates

　　Another thing I would like to mention is the relationship among my classmates. We had a very large class with classmates of all different ages, temperaments and backgrounds. However, learning to get along and work together brought out the best in us – and a lot of other interesting things too. If not for God, we would not have got along so well. Even though we are all blessed with different gifts and abilities, all the classmates were willing to share their gifts with each other. We even formed a learning group to study the original biblical languages. When conflicts arose, we would put aside our differences, seek God in our prayers and try to care for each other.

　　Each day I would spend a lot of time with my classmates, and I became even closer with my dorm mates. Sometimes I would invite my classmates over; sometimes I was invited over; sometimes we dined out together; sometimes we would share our food and resources. There was so much love in the dormitory that it would be very hard to find such a loving neighborhood elsewhere in the world. We helped each other in our daily lives and looked after each other in all our spiritual endeavors. We witnessed God among us.

God’s Love in Our Teachers

　　In addition to the co-walking of my fellow classmates, teachers also walked with us. From them I have learnt that their knowledge is essential but, what is even more important is their ability to touch the lives of others. Before I had to preach my first sermon during the first year of my internship, I nervously asked a teacher for help with writing my sermon. With great patience, he guided me step by step as to how to write it. As he encouraged me, I burst into tears as I felt unworthy to preach God’s word. He consoled me, reassured me of my value and skills and instructed me to prepare thoroughly and preach with a faithful heart. Without his guidance and encouragement, my first preaching experience would have been much more strenuous.

　　I remember another teacher who also has the caring heart of a pastor. In a couple of conversations with him when I would tear up, he would console me and respond as if he could see my heart. I felt relief after each time I talked with him. I was comfortable talking to him about all my worries: stress from schoolwork, sorrow in life, making the decision on where to serve, etc. Though he had a lot of work, he always made time to listen to and care for his students to the extent that he would put his own work aside to attend to the needs of others.

　　I have a lot of fond memories of the time I spent with my teachers. Their devotion to teaching, faithfulness in serving God and humility have set good examples for me.

　　Now that I am working in the field, the challenges facing me will no doubt be much greater than when I was a theological student. Still, I am confident of God’s acceptance so long as I seek God and serve Him with a faithful heart.