(This section should display one of my graded assignments.)
The Profile: Soon Movement
“Soon Movement club! Come and find out more about Soon Movement!” Under the vicious heat of the September sun, I heard a voice yelling loudly. It was the club fair, and me and my friend Charlie were scrolling down the three lines of small tables of different clubs. I looked around and see the slim figure of an Asian male with glasses waving a giant sign with all his strength. He was so skinny that almost a strong New England wind could knock him flat to the ground. The moment I saw him, he was looking around and spot me in the crowd. “Soooooon Movement! Welcome to all!” he took a deep breath and depleted both his lungs shouting directly at me, who was 50 yards and 150 boys and girls away from his position. For some reasons I was touched by his effort under the heinous sun, so I started making my way through the crowd. “Soooon Movement!” he was draining his lungs once more, and I could see the light in his eyes lit up as he saw me approaching slowly. Finally, I reached him, and asked him about the club was he advertising for. He seemed very delighted upon my arrival and started breaking out words and phrases in excitement that I had no idea what they were—the noisy environment rendered his passionate lecture poorly received. All I had managed to recover from the scattered pieces of his words was that Soon Movement was a Korean-predominated but not Korean-exclusive Bible study club. However, Bible study is not all they do. They also go out and do charity work, organize retreats, etc.. Charlie bounced off immediately after hearing the word “Bible”, and I barely managed to give them my email address and take a leaflet before being pushed away by the crowd. But that slim figure waving that giant sign and shouting with all his strength really left a mark in my heart. That is what I would call devotion.
I am always amazed by the power of religion. People would forgive the man who brutally murdered their child because of a certain verse from the Bible, or wage war against those who believe in a different God, or sitting quietly while being burned alive for their cause. I did not grow up in a religious environment, so sometimes I have difficulties relating to those tales. When I was still in middle school a Catholic friend of my mom gave her a Bible, and out of curiosity I read it—as a story book. To be honest, I did not feel myself armed with the religion’s moral superpower after finishing it. Rather, I could not relate to any of those stories because since we were kids, the school taught us to think in a “scientific” and “realistic” way. If you have read the Bible, you’ll notice that there’s not much “realistic” in it. In my senior year in high school, I became more and more interested in the religions because I learned from the sociology class that typically, nations and races with strong devotion to a religion are more united and loving than those that does not. Why is that? To take a glimpse at the matter, I decided to do a ride-along with Soon Jang (small group leader) Joon Park, a junior in BC, and his Soon (small group).
Call it a stereotype, but Joon Park does not strike me as a typical Korean Christian you see in the movies. The first time I met him and conducted my interview at McElroy dining hall, he was wearing an olive-green field jacket similar to the one Robert De Niro wore in Taxi Driver, round trendy glasses, dyed blond hair, and camouflaged sweatpants. He looked like a Korean pop idol. When he spoke, a thick southern accent flew out, which did not match his appearance. “Them omelets are all sold out, y’all!” he shouted back to the line behind him and they dissolved slowly in dismay. “Well I’ve been around, you know.” Park said, “I lived in Virginia for a while and I went to high school in Texas, so y’all know where I got myself that accent—and that Southern Hospitality which I’m really proud of.” He said it with a proud big grin on his face. It’s true that he has that light of friendliness around him. He looked like somebody whom you can depend on. In the next five minutes, I counted more than ten students stopped by and said hello. Park recognized them all and remembered their names: “‘Sup Brian?” “How ya doin’ Hannah?” “How’s the midterms, Ashley?” “Saw y’all at that conference the other day. Was it any good?” after greeting them he would introduce me to them, and they would all step forward and shake my hand or have a fist-bump. “They’re all from Soon Movement,” Park told me. I’m surprised that the group is much bigger than I imagined. After ordering the food, me and Park sat down. I went straight to chopping off a part of my greasy omelet, but Park froze there. I looked up and saw him praying. “Oh dear Lord, thank you for the delicious food, and thank you for letting me know this wonderful person, Kenny, today. I’m really happy to make friends with him. Thank you. Amen.” Then he opened his eyes and gestured me to go ahead and start eating, which made me feel awkward because I was already working on my knife halfway through the omelet, but he quickly assured me it’s alright and hoped that I was not having any embarrassed feeling. His prayer made me highly flattered. Nobody has ever included me in their prayers before.
In contrary to my imagination, Park was laid-back in his demeanors, although he was highly serious and devoted in his religion. When I told him the tale of five-on-one restroom beating session of a particularly unpopular fellow student back in my middle school times, he laughed so hard that he could hardly catch his breath. “Oh my God that was actually a pretty bad thing. I don’t know why I’m cracking up so hard.” Park managed to squeeze these words out of his laughter. He was not half as uptight as I thought. After I told him that the restroom beating was actually one of the routine practices of solving problems, he looked at me deadpan and said, “well, you are in the right place. Sounds like y’all need Jesus.”
So what is the mission of this Soon Movement club, and what is the origin of the name “Soon Movement”? “Well basically, soon is a Korean term that appeared in the Korean translation of the Bible, meanin’ shoot. And the small groups y’all in are called soons.” I borrowed another Korean friend’s Bible and found the verse, Isaiah 53:2, and the original sentence describes Jesus as one who “grew up before him like a tender shoot“. That makes sense. Although Park acknowledged the mission and whatsoever of the Soon Movement, which is to “spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every campus and every nation; to build movements everywhere so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus; to win people to faith in Jesus Christ, build spirit filled disciples, send Christ-centered multiplying disciples.”, he decided to get his soon members closer to one another before proceeding. “I know y’all are expecting those bible study and stuff we were talking about, but I’d really like us to get to know each other first.” Park said in our first meeting.
Today the Soon had its first meeting at a Pho joint in Brighton. Unlike some other clubs, who prefer to go all-out during club meetings and pour fifty-plus members into a homeless shelter or elderly’s home, Soon Movement tends to organize club activities through small-groups so every Soon can have its unique way of understanding Jesus. The content of the Soon meeting is chosen by the Soon Joons, and they have a considerable degree of autonomy in where to go and what to do. In my opinion, this is an effective way to carry out the greater objectives of the Movement through the ideas of the Soon Joons, as they are more intimate with their own Soon and have better capabilities in organizing the activities in accordance to the Soon’s characteristics. After a democratic election, the Pho joint won the position of restaurant-to-go, effective tonight. I saw Brandon Ji for the first time during this Soon meeting. Brandon Ji is a freshman like myself. He is also Korean-American, but different from Park, he dressed up in a way subtler fashion—black sweater, grey sweatpants, black running shoes that had seen better days. And unlike Park, he is rather shy and did not talk much. He usually ended his sentence with no more than five words: “yeah it’s alright”, “It’s cool”, “I’m doing alright I guess.” In the whole process, Park was constantly trying to provoke him into talking more, and after three or four enthusiastic attempts, Ji finally opened up and started sharing the bitter sweet details of the school life. They were all miscellaneous subjects in everyday life—losing student ID, residence hall drinking, heavy load of homework, trouble falling asleep, etc. Then we were all engaged in the conversation. The topics ranged from parents back home, to high school myths and legends, to our favorite movies—none of them religion-related.
Also at this meeting, I truly felt the warmth of the company of the Soon. After knowing that I was worried sick about my father back home, who had just undergone a surgery, both Ji and Park went silent for a second. Although it was only a minor one, the image of him lying in a hospital bed still made my heart ache. Park felt the resonance because he had once gone through the same situation with his mother. “If you need any help, or just somebody to talk to, I’m right here, man. We’re right here for you.” Park said in a determined voice, holding my right hand and looking me in the eyes, “I’ll pray for your dad in my prayers.” Brandon, who was not that good in words, simply expressed his thoughts by holding my other hand. It was really heart-warming moment and if it were not for the public space, I would burst into tears on the spot. But I held the urge back. I had to play hard.
As to answer the question about the conversations’ relationship to Christianity inside my head, Park suddenly said: “you must be wondering right now, how do all these chit-chats promote Christianity and stuff. Well, Spreading the love of the Lord to people around us is not something that can be done by digging only into the Bible.” After saying that, Park grabbed another piece of fried chicken wing and started devouring it, “we care for each other, we love each other. Isn’t that a more convincing way to win the faith in Jesus? It’s all about being a big family.” I thought about all the friendly faces back in my interview with Park, how they showed genuine care to a stranger, how they expressed love and trust in their fellow members. Suddenly I understood what was the driving force behind the guy waving the giant sign under the September sun. It’s the family. You’d do the best you can do for your family. And for the members of the Soon Movement club at BC, the club is the family. It’s always great to know that somebody actually cares for you. And for that somebody, you would do anything.
“Aww I’m so full right now.” Park gave his belly a light pat. “Hello ‘so full right now’” out of nowhere Ji broke out a very dry joke. The atmosphere went quiet for an awkward moment. “You didn’t get it? It’s one of the ‘Dad’s jokes’” Ji said in amusement. “Yeah I know.” Park said sarcastically, “and if you do that again, Imma renounce my Soon Jong-ship of you.” We all cracked up and laughed. In that harmony I understand why my sociology class instructor said that nations or races with strong religion tend to be more united. It’s a homely feeling you are willing to fight and sacrifice for.
After saying farewells and returning to my dorm room, I sat down—with some difficulties since I had a way too large bowl of Pho—and opened my notepad and laptop. But after a second thought, I put both of them away and closed my eyes. I crossed my fingers and whispered, “Oh dear Lord, thank you for letting me know Joon Park and Brandon Ji today. They are both wonderful friends and I had a splendid day today. Thank you for introducing me to the big family of Soon Movement.” I sat still for a long two minutes, grabbed two can of coffee out of my fridge, and start working on the essay.
Kexuan Sha 