From long-term missionary Elden Kohn in Taiwan
Wed, Jul 2, 2008
“I am leaving my guitar in Taiwan. For me, that’s no small thing. I had the guitar in question since 1999. I learned to play it. I strummed it the first time I fumblingly played in church. My calloused fingertips are due in large part to hours spent pressed firmly on its strings. It was a constant companion through loneliness, depression, and the everyday challenges of life. It went with me to Togo and Taiwan. If it were at all possible to bond with an object, that guitar certainly was a part of me.”I say ‘was’ because I recently gave my guitar to Wun, the young man seen here. Wun is a senior high student in Chia Yi. In September, he began coming to our church on Sundays with his sister and her friend to help teach Chinese. When I found out that Wun was interested in learning to play guitar, I offered to bring mine along so that he could play a little. This turned into the wonderful blessing of a weekly guitar lesson and Chinese conversation time.
“Of course, the ‘guitar lessons’ were much more than that. Our 45 minutes together almost every Sunday provided a chance to share Christ’s love through song. You see, as Wun was learning chords and strum patterns, he was playing Christian songs. (Our list included ‘I’ve Got the Joy’ and ‘Amazing Grace,’ among others.) As he played, I sang. With each new song, we talked about its meaning-in Chinese. Why do we have a ‘joy’ down in our hearts? What is this ‘amazing grace?’ These are questions we answered as we discussed the lyrics. And these questions provided Wun with a glorious answer indeed. Jesus died for us and rose again to forgive our sins; He saves us, He loves us. As I leave Taiwan, my guitar is staying behind with Wun. But I leave a much grander part of me with him: the Good News of Christ’s love that is for everyone. Thankfully, there is so much of that love that I don’t just have to leave it behind; I can share it and take it with me wherever I go. And, by God’s grace, I will. It is my prayer that we all may share the timeless, life-giving truth of Jesus’ love-wherever we go, whatever we do, and whomever we meet.”
(800) 433-3954
Rock on!
Mr. Kohn!