2024 Youth Graduation Testimony — Erin Yoon
Hello everyone! My name is Erin Yoon and I am one of the graduating youth this year. Today, I’m here to celebrate the graduation of all grade 12s and also to share my journey at The Seed.
Being part of this church since it first began, I like to call myself a “Mokmin Kid.” A “Mokmin Kid” because of my 17 years of life, I spent nearly 17 at this church. From Butterfly Zone, to Rocket Kids, and to a graduate of The Seed youth, my journey was a pretty eventful one to say the least.
Despite growing up in the church, I found that my transition to The Seed wasn’t as smooth as I hoped. As a grade 7 student, I felt out of place and I often found it hard to connect with the 언니 and 오빠들.
Thankfully, it was my youth shepherd that made my transition a bit more bearable. Having a youth house church helped me feel a sense of belonging. Just as I was familiarizing myself with The Seed, the pandemic hit. To me, it felt like all the efforts I put into stepping out of my comfort zone went to waste.
With services and house church gatherings moving online, I found myself feeling distant from church and God. In other words, I was becoming too independent. I noticed that I was taking excessive credit for the successes in my life. But simultaneously, I was also putting a lot of pressure and blame on myself for the failures. Even for events out of my control, I would never turn to God for guidance.
When I was slowly giving up on my faith and church life, it was my youth shepherd that didn’t give up on me. My shepherd would consistently reach out to me and ask me about my week. To be completely honest, I don’t think reaching out to me was an easy task. I honestly think that I was a real pain in the butt. I would always forget about online house church meetings and would make silly excuses to skip it. Sundays were always the days I had “bad wifi.” Now, I really thank and respect my youth shepherd for all the patience and love I’ve received.
Coming back to church after the pandemic continued to be a struggle for me as I was really hesitant to open up to my house church. I found it hard to believe that I had some type of significance in other people’s lives. A constant question I had was: Who am I that my members would care about my week and keep me in their prayers?
I vividly remember going through a difficult time due to school-related stresses and uncertainty about my future. Normally, I would turn to my school friends about any issues I was going through. However, I didn’t think that it was appropriate to share school-related stresses to school-related people. I found it unnecessary to project my stresses onto others who were probably going through similar stresses as me. Out of desperation, I began to share my burdens with my house church. To this day, I still can’t forget the looks in everyone’s eyes. They were filled with genuine worry and love. This moment made me realize that my youth house church was really a family.
Youth house church wasn’t just another item I would have to check off from my weekly to-do list, it was a place of refuge. It was an escape from the harsh and judgmental world where no matter what opinion I had or how I was feeling, I knew that I could share openly and be met with understanding and support. Under God’s loving embrace, each gathering was a time of connection and growth.
Looking back, I now notice the transformation and growth I’ve experienced but also witnessed in my members. So, at this time, I really want to thank all the youth shepherds. Being able to be surrounded by such devoted and loving adults was truly a blessing. I also want to thank Esther, Sophia and Seoyeon 언니 for being the best youth shepherds and really modeling to me what Christian life is like. Lastly, I thank The Seed, Pastor Caleb, Pastor Anthony, family, friends and most importantly God for guiding us (graduates) through our journeys.
Congratulations to all the graduates and I wish everyone the best in our future paths. God bless!
