Joy that we can put into practice

Observing that people who do God's will become truly happy, Enoch Wong from Hong Kong made a choice. Now he wants the younger youth in his church to experience the same.

Though he is only 25, Enoch is the oldest of the young people in the Hong Kong fellowship. It’s late on a Saturday evening and we’re at a soccer field in Hong Kong’s New Territories, watching the youth play their weekly soccer game. He has been very busy this afternoon—working around the church property, playing the piano and translating during the youth meeting, driving a carload of boisterous girls to the soccer game and laughing along in the funny conversations.

More than “being good”

“I sense that I should do this missionary work; I should let others see this life and be attracted to it. This life not only can make yourself happy, but also make those around you happy. ” He’s talking about the mission field closest to him: his family, friends and colleagues. I ask him to elaborate about this life. “A life of completely victory over sin.” He pauses before adding, “A life that always enables you to be happy.” This is the Christian life he believes in and lives.

Growing up in the church, he attended regular Sunday school and meetings just like most Christian children. But as a young child Enoch didn’t see anything special in such a life.

“At that time, going to Sunday school was just a regular program for me, it was just something very normal”, he says. He knew that “being a Christian means to be good”, but didn’t understand that true Christianity went much deeper.

Perhaps it was because he was getting older and also because of the help he received from other people, but Enoch gradually started to understand more about what it really meant to be a Christian. As a teenager he made a personal decision regarding his faith, and gave his heart to Jesus during a youth meeting.

Making a choice

Why did he need to be converted? He had always appeared to be an exemplary child in the church. I mention this, and he explains about the hidden sins that dwell in every human being.

He mentions an example that every teenager would recognize: “Youthful lusts—the lust towards the opposite sex—this is a big thing for many young people. In the beginning you don’t even know it is sin, and it can be easy to remain in it”, he says honestly.

In Matthew 5:28 Jesus speaks about this area and makes it very clear that our thoughts are equally important as our actions: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
The word of God’s that he heard in the church enabled Enoch to see the sins that are found in human nature, and that it is in our thoughts that we must win the struggle against sin. He also believed that God’s word is not only ideal thinking and empty words. “We really can resist these sins”. And he chose to do so.

After he had made that decision, life still had its ups and downs, he recalls, “But it was a start!”

A significant turning point in Enoch’s life came in 2005, when he got a chance to work with an international youth group in Norway. He saw that these young people were willing to live for others rather than for themselves and by this “they can bring great joy to themselves and the others.”

Enoch explains that he also personally experienced that doing God’s word brings great happiness. Inspired by this, he was no longer content to remain on the receiving end only. He wanted to take this life home to the younger ones in his local church. “I wanted them to experience the same happiness and peace that I had received.”

“Joy is something that we can put into practice”

“[Transformed] from being unable, to being able to bless”, this is how Enoch describes himself after he went home and back to the daily life in Hong Kong. There were old problems, and new pressures, but he is extremely thankful that this gives him many chances to keep trying, and to think about how to bless and edify the others.

Of course, there are times of when he gets tempted to doubt and become discouraged. “One Bible verse in Jeremiah often helps me, where it says that God has promised a future and hope.” He also thinks of everything he already has experienced with God, and has chosen to hold on to his faith. “When God has chosen me, He will surely prepare a way out for me.”

Nowadays, when Enoch looks at the group of young people in Hong Kong, he is most happy about being able to be together with people who share the same longing as him. For him, their growth is really something amazing. “I saw that joy is not just something we hear about in church meetings, but it is really something that we can put into practice, and participate in together; to do good, to bless, and to edify.”

“Youth time is precious”

As he speaks, he watches those active boys and girls running back and forth on the soccer field. One of them says something amusing and Enoch laughs out loud. These younger ones are clearly a joy and inspiration for him.
He continues speaking about the future and how to be an evangelist where you are. “There is a lot that we can do as young people, and we have to be ready for the opportunities. Youth time is precious. Walking on God’s way is really the best thing we can do,” he concludes.