This past Sunday night, I gathered Caleb’s spiritual elders and mentors to send him off with wisdom and blessing.
YuYin and I could not share our words without tears. God, it’s so hard to let go…even if I know I am giving him over to his Heavenly Father.
I’m so grateful for the village that’s helped us raise Caleb. But this poem, written by Christina Huang, who has been like another mom to him—whom he and his brothers have always called “Tina” because they couldn’t pronounce her name as toddlers—is everything.
—
For Caleb
You were the first one
First son of the first son who,
By my estimation, was an Asian American Christian, trying to follow Jesus more than Confucius
First patient in,
Ground Zero for hopes
That the Hope I had chosen would not put me to shame
Because I was already bearing the pain of leaving family behind to follow Him.
Test subject #1
For experimentation, prayerful application of Gospel and Truth
To prepare you from your youth to become a man in love with the Living God.
You were the first one.
Now you have been chosen in all privilege and power
To arise and go, to spy out the land,
To come back with a branch of fruit in hand
And confirmation that what He has promised is good
Is amazing
Beyond what we could ever imagine
More than what our weary hearts can fathom
So that courage is renewed
Longing, Fortitude
Vision imbued with creativity
Of what Kingdom looks like through Caleb Hui
With CRT, slam poetry,
A hunger to learn as many created things as possible.
We are sending you out as the first.
Gird yourself with The Word,
Fellowship, patience,
Oatmeal, knee braces,
Humility, kindness
That you may spy with heart, mind, and eyelids wide open.
Go then.
And call your mother every day.
Love,
Tina
08/13/23
Brian Hui 