The Twelve Days of Christmas…

I went to college in Korea, and during my senior year, I took an English Public Speaking class, where the instructor was a young Korean-American, who also happened to be a devout Christian. He was one of those young, energetic professors who liked to try new things and challenge the norm…

And the fruit of being a devout Christian and an adventurer was – voila! – his students singing Christmas carols around the campus during finals!! Argh… So started our carol tour around the campus – in front of the shuttle bus stop, in front of the library, and in the cafeteria – most importantly, with all of us wearing RED SANTA HATS, which he had proudly bought from Namdaemun shijang (a night market in Seoul).

Students giggled and chuckled as we sang The Twelve Days of Christmas with "motions" (just imagine for a second doing motions for "six geese a-laying" and "eight maids a-milking"…). I remember feeling embarrassed and silly, which was reinforced by my friend who later told me that she had thought we were a bunch of lunatics until she saw me in the group… Despite the social risk I had to take, my young professor's crazy idea has left me a good memory to laugh about, and more importantly, a lesson in my heart that I need to live out more: that at times you need to break out of your shell and go beyond your typical boundaries to bring the good news and to share the Christmas spirit.

By Jean Choi, Core Leader, Prayer Team Leader, Small Group Leader