1. Just acquaintances? (Part I)
In 2013, Bryan and Esther met for the first time.
They met not once, but twice; for two different reasons and groups of friends. At this point, Esther was due to fly to London to begin her studies at University College London (UCL), and Bryan was about to return for his second year in the same college.
B: I remember signing up as an Orientation Group Leader (OGL) for the UCL Singapore Society (SingSoc) orientation camp at the end of my first year. To be honest, it was something quite out of character for me at the time, but something pushed me to try something new. Thinking back, perhaps it was God moulding me and shaping me at the time into the person He wanted me to become.
I remember being given the name-list informing me of the people in my orientation group (OG). I looked at the list with some interest, wondering - who are these people, and would we get along when I meet them? The first person from my OG that I met was, incidentally, Esther. It was 21 August 2013, at Aaron's (then) house, and we gathered there to watch Amazing Grace (2006). I remember hearing her name, Esther, and approaching her to ask if she was the Esther Huang from my list, being somewhat excited to meet my first OG member.
I remember being given the name-list informing me of the people in my orientation group (OG). I looked at the list with some interest, wondering - who are these people, and would we get along when I meet them? The first person from my OG that I met was, incidentally, Esther. It was 21 August 2013, at Aaron's (then) house, and we gathered there to watch Amazing Grace (2006). I remember hearing her name, Esther, and approaching her to ask if she was the Esther Huang from my list, being somewhat excited to meet my first OG member.
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| Yellow OG, UCL SingSoc Orientation Camp, Sentosa, August 2013 |
E: To be honest, I wasn't entirely keen on attending the social at Aaron's house, having only learnt about it briefly through an email newsletter from Overseas Christian Fellowship and knowing literally nobody else who was attending, except for the fact that freshers were invited. The idea of entering a gathering of foreign faces was never (and still will never be) something that thrilled me, so it was perhaps God's nudging that led me there in the end.
While I now only remember vague impressions of watching a Christian movie, listening to someone lead a sharing, and shuffling from social cluster to cluster, trying to match names to faces, I do remember feeling relieved at one thing - meeting a few friendly seniors who made a genuine effort to reach out to me, of whom included a very earnest-looking, bespectacled guy named Bryan who seemed very pretty excited that he had unexpectedly found his first OG member. "Great! One less unfamiliar face!" I thought to myself.
While I now only remember vague impressions of watching a Christian movie, listening to someone lead a sharing, and shuffling from social cluster to cluster, trying to match names to faces, I do remember feeling relieved at one thing - meeting a few friendly seniors who made a genuine effort to reach out to me, of whom included a very earnest-looking, bespectacled guy named Bryan who seemed very pretty excited that he had unexpectedly found his first OG member. "Great! One less unfamiliar face!" I thought to myself.
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| Our first OG outing @ Singapore Night Festival, National Museum of Singapore, August 2013 |
Days turned into weeks, and months turned into years - fast forward to 2014. Bryan and Esther did eventually meet at the SingSoc orientation camp that Bryan was excited about, share warm evenings with their circle of friends on cold London winter nights, and exchanged the occasional hello and friendly words.
But still, they remained the firmest of acquaintances for most of undergraduate life. Bryan was often seen with his football team on Saturday mornings, or studying in his favourite cafes and cooking for his housemates, while Esther was off exploring the possibilities of freshman year in London, travelling regularly, jamming with friends, organising fundraising projects, and making new friends. A year passed quickly and life paid little heed to the possibility of a closer encounter.
But still, they remained the firmest of acquaintances for most of undergraduate life. Bryan was often seen with his football team on Saturday mornings, or studying in his favourite cafes and cooking for his housemates, while Esther was off exploring the possibilities of freshman year in London, travelling regularly, jamming with friends, organising fundraising projects, and making new friends. A year passed quickly and life paid little heed to the possibility of a closer encounter.
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| OG dinners on wintery London nights, Bryan's place @ Prince Regent Mews, November 2013 |
In 2014, it seemed however, that God had plans for one more encounter. After a year of attending OCF - albeit separately (like I said, they never paid too much attention to each other), Bryan felt prompted to serve more intentionally as a Small Group Leader (SGL), a role he wasn't particularly accustomed to and involved significant amount of commitment and courage.
Thank God he did! As chance (or perhaps not?) would have it, Esther found herself serendipitously plonked into the very same small group and was pleasantly surprised herself in the company of a few good friends, and a familiar acquaintance yet again.
Thank God he did! As chance (or perhaps not?) would have it, Esther found herself serendipitously plonked into the very same small group and was pleasantly surprised herself in the company of a few good friends, and a familiar acquaintance yet again.
B: Thinking back, it seems so clear how God's hand has been working in my life all this while. Signing up as an OCF Small Group Leader (SGL) was something that I never imagined doing, especially as a relatively "young" Christian. I was encouraged by the SGLs in the years above me such as Lisabelle and Joshua, many of whom are close personal friends. Their passion for God, and their sharing of their experiences and what they learnt from serving, inspired me to take that leap of faith and trust God.
After attending the SGL training camp over the summer, I was assigned to a small group - OCF Group 7. As God willed, Esther was in that group, though at the time we were nothing more than acquaintances. I didn't have much of an impression at Esther being put in my group at the time - but I was thankful for another familiar face to relieve the stress of having to get familiar with too many new people at a time.
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| More OG dinners on wintery London nights, Jiasheng & Jack's place @ Argyle Street, November 2014 |
E: I can't place a finger on it, but there was something unusually comforting about our small group. Perhaps it was a pleasant combination of personalities, an unspoken mutual agreement that we would turn up every Friday evening in that old hall in Bloomsbury building that smelled of wood. We read Galatians that year.
While I must confess I don't remember too much about the studies off-hand (it's been years!!), I do remember noticing a change in Bryan. He had been a quiet guy all the while; pleasant enough, as sporty and responsible as your average Singaporean dude, but there was something rather different about him this year. I think it might have been his eminence through his concern for people and the gentleness with which he acted towards others. I was just beginning to notice that Bryan had begun to initiate check-ins with acquaintances he barely knew, sending timely messages to juniors (that's me and my peers) to remind them about extra bible study sessions and doing things in service of others.
Of course, this is all in hindsight - I didn't ponder too much about these impressions back then! Now I see that God was behind it all. :)
While I must confess I don't remember too much about the studies off-hand (it's been years!!), I do remember noticing a change in Bryan. He had been a quiet guy all the while; pleasant enough, as sporty and responsible as your average Singaporean dude, but there was something rather different about him this year. I think it might have been his eminence through his concern for people and the gentleness with which he acted towards others. I was just beginning to notice that Bryan had begun to initiate check-ins with acquaintances he barely knew, sending timely messages to juniors (that's me and my peers) to remind them about extra bible study sessions and doing things in service of others.
Of course, this is all in hindsight - I didn't ponder too much about these impressions back then! Now I see that God was behind it all. :)
If anyone was thinking that this is where it all begins, it's not, because Esther will confess that she had a lot more growing up to do. More about that in part two ;)
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