Thanksgiving for Multiethnicity -- Part 2: Advent for All

Christmas is celebrated in many different ways among the nations and ethnic cultures of the world.  But the Advent of Jesus Christ proclaims ONE MESSAGE:  God loves the World!  He loves people of every nation, culture, and ethnicity.  And, whoever believes in Him [Jesus Christ] will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3: 16).  The Advent of Christ, conceived by the Spirit and born of virgin Mary, occurred 2,000 years ago in a world of confusion, fear, and uncertainty just like ours today.  Into that world, the angelic host announced the Savior’s birth to lowly shepherds on a hillside outside Bethlehem (emphasis added):

Do not be afraid; for behold, 

I bring you good news
of great joy which will be for all the people;
for today in the city of David there has been born
for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  (Luke 2: 10-11)

The shepherds immediately responded that night with joy and excitement:  Let us go straight to Bethlehem and see… (v. 15b).  And when they had seen the Child, they went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them (v. 20). 

The shepherds’ enthusiasm to spread the news of what they had seen is amplified every Advent season when people of every nation sing the hymn, “Joy to the World” (emphasis added):

“Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th’ angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

The message of the Advent of Christ is Good News for all nations, cultures, and ethnicities.   After Jesus’s death and resurrection, He commissioned His followers to go and make disciples of all the nations… teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matthew 28: 19-20).  Because of the courage and faith of Jesus’s disciples, the Gospel of Christ has been passed down to us.

Do You Know Your “Spiritual Genealogy?”
Have you ever wondered about your “spiritual genealogy?” Each believer in Christ is linked spiritually to the person or persons who introduced them to the saving grace of God.  Likewise, each of our spiritual parents have their spiritual genealogy extending back to the disciples who saw the Risen Christ and believed (1 John 1: 1-4).  Regardless of our culture or our ethnicity, our spiritual genealogy very likely passes through multiple ethnicities linking back to the Middle East where Christ-followers received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  Their bold witness carried the Gospel of Christ westward into Europe and Africa, and eastward into Asia and the Far East.  

Serving the Nations:  The Lun Family
In this Part 2 of our “Thanksgiving for Multiethnicity” [See Part 1 HERE.], we highlight one family that has taken seriously Christ’s Great Commission to “make disciples of all the nations.”   Currently, Lapman and Ching Ching Lun of Wooster, Ohio are on their most recent missionary journey to share the Gospel and encourage believers in Southeast Asia.  While ministering in the churches, schools, and medical facilities in Cambodia has been an ongoing focus for Lapman and Ching Ching, their short-term mission trips have allowed them to serve in Thailand, Mongolia and Nepal among other Asian nations; and, in Kenya, Africa, several European nations; and, in Cuba and Guatemala among nations in Latin America.

Before we share more about this amazing family, several disclaimers are in order.  First, the Lun family members do not consider themselves “amazing.”  Instead, they consider their international ministry for Christ as merely a humble expression of their gratefulness to God for their salvation and spiritual calling to spread His love to many nations.  Second, our tribute to Lapman, Ching Ching, and family encompasses only what is known to us.  And to us, it is their meek, quiet, and humble offering of service that encourages so many others that makes the Lun family worthy of our tribute.  In this spirit, our prayer is that this blog above all will honor Jesus Christ.

Lapman grew up in the US and dedicated his life to Christ as a high school student.  Ching Ching was saved at the age of 13 in Hong Kong.  In 1993, the two met in Maryland during Lapman’s fellowship training in oncology and hematology.  Ching Ching had finished her master’s degree at University of Pittsburgh and was awarded an internship working in the Washington DC area.  Her pastor in Pittsburgh recommended that she attend Chinese Bible Church of Maryland in Rockville, and it is there she met Lapman.  They both grew in Christ under the ministry of Pastor Jonathan Liu who later joined them in marriage.

Cambodia: Nation in Ashes
Meanwhile, the decade of the 1990’s saw the decline of the Khmer Rouge, a Communist government which had oppressively ruled in Cambodia since the Vietnam War of the 1970’s.  During those years, the Communist rebel known as Pol Pot had taken control of Cambodia.  In his attempt to create a classless communist society, Pol Pot eliminated the educated people, urbanites, “ethnic Vietnamese, civil servants and religious leaders.” Pol Pot is responsible for the deaths of 2 to 3 million people due to “starvation, execution, disease or overwork.” [Read more HERE and HERE.] 

Today, Cambodian survivors and their descendants are still chilled by the memory of Pol Pot’s “Cambodian Genocide” as a dark shadow upon their nation. Cambodia lost a whole generation of educated people and those who survived were left without nutrition, medical services and education.  However, the resulting pain and hopelessness created a massive hunger for the Gospel.  Thankfully, the God of all comfort was moving in the hearts of his children to respond by providing practical expertise to meet basic needs for improved quality of  physical life while also responding to Cambodian spiritual hunger through biblical evangelism and discipleship.  It is this God who eventually inspired and led Lapman and Ching Ching to serve the Cambodian people through their many short-term trips to minister to them spiritually, emotionally, and medically.  

Maturing in the Lun Family
Meanwhile, Lapman continued his career as an oncologist at Cleveland Clinic and Ching Ching responded to what she considered as the greatest calling in her life--i.e. loving and serving her husband and their children as a stay-at-home mom.  Now, she says, "I need to remember to thank God every day for giving us our family --and the fact that we ARE indeed, living in Harmony (the Chinese meaning of the name, "Lun"), all serving Christ in our own surroundings/ministries.”

We were blessed to meet Lapman, Ching Ching over a decade ago when they along with their three children attended West Hill Baptist Church.  It was especially memorable to recall Wednesday evenings when the Lun family attended the weekly prayer fellowship.  Alongside their parents, the children eagerly participated with their open Bibles and warm smiles.  Now, over a decade later, the three children, Jonathan (27), Jeremy (24), and Abby (22), have all attained academic excellence at Cedarville University and are preparing for service in the field of medicine.

Jonathan has finished medical school at The Ohio State University (OSU) and is now matched into Mayo Clinic's pediatric residency program in Rochester, Minnesota.  After traveling with Samaritan's Purse to Tenwek Hospital last year where he saw the dire need of children with heart valve disease, Jonathan decided to pursue a fellowship in pediatric cardiology with plans to serve on the mission field.

Currently, Jeremy is in his second year of medical school at OSU.  He married Nicole, a neonatal nurse whom he met at Cedarville University. Nicole’s parents are serving on the mission field in Hungary and her grandpa served in Liberia as a surgeon for many years.  Lord willing, when Jeremy finishes his training, the couple hopes to serve on the mission field as medical missionaries.  Jeremy is pursuing internal medicine and pediatrics so he can see a wide age range of patients in the field.

Abigail is now a senior at Cedarville University, majoring in Biology, and will be applying for medical school next year.  This past year God has really spoken to her about her career.  Even though she had thought God might lead her along a different path from her brothers, Abby finally decided to pursue medical school as well.  She has been travelling with her parents to Asia to visit orphanages for years.   Abby’s heart is in Cambodia and Thailand where she hopes to serve when she finishes her training.

According to Ching Ching, all three of her children and the Lun family owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Melissa Burns, a Cedarville professor (See above photo).   Ching Ching elaborated as follows: “[Dr. Burns] has mentored all my kids, not just academically, but even more spiritually, into the persons that they are today.  All three of them can attest to her impact on them (and of course, coincidentally, they were all in the pre-meds program).”  She adds, “By the time they graduate, Dr. Burns becomes their lifelong friend.”

This Christmas, we thank God for the Advent of His Son and His gift of salvation-- Good News for all  people and for all nations.  And we also thank God for the Lun family and their calling to bring the message of New Life in Christ to the nations, especially Cambodia that was once reduced to ruins, ashes, and death.  Through the Lun's and other ministries of God's grace like theirs which serve the "whole person" in body, mind, and spirit, a new generation is sprouting from the ashes and ruins.

Lun's Advent Ministry in Cambodia
As we conclude this blog, Lapman and Ching Ching are still in Cambodia.  If you'd like a more personal exposure to their ministry and that of their partners, please use the links below.  Two links provide video recordings of Cambodian children and youth, respectively, expressing their vibrant faith.  The third link includes an account from Ching Ching's journal for December 15 as she and Lapman are serving with Bileg Solid Rock Missions. 

Cambodian Children singing:                     Click HERE.
Cambodian youth singing:                          Click HERE.
The Lun's at Bileg Solid Rock Missions:    Click HERE.

We close with the lovely poem, “Beauty for Ashes” and the Scripture from Isaiah 61 that spoke prophetically of the mission of Jesus Christ to all the nations, words that Jesus the Messiah read in the synagogue in Nazareth, 700 years later.  [CLICK on text box to enlarge.]