Puzzle Pieces
This breath-taking love story vividly illustrates how the
Lord amazingly orchestrates every single detail of our lives,
just like putting tiny pieces of a puzzle together, to create
an awesome masterpiece. On December 1995, Angela
(not her real name), a budding young lady was struck with
a worship leader’s deep baritone voice during a Youth
Camp worship service. As she stood at the back of the
worship hall, she could hardly focus, because of the
authority that exuded from the tall, dark and handsome
man on the podium. Then, almost unconsciously, she
whispered a prayer, “Lord, I want to know that man. I
want to make a lasting impression in his life.”
Later on, in that three day camp, she found out that this
worship leader who goes by Dr. John (not his real name)
was a youth leader from another district. She was also her
district’s youth leader, but wondered why they never met
before. For the next 3 days of the camp, she attended his
seminars on purpose, hoping to have a chance to get to
know him in person. Yet, to her dismay, that chance never
came.
Little did she know that there was a more grand, more
dramatic scene that has been laid out for their first
meeting. On the last day of the camp,
one of the youth pastors had a sudden
ischemic heart attack. Dr. John, who
was in charge of first aid, was tasked
to take the pastor to the nearest
hospital. In the middle of this
emergency, Angela was also pushed
into the ambulance, because the camp
staff somehow knew that she was a
student of an allied medical profession.
All of a sudden, Angela was face to
face with John.
She should have been elated by the
fact that they are sitting right next to each other in a very
cramped vehicle, but there was no time for that because
the patient suddenly stopped breathing & didn’t have any
pulse...
“Do you know how to do CPR?” John asked
demandingly.
“Yes! No!” Angela replied hesitantly, “I mean, I
know the procedure, but I’ve never done it!”
“Just do it!” said John in a very assertive way.
Angela calmed herself and quickly remembered what
she had learned just a week ago in an Advanced First Aid
& Medical Emergencies Seminar that she attended in her
university. She did the chest compressions, while John
gave the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. After a few
minutes of CPR, the patient slightly coughed his pulse and
breathing went back to normal. But then, a few minutes
later, he lost his vital signs again and so, John & Angela
gave him another round of CPR. But this time, his body
was turning purple and neither breathing nor pulse was
palpable. Yet, thankfully, they arrived at the hospital just
in time and the patient survived. Once the patient had
7
By Eun Bin Cho
been stabilized, John walked up to Angela, introduced
himself and asked her phone number, commenting in a
very calm and reassuring way, “You were so brave out
there!”
Angela, speechless and still in shock with the sudden
turn of events recalled this time and said, "God indeed
answered my prayer. I made a lasting impression in his life
and got to know him more than just a pastor."
After the youth camp, she continuously prayed for him.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, but they
never got in touch with each other again. Nonetheless,
after six months of no contact, John unexpectedly
contacted Angela and visited her. But this visit broke her
heart as he told her about his mission trip to Cambodia.
To make things worse, he was leaving the following day!
Then, he continued, “There is this one lady that I am
praying for right now. I am sure she is the one that God
has planned to be my lifetime partner. Will you pray for
her?”
Not knowing who the special lady was, Angela was
crushed and depressed, but willingly said, “Sure, I will
pray for you… and her.”
Before John left, he gave her a
packet of songs and poems based on
Proverbs 31:10-31, describing a
virtuous wife. Then, Angela realized
that the ‘lady’ was her! She was
overwhelmed with joy and excitement,
but at the same time, was tortured
because she would not be able to see
John for several months. Although she
liked him and wanted to express her
feelings for him, she held it back and
kept praying, seeking for God’s confirmation from Scripture. Little did she
know, that John, too held back his feelings the first six
months after their first meeting in the ambulance because
he was praying and seeking for God’s confirmation. But
could not bear the pain of leaving without telling her that
his love for her had since the time of their first encounter.
While John was in Cambodia God allowed them to get
to know more about each other through exchanging
letters. When John came back from the long mission trip,
1997, she eventually expressed her feelings for him.
Finally, they got married in 2000. Since then, they had
been full-time missionaries. Angela and John faced many
ups and downs, yet they supported and truly cared for
each other. When they obediently followed God, trusting
His amazing plans, God faithfully protected them and
blessed them with three wonderful children, as well as
opened many doors of opportunity for them in the
mission field. Angela said, “My life is full of adventures,
but God has answered my prayers and guided my path.
When you trust and follow God’s ways, He blesses you so
much. I hope everyone in Mountainview will also follow
after God’s heart and believe in his good plans for them!”