In Memory...

No Eye Has Seen

Adrian, left, with his doubles partner Yiming

Adrian was somebody who really affected my outlook on life. Early in my first year in senior high school, I had been selected as a member of our school's prestigious canoeing team. But it was difficult to adjust to the tough training reg imen on top of the already heavy academic work as a triple-science student. Adrian seemed to have everything you could want in a friend. He was my senior, really tall, a great canoeist who had won medals at the national level.

Yet he was humble, unobtrusive, and always had a ready smile, even in the midst of our training. The way he spoke to me calmed my fears. He was a worship leader in our campus Christian ministry , the Student Venture of the Campus Crusade for Christ. Compassionate, helpful, loyal - everything he did basically reminded me of God.

Then, the shock came, a phone call the night of the last Saturday of June. I had missed him on that day's training, and my friend called to tell me. En route cycling to training, he had stopped at a traffic light. A speeding car bore down on him, ramming his bicycle and flinging him several metres into the air. Even though he was wearing a crash helmet, he went into a comatose state.

That evening, as his parents and pastor were around his bed singing his praise choruses, God revealed to his mother Anne that He would take Adrian away. And amidst their worship and prayer, Adrian passed away without ever gaining consciousness. The newspaper headlines were "Canoeist saves lives even in death", for he had donated his organs for transplants in his death.

I was stunned speechless. That Monday, during the morning Student Venture worship, I fought back tears as they sang "Amazing Grace". Many of the canoeists went about with their eyes red from crying. His doubles partner (now an Army commando) would alternatively laugh and suddenly start crying at times. And during that afternoon's training, nobody said anything. It was tense, quiet grief.

Wednesday was the wake. We were greeted by a smiling lady who passed us the programme sheets, as well as a devotion Adrian had written which his family had found in his table drawer after his death. The lady was Anne! As each of us filed past the casket, the canoeist girls began to weep as we all saw the pale red wounds, only partially covered by the white funereal cloth. I remembered that the floor was wet with the tears of all who had stood there crying.

The funeral service began. It began with rousing praise choruses, like Hallelujah, Jesus is Alive! These seemed out of place, making sense only when we remembered that Adrian had gone to be with Jesus, and we have hope because we know Jesus is alive. It went on to worship songs like "Father We Declare" and "No Eye Has Seen" . There was a sermon, the sharing of testimonies by Adrian's family about how God had taken care of them even in Adrian's death, and ended with an exhortation for those who did not know Jesus to turn to him.

As a result of what God had done through Adrian's death, at least 17 people accepted Christ as their saviour. A Christian small group was started in our canoeing team. A book was published testifying of God's faithfulness. And most of all, it had impacted all of our lives permanently. It changed my life. Adrian had been so holy - why did God want to take him away of all people? It gave me a new perspective towards living life. Of appreciating every day as it was, of living in God and trusting in his plans no matter what they were, of living one's life focused on God and also on others. It redoubled my commitment to training and giving my best for God. And my life prayer became the words of this song, with its verse from 1 Cor 2:9

No eye has seen, no ear has heard,

The good that the Lord has prepared for those

Who wait on him to hear his will

'I am the potter and you are the clay".

Jesus take me in your hands and make me

All that you want me to be

Jesus help me understand your purpose

And what you can do through me

Fulfilling my destiny.

Roger Hodges, © 1995 CFN Music

Last edited Saturday, March 06, 1999

© Wesley Cheong 1999