Meet Nicholas Wong, our first new staff writer!
“Hi! My name is Nick Wong, and I’m a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin.
A couple of fun facts:
-Tortillas are my third favorite carbohydrate
-I have cut my own hair before, and I do not think I will try again
-I frequently “go ham” when playing sports and thus injure myself
-I learned the word “tintinnabulation” in fifth grade
*slick segue*
To be honest, I’m not sure what I’m doing here on ASH, writing articles and such. I’ve never had an affinity for writing, and I find it really difficult to put my thoughts in well-crafted paragraphs. Even writing this short bio is making me stress a bit.
However, ever since I can remember I’ve felt empathy for the homeless when we pass them on the way to church or the grocery store or wherever. As a kid, I hadn’t quite reached the point of thinking “what can I do?” but had a vague sense of “this is unequal and not fair”. It didn’t help that the typical response of most families (including my own) was to stubbornly avoid eye contact until the weathered, limping figure had passed our car.
As I grew older, I encountered more and more opportunities to minister to the homeless. Bags of Grace contained necessities and a gospel message and were an intentional effort to meet the homeless’ physical and spiritual needs. These were definitely an upgrade from the meager few dollars we occasionally gave, but the exchange required very little commitment, and the person was very quickly left behind and forgotten. During the spring break of freshman year (high school), I went with my youth group to Houston to serve, among other groups, the Houston homeless. While there, we were encouraged to start conversations with the people and get to know their story. The first person I talked with was named Michael.
Michael. With just a name, this person became much more than just a person to be pitied. He had a family, he had hobbies, he had favorite foods. We talked for over an hour, sharing our lives and encouraging one another. While I haven’t had the chance to reconnect with him, our conversation has still stuck with me to this day, and I hope it has for him too.
When Isabella posted about expanding ASH’s efforts, I found that I couldn’t stop thinking about her need for more writers. I fought the urge for a while, telling myself that I was a bad writer, that someone better should take the position. However, now I think it was God convicting me to take this opportunity to act on the empathy I’ve always felt. As usual, God’s will prevailed so I messaged Isabella. And that’s how I ended up here writing about myself.
Beyond the base responsibilities of interviewing and writing, I hope to build lasting relationships with the people I meet. I hope to repeatedly see them and minister to their spiritual needs. I hope for commitment.”
Stay tuned for Nick’s first story and reflection, as well as a bigger post explaining ASH changes.
Welcome Nick!