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Dear Po,

Hi! This is Letitia and the last time i've seen you was probably a two-three weeks ago at the YSF bible study at EKC. You've really impacted my life a lot. I've had my ups and downs with God but now i'm pretty much stable with Him. You've influenced me alot, and I'd like the thank you for it. You're funny, considerate, and loving. Whenever you used to crack jokes, i'd always laugh- they were so funny!

I still remember when you dared my sister to stuff a whole icecream sandwich in her mouth! I think she did and succeeded then i still remember when at the Fear Factor in the Youth sleepover, nobody could beat you in finishing 3 bananas in the least amount of time.

also, remember when i was competing with the other teams and our 'fear factor' was to catch and hold a goldfish in our mouths for like 10 seconds? I had never done that before and i was scared. when it was in my mouth, i thought i was seriously going to throw up! then you were like counting down, "10...9....8.....7...6...5..4.321" then i quickly spit out the goldfish and everyone was like "hey po! that's not fair!" then you said "Hey, Letitia looked like she was going to throw up so i had to count down faster!" haha that was so nice of you i think if you had not counted down faster, i would of really thrown up haha

hahahaha that was really funny. I'll never forget all the things you've taught me. =]

I miss you already and it makes me really sad that i'll never see you again, but then, it's nice to know that you're up in heaven with God.

I'll see ya in heaven someday, Po!!

Love,

Letitia Jap

Father, I love the way You hold me close and say my name. I know when my life is through, my heart will find its home in You. And this is my song of praise to You, for who You are and all that You do. From the moment my life began, You have been faithful. You will be faithful. Forever faithful, my Father.

I can't even remember when I first met Po. Being a pew baby, it was like he was always there, always a part of the church family. He influenced me the most in my middle school years. He was the speaker at YFC 2002, and at YC that same year. His lessons were some of the first I had heard about an actual relationship with Christ. Before, it had been all about grade school Bible stories, but through those sermons I was able to see there was a lot more to Christianity than what I knew.

I admit that I don't have a lot of recent memories about Po. The last time I saw him was at "Little Ling's" wedding. But he was one of the few counselors to bluntly tell me to grow up, to tell me I needed to step it up. Very few counselors have been willing to do that. They'll go to my parents or my aunt instead and tell them how I've been behaving- I guess I scared them too much of confrontation. But Po was so upfront and so bold, and I really had a lot of respect for that.

He was one of the first guys outside of my family that I'd cried in front of. And yet he always was there to make me feel welcome. One Sunday, during my lip gloss phase in middle school, when I wore 5 different shades at one time, and layered the stuff on endlessly, he made me put this dark purple lip gloss on him. I thought it was the funniest thing, it was absolutely hilarious. He wasn't afraid to be weird with me, and it made me feel accepted.

John 12:24-26 (NIV)- "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."

I know this isn't fruitless. There were a ton of tears at YSF Camp, and I know that through this experience, our youth have been brought closer together. Other seeds have been sown, as well. But sometimes I still find myself asking why. I know that God never makes bad calls. And I'm sure that in retrospect we'll be able to understand this a lot more, we'll be able to see the big picture, but it is so hard right now for me not to only see what is right in front of me. ~Lauren Redfield

1 Corinthians 13:12 (MSG)- We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!