Stories

"...Hudson Taylor himself told the story of salvation to me great-great-grandfather. Each generation since has passed on the truth of Christ; it’s from my own family that I learned the gospel. But it’s also from them that I inherited the chains of cultural rules and expectations, a prison my family brought with them when they immigrated to America."

For four generations, it was clear that the oldest son their family was dedicated to Christian work; the others were dedicated to professional accomplishments. Cornelius was their second son, expected to be the intellectual and professional star.

But even in elementary school he struggled. He was a decent student, but the hard work it took to maintain a B average made it clear that he would never be accepted at a prestigious university. His cousins had chosen Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and the University of Chicago. The eldest son among his cousins dutifully took up the mantle of Christian work. The rest chose advanced degrees that led to respected careers.

Everyone around him was living up to the family code, but try as he could, Cornelius could not make the grade. He dreaded high school graduation, knowing he would fail the family system. But something else in the mix made it even harder on his parents.

Cornelius sipped his coffee and looked out the window. “I love sports and military history,” he said. “What I really wanted to do was go to West Point. But my parents couldn’t stand the idea. They had left Hong Kong as they saw the gathering storm, of World War II. Few things were more shameful to them than a military career. They forbade me to join the high-school ROTC, but I did it anyway.”

One of the lowest of his life, a day that twenty-seven years later still feels like a kick in the stomach, occurred in early September of his tenth-grade year. His parents surprised him by showing up as school during the drill practice. In full view of all his buddies, they yelled at Cornelius and the commanding officer. Cornelius dropped the class, but deep inside he vowed he would never give up again. He would stick to his guns and take more risk despite the heavyweight of his family’s disapproval.