Meet Scholarship Recipient: OnYou Song

The Multiracial Student Scholarship Fund is one of the strategies employed by the Office of Race Relations (ORR) to develop multiracial congregational leadership in the CRCNA. Recipients attend one of the higher learning institutions affiliated with the denomination—Calvin University, Dordt University, The King’s University, Redeemer University, Kuyper College, Trinity Christian College, and Calvin Theological Seminary. They have also expressed a strong desire to train for and to engage in the ministry of racial reconciliation in church and/or in community.

Through bountiful gifts given last year, the ORR was able to award scholarships to seven students for the 2020/21 school year. It’s our privilege to introduce you to OnYou Song, one of these seven recipients. Read her brief biography below and some of her thoughts on the importance of social justice.

My name is On You Song, and I am from South Korea. I am a student at Calvin Theological Seminary, studying in the master of arts program, and my major is Pastoral Care. It has been a great experience learning and studying at CTS, and God has been so gracious and loving in my life. I got married last June to Hoon Jae Lee, who is also a student at CTS. Living in a foreign country and especially studying in a second language has not been easy for me, but my husband is helping me a lot with everything, and I am grateful.

 

My family moved to South Africa so that my father could pursue his studies when I was in grade 1, and we lived there until I was in grade 5. I was young, but for about four years of living in South Africa, I experienced a lot of unfairness and injustice. I could see severe racism among white and black people. The gulf between the rich and poor was sharply shown everywhere.

 

What I have realized from back then was that there seem to have been differences from the outset. The outset decided the outcome. All the opportunities for living, such as education and job opportunities, were given to people who had money, and some people were discriminated against because of race. From this experience, I realized that an “equal outset” is an essential precondition for justice. Everyone needs to start equally from the beginning, not being discriminated against by their economic status, race, or gender. Only then will true judgment be carried out.

 

Isaiah 32:17 says, “The fruit of [the Lord’s] righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.” Justice brings peace to everyone because it eventually reveals what is right and what is evil. Proverbs 21:15 says, “When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.” I strongly claim that justice is important to everyone’s lives since it shows how much we follow and obey God’s law and his will. God created all of us equal, and that is his justice already. Now we are to show that justice by doing the right things and to walk sincerely and humbly with God (Micah 6:8).

If you feel led to support this valuable scholarship fund, please give online at this link. Your gift today will bless future students as they train for and prepare to engage in the ministry of racial reconciliation in church and in society. 

For those who wish to be considered for a scholarship from the Office of Race Relations, information and an application are found at this link.

2020/21 Race Relations Multiracial Student Scholarship recipients:

• Yah Hyun (Daniel) Kim - Calvin University
• Hoon Jae Lee - CTS
• Sunghak Yang - CTS
• "Joshua" - CTS
• OnYou Song - CTS
• Charles Kyalo Muting’a - CTS
• Nathan Roldan - Trinity Christian College