For the 2023-2024 school year, the Associated Student Body has approved 29 new clubs, this being the last one being featured in alphabetical order. For the previous ones that have already been posted, be sure to go to the Feature section.
Growing up, junior Hochang Lee was a devoted Christian since his early elementary years.
Lee recalled his desire to attend church every Sunday. During his prayers, he even believed that God connected to him for the first time, starting in August 2019.
“There was no specific reason I know why [God] sent me signs at that time but I think it’s because he has plans for each and every one of us,” the junior said. “God told me about his love for people and told me to share that love and kindness.”
However, when COVID-19 struck, he transitioned to taking service on Zoom — hindering his belief as he questioned God’s existence and if his own faith and God’s message were genuine.
Then, in 2021, when Lee started returning to in-person church, he battled numerous personal issues that he declined to elaborate on. In the midst of his anguish, he sought God once again.
“He started to mend my broken heart and embraced me,” he said. “I think God allowed me to have these hardships to draw me closer to him.”
Ultimately, Lee’s devotion and his desire to help his friends led him to create his club, The Blessing.
“I wanted to challenge myself by helping others,” he said. “I think God’s mission for me was to help others overcome these [challenges] and give strength to people who are alone.”
The club’s name is inspired by Lee’s belief that God gave him a mission to start a club at Sunny Hills High School.
“The way God’s messages were sent to me wasn’t like actually speaking but more of these ideas that told me what he wanted from me,” the club president said. “I thought what God gave us was like a blessing so we have to share that blessing to others by sharing the gospel and who Jesus is, and what he died for.”
He presented the group as an alternative to the Hallelujah Club, another Christian club on campus, for students who are more comfortable with speaking in Korean or have difficulty with English.
Lee presented it to the Associated Student Body on Wednesday, Oct. 11, and it was approved on Tuesday, Oct. 24.
Even before he sought approval for the club, Lee and his Korean American friends in his sophomore year would gather in Room 14 every Friday to read the Bible and pray together. As more people, both Koreans and non-Koreans, started joining their group, he decided to make their meetings official activities as a club.
“It has been four years since I encountered God, but I didn’t have the courage to share the gospel on campus,” the president said. “During the second semester of my sophomore year, God sent me another sign to create a club and so I followed his will.”
After encountering students outside of the club expressing their personal concerns, Lee vowed to help them through his group, which is open to anyone, even those of other religions or atheists.
With more than 65% of members as Korean-speaking students, Lee said the meetings switch off from worship songs one week to small group gatherings another.
“I think he is doing a good job sharing the gospel and evangelizing through the club by creating small groups and reading from the Bible and trying to apply it to our own lives,” said sophomore Caitlyn Kwak, who attends the club regularly after hearing about it from her friends.
So far, the club has 30 members including those who are not Asians or Christians, and Lee wishes to expand the group by spreading the gospel.
“It was my friend’s club so I just went down to the first meeting on a whim because they invited me,” junior Luke Lawrence said. “Hochang switches it up between English and Korean and whenever I have trouble understanding, I just ask Hochang or one of my other friends in the club what they meant.”
Lee plans to invite friends and other students to come to off-campus club activities such as worship nights, where members can sing worship songs and play instruments at Grace Ministries International [GMI] Church located in Fullerton.
“We do these worship nights at Grace because it is one of the bigger churches close to this area,” the junior said. “However, the location of the church does not matter because the important thing is that we pray to God together.”
Lee hopes that the members he knows do not yet believe in God will eventually convert and Lee plans on helping their journey through group prayers and readings of the Bible.
“I think that religious activities in a group strengthen religious beliefs more than if it’s done alone,” he said. “This is just one of my plans on converting these members to Christianity.”
The Blessing meets every Wednesday at lunch in Room 97. For more information contact Lee at [email protected].
