Eric Peng CSM Group Leader |
Every so
often, God causes individuals to make small cameos in our life stories in such
a way that they drastically alter the plots of our narratives. Such was Eric
Peng’s experience with Robert*, whom he met on a CSM trip to Chicago. At the
time, Robert was a homeless man begging on the streets. It would have been easy
for him to fade into the background of Eric’s story, but God had a different
plan. He amplified Robert’s voice to the point that it awakened a dormant
passion for inner city ministry. This is the story of Eric Peng’s life
interrupted.
Eric Peng
is an associate pastor at The Ninth Hour in Chicago. During his years attaining
his Master of Divinity at Moody Theological Seminary, he was a youth pastor at Hanmee
Presbyterian Church in Itasca, Illinois, where he met his wife Janice, who was
the children’s pastor at the time. He would lead mission trips with his
students to Honduras. As he saw the problems going on in Chicago, he questioned
why the church was not addressing the issues in its own city before sending
people abroad. He researched inner city missions organizations and came across
CSM. He brought his students for a week-long trip in Chicago, during which they
served at By the Hand Club for Kids, a children’s ministry and after-school program
that serves four of the most poverty-stricken neighborhoods in Chicago. In a CSM
activity called “Immersion” in which his group was sent to explore the downtown
area, they spotted a homeless man named Robert holding a sign that said “God
Bless You.” He was begging pedestrians for a week-long train pass so he could
sleep on the train. As Eric and his students talked to Robert, they were encouraged
by his godliness and positivity as well as his thankfulness despite his circumstances.
A year later, they came to Chicago with CSM again, and they came across Robert,
still in the same place begging. He was genuinely surprised that Eric recognized
him. As his group left Chicago, Eric was troubled by the brokenness of poverty.
He thought to himself, “The gospel has
to be good news for people like Robert, for the least of these.” He noted that
to love neighbor as self is an inextricable part of God’s greatest commandment
that we often forget. He later attended a conference where Francis Chan spoke,
and he was convicted by the heart Jesus had for the marginalized, healing them
spiritually, physically, and socioeconomically.
Eric could
not ignore the change that had taken place in his heart. He became an associate
pastor at The Ninth Hour, a church on the Near West Side of Chicago that
strives to address inner city issues like racial and social justice. For a
year, he commuted to work from Palatine, a Chicago suburb. Finally, God called
him to dwell in the inner city as well. At The Ninth Hour, Eric and Janice,
along with several other church members, helped launch The Ninth Hour
Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization that strives to improve the surrounding
impoverished community; Janice is a board member of the organization. As a part
of his job, Eric constantly works to partner his church with ministries that
understand the needs of the community and are working to bring about social
justice, which Eric has come to firmly believe is at the heart of the gospel.
Furthermore, after initially falling in love with the holistic ministry of By
the Hand Club for Kids on his first CSM trip, Eric started working as a
volunteer recruiter and trainer for the organization.
God has a
habit of shaking up our plans. Eric Peng could not have anticipated the degree
to which his encounter with Robert would redirect his life. What is truly
incredible is the heart change that took place in Eric as a result. The human
heart is a force to be reckoned with, and it cannot be changed apart from the
work of the Holy Spirit. Years later, as Eric visited one of By the Hand’s
ministry partners, he saw Robert at the intersection where he had seen him
twice before. God reminded Eric of how profoundly He had interrupted his life. Eric
is an example of what happens when we allow God to speak louder than us over
our own lives. As Proverbs 19:21 (ESV) says, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the
purpose of the Lord that will stand.” May we eagerly await God’s divine
interruption of our plans on a daily basis.
*Name has been changed
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