by Grace Wu
On a Friday night in Solis Hall at UCSD, there is a pregnant woman sitting among a lecture hall full of loud, boisterous college students. She is Angella An, one of LBC’s mothers-to-be. She serves on College Life with Hansol, her husband of two years, in leading small groups.
“After one year of being in singles’ ministry [after graduating from college], I started getting adjusted to it, but Hansol wanted to serve on College Life. We were going to get married then, so I wanted to be where he was,” Angella said.
For Hansol, serving on College Life is something near and dear to his heart. During Hansol’s college days at SDSU, he lived with several of the LBC “veteran” guys. Although he was already committed to another church during his freshman year, Hansol’s dedication died down to the point where he started sleeping in on Sunday mornings and skipping church altogether. However, Hansol’s church attendance completely changed when Steve invited him to LBC, which, at the time, started at 1 p.m. precluding his using sleep as an excuse.
“When I went to LBC, I had never been taught so much truth up-front. Everyone there was a good example to me. After that, there was no reason to leave,” Hansol said.
Attending LBC was a major reason why Hansol had a very memorable college experience. The older Lighthouse members set a godly example for him, inspiring him to emulate them.
“I wanted to do the same for the collegians. I didn’t want others to have unqualified small group leaders like I did in the past,” Hansol said.
Previously in the Flocks format, Hansol’s small group was composed of all single adult men. This made it difficult for both male collegians and Hansol to know each other outside the context of Sunday services. With the change from Flocks to affinity groups, Hansol was presented the perfect opportunity to be an active part of the lives of many collegians.
“This is what I wanted—a consistent college group. It allows me to be more involved and know more [collegians],” Hansol said.
For Angella, her commitment to LBC fluctuated in her freshman year of college. She went back and forth between her home church and LBC until her sophomore year, which was when Angella finally became consistent in her attendance at LBC.
When Angella compares LBC’s current collegians to her collegiate self from over six years ago, she is encouraged at what she sees.
“A lot of the collegians are more ahead in their Christian walk than when I was in college. They challenge me too in being convicted and seeing change in their lives,” Angella said.
“The collegians try to apply what they learn, more so than the older people. You can see people’s lives changing quarter to quarter,” Hansol said.
Outside of the college ministry, Hansol and Angella still find fellowship with the married couples outside of Family Flock time.
“We call it the ‘Fellowship of the Rings’,” Angella joked.
This cleverly named fellowship group is actually an informal married couples’ book club at LBC. They are currently reading over The Excellent Wife and The Exemplary Husband, though the book club has recently been on hiatus.
“It’s because everyone’s been getting pregnant,” Angella laughed.
This includes the Ans. They also have an important ministry outside of collegians and other married couples—their future family. With their first child being born very soon, the Ans have a lot to think about for the future for themselves and their son. Angella, in planning for her family, is watching the other moms at church to learn about the joys, stresses, and blessings of motherhood. While Hansol isn’t exactly rushing back to be on Nursery again as the only male worker there, he is still doing his part in readying himself for fatherhood. As of late, his thoughts about fatherhood have been centered on discipline, raising his son with godliness, and especially his son’s salvation.
“I’m at peace with knowing that I can’t save my child. I’ll leave it up to God but I’ll do my part,” Hansol said.