6a

A few weeks after Jimmy had bought Barbara stinky tofu, he showed up at their church. When the family was just getting seated after waiting until Isaiah had dragged himself into a seat, Barbara noticed that Jimmy was sitting in a pew near the back.

She nudged Carol with a giggle, then as discretely as a giggly 18 year old could get, pointed at Jimmy. Carol turned three shades of pink before settling on a darker purple hue and the changes made Barbara giggle more. Poking them in the back, Simon pointed to a pew.

After the singing and tithing, a small bespectacled unassuming man took the podium and the Ching family collectively gasped: it was Sung Mok Sze, Reverend Sung, the one who had baptized all three Ching family children as well as all their cousins. Hallelujah, he had made it out of the Communists' grasp! Sarah beamed at her family as if it was her surprise, since she had played piano as well for the previous service and knew about his presence.

The affection with which the mostly Shanghainese audience showered on the good Reverend would've surprised the current Pastor of the church, if he hadn't just witnessed in the previous service. In 1946, his church consisted of mostly southern Chinese who'd emigrated to Macau in search of a better life than life in rural China but now, his church had been taken over by the Shanghainese refugees. It was amazing how many protestants came from up north. Here, in the south, the heavier influence had been catholic.

So, when Reverend Sung contacted him from Hong Kong and confirmed the large presence of Shanghainese in Macau, they quickly arranged for this surprise visit. It was a good move; Reverend Wong could see his congregation visibly perk up.

Revereng Sung had specifically asked about Isaiah and was saddened to learn of his stroke. He hadn't been surprised to learn of Sarah's immediate volunteering to take over piano duties and was glad to hear that Carol seemed to follow in the elders' footsteps of service to the church. What of the two younger, he wanted to know and in order to do that, he had decided to stay the week.

Barbara loved having Reverend Sung around. He'd always been a sweet, benign person to be around, one that people tried to make laugh because his laugh was so infectious. Even Simon enjoyed having him around and Simon liked very few people.

After the sermon, Sarah rushed over to tell her family that they were going out for dinner. Isaiah looked at her with surprise, and she said to him, "I'm going home to press your best suit. You are going to look so handsome. I've been saving for a special occasion and I guess this is going to be it." She straightened up his tie, beaming at him.

[478 words]