可敬的阿姨和叔叔：
『我有限的語言限制了我的世界。』是20世紀其中一位最偉大的哲學家路德維希·維特根斯坦（Ludwig Wittgenstein）的名言。
與強調精確性和遵守規則的重要性的科學世界不同，文學和寫作恰恰相反——以作者選擇的任何形式和方向，表達思想和概念的自由，具體或抽象，所有這些都是為了追求探索、理解和分享。因為缺乏更好的詞，從字面上看，一切都沒有既定法律和規則的界限。在荷蘭的特文特大學修讀心理學一年後，我也渴望這種自由，從科學的極限中解脫出來，並將我的表達能力提高到一個新的水平，之後我將更自由地走下一步。這種願望並非沒有根據，因為我有更潛在的決心，要利用表達的言論來激勵他人。這源於我小時候移居烏干達，看到我的父母，以宣教士的工作，影響和改變了人們的生活。
除了渴望獲得自由和擴闊認知，我也渴望更多探索和了解這個世界。我喜歡理論化地研究情境和人物，以為這是選擇修讀心理學作為專業的基礎；然而，我很快便意識到自己喜歡剖析人類的行為，根植於挖掘人物和思想的聯繫和關聯，就像我在高中時，選修的英語和世界史課程所學習的，而不單是大腦的機械成分。然而，儘管如此，我發現學習思維比編碼和數據分析更有趣，令我驚訝和沮喪的是，編碼和數據分析佔據了這課程的75%。去年，我沒有清楚地了解課程大綱，因此沒有想過要做這麼多技術工作。不過，我從錯誤中吸取了教訓，因而在申請轉讀英語文學課程時，確保課程列出的科目是我想尋找學習的。我對比了不同大學的課程綱要，從中找出哪一個課程更符合我的意願。
當然，要轉換大學和修讀學系的決定絕不是一時之氣，而是經過多時的禱告，並祈求上帝引導我走上祂希望我走的路。我並不熱衷於賺錢，也不希冀過舒適的生活。那麼，我的目的是什麼呢？什麼是我的價值取向呢？我的未來目標是什麼？榮耀神。那麼，讓我成為作夢的人，透過我熱愛及認為有意義的媒介——寫作——來服侍和榮耀上帝，是多麼美妙！我相信，我的呼召不是坐在電腦後面做研究，也不是坐在治療師的椅子上去評估病人，而是通過言語觸動人心。畢竟，話語（上帝的話語）造出聖經，文字是向人們傳達上帝之愛的媒介（我想我絕對沒有不尊重其他的工作和領域，因為我們在基督的身體中都有不同的角色，我只是在我自己的角色中，發現了更多的意義，以至其他的事情對我來說是相形失色）。
以前，我從來沒有想過我將來會做什麼，而我選擇心理學僅僅是因為我對解碼人心有一些興趣。我從來沒有想過要事奉主。然而，在這一年裡，隨著與主的關係日深，我發現了我的呼召，是通過我的寫作來榮耀衪。
我已被英國的西英格蘭大學（簡稱UWE）英語文學和寫作課程錄取。為什麼我沒有單一選擇『創意寫作』作為一門課程，而加上英國文學呢？那是因為我也渴望瞭解世界和我們的社會，我相信一個人需要同時擴展語言能力和世界經驗，才能真正俘獲讀者的心。一個寫作者，不能知其一不知其二。
感謝所有在背後為我祈禱和支持我的人。你們的支持使我感到鼓舞和堅強。請繼續禱告，求主賜給我力量和毅力，使我走祂為我打開的道路，並讓祂繼續引導我不偏離祂的路。願上帝保佑你，也引導你。
由衷感謝
吳以勒
2022年8月13日
以勒將於2022年9月轉往英國的西英格蘭大學修讀英語文學和寫作課程，為期三年。一年學費港幣140,000元、住宿費40,000元、食用保險等55,000元，合共235,000元。請支持吳天德宣教士家庭，奉獻請註明「吳以勒大學教育資助」。
To all the lovely aunties and uncles:
“The limits of my language are the limits of my world.” Quote by Ludwig Wittgenstein, considered by some as the greatest philosopher of the 20th century.
Unlike the world of science, which stresses the importance of precision and adherence to rules, literature and writing is quite the opposite – the freedom of expressing ideas and concepts in any form and direction the writer chooses, concrete or abstract, all in the pursuit of exploring, understanding, and sharing, for a lack of a better word, literally everything without the boundaries of set laws and rules. After a year of studying BSc psychology in the University of Twente, I too, desire this freedom and release from the limitations of science, and to raise my skill of expression to the next level, after which I would unlock even further freedom. This desire is not ungrounded, as I have an even more underlying determination to use the freedom of expression to inspire others. This stemmed from moving to Uganda when I was a child and seeing my parents, who are missionaries, inspire and change people’s lives.
Aside from my desire to attain freedom and expand the limits of my world, I also have a hunger to explore and understand more about this world. I enjoy theorising and examining situations and characters, which my previous self-took as a base for choosing psychology as a major. However, I soon realized that my liking of dissecting people’s behaviours was rooted in unearthing connections and networks of characters and ideas (as in English class and AP World History that I took in high school), and not the actual mechanical components of the brain. Yet despite that, I found learning about the brain much more interesting than coding and doing data analysis, which, to my surprise and dismay, took up 75% of the course. Last year, I did not clearly look at the module components of the course and hence did not anticipate doing so much technical stuff. I learned from my mistake though, as recently applying for courses around English Literature I made sure to make a list of what I am looking for, and examined universities and their courses over the years to see which one checks the most points off the list.
Of course, this decision to change university and course was not made on a whim, rather I have prayed over time and asked God to guide me to path he wants me to take. I do not aspire to make money, nor do I aspire to live a comfortable life. So, what was my purpose? What do I value? What is my future objective? To glorify God. Well then, indulge the dreamer in me, but how wonderful would it be to serve and glorify God through a medium that I am passionate about and find most meaning in– writing! I believe that my calling is not to sit behind a computer doing research or leaning back on a therapist couch assessing a patient, but rather to touch people’s hearts through words. After all, words (God’s words) are what formed the Bible, and words are what convey God’s love to people, not bundles of data ready to be analysed (I mean absolutely no disrespect to all other jobs and fields, as we all have different roles in the body of Christ, but I just find much more meaning in my role that the others pale to me).
Before, I never thought much about what I would do in the future, hence I choose psychology simply because I had some interest in deciphering someone. I never thought much about serving the Lord. However, throughout this year, as I deepened my relationship with the Lord, I found my calling to glorify him through my writing.
I have been accepted into the English Literature and Writing course in the University of the West of England (or UWE for short). Why did I not choose to focus on Creative Writing as a course instead of English Literature then? That is because I also desire to understand the world and our society, and I believe that one needs to expand both language ability and world experience to truly be able to capture the reader’s heart; a writer cannot only have one or the other.
Thank you to everyone praying and supporting me from behind. I am encouraged and strengthened by your support. Please continue to pray that the Lord gives me strength and perseverance to walk the path he has opened for me, and for him to continue guiding me and me not to wander from his path. God bless you and guide you all too.
Kind Regards,
Jireh Wu
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