A New Start, With 40 Days of Early Morning Prayer
Thanks to your prayers, I safely arrived in the States. When I tried to go through immigration last November, I was pulled aside and isolated from others at the airport for 2 hours, but this time there were no problems. I had a hard time with jet lag for the first 3 weeks. And it was stressful to make new relationships with new people in a new environment on top of the burden the language barrier. While it seemed like I was living the same pattern of my life here as it was in Korea—sleeping, eating, and meetings—but everything was totally different. My mind and body were stressed so my physical condition was not perfect.
God gave my husband and I a desire to start our new life with prayer. So we decided to have a special early morning prayer time for 40 days, which is not a common practice here in the States but it is in Korea. I believe that this time will be an opportunity to design the Lydia’s House ministry and set its foundation for the long-term.
The First Step for Adaptation, Spring Visitation Ministry
A goal for the first 4 years of my ministry as a missionary is to learn the culture, to experience this new life style, and to speak English fluently. I thought that the first step toward making relationships with the local people is by visiting them, so I’m making time to visit individual church members’ houses one by one. In Korea Christian culture, visitation ministry is common but it is a little different in the States. I think this is a sort of reverse-cultural mission. I want to share good Korean Christian practices with Americans.
Many people have told me, “I do not think that America needs mission work.” So it is hard for me to explain what I will do in the States and why I need to raise mission funds, but I believe that if they look deeply into the States, they can get the paradigm shift. I, as a Korean missionary, am trying to find out how to do mission work for Americans. I need your prayer and encouragement for this crucial step for my mission.
The First Missionary Guest Couple! Jerry & Barbara Sandoz with OMS
Last June 8-11, we had our very first missionary guest couple, Jerry and Barbara Sandoz. They served in Korea for over 20 years before coming back to the States to do ministry at OMS HQ. They are now retried, but they still go to Korea every summer for 2 months to teach English to the Korean missionary candidates at the Evangelical Missionary Training Center. I met them in Korea just last year, but I invited and welcomed them to Lydia’s House here in the States. It’s amazing. They were concerned about me because I’m starting to live in this new and strange environment, but they were surprised to find that I was doing well with local people and serving them in the midst of their own way of life. I only thank God for helping me. I feel that I’m learning and understanding little by little why God has sent me, so I believe that I can do my best according to His calling with thrill and expectation.
Upcoming guests
- June 25-30: Samuel Lee’s family (missionaries in Myanmar)
- October 23-30: Johnathan Park (the Korea Evangelical Missionary Training Center director) and his wife
The space to hold the hand of Jesus
- Prayer partner: I know that you are praying for the Lydia’s House wherever you live. But if you would like to be a key member of prayer for this ministry, please contact me, and I will share urgent prayer requests via text message or kakaotalk in real time.
- Financial supporter: Since this ministry is here to help and support missionaries, so some people do not think that I’m a missionary myself, which makes hard to raise support. If you and/or your church wants to financially support this ministry, please let me know, and I’ll explain more about those details directly.
(June 13, 2019)
