News > North America

God who was with me in New Jersey

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you" (John 15:7).

On Jan. 1, 2010, by God's one-sided grace, I arrived at Fordham Law School in New Jersey along with my family as an exchange professor. This was possible through an exchange agreement between the Ford Ham Law School and the Univ. of Sungkunkwan Law School in Korea. God prepared a beautiful home and environment for us so that my two daughters could walk to school freely.  

Our biggest prayer topic was for our two daughters to have confidence in mastering their English studies while they stayed in New Jersey for a year. We could do nothing but pray, and God answered our prayer and blessed them to grow tremendously both spiritually and physically. We especially thank God for Priscilla's internal growth through one-to-one Bible study with M. Rebecca. She has changed from a shy girl to an active girl, presenting her opinions well and growing in confidence. During our Bible academy, she did a very good job when she served in the drama as a main actor speaking in English. My second daughter Miso was known as an exemplary student in Korea, but we were concerned about her shyness. But she also overcame herself through sharing testimonies and playing an instrument.     

As for me, I tried to invite students to Bible study, but because of the language barrier, I often had to say, "I beg your pardon?" and then I was disappointed and easily gave up. But when I continued to pray to God, he blessed me to bring Brother Travor to the summer Bible conference through the help of many co-workers. His small wish is to find his biological parents in Korea since he was adopted in the USA when he was a little baby. After the summer conference, he has not come to the worship service, but I am continuing to pray for him to come back to God.

M. Joanna and I often went to visit Princeton University and prayed together in front of the lion statue at the campus, the emblem of the university, for the raising of 12 disciples of Jesus from this campus. I believe that God will accept our prayer and raise 12 disciples of Jesus from this campus in his time.

Sometimes I also went to the Fordham Law School located in Manhattan, New York. There I also visited M. Caleb and Pauline who are pioneering Columbia Univ. and New York Univ. and prayed with them. Their prayer is to raise Brother David as a disciple of Jesus.

For our Easter Bible conference, unexpectedly, I was recommended to be an Easter speaker by David. By the grace of God, I could serve the message in English, though I had some language difficulties. Through this, I accepted God's deep love for me, though I am undeserving. During preparation of the message, I prayed that I might first receive one word of God from the passage and shouted aloud the key verse, John 11:25-26, to plant it in my heart. "Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’” I realized that God wanted me to live by resurrection faith beyond my reason and experience. I was pursuing the things of the world and became a slave to fear like Jacob who was trembling in front of the Jabok River out of fear of his brother Esau. God urged me to have faith in God through the word, "Do you believe this?" I confessed, "Yes, Lord! I do believe." Then God blessed me with heavenly peace and joy in my heart. God also worked mightily in my wife M. Joanna's heart by comforting and healing her of all her inner sufferings. 

Afterward, God allowed us to visit co-workers from other chapters in the USA and in Canada, such as M. William of Boston, M. Jeremiah's family of Connecticut, and M. Paulus' family of Humber. We had good fellowship with them and prayed together with them. We could also see M. Timothy and pray for his health and also see M. Maria and David who were happily serving the Humber ministry. Also, during these travels, we had a good time in conversation and fellowship with my two children.   

God blessed me to join the Midwest Summer Bible Conference in July 2010 through Dr. John’s direction. On the way there, we visited M. Sam and Hannah Zun at Cincinnati UBF and also M. Paul Choi's family and Dr. Augustine Suh's family at St. Louis UBF. M. Paul Choi is praying for his health, and M. Augustine Suh is praying to get a green card.

At the Midwest conference, one of the things I learned was that UBF second generations should succeed their parent’s spiritual legacy. I was especially moved by Dr. John Lee Jr.'s presentation on actively serving the Springfield ministry, following their parent’s spiritual legacy.  After the conference, New Jersey UBF prepared its own summer Bible conference. This conference was composed of second gen messengers, such as Jonah, John Jr., Joseph, and James. Most of them prepared messages that were full of God’s grace and deep repentance. By God's grace, I could lead the group Bible study and direct the drama. Brother Travor attended the conference and we were all happy for him.

In September, we attended Germany UBF’s 30^th anniversary worship and conference. After the conference, we had beautiful fellowship with co-workers from Koln UBF: M. Abraham and Sarah, Volker and Maria, and Marcos and Anna. We also went to visit M. Pauline and Paulus of Berlin UBF for a week. M. Pauline went to Germany as a nurse, but by faith, she challenged herself to become a specialist, and finally, she became an internal doctor in Germany and got citizenship as well. We also visited Stephanie and Rafael’s family, who we had served when we were in Germany.  

In December, we revisited Chicago UBF in order to teach our children the history of the UBF ministry. We were warmly welcomed by M. Luke and Pauline's family, along with M. Mark and Blessing's family.  

Then we were led to M. Grace's home and could have a look around the house and see the late Dr. Lee's study room. We were impressed by a large amount of accumulated letters from all around the world along with many kinds of books. It showed that the late Dr. Lee was a real scholar who studied all the days of his life. We also visited Dr. Lee's tomb and received Dr. Lee's legacy, "Go back to the Bible," by M. Grace. After that, we were invited to Mother Barry’s home for dinner. During our conversation, I learned that she is a prayer servant for all the missionaries throughout the world because she remembers all their detailed prayer topics, including mine, despite her old age. 

Most New Jersey missionaries are stable financially through M. John's company and through the Honors Review School run by M. Grace. David and Jason co-work well together as the foundation of the ministry. While we were there, we saw that the second gen missionaries are growing, such as Daniel and Joseph from Q., Peter and Hannah from Nigeria, Daniel and Noah from Libya, and David from Russia. God accepted the sacrifice and devotion of New Jersey missionaries and raised 5 disciples in 2010 – Maria, Chanmi, Jane, Chiafu, and Oxillia. There are also newcomers, Isabela and Jimila, and others who are growing.

New Jersey Prayer Topics:

1. Sunday messengers (John, Peter, David, Jason)

2. Raise 12 disciples from Rutgers Univ. and Princeton Univ. in 2011

3. Establish godly families among second gen missionaries and leaders (Joseph Jr., John Jr., Jona, James, and Maria)

We thank God for blessing my short-term missionary life with many blessings. I pray that God may continue to bless both the campus discipleship ministry and the raising of second gens with good harmony. May God make North America to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. May God continue to help me to remain in Jesus’ love and to bear much fruit spiritually and physically for the glory of God.    

One Word: We will remain in God along with my children

Pics