After graduating, I began my first overseas chapter through a Working Holiday in Australia. Being thrown into a completely unfamiliar land, I had no choice but to cling to the Lord as I searched for a home and a job and tried to build stability in life. In that season, the Lord allowed me to see how he was at work, and I don’t even know how many times I shed tears of gratitude. When I was so happy living in Australia, the Lord led me to a different land, and he has now guided me all the way to the UK.
When I arrived in the UK, it was D-30 before my visa expired. Yet God enabled me to attend early morning prayer and worship, and he provided me with a job in London. In addition, he also opened the door for me to serve as a teacher at a Korean school on weekends, where I can pour out the love I have received. It may look like everything has gone smoothly, but when I look back, I realise that countless past struggles became stepping stones – and I have experienced again and again that God’s timing is always perfectly fitted to my life.
In Korea, I had attended one church for over 15 years, so I never really had the opportunity to experience other churches. Perhaps because of that, it took quite some time in the UK before I could settle into a church. After visiting several churches – including a local church near my flat and even a Hillsong service – I eventually arrived at God’s Vision Church (GVC).
For the past two years in London, I often felt like I was only passing through, like a temporary resident. But the church felt like a place I could truly belong. When I walked into the first Wednesday service, I felt as if the church opened its arms and warmly embraced me like a lamb – and a deep certainty rose in my heart: “This is the church the Lord has sent me to.”
After completing four weeks of the New Family course, I was placed into the Joonyoung Cell, and there I began to experience community again in a fresh way. I could have remained lightly involved, as if this were just another passing season, but the leader’s warm care and responsibility for each person, and the way we shared similar concerns as young adults – giving and receiving courage and challenge – helped me feel the love flowing within this cell community. Through those moments, I naturally came to hear and share stories of how God comes to each person in different ways in the middle of their lives.
The B2B and B2C discipleship training I received at GVC became my first serious Bible study, and a precious time that strengthened the foundation of my faith. Scriptures that I previously knew only as information became something I understood more clearly, and through the pastor’s preaching – where the Word was applied and delivered with power – the message came alive in my heart again. What I had once only heard others say, I began to experience personally: “The Word is alive and active” – “It has life-giving power.” My thoughts, once shaped by the world’s perspective, gradually began to change, and the centre of my heart was re-established in the Lord. Through God’s plan, he not only helped me dream again at Dreaming Church, but also lifted my eyes to see God’s dream – and he introduced me to precious co-workers who will walk this journey with me.
Through the grace God has shown me in the UK, and through the love I have received from this community, I want to pour that love back into Korea. I want to continue walking in obedience to what pleases God, and become someone who faithfully lives as the light and salt of the world. We do not know what path God will open next, but I look forward to what lies ahead as I continue walking together within his perfect plan and timing. I pray that we will keep experiencing the God who works for us in GVC, held in his protection and love – and I would like to express heartfelt thanks to our pastor, the Joonyoung Cell, and everyone.
