I’ve returned from a week long vacation with my family. Next week is the start of a new school year so we took our two sons who had both been housebound to Rhossili in Wales, which takes about four and a half hours to get to.

We’ve been to Wales a few times on church retreats, but it was the first time that I’ve chosen it as a holiday destination. I’d heard that there are a lot of great mountains and seaside views, but my sons had been too young for a lengthy travel. But we decided to go as they are now more grown up; also, Pastor Sung Soo Lee, who had stayed at our place while in London, offered us a place to stay and to be our guide, as he serves a local church in the area. My wife had also wanted us to spend this vacation for our children, and Joshua had met Pastor Lee’s two daughters two weeks earlier at a Youth retreat, so we thought it would be comfortable for him as well.

We left at 9am and arrived at Rhossili at around 2pm. Pastor Lee’s wife brought us a lunch, which we shared, and walked up a hill and enjoyed the beautiful sea view in front of us. But Joshua said that he didn’t want to walk (regardless of how beautiful the view was) and that he wanted to go to the beach, so we went to Three Cliffs Bay nearby. It was a bit of a walk from the parking lot to the beach, but it was great to walk past the soft sand hill, reach the beach and watch the children build sand castles. We spent the next day at Tenby, caught clams and enjoyed the warm water and the beautiful weather.

Afterwards, we had dinner at Pastor Lee’s place and stayed up late talking to Pastor Lee and his wife. We listened to how the church that he was serving was able to offer him a visa, and learned more about his ministry in general. He had come to the UK during his sabbatical but had been called in a completely unexpected way to serve in the UK. So he went back to Korea, handed in his resignation and came back to the UK through a Wales missionary group. But due to an issue with extending his visa, he had to bid farewell to the church and return to Korea – which the head pastor was devastated about and asked Pastor Lee whether it would be possible for him to return if he had created a new sponsored position and invited him back.

Pastor Lee said that, while he was certain that God had called him, he didn’t think He would lead him in this way. It was really hard for them to wait while the head pastor strived to get approval for a visa that had never been applied for in the past, but eventually they made it back to the land that God had called them to serve. When Pastor Lee and his wife returned to Wales, the head pastor let them stay in their house for a week, which is pretty uncommon in the UK. Pastor Lee and his wife served alongside the head pastor and thanks to their presence, the head pastor was able to go on a sabbatical for a month. Even though it is in the UK, seeing the pastor serve in a church out in the countryside for a neighbourhood of council estates with for the poor and even some drug addicts, I am always thankful and touched by the pastor and his wife. Though it may not necessarily be seen by many, I am sure that our Lord will repay them having watched them throughout their efforts.