When I came to the UK in 2008, I thought that the association of churches was of utmost importance. So, in the same month that I came, when I heard there was a gathering of pastors of Korean churches in the UK, I bought a watermelon and went to introduce myself. There was a pastor there who was pleased with my actions and, in the next year when he became the group’s president, gave me the important role of secretary. At that time all the group’s documents needed to go through the post, but I didn’t know the different kinds of mail and my English was not very good. I even remember bringing another pastor with me to the post office to help me buy stamps. Through this position I was able to quickly learn about other churches’ situations and our church’s role in a foreign country and it helped me adjust to life in the UK.

After that I became busy with the church and welcomed two sons into the world, so I didn’t have time to serve the association of Korean churches in the UK. Because I was so devoted to the church and missions, I wasn’t able to be a good husband nor a good father and serving the church association would have been too much. Even now, my youngest son Yeo Joon is in Year 1 so I need to help with bringing him to and from school and when he comes home from school he is always asking, “Dad, play with me!” I can only refuse him because I need to prepare for a meeting once or twice. If I kept telling him “no” I would feel sorry.

Since a few years ago I heard several times “Shouldn’t you serve the association as vice president?” If you become the vice president, the next year you automatically become president of the association. The position of president is not an honorary position but is a position of pure service and although I am always thinking that I want to serve in that way I lack confidence. My wife is at a turning point in her life so it’s difficult for her to do all the housework for our large family by herself and I can’t not help. Besides Yeo Joon, I also need to parent my second-youngest son Joshua so I can’t even think of becoming the association president.

I’ve also received requests to serve the group in other positions and turned them down, but I was so sorry to do so that this year I served in an “external relations” position. Because I am extroverted, I enjoyed meeting people but after serving for a year I still felt like it was a little too much. This is especially because of the new church service we started in Wimbledon from April and the new ministries we will start from the new year. Because we were focused on missions within London the past few years we weren’t able to go to India which we want to for a short-term mission trip next year and we also want to serve diaspora churches in London by gathering the church leaders together and performing a survey. We also want to revitalize attempts we have made in the past to form groups within the church according to field of study or field of employment so that we can help people live as Christians in their respective roles. Additionally, at present we have many second-generation Koreans and foreigners with interest in Korea attending our church so we want to raise up a multicultural church.

All of these things won’t be accomplished just because I say that I want them to happen. God needs to pour out his grace and our church members need to work together to make these things happen, so I am just writing down my thoughts here. There is an associated churches meeting this Monday. I pray that the pastors who I will meet will understand my situation with generous hearts. However, if the diaspora church mission program gets established and the important ministry programs we have planned settle in, I want to work together with the pastors of the associated churches with God’s grace and his many blessings. “God, please make it so.”