After the general meeting on Monday, I will be stepping down from my chairman position. With a busy life serving the church, missionary, as well as having to take care of my young children, I was reluctant to take the position initially. I felt I was not good enough to hold the important role but still did my best when I took charge. Now I look back and can only thank God for his love and support.

As our church became unable to hold the annual retreats, we turned to worship nights and invited pastors such as Pastor Han-yo Kim and Tae Gun Song. Every time we invited them, they kindly came a few days earlier and gave seminars and services for the Association of Korean churches in England. Everyone who attended received much grace and encouragement, to the point they would complement me that I had good connections.

For me, I can only confess that God made it happen and not to my plan. It was all by the grace of God. One of the events that took place was the retreat for ministry couples. We held the retreat at a charming hotel in Oxford for 2 nights and 3 days, having dinners in the surrounding restaurants. All the expenses were paid by the Singil Church in Seoul and through the words and testimonies of their Pastor Ki-Yong Lee and Mrs Mi Sun Park, many of the struggling couples found great comfort and grace.

I had always wished there were more seminars for pastors, but it was always impossible to do with the existing budget. Therefore, I was so grateful that we were able to hold the event with such ease. Another event we held was the two-day union seminar with Pastor Ki Sung Yoo. It was initially planned to be held as an evening seminar which later turned into a union. The service was very emotionally with many tears and we managed to receive many donations which allowed us to hold more events thereafter.

Another event was the City to City (British London Project) organisation set up by Pastor Tim Keller, inviting Korean pastors and missionaries to a hotel restaurant in Wimbledon Hill to serve meals, and hold a meeting with the intention of working in alliance with churches from various countries in London. An elderly pastor, who had spent his life in missionary, encouraged me saying ‘I’ve always longed for such meetings like this, and you made in happen Pastor Young Joo Lee’. In fact, it was the organisation who reached out to me for the event to happen.

All these important and meaningful events that gave such great grace were prepared and given to us by God. Despite the lack of funds at the Association, God made the way and provided us with more than we started with. It seems He knew that I could not fulfil my ministry properly alone that he rather filled me so richly with his love. There are times in our lives when these unexpected graces and blessings come from God. Therefore, we must live with hope and expectation rather than worry for the future.