Thanks to your prayers and support, our 2020 Nehemiah Discipleship Camp (NDC) was successfully held from January 17th to February 1st. This year was our first camp and God poured His grace upon the eight North Korean refugee participants through the theme “Dream, Destiny, and Discipleship.” All eight participants were young adults who passed our screening and final interview process, who sought to discover their vision given by God. The following excerpts are from several of the students who participated in this program:
“Every moment of the journey to find a dream is filed with the love of God.”
“Everything from the start to the end is a high point.”
“Throughout this trip, I have gained self-confirmation that I want to do something valuable in life. I want to live a life that contributes to keep God’s love flowing into the world. This is the vision I found throughout the trip to the US.” (Read NaYeon’s full story.)
“This trip helped me find my vision and realize that this vision could only be achieved through staying in God’s presence.”
God-sent people and their serving hands in every part of the trip.
Throughout the 16-day trip, so many meals were served by those who have a heart for North Korea and for the displaced people scattered throughout the Asian continent. Wherever our program participants went, they felt the heart of God’s people, full of love and hope for North Korea.
“I used to think that I am a child of God and a worker for His Kingdom, but meeting those on the trip who were gladly willing to feed us and eager to know about North Korea made me rather embarrassed of myself because I felt as though they loved and cared for North Korea more than I do myself as a North Korean. I felt their sincerity. The encounters with the people on the trip helped me realize why God sent me on this trip.” – Anna (19)
”Thanks to all those who helped and served us on the trip, and the senior adults who called us the future of the world, I am now determined to do my best in accomplishing my dream.” – Deborah (23)
“I want to be like them. I want to live my life by sharing God’s love. I believe that living like them, as my role models, will shape me to be like Jesus. I would like to deeply thank God who planned this trip to be the turning point of my life, missionary Kenneth Bae who guided us on the trip, and all those who prepared the trip for us and whom I met on the trip.” – YaeIn (23)
“I cannot forget each single person at the church in San Francisco who visited us and invited us to dinner. They gave us New Year’s pocket money and shared with us their life experiences that testify as to God’s love. Above all, this trip was a time that I could fully relish the love of God.” – HaEun (22)
Home-stay families who opened their homes
In Seattle, WA, and San Francisco, CA, there were generous people who didn't have any relevance or acquaintance with the camp participants, but graciously opened their homes out of pure love for North Korea. Through their servant hearts God openly showed the students how much God loves them.
“The next morning, Sister Heather prepared American style breakfast for us. This truly touched my heart and made me tear up. It was the first breakfast in 6 years that I didn’t have to make myself. I could feel the motherly love that my heart always longed for. Thinking about it still makes me cry. I couldn’t figure out how I could feel this emotion from a stranger and why this person would show such kindness to me.” – YaeIn (23)
“What was memorable was the mother-like women who served us in Seattle. They welcomed us with such warm hearts and took care of us like their own children. It felt like the house I used to live in with my mom. I hadn’t experienced this since I escaped from North Korea. I feel regretful for not properly thanking them enough for such warm, loving hospitality that they showed us. I had such a warm-hearted and comfortable time there.” – HaEun (22)
Telling the story of North Korea to the world, North Korean Testimony Assembly
We had some time at an assembly in which the loved North Korean refugee students took up courage to sincerely share their story with other believers in the place. They shared about what was difficult in their lives while living in North Korea, how they came to South Korea, how they met God on their journey, and how to think, behave, and pray for North Korea. Throughout the stories told, the audience could feel God’s love for North Korea on a deeper level.
It was a heart-touching experience to meet the laypersons at local churches in places we visited and find out how so many believers have been praying for North Korea as they were shedding their tears while hugging the students like their own long-lost family.
“I have gained self-confirmation that I want to do something valuable in life. Living a valuable life is very important to me and makes my heart pound with zeal.
What made my heart zealous was when I stood up on the stage to share about my life, and North Korea. When I finished, and when someone else began speaking, I began to believe that there are many more valuable things I had not yet experienced or spoken about.
I want to express my appreciation and give back to God, and all of those people, who love North Korea. I want to live a life that contributes to keeping God’s love flowing into the world. This is the vision I discovered on the trip to the US.”
- NaYeon (23)
“From those I met at the churches we visited in the US who have been praying for North Korea, I could truly feel that God has never neglected North Korea.” – YaeIn (23)
“The trip helped me realize that so many people in the world have been praying for North Korea. I have heard of this, but witnessing it myself was a shocking experience that made me embarrassed of myself for not doing my best in praying for my own country.” – Daniel (20)
Journey to Find a Dream: Vision Session
We met up with the “Vision Acts Ministry” team working in Irvine, CA. The students attended a program called “High Five! – Process toward Achieving Vision”, which consisted of five sessions given by coaches Peter Kim, GyuHo Jeong, and Esther Yoon. Through our time together, each student had time to discover the vision and mission God has planted in their lives.
“The highlight of the camp for me was Pastor Peter’s lecture on ‘Vision and Mission’. I realized that the best thing we can all do for North Korea is prayer.” – Daniel (20)
“Vision coaches helped me find my vision and mission in God.The time I completely surrendered to God was when I stood in front of the candles and prayer list at the church I went with the coaches. I came to a grand realization when I confessed to give God my life that had been marked by rebellion against him. In that moment God proved Himself to be a truly living God to me, who has been unfaithful all along, through the collective experiences of coming all the way to the US and finding His messages by listening to the ones who gave lectures and testimonies.” –
YaeIn (23)
“The trip helped me find my vision and realize that I could only achieve it through living my life in God. It was crystal clear to me that God made the trip possible for us. I cannot thank God enough for allowing us to adore him, relish so many possibilities, and experience so much happiness.” – Anna (19)
Visiting colleges and US giant companies like Google:
As part of the vision sessions on the trip we visited Washington University, Stanford University, Google headquarters, and Apple Park. At Google, an employee gave us a company tour and explained to us in detail about what we should do to prepare to be hired by a company like theirs, what their employee benefits are, and what the company expects from their prospective applicants. It was a time for us to be able to create a blueprint on how to plan and achieve our lives, our vision, and mission.
“Visiting Google and Apple made me envious of their employees and gave me a great stimulation for challenge.” – Daniel (20)
“Having a campus tour was fantastic and my perspectives on the school also changed for the better. This ultimately became an opportunity to get to know myself better and find my dream.” – HaEun (23)
The 16-day trip was expressed as ‘the light of their life’ by the North Korean refugee students, filled with God’s gifts for them to experience cultural diversity, to receive God’s love through the serving hearts of God’s people there, to find out individual’s ‘original design’ for their existence all planned by God, and to spread the hope for North Korea and its reunification with South Korea.
We would like to express our gratitude for your prayer and loving support to the students who received the gift of the time of their life.
Through this experience, the students could also see a bigger world, have a moment to realize how many people have been praying for them and desiring to share God’s love with them.
The students found an opportunity to breathe, experience freedom and love, and encouragement in their heart to keep going and never give up on life.
Despite the many successes of this trip, we still have areas of personal support and funding that have yet to be fulfilled. At this time we are asking for two things.
Firstly, we ask that you extend your hands in prayer support for our participants. We strongly believe that God worked miracles in the hearts of each North Korean refugee student during this trip. Because of what we witnessed and have felt, we hold these eight students in continuous prayer, asking that their lives would continue to be strengthened, their hearts and souls restored, and that they would grow in faith to be the leaders of the Nehemiah movement for generations to come.
Secondly, we ask that you partner with us financially to ensure that these eight individuals, and countless more to come, would be able to continue to grow in Christ Jesus and experience a vision for their futures.
If your organization or institution is interested in partnering with NGI in this area ministry, please reach us at 02-63-8488 or click the link below.
Credits:
다음 제작자의 이미지로 제작됨: Rebecca Peterson-Hall - "@thevibrantmachine holding candle in october"