A Mission Letter from Korr in Kenya, Africa

“When Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said, ‘Zacchaeus, come down quickly. I must stay at your house today.’” (Luke 19:5) Greetings from Korr in this beautiful season of fruitfulness. Here in Korr, the drought is still severe, and dust surrounds us like a wall reaching halfway up the mountains. Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, must have been wealthy and perhaps rather heavy, yet he set aside his dignity and climbed a tree because he wanted to see Jesus. Jesus came to him and brought him salvation. As we reflect on this, we are reminded once again that Jesus does not turn away those who come to him, but loves them. We pray that you, our dear supporters, will also be filled with this longing for our Lord.

1. The Dedication of Longumo Church The dedication of Longumo Church (롱구모 교회), which had been under construction, took place in July. Baul Church (바울교회) and Korea Food for the Hungry International (KFHI), who have been alongside us since we were sent out in 2003, joined us. Our father and mother, who turn 80 this year and next year respectively, came with our home church. The children’s brass band in Korr, together with pastors and members of the AIC denomination in Korr, came to celebrate, and the whole congregation shared in the feast. What made the day especially meaningful was remembering the South African missionaries who had served in Korr for 30 years, beginning in the 1980s, before retiring. Longumo village was a place where they had shared the gospel and poured out so much love. We felt that we were witnessing God bringing their work to fruition through us, the missionaries who followed them. It was a precious dedication service, reminding us that when seeds are sown in God, he brings his purposes to fulfillment without going back on them.

2. Choir Camp During the local schools’ holiday in August, we held a choir camp. For three days, we read the New Testament volume of Wonderful Story (원더풀 스토리) together, shared God’s Word with the children, and spent time in prayer. On the last day, each group chose a story to act out—Zacchaeus, Bartimaeus, the five loaves and two fish, and others. They prepared costumes and props and took it all so seriously. They were truly a delight to watch, and we were so proud of them. This camp focused more on reading the Word than on singing. Our prayer and blessing for these children is that, as they read the stories and learn them through acting them out, they will never forget the Lord’s Word, but live it out throughout their lives.

3. Youth Camp and Scholarship Distribution In August, we hold a youth camp for the high school students in our sponsorship program. Young adults and teenagers from Dubsahai Church (둡사하이 교회) joined the sponsored students for the camp. This time, we asked the students to draw a graph of their lives and share their life stories in pairs. On the second day, they spent time identifying one another’s strengths. Seeing their eyes light up as they spoke about moments in their lives that had made them proud reminded us once again that God’s beautiful image is imprinted on each of them. In September, scholarships were given to more than 190 students in all, including high school students and a small number of university students. Thank you so much for supporting the dreams of Korr’s children. These scholarships provide very practical and significant help.

4. Literacy Class Graduation When the South African missionaries were serving in Korr, they established literacy classes for women and other adults who had never had the opportunity to attend school. Their purpose was to help people learn to read so that they could read the Bible. Even after those missionaries retired, literacy and reading lessons continued under the village trees, and a large graduation ceremony is held every two years. We attended the ceremony this time. Nearly 170 people had completed either the beginner-level Rendille classes or the advanced Swahili classes. At the mothers’ prayer gatherings, we have seen women who graduated from these classes arrive with their Rendille New Testaments held close to their hearts. Finding the passage takes them a while, but they are determined to find it, and they read slowly and haltingly, yet with such joy. Having seen this, we know just how meaningful this graduation is. We celebrated with the graduates by giving each of them a copy of Wonderful Story in Rendille. This book of Bible stories is a little easier to read than the Bible itself. Our dream is that, as they read it alongside the Bible, children and others will gather around them too, and God’s Word will spread far and wide.

5. The Marsabit Pastors’ Seminar and Women’s Seminar Three years ago, while taking a youth short-term mission team into Korr, we heard that a missionary in Moyale had passed away from an endemic disease. A pastor who was with us when we received that heartbreaking news promised to hold a pastors’ seminar in Marsabit. In 2024, the joint Marsabit pastors’ seminar took place. We give thanks and praise to God, who has enabled the seminar to continue for a third year. Around 70 pastors from different ethnic communities gathered, including five pastors from Moyale, pastors from Kalacha, ministry workers from Korr, and pastors from 33 churches in Marsabit town. The visiting pastor encountered difficulties on his journey. There were also problems along the route we were to take: the day before our planned journey, bandits killed five people, including three soldiers tasked with dealing with cattle rustling and people from the village. Unrest in Isiolo on the day we were due to travel meant that we had to leave a day later. Through everyone’s prayers, however, we arrived safely in Marsabit the following day. The sessions, “Spiritual Breakthrough through the Lord’s Prayer” and “The Church and the Ministry of a Pastor,” were filled with grace. At the end, everyone knelt before the Lord as his servants. The local pastors also blessed and prayed for the visiting pastor, who, after completing 37 years of pastoral ministry, will go out as a missionary next year. His wife led a women’s seminar for pastors’ wives and women ministry workers in the Marsabit area. The response was so enthusiastic that they asked her to hold it over several days next time, rather than as a single session.

6. Sunday Worship at Moi Girls’ High School Marsabit is the administrative center of Marsabit County. It is also a place where the Muslim population is growing rapidly and aggressive proselytizing is taking place. At Moi Girls’ High School, the most important girls’ high school in the county, the Muslim principal had increasingly persecuted students for worshiping inside the buildings. This led to the construction of a chapel on the school grounds. Jane (제인), a former Moi Girls’ student who had worked alongside our family when we first began our ministry in Marsabit, took the lead. Together with the 33 local churches in Marsabit, the visiting pastor’s New Life Church (뉴라이프교회), and local political leaders, she helped bring this beautiful chapel to completion. (Jane was the schoolgirl who used to come to our home and teach the alphabet to Seong-min (성민), who was three years old when we first began serving in Marsabit. Later, she was connected with a missionary from the United States and completed university. Today, she leads a mission organization and carries significant ministry responsibilities.) We joined around 300 high school girls in the new chapel for two hours of worship on Sunday. The visiting pastor’s wife shared three Scripture passages that she treasures and lives by, encouraging these bright-eyed girls to have a vision for their lives. As these girls gather to worship and encourage one another in Marsabit, where they face threats from Muslims, we dream of the day when they will pursue their dreams and visions, bring hope and restoration to many families, and become women leaders and role models for many other girls.

7. Drought and Food Relief The dry weather has continued, and once again this year we are facing drought. Even so, we thank God for continuing to open doors for us to visit villages with food and carry on this relief ministry. So far this year, he has enabled us to purchase five 11-ton truckloads of food. Thank you for standing with us so that we can keep sharing food with people in need and offering them encouragement.

8. Ministry to Widows and the Story of Their Gift of a Goat At the end of each month, we continue to provide living-expense support to the widows in our sponsorship program, along with ministry through the Word and prayer. With Easter and visits from guests this year, we were also able to provide maize flour on three additional occasions. Some of the children of these widows receive separate high school scholarships as well. We cannot meet every need in their lives, but we are grateful that you are helping us offer even a measure of support and encouragement. In July, three widows from Gobore village (고보레) came to see us, leading a goat. Whenever we give widows two goats each, we encourage them to bring the first kid as an offering to the Lord. So far, the widows have brought around seven young goats, which we have passed on to other widows who had not yet received any. This time, however, the widows from Gobore brought a large goat as a gift for us, their missionaries. They insisted that we must not give this one away, but eat it ourselves. They knew that whenever they brought an offering, we would pair it with another goat and give the pair to someone else. Hearing them say that they wanted us to keep at least this one for ourselves was such a comfort. We felt cared for and looked after by them. As it happened, a short-term mission team was visiting, and we enjoyed a generous feast of goat nyama choma—barbecue—with the team and our local ministry workers. It was a meal that filled both our bodies and our hearts.

9. School Meals and Mideum Primary School The Kenyan government has stopped supporting free school meals. We are therefore sharing the food we have purchased with other schools in Korr so that they can continue providing meals. In the final term, which began in September, a church member once again provided the teachers at Mideum (“Faith”) Primary School (믿음초등학교) with the stationery they needed. The teachers were delighted to receive supplies for their teaching and said that this would help them focus more fully on their work with the children. The pipe connected to the school’s water tank is blocked, so the children are bringing water from home for the preparation of their lunchtime meals. We are planning to lay a new pipe from the village well to the school and install a water tank beside the kitchen. Please pray that everything will go smoothly, so that the children can eat well and concentrate on their studies.

10. Nazaro’s Story Nazaro (나자로) is the child of a single mother who used to live behind our home. When he was in primary school, he was part of our choir. He has now graduated from high school and university and has begun working with us as a ministry intern. Even before this, he would come and help with our ministry whenever he was on holiday. When we were riding together in the back of the truck and it was time for people to get down, he would be the first to jump down, lift the children out, and help everyone else. He is a young man of such good character. Having been here for so long, we now have the joy of seeing a little child grow into a young adult who serves alongside us.

11. Family News Seong-min is continuing with studies in Korea. Our second child, Seong-a (성아), graduated in May and is waiting for OPT, the authorization that allows them to work. We were so happy when a job offer came before graduation, but more than six months have passed without OPT being issued, so they have not yet been able to start work. When we first shared the prayer request for a job, the good news came the very next day. Please pray again that the OPT matter will soon be resolved and that the authorization will arrive, so Seong-a can learn through work, serve others, and take a greater part in the Lord’s work. Although this has been a very difficult time emotionally, we are thankful that Seong-a has been able to help with the worship team and Sunday school at church, and that the Lord has provided this time to focus on him. Our youngest child, Seong-yeon (성연), is now in 12th grade—the final year of high school—and is considering where to go to university. We pray that God will lead them to the school that is the best fit. The two of us will be taking part in our denomination’s missionary training. Here we are, in our 24th year, receiving missionary training once again. We ask the Lord to guide us according to his most perfect and good will.

With warm regards, Choi In-ho (최인호) and Han Ji-seon (한지선)