Vowe News Letter 소식지

"Let us pray without ceasing”  Genesis 28:10-19

In January 2004, I resigned from my church and went to China, in preparation for the North Korean ministry. I’ve been praying hard in preparation, and my heart was filled with great expectations. But when I arrived in China, everything began heading in the wrong direction. My North Korean visa application was denied for some unknown reason, and as a result, I ended up staying in a motel for almost a month.

That year, in the frigid and windy winter of China, as the wind knocked heavily on the motel room windows, I shed some tears, writhed in pain, and prayed. I felt anxious, scared, and lonely; sometimes, I would feel my heart fill up with anger, and I would be pacing around like a madman. When I had to give up on everything and come back to the US, on the plane ride back, I kept crying because I could not handle my sorrow.

I fell asleep as I was crying, but God gave me a vision of Jacob who fell asleep in the plains of Bethel, with a stone as his pillow. I saw a vision of angels climbing up and down on the ladder leading to heaven, and God gave me this verse: “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land.

I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. (28:15)” God told me that He has pruned my difficult relationships and wrong dependencies away, and He told me to depend on God alone and face a new beginning through prayer.

As God promised me, He helped me to build new relationships and led me to pray with these people, and later, God opened up paths for us to begin food distribution/clinic ministry and orphanage vocational training ministry, and gathered younger co-laborers to serve in this ministry together, which led us to where we are today.

Customs at Hoeryung / Soy milk Factory at Hoeryung

Covid pandemic has kept all of us through a very anxious and suffocating season. We all feel very futile as if everything that we have ever built up to this point has all fallen apart, and I am no exception. However, during October, God led me to read the book of Genesis, and it had me meditate upon the life of Jacob.

This time of reading Genesis blessed me greatly and had me reflect upon the ministry of Vowe and helped me to re-organize my thoughts. Jacob thought that he had achieved some good things, but he lost them all and became a fugitive yet again. God calls this fugitive back to Bethel again, and He reaffirmed with Jacob the promise of staying together with him.

This made me fall to my knees and repent and made me reflect on myself who was crying on the airplane. It was a blessing time, as God reaffirmed that He is the one who holds onto me. God helped me to let go of my pretense and fall before Him so that I can handle this ministry through prayer. God helped me to learn the posture of prayer from Jacob.

Nursing home at Hoeryung

1) Let us pray without ceasing (Genesis 32:22-32)

When I resigned from my church to start North Korean ministry, I was expecting some cheers and applause of people, but instead, people pointed fingers at me, mocked and scoffed at me; I felt I was treated unjustly. I had no other choice but to pray to God. When the finances for the ministry was tough, I had to fall face down and pray.

When the doors finally opened up and ministry partners were coming, I was diagnosed with cancer and had to go under surgery. Yet again, I had no other choice but to kneel down and pray. When the executive order to block US citizens from entering North Korea was issued, I had no other choice but to pray. When covid pandemic has closed down the border, when everything seems to be closing down, the only open door was for us to pray.

I felt like Jacob at the ford of Jabbok, holding onto the Lord and praying, asking Him to open up the closed doors and to work in ways only He can. When God allowed troubles that I could not solve on my own strength and wisdom, I received them as His commands for me to pray more. God had mercy on me, who was praying without ceasing, and He allowed me to receive the warmth of the sunlight that Jacob felt when he passed through Penuel.

God allowed me to get a taste of His warm love, just like Jacob saw the face of God in Esau who came with 400 armed men. In the field of ministry, there will always be troubles, and we are called to pray without ceasing with those troubles in view. God hears our prayers, He works without ceasing, and hence, the ministry of Vowe is continuing even today.

Children of School at Hoeryung

2) Let us pray and bless others (Genesis 47:7-10).


When the scars from January 2004 have not healed yet, God allowed many new people to come into my life. I was still hesitant to meet new people, but God gathered younger prayer warriors into my life and helped me to pray together with them. God also allowed some unexpected financial supporters, which helped us to proceed with our ministry as planned.

Meeting these co-laborers who were young and eager like the fresh morning dew really helped us to dream new ministry visions, and even in North Korea, we were able to partner with some amazing people, through God’s miraculous provision. These new meetings helped me to know that God is with us, and they also helped me from those scars. And with these precious people in view, I also desired to learn to pray in the same way that Jacob prayed for Pharaoh when he arrived in Egypt.

Jacob was old and poor, standing in front of Pharaoh, but Jacob knew that this meeting was made possible through the grace of God, and he, as someone who knows the grace of God, confidently raised his two hands and blessed Pharaoh in prayer. I wanted to learn to pray in blessing as Jacob did, and so, I have been praying and blessing all the amazing people that I came to meet in the field of ministry, which has carried us thus far.

Streets of Hoeryung / Train station of Hoeryung

3) Let us pray to make the impossible come true (Genesis 48:12-20).

Jacob blesses the two sons of Joseph at his deathbed. But Jacob goes against Joseph’s wishes in blessing the second-born Ephraim with his right hand and blessing the firstborn Manasseh with his left hand. Hebrews 11:21 records this prayer as such: “By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.” Back then, the firstborn and second-born already had their own paths written out before them, and yet, Jacob tried different ways to overcome this pre-determined path.

But at the end of his own life, Jacob realized that only God can change the life paths of people, and he also learned that by faith, we need to pray to God who ordains all things. Jacob prayed by faith, and God who hears all prayers changed the paths of Ephraim and Manasseh. This faithful prayer of Jacob is a source of encouragement and hope for us, as we stand in the face of North Korean ministry.

Restoring true worship in North Korea, raising up the next generation of North Korean youth to be gospel warriors, unifying North and South Korea in the gospel, none of these are possible by human wisdom or strength. Only God can make these come true when we pray by faith. Only God, who hears our prayers yesterday, today, and forever, is our only hope in making these impossible visions come true.

Updates and Announcements

Photo Captions: Yet again, for this month, we do not have any photos from the field. Therefore, I have posted 8 photos from our visit to Hoeryung back in 2007. Within our prayer partners, we have some elderly who are originally from Hoeryung, so I took some landscape photos of the streets, the train station, and the nursing home there.

On the newsletter cover, there is a photo of members of the Lord’s Children Band and their families. They are children of 3 different pastors’ families in Leesville, Louisiana; their area has been damaged due to the two hurricanes, but they have been serving their local neighborhood by participating in different events at churches, hospitals, and nursing homes, all to glorify the Lord.

I have also posted photos of our partner churches in different cities: New Hope Church(Atlanta, Georgia), Morgantown Church(Morgantown, West Virginia), Corpus Christi Church(Corpus Christi, Texas), One Heart Church(Rochester, Minnesota).

There are also photos of families of E&J, Jerome&Alissa, John&Helen, and David&Grace at the Monroe Center, of the family of Sinja Lee and prayer members at Seattle, WA, and Vowe Picnic / D Ku family welcoming event at Schabarum Park.

Monroe Center / Corpus Christi Church

Food Distribution/Clinic Updates: There are rumors that the border may open up next January, but it’s only rumored. However, we are looking for laborers who can partner with us during that time. We have secured enough coal, food, and kimchi for the winter, and we are also helping to prepare employees of Blue Ocean and Shoe Factory to last through the winter.

We also hear good things from those that are working in North Korea, that ministries of another kindergarten/daycare and hospital/clinic are going well.     

Orphanage Vocational Training MinistryUpdates:  We are still yet to hear from the North Korean officials in charge of the orphanage ministry, which worries us greatly. We leave all things to the hands of our almighty God and pray. Thankfully, there are more needy people gathering around the members of China Vowe, so we are praying and serving them.

Please pray for the orphanage officials and family and friends of China Vowe.

The family of Sinja Lee / One Heart Church

Minister updates: Family of Josh Cho is still scattered over in Korea and China due to the covid pandemic. Please pray that God would allow the family to be gathered again and serve together. Also pray for the health of minister families who are tied down in the US, Korea, China, and North Korea. Particularly pray for them to not lose heart during these difficult times.

Monroe Center update: Some families who had to leave their field of ministry behind have been staying at the center, and as families of Jerome&Alissa and Sinja Lee moved to Seattle, there is a new wind of prayer rising in the area.

Please pray for the families of David&Grace and John&Helen who have already been serving at the center, and that God would raise up a great work of prayer alongside them. Also pray for the family of pastor Peter Yang, who is leading all the ministry at the Monroe Center.

New Hope Church / Morgantown Church

Prayer Partner Updates: Chunho First Church in Seoul held an installation service for pastor Sang-gun Lee on November 21 (Sat 2 PM). Pastor Lee has 1 son and 3 daughters, and he has been trained in ministry and theology both in Korea and the US. He has dedicated much to Seoul Vowe Prayer Meeting. Please pray for his family and church.

The family of Sung-jae Chung and Young-shin Yoon attended this service on behalf of Seoul Vowe, and we thank them for their visit.

Prayer Meeting Updates: We are still going through a hard time due to the coronavirus pandemic, but we give thanks to the Lord for letting us gather regularly to pray. Victorville prayer meeting took place on November 12th Thursday 11 AM via Kakaotalk Livetalk and had 8 people attend, and on the same day, Las Vegas prayer meeting took place at 7 PM via Zoom and 8 people attended.

On November 14th Saturday at 5PM, we held united prayer meeting via Zoom and had 16 people attend. On November 21st Saturday at 12:30 PM, we held Sunshine prayer meeting and baby shower, which had 7 people attend. We held D Ku welcoming party at Schabarum Park on October 1st, which had 26 people attend, and on November 10th, we held Vowe Picnic at the same place and had 24 people attend.

Vowe Picnic / D. Ku family welcoming event

Prayer Topics

1)Pray for Repairer & Restorer’s Club, 200 Businessmen’s Club, Gospel Runner’s Club.

2)Pray for children in the food distribution and clinic ministry, their families, teachers, and the residents there. Also, pray for the ministers who are devoted to this ministry and their children. Pray for 170 employees at Blue Ocean and their families, 50 employees at Shoe Factory and their families, and others related to them. Please pray that they would stay safe during this cold winter.

3)Pray for the orphanage ministry and the orphans there, for the officials involved in this ministry, as well as friends and ministers who are dedicated to this work. Pray for God’s hands of protection to be upon them so that they would last this winter well.



4)Food distribution/clinic team is looking for a new co-laborer to serve together. Please pray for them and also help look for new team members for this ministry.

5)There are many North Koreans who are stranded in China due to the covid-19 pandemic and they have been coming to China Vowe. This is a blessed opportunity that God granted us. We all are going through difficult times, but please pray that God would use this opportunity for His purposes.

6)Please pray for prayer meetings that take place in different regions, as well as our partnering churches.

 

Next Payer Meeting
1) 80th Victorville Prayer Meeting, 12/10/2020 (Thu), 11:00 am, via Kakaotalk Livetalk

2) 135th Las Vegas Prayer Meeting, 12/10/2020 (Thu), 7 pm, via Zoom

3) 99th Young Vowe Prayer Meeting, 12/12/2020 (Sat), 5 pm, via Zoom