Bittersweet

That’s the word that best describes my feelings right now, three days away from my flight to New Zealand. The sweet part is quite straight-forward: Most of us would naturally feel good and sunny with the idea of starting life in a country known for its good culture, people, and natural wonders, and such is New Zealand. I’m on the tip-toe of expectancy for the new and wonderful things that God will bring into my life in this new land, and also for how God will open doors for me so that I can advance His Kingdom there. But the bitter part? The bitter part is that I’m leaving a country where I have been so much blessed, a country where I finished two Master’s degrees (MDiv and ThM), where I met my lifetime partner and where we got married. I’m leaving behind a people who have welcomed, loved, and supported me all the way. These people are quite many and I can’t possibly count them count by one: They are from Kosin University, from Peniel Church, from Peniel International Christian Community, from Baekyangro Church, and from Hosanna Church, all in Busan.

I’m also leaving a ministry that has been part of my very life from the time I had set foot on this land to this very day: the Peniel International Christian Community (PICC). The PICC has been to me a family member and I feel that I have become a father to it. Father because throughout the years my job has been mainly guiding, counseling, and nurturing the members in God’s Word. It is where I have felt the profoundest joy when I saw real individuals being changed from hopelessness to hopefulness and from weakness to strength – the work of God’s grace. I’m surely going to miss PICC!