Pastor Kim
How My Family Became Involved
with the Church
In the early 1900′s, Korea was occupied by Japan’s colonization. During its occupation, Japan built up Korea’s infrastructure, especially the street and railroad systems. However, the Japanese ruled with an iron fist and attempted to root out all elements of Korean culture from society. People were forced to adopt Japanese names, convert to the Shinto (native Japanese) religion, and were forbidden to use Korean language in schools and business. The Independence Movement on March 1, 1919, was brutally repressed, resulting in the killing of thousands, the maiming and imprisoning of tens of thousands, and destroying of hundreds of churches, temples, schools, and private homes. At that time, my grandfather was in the Independence Movement against Japan. Being wanted by the Japanese army, he escaped to Manchuria where he was eventually captured by the Japanese army and sent to prison. As a prisoner, he was repeatedly subjected to doses of morphine causing him to become addicted. As you can imagine, the struggle with his addiction after his release effected the whole family, which consisted of my grandmother, 3 sons and a daughter. In an effort to deal with her anger, frustration, and sense of helplessness, my grandmother attempted to alleviate her stress through the use of alcohol- which unfortunately led to her own addiction.
By the Grace of God, an uncle met a missionary from America. He found Jesus, accepted Jesus and became a child of God. Every morning he went to church and prayed for his family’s salvation and healing. God answered those prayers and eventually the entire family found God. Through divine intervention, my grandmother and grandfather were both cured from their addictions. Once Korea was liberated from Japan, the entire family returned to Korea.
My grandfather established and served many local churches as a lay preacher. It was their hope that at least one of their decedents would become a pastor. I still remember my childhood when my grandmother sat me on her lap and prayed for me out loud that God should make me into a servant of the Lord. During that time my father retired as a military officer and went into the seminary at the age of 60 and after 3 years, he was ordained as a pastor. My older brother also went into the seminary and became a pastor.
Carrying on the Tradition
In 1989 I graduated and was ordained as a deacon from The Drew Theological School, which represents a unique combination of church ties, faithfulness in ministry and cultural relevance, classical Christian convictions and creative reinterpretations, regard for diversity and protection of personal integrity, global awareness and local effectiveness, intellectual rigor, and vital community life. From there, I took part in the “Four Languages In One Ministry” church in Jackson Heights, Queens. In one church, there were four different congregations – English, Spanish, Chinese, and Korean. Even with the diversity of 60 different nationalities in one church (or the U.N. Church as some liked to call us), we were all under the UMC umbrella and acted as one church.
10 years later, the Bishop called me and appointed me to a church in Buffalo, NY where I served 5 years before transferring to Syracuse, NY. To date, this is my 7th year of ministering an English and Korean congregation under one church.
In my family, I have my wife Eunice and my daughter Jenny. Jenny is a Syracuse University graduate and recently started working for an IT consulting firm. Jenny is blessed with musical talents with her focus being piano and the flute. God has blessed me with the gift of singing and we feel great pride in being able to offer these gifts in giving praise to Him.
My Ministry Philosophy
Many people throughout the Bible have struggled through difficulties and challenges that have come their way. Out of these people there is one in particular that stands out for me, and that is Jacob who suffered endless hardships in his life. When he went to his home town, his brother Esau was pursuing him with an army of 400 men. Amidst that crisis, Jacob went to the Jabbok River and wrestled with God. He averted that crisis and reconciled with his brother. When his daughter Dinah was raped, there was terrible bloodshed. As a result, Jacob faced a crisis of his family completely diminishing. Jacob took his family to Bethel where he again met God and his problems were solved.
There are and will be many difficulties and challenges in our lives and in our ministry. So, our first priority is to meet God. It is to return to God’s word. It is to renew our Spirituality.
My ministry philosophy can be summarized into three objectives:
- Proclaiming the Word of God
- Teaching the Word of God
- Healing with the Word of God
This is what I pray for and this I will try my best. I hope, with your support and prayers, we can all together create a beautiful church.
Sincerely Yours,
Rev. Hyun Joon Kim
