Seeing Friends and Family...

[From left to right: Rev. M.S. Ahn and her wife Shinjong in L.A....

Jennifer, Hyunjoo, Mike, Chuck, Lim and Eunice in Colorado...

Amanda, our daughter in Clovis, NM]

[NB: I regret that I forgot to take a photo of our daughter Joyce!!!]

[Jean-Suk, In Kim...................... Julie and Jean-Suk's wife.......... Mindy and Sunghoon Song in CA]

Traveling is such a joy. You get to visit and see new places that are beautiful and interesting. You can also get away from your daily routines for refreshment. These are fun.

But greater joy is to see family and old friends. Absolutely!

During our trip to the U.S. we have seen our daughters, relatives and many old friends.

We saw many friends and brothers/sisters at Logos Central Chapel in Denver. We stayed at Dr. Chuck and Eunice Lee's home in Littleton, Colorado for five days. We had a meeting with several couples to give them a ministry update. We saw Elder Hahm's family, Mr. Wonjoong Kim's couple, Rev. Randy Joo, Rev. Kenny Hong, Linda Paek, Lim and Jennifer Ko, Mike and Hyunjoo Kim.

We visited our daughter Amanda in Clovis, New Mexico. She is serving the country now as an officer at US Air Force. James was not there because he was deployed. We also saw Saul, Amanda's new dog.

We stayed at Mr. Sunghoon and Mindy Song's home in Rancho Palos Verdes, California for four days. We were Sunday school teachers together for Senior High School students at Oriental Mission Church, Los Angeles. They are lovely and godly people. Their home was high up in a peninsula with an ocean view. Spectacular!

In California, we saw Jinsoo's family, my wife's cousin in Irvine, California. We also had dinner with In Kim's couple and Jean-Suk Kim's couple. They are old friends from Oriental Mission Church. We ministered together at the Sunday school, too. We also saw many old friends who were students or teachers at the OMC College Department in the 1970's and 1980's. Wow... what a bunch of friends! Rev. Sunja Kang, Rev. Peter Song, Rev. Taejong Lee, Rev. Kangkuk Kong... Kristin saw Soonae Lee, her close friend while I was meeting Mijin Barret, a prayer supporter for our ministry. We also saw Ji-young Rhee, a long-time colleague for BAM (Business As Mission) while we were presenting to the believers at Irvine Baptist Church.

In New York, we saw Kristin's family, including her ill mother; her brothers and their wives, and many others, such as Mr. and Mrs. Yeunho Suk, Koomin Chung, Jun Kim, Yeonhee Han, Minja Lee (my sister), Mr. and Mrs. Jay Yoon, Mr. and Mrs. Jae-Sup Choi, Jennifer Oh (Kang), Dr. Karl Kim and Mr. and Mrs. Cho (Kristin's friend Myunghee Kim's couple) We could have met a lot more people if we wanted to, but we did not have enough time.

In Philadelphia, we saw our daughter Joyce. She is now working for Urban Outfitters, but she is heading to Milan, Italy on May 28th for an 8-month internship with Design Boom. She may continue to stay in Italy for a year-long program with Benetton, but it is uncertain. She has also been admitted to Peace Corps but the deployment date has been postponed. It was a great joy to see our children grow up to be independent.

We also saw Rev. Steve and Mona Park, shepherding Jubilee Presbyterian Church in a suburban Philadelphia. The church moved to a new compound even with a cafe, called Cafe 25 Ten, in reference to Deutoronomy 25:10 about Jubilee. We also spent time with Mr. Insoo Kang who is Director of Mission for Jubilee's English Ministry. Jubilee is supporting us with prayer. We appreciate their support.

Now I am in Lancaster, PA attending Hope International's Annual Leadership Summit. I see old friends and colleagues in the Hope International network.

Relational joy is greater than geographical joy, I would say. - Jeffrey