God's Words and Love Taking Root in Children's Hearts

Jonghwan Kim (left)

Last year, after our short-term mission trip to the Dominican Republic with Chanbit Church, we were blessed to return this year—this time to embark on our first short-term mission trip to serve Haitian refugees living in the Dominican Republic. Thanks to YANA, one teacher and three students from Korea were able to join us, making the experience even more meaningful.

While preparing for the mission, Missionary Shin Hyun-jae in the Dominican Republic asked if, instead of painting church buildings or digging wells, we could prepare a skit to share God’s Word.

The U.S. team and the Korean team each decided to prepare one skit, and four short-term missionaries flew from Korea to the U.S. to join. That’s how this joyful time together began.

As soon as we met, we jumped into a busy schedule and had the opportunity to see the skit the Korean team prepared. It shared the message that Jesus’ love has the power to transform people. Watching them, I felt such affection and gratitude—they had come so far to serve and were giving their very best.

Once the mission officially began, we traveled from village to village under the scorching sun, performing over 70 skits, even when our knees scraped on rocky ground. Some children walked so much that their feet began to bleed, but as followers of Jesus, we continued to share the Lord with every person we encountered—telling them about Him, sharing the Word we believe in, blessing them through praise, and giving testimonies of God’s grace we had received. Our hope was that God’s Word would take root and grow in the hearts of the Haitian people, and that everything done in Jesus’ name would help draw them closer to Him.

Before leaving for the Dominican Republic, we asked the children to describe this mission in one word. They answered: “Following,” “Faith,” and “Help.” After completing the mission and returning home, I reflected on their responses. I realized that the hearts the children carried as they stepped onto the mission field were exactly what God used. I thought, “God truly calls us just as we are—and loves us so much.”

I can’t forget what the three children showed us in the Dominican Republic. They held the hands of the Haitian children tightly, hugged them, took joyful photos together, played with them whenever they had a moment, and poured out so much love. No one asked them to do any of this, yet they did their very best to serve others with what they could. Watching them, I felt their

hearts were so beautiful, and they looked truly happy. They were young, but they shared God’s love just as they were, and I couldn’t help but love them for it.

They confessed how beautiful the world God created looked to them, how they came to love the Dominican children even though they couldn’t even speak the same language, and how—even after our schedule was over—they approached strangers to share God’s Word. All three of them said that if given the chance, they would gladly join another mission trip. Even if we forget their confessions, I believe that God will remember them fully and will use those hearts preciously wherever they are needed. God is faithful. It reminded me that it is God who gives us hope and God who gives us the strength and ability to carry it out.

Jay Kim