Our Testimonies of the Goodness of God in our Lives

Jonathan's Testimony 
 
My life verse is Genesis 24:27. In this passage Abraham’s servant is commissioned to go find a bride for Isaac. As He goes he prays for God’s direction. Once the mission had proven successful he gave testimony of God’s goodness by saying “I being in the way, the Lord lead me to the house of my master’s brethren”. The meaning of this verse is simply this. God had lead this servant step by step in the Divine will. God used that verse a few years ago and impressed upon my heart the reality that in my life God has directed me step by step to bring me where He has placed me now. The story of my testimony is the story of ‘being in the way’ and ‘being lead by God’.

My step to salvation
 I had the privilege of growing up in a pastor’s home. When I was 3 years old the Lord opened up my understanding to what I had heard and I knew I needed to be saved. One night we came home from Church and my parents put me to bed. As I lay there I knew I needed to be saved. I went down stairs and told my dad I needed to be saved. He took me to the bible and again showed me that I was a sinner. He also showed me that Jesus had died to be my savior. That night I repented and asked Jesus to forgive my sin.
(I trust that you have made that step. If not you can be saved today if you will repent of your sin and trust Jesus' sacrifice on the cross as the only way of salvation)

My step to ministry
When I was about 6 years old I felt God wanted me to be a preacher when I grew up. So that Sunday morning I went forward and surrendered for the ministry. I was a bit nervous though because I thought that if I surrendered for the ministry that morning I had to go home, eat lunch, pack up all my belongings and go do the ministry. Well obviously that’s not what followed, but I have been heading in that direction ever sense.
When I was in 6th grade the Lord stirred up my desire to being preaching. My dad patently taught me how to develop an outline and preach. I am thankful for a dad who took great time to mentor me in the ministry and gave me opportunities to exercise my gifts. I am also thankful for those who graciously lis and encouraged me in those early attempts to preach the Word.
During my High school years I was privileged to travel with the Academy of Arts Christian drama team for two summers. Little did I know that those summers were preparing me for the long road of deputation.
My step to Korea
In the Lord’s will, I attended Bob Jones University to study for the ministry. Each year in October the University has what we call “missions chapel”. During this chapel service different members from the previous mission teams give testimony of how God worked in their lives. Then that evening all the mission trips for the following summer have their introductory meetings. I remember sitting in missions chapel as a freshman and feeling that I should check out the South Korean mission team. I did not follow that feeling. During the following summers I served at my home church and was involved in other ministries. Then my Junior year I was sitting in missions chapel. As the service concluded I remember praying in my heart, “Lord, please let some freshman do what I should have done”. To which the Lord replied, “you still have one more summer.” I went to the introductory meeting for the 2001 Korean Mission Team that night and so began my next ‘step in the way’
During those 8 weeks in Korea the Lord broke my heart for a people who are “wholly given over to idolatry” and “blinded by the God of this world”. Two incidences were particularly instrumental in the Lord’s directing my heart to this needy field.
One day we were going to go ‘village evangelism’. In the mountains of Korea there are hundreds of small farming villages that have little or no gospel light. One of the missionaries was going to take us up there and we were going to pass out tracts and witness. While in one of those villages I saw a large stone statue of Buddha. In front of this statue was an altar with food and wine that the farmers had left to appease Buddha and have their prayers answered. My dad was raised in a Roman Catholic family and had told me how grieved he had been to see all of the catholic idolatry when he had visited Europe. That day, as I looked at that statue, I understood what he meant. My heart was broken for those who had no concept of the salvation found only in Jesus Christ.
Another day we were scheduled to visit a Buddhist temple. This temple had a large court yard enclosed by a wall. As you walked into the court yard there were prayer houses on the side and a large temple at the other end of the yard. As we entered the court yard we could literally feel the spiritual oppression. I walked around a while and then I climbed the steps to the main temple. As I stood there and looked in a Korean man walked between me and another team member. He took off his shoes. He put money in a little plate. He lit incense and then began to bow to the ground over and over again. As we stood there and watched him all we could do was weep. I wanted so desperately to tell this man “THIS IDOL IIS NOTHING. HE CAN NOT SEE OR HEAR OR HELP YOU. ONLY JESUS CAN SAVE YOU. TRUST JESUS!”
When we got back to the states I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was called to Korea.

My year in the wilderness
If you have ever been to the Outer Banks of North Carolina during the off season you know that there is not much to do. This was where God did a work in my heart in preparation for my future ministry.
I had an offer to go back to Korea right after graduation and minister, but God made it evident that it was not his will. So I went to my home church, Still Waters Independent Baptist Church, and served as my dad’s assistant pastor for a year.
It was during this time that God helped me to be content as a single man. During High school and college I was a marriage waiting to happen. I knew God wanted me to be married at some point, but instead of being ‘seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and {letting God] add all these things’ in my life, I was focused on marriage. Not that I did not serve God during this time, but I was not ‘waiting patiently on the Lord’. And I was pretty well convinced that I could not be a missionary as a single man.
As I mentioned the Lord lead me to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The OBX is a tourist area so it is booming during the summer, but beyond dead in the winter. It was during this time that I realized there is something worse than not having someone you are ‘in love with’ during Valentine’s Day. It is being single and losing 2 games of bowling to your parents, on Valentine’s Day! (True story)
During this time, though, God was helping me learn an important lesson about Him. The Lord lead me to Colossians 2:10 which says “ye are complete in Him”. It was then I realized that if God wanted me to be single then I could still serve Him and accomplish all His will for my life.

My second step to Korea
After a year as my dad’s assistant pastor the Lord finally opened the door for me to return to Korea as a full time missionary. During this time I was privileged to teach English in the best Christian language institue in the world, help found Victory Baptist Church, teach at Victory Baptist Bible College, and go once a month into the villages where we would pass out tracts and evangelize.
God also used my second step to Korea to give me my wife. Rachael had gone over to Korea as a single missionary in February 2003. I landed in Korea on September 4, 2003. The next day I went to church and met the most wonderful woman in the world. 7 months later we were married. Truly God had lead me step by step and along the path of His will He had provided every good thing.

Rachael's Salvation Testimony
 I grew up in a Christian home where my parents made church and the things of the Lord a priority.  At the age of 7, I was listening to the preaching of God's Word as the preacher spoke of hell, and how anyone who didn't know Christ personally would go there.  This scared me and made me think of my eternal destiny.  That night, I came home and talked to my dad about the things I had heard at church.  As he tucked me in that night, he took me to the scriptures, and showed me how I could be saved from hell, and from my sins.  That night, I prayed and accepted Christ as my personal Savior.

My step to the ministry
 During my Junior year in college, a guest speaker was preaching about surrendering your life and being willing to do ANYTHING God wants you to do.  The Lord was speaking to me.  I took the "challenge" and surrendered my life.  I told the Lord, "I will do anything, and go anywhere, if you'll show me what that is."  The Lord took me seriously, and the next day, I received a letter in my mailbox asking my to pray about teaching in South Korea.  After 2 months of praying about it, I brought it to my parents to have them pray about it also.  The Lord answered very specifically, and showed that this was the Lord's will for my life.  I went to Korea in Feb.2003 to begin teaching at KCIS (a christian language institute).


Our step back to the States
In September 2005 Rachael and I returned to the States to begin rasing support for our new ministry in Korea. God had burdened our heart to reach the city of Gwang-Ju. We knew that planting a new church while teaching would not be possible so we came back. Sense June 2006 we have been traveling and seeking to raise support. God has taught us many things about ourselves, Himself, and living for Him during this time. It has not always been easy, but God has always been faithful.

The Next Step
We are praying that our next step will be back to South Korea in October 2010. Our heart is reflective of James where he instructs us to say “if the Lord wills”. We are homesick and eager to get back home to South Korea. Gwang-Ju is a city of 1.4 million people, dominated by false religion, with no fundamental gospel preaching church. We are eager to take that next step, but by God’s grace we will follow Him wherever the path leads.