Home

L'Abri Newsletter, October 2024

Dear praying family,

It has been a while since we have written to you. I’m sure you’ve been wondering how L’Abri has been doing since our last letter. I’m sorry. There were many visitors, and I didn’t have enough physical strength, so I postponed writing this. Now, God’s gift of a new season—autumn—has arrived. There are days when I’m in awe of the skill and beauty of our Creator who allows the colors of trees to change over time. Again, as I write this with sincere apology, I ask for prayer that I would be able to steward the glorious task God has entrusted to me.


Stefan Lindholm and Jun-won in Jeongdaun Village

Let me first provide some updates of what has happened since Hyunji’s summer prayer letter. For the first time, we opened our doors to eight young people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder for three nights and four days. In the past, we have had two or three people with the same conditions visit, but this was the first time that all eight people with these conditions were together at once. Most of them were members of Onnuri Church in Seoul, “One Mind Recovery Worship Community.”

We took this risk, because we had a team leader, Kwan-hyung, whom we had known for a long time. Otherwise, this would have been impossible. Kwan-hyung wrote the book, I Am a Schizophrenic Patient (Rooftop Production, 2018) and has lectured at various places while completing his PhD in disability studies. These eight young men were all different, taking medication, going to work, spending time at home, drawing pictures, and more. Please remember them, their families, and the members of Onnuri Church in your prayers.

On Chuseok, InKyung’s 91-year-old mother and his younger brother’s family came to spend time with us. My mother-in-law cannot walk well, but she rode in her wheelchair, breathing in fresh air, visiting the memorial garden several times, and having an overall good time with family. I always feel sorry for not taking better care of her due to my L’Abri responsibilities, but I can’t tell you how delightful it was to host her for a few days. God heard us tell each other, “See you again,” and I ask God that that would be the case next year.

At the end of September, we had Stefan Lindholm (former Swedish L’Abri worker and currently a professor at Johannelund School of Theology), who came to Korea as a lecturer for the 4th Lausanne Congress held in Incheon. He stopped by L’Abri, and we listened to his sermon and lecture. For his lecture on ‘transhumanism,’ people came from as far away as Sejong, Yangpyeong, and Wonju and as close as Sokcho and Yangyang. A total of about 30 people attended. Most of them stayed for supper and fellowship, expressing their gratitude for the great lecture. I would like to thank Stefan for his great lecture and Jun-won and Ki-jin for their hard work as interpreters.


Stefan Lindholm and Ki-jin at L'Abri

In early October, there were many things to be thankful for and happy about. We have been worshiping with our guests who have been visiting L’Abri, and we are petitioning the International Presbyterian Church (IPC) for permission to establish a church in order to help the disabled of Jeongdaun Village, a welfare center for the severely disabled. If the presbytery approves, we plan to hold a church establishment service in February or March of next year. Please pray for Jin-hyung, who was recently elected as an elder.

Also, please continue to pray for the young people who visit from home and abroad every weekend and those who have recently visited from Jeonju, Seoul, Singapore, and Indonesia will become light and salt in their regions. Finally, I am happy to inform you that my daughter Hae-jin has been approved by the Board of Korean L’Abri to become a worker.

Do any of you remember that Hae-jin was supposed to be born during the first L’Abri conference held shortly after the 1988 Seoul Olympics? Since we had a lecturer at our house, we asked you to pray that she would be born after the conference. God heard your prayers and let this child stay in my womb for two weeks longer than scheduled. She was born the morning after the conference as the lecturer, Ellis Potter, was leaving Korea.

However, a baby born like this lost her faith. Hae-jin insisted on proving God's absence and Christianity's fictionality, all while we were helping other young people who visiting L’Abri. In the end, through God's long and steadfast love, she returned to God's arms and now has become a L’Abri worker, saying she too wants to help those who are skeptical of their faith.

Over the past few years, I have been asking you to pray for Hae-jin's health. Thankfully, Hae-jin is doing much better than she was before. However, she still has poor digestion and consumes less than half of an average person's calories, so she does not have enough energy and needs to rest often. She has been exercising for over twenty years to relieve her herniated disc, but it is still difficult. Nevertheless, she looks energetic and motivated, which must be God's grace.


Those who came during the summer term (Hae-jin in the middle of the back row)

Hae-jin initially planned to wait until full recovery, but she intended to help us as much as possible. If the board of directors did not approve, she would apply again later, but thankfully she was accepted right away. She is very grateful. To that end, I have another prayer request for you all. Please pray that God would strengthen Hae-jin and save lost souls through her. There have been many workers until now, but this is the first time we have had such a weak worker. Therefore, please pray that she should rely solely on the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word.

I am also grateful for your continued prayers for those who serve as helpers. In November, Elder Dae-wook Kang and his wife Myung-hee join us as helpers for a month. They have helped us as a praying family from the beginning of Korea L’Abri, and as a Master of calligrapher, he wrote and carved our signboards. Please pray that they will stay healthy during their stay, enjoy the glory of participating in God’s work, and serve the guests who visit us.

In early December, a group of students from Somyung School will be visiting as the last quest for this year. Every year, 12th-grade students visit us after their college entrance exams. Thankfully, Tae-yoon and Hyun-ji will join us with Aru, who is not even one year old yet, and help again for the January term. Please pray for this family’s service and their safe travels. Also pray for the students who have lived within the fence of a Christian school and will soon be facing the reality of college, a time and place when it is easy to lose faith.

The opening period through next summer is as follows. (The schedule may change depending on the circumstances of L’Abri, so please refer to the website if you are planning to visit.)

These days, my family is reading 2 Kings. A few days ago, while reading about the destruction of Israel and Judah, I felt strongly that our situation is not better than theirs, and I prayed with a heavy heart. 2 Kings 23:25 says, “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did, with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.”

Josiah removed the idols and all the abominations from the land of Judah, because he wanted to fulfill the words of the law (2 Kings 23:24). What about us? Are we trying to remove the idols in our lives? Or are we embracing idols? However, even though Josiah reformed, Manasseh’s wickedness was so great that God did not turn away from His wrath and eventually destroyed Judah. How much worse must it be for us?

C. S. Lewis once said, “Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is finding his place in it, while really it is finding its place in him (Screwtape Letters, 164-165). How could he have put it so well? Every time I read these lines, I flinch as if my heart had been read.

The idol of ‘prosperity’ in our hearts is soft and elegant, and it is harder to let go of than the idol that Josiah removed. However, it is an idol that will ultimately lead us to death. I pray that God will help us realize the hidden idols within us and give us the heart and will to obey God’s word like Josiah did. That way, we can let go of our idols and follow God. Please pray that all L’Abri family will teach and live this out.

To close, we sincerely appreciate your prayers and donations, and we bow our heads in gratitude for your partnership.

Yours,

KyungOk

Translated by Ye-Jin Ahn

한글 | Donations | Desktop Version