Summer 2006

Dear Friends,

Hanil Seminary students-what paths will their lives take?

Several days ago we received a telephone call from one of our former students who now lives in London with this family, where he serves as an unordained minister to Chinese and Korean immigrants. He was calling to invite us to his ordination service on September 10 at the Kingston-Upon-Thames United Reformed Church in London. When he graduated from Hanil a number of years ago, it was not yet an accredited university and did not grant degrees, nor did it have a theological seminary. Lee Suk-In had a desire to be a missionary but neither the funds nor the academic degrees necessary to realize his calling. A local Korean congregation agreed to support him as their missionary. We arranged for him to go to Taiwan for several years to study Chinese, and then with the help of former British missionaries to Korea, we arranged for him to find a position working with Korean and Chinese immigrants in London. He also began to study for his basic theological degree. While in the United Kingdom for a summer school of theology at the University of Durham in 1999, we were able to attend his graduation ceremony from the University of Surrey.

In the summer of 2005 while in the United Kingdom again, this time for a summer school of theology at Oxford University (which we attended with one of our Korean faculty colleagues from Hanil), we stayed in London with Lee Suk-In and his family, preached in the two churches in which he serves, and had the opportunity to see his ministry firsthand. At that time he had just completed his advanced studies at Birmingham University and was writing his ordination examinations. Therefore we were overjoyed when we received his telephone call informing us that the long road to ordination is just about over. Soon he will become a minister of the United Reformed Church and officially be “a missionary” to Asian immigrants to London. And who knows? At some point in the future he may realize his dream to serve the Lord in some capacity in China.

Each semester as we look into our students’ faces we have no way of knowing what direction their lives will take. We do not know if we will ever see some of them again after graduation. However, as the years pass by we receive letters and cards, and occasionally phone calls informing us of marriages, new babies, and advanced degrees earned (sometimes in Korea and sometimes abroad). On special Korean holidays such as Chusok and Lunar New Year we are pleasantly surprised when students come to visit with their families, bearing traditional gifts, and making the bow of respect before their teachers. And even more surprising is when we visit our former students in Taiwan, Japan, Europe, and the U.S. Indeed, not long ago while waiting for a flight in Singapore, we encountered a Hanil student who was waiting for the same flight. Several weeks earlier a former student now in the U.S. called to introduce us to her new husband, and we were surprised to discover that he is a member of one of our supporting churches. He had seen our names in his church’s newsletter and was delighted to discover that his wife had been our student. And this past June a Taiwanese pastor who was our student in both Taiwan and Korea returned to Korea with his wife and spent a delightful week in Jeonju. They stayed in the new VIP guest room at Hanil University and enjoyed interacting with the current students, both Korean and international students. Yes, it is a small world, especially when there are our former students from Hanil in all parts of that world!

When we first came to Hanil back in 1980 it was a small, unaccredited women’s seminary, and now it is a university which grants degrees up through the Ph.D. Hanil graduates are serving throughout Korea and around the world, and it is our joy to keep in touch and see how God is blessing their lives.

On August 22, the fall semester will begin. Once again we will stand before the class and look into a group of entirely new faces. And we will wonder. What will they do after graduation? What paths will their lives take? Will we ever see them again? If the past is any indicator of the future, we will be in for many joyful surprises!

Theological education in Korea is full of surprises, but these surprises are possible only because you faithfully support us financially through the Worldwide Ministries Division of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In these days of transition for the church, we need your support more than ever if these surprises are to continue. So please, give generously and pray faithfully, and who knows, maybe a Hanil University graduate will drop in someday and surprise you!

May God grant you grace and blessing during these summer months.

Faithfully in mission,

Carol Chou Adams and Daniel J. Adams

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 249