Finding his voice to comfort the voiceless

LOUISVILLE — Like many a prophetic voice before him, the Rev. Jinho Kim’s story is his song.

It was a song that first burst forth in Kim when, as a young adult, he encountered Jesus in a new and transformative way — not unlike his biblical ancestor, Mary, who spontaneously sang God’s praises upon learning she was carrying the Messiah.

Although born and raised in a Presbyterian household in South Korea, Kim said his faith journey changed dramatically after he had taken part in the “Anti-Yusin” student protest movement of the 1970s, which challenged the 1971 election and authority of Park Chung Hee as president.

“Because I ended up on the intelligence agency’s blacklist, I could no longer take the high-level civil service exam I had long dreamed of and prepared for,” said Kim, who had just earned his bachelor’s degree in political science and diplomacy. “I found myself in the valley of despair.”

It was then that he met the Rev. David E. Ross, a Presbyterian missionary who served in Korea from 1961 to 1980, where Ross and his wife, Ellen, focused their ministry on campus and youth evangelism. Through the Rosses’ “Jesus Evangelism Team,” Kim said that he was “healed and transformed” by their Spirit-filled worship and discipleship training.

And — even though he couldn’t read a single note of music — God put a new song in his mouth.

“During this season of grace, as I meditated on the words the Lord gave me,” Kim said, “I was also blessed with the grace to compose Scripture songs.”

But Mary’s witness in Kim’s life didn’t end there.

In 1975, just a few years before he was called to enter seminary in Seoul, his youth group at Yeon Hee Dong Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church of Korea) was planning to go house to house singing carols to church members on Christmas Eve.

“We decided our goal would be to comfort and share the joy of Christmas with unwed mothers, who were socially marginalized in the conservative Korean culture at the time,” recalled Kim. “We asked each member household to prepare a gift from the heart to present to the Lord as a ‘Christmas Joy Offering.’”

The next day, Christmas, as the youth were preparing to deliver the members’ gifts to a shelter for unwed mothers, Aeranwon, Kim said that he entered the sanctuary to pray.

“I prayed, asking for a word directly from the Lord, who became flesh and dwelt among us,” said Kim. “Then, just as an axe floats to the surface of the water, the number of a Psalm came to mind, Psalm 117, ‘The steadfast love of the Lord is great toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.’ I prayed, ‘Lord, please give me a melody for this Word, so that instead of something temporary, it may become a song of gratitude that these women will sing and remember their lives long.’”

Trusting in God, Kim picked up the guitar next to him and, “by faith,” received a melody for the verse. “Since that day,” he said, “this song has been sung in Korean churches and among diaspora communities worldwide, continuing to be sung even a generation later.”

And still another generation later, the gift of “Christmas joy” has again come home to Kim.

When the longtime member of the Benefits Plan of the PC(USA)’s Board of Pensions — who has served primarily new worshiping communities and start-up ministries in the U.S. since 1989 — faced financial challenges in retirement, his prayers were answered when a clergy friend recommended that he apply to the BOP’s Assistance Program.

The trusted PC(USA) agency has since provided Kim with ongoing income and housing supplements to ease the hardships that he faces, having earned only a modest income throughout his years of service.

The generous support that Kim receives was made possible, in part, by the PC(USA)’s annual Christmas Joy Offering, a cherished Presbyterian tradition since the 1930s, which distributes gifts equally to the BOP’s Assistance Program and to the Interim Unified Agency’s Presbyterian-related schools and colleges equipping communities of color.

“Supporting retired ministers is a matter of justice,” said Ruth Adams, director of the BOP’s Assistance Program. “For decades, Rev. Kim has provided spiritual guidance, emotional support and community leadership with modest compensation. Long-serving, long-sacrificing ministers like Rev. Kim can retire in dignity because of the PC(USA)’s collective support.”

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As another Christmas approaches, Kim, his wife, Hannah, and their three adult children — one of whom is expecting a child of her own — all pause to give thanks and remember how “the three wise men joyfully offered a precious gift on the first Noel.”

“The Lord said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive [Acts 20:35]’,” said Kim. “I thank all my brothers and sisters in the PC(USA), whose generosity through the Christmas Joy Offering made the gifts I now receive possible. I pray that we all might continue to be ‘living sacrifices’ like our model, Jesus Christ, who is our true Joy offering.”

In reflecting upon Kim’s life journey and his storied career in ministry, Adams sees him as just such a “living sacrifice” — deserving of a grateful PC(USA)’s generous support.

“In contributing to the Christmas Joy Offering, we uphold the values of compassion, stewardship and community care,” said Adams. “It sends a powerful message that no servant of the faith should face retirement with anxiety. Instead, they should be honored with the peace and security they have helped so many others find.”

Give to the Christmas Joy Offering to help the Assistance Program of the Board of Pensions support our leaders: past, present and future.