sence of love in my childhood. All I can think of is how I
cried myself to sleep because I couldn’t understand why
my dad was living with a woman who wasn’t his wife. Or
how I stayed up all-night listening for my mom to return
home from work to make sure she didn’t just get up and
leave. I remember lashing out at my friends in anger with
how lonely and frustrated I felt at home. I remember how
I felt unloved and this memory has haunted me for the
past nineteen years.
When I left Cambodia
in 2015, I knew that
I had the heart to return one day. I hoped
that I would be able to
go back to Cambodia
and serve at LIS again.
I didn’t know that I
would be able to go
But I have made new memories. I cried with gratitude
as I saw our leader eating the core of the peach after he
had cut the best parts for our team. I was reunited with
Sreypao, the little girl who broke and mended my heart
last summer with her kindness. When I felt ready to give
up and go home, I was comforted by team members who
challenged me to be vulnerable and open with them. I
found God’s love manifest itself in the people around me.
back within a year later. Praise God, because he gave me another opportunity
to go to Cambodia and a new opportunity to go to Korea!
However, this trip was different from last year. I expected
my experiences to be different. I was going to Cambodia
with a new team and to be honest, I was nervous. I was
nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. I was nervous because I feared that everything in Cambodia had
changed. I feared that nothing would be familiar anymore. BUT, God reminded me that the purpose of going
was not for my own satisfaction. God reminded me of His
sovereignty over my life and over my fears. I had no need
to be afraid, because God had a plan for us, even though
And I was reminded (yet again) of who loves me and how
much He loves me.
So here I stand with the same heart as before: a heart
willing and ready to serve God’s children by not only loving on them, but telling them, “God loves you and you
we did not know what that plan was.
will never forget it because I will always remind you.”
In Cambodia and Korea, our team DID a lot of things.
Some of us taught classes, some of us did maintenance
Esther Yoo
work, some of us prepared lessons, and some of us assist-
Hello, my name is Esther Yoo. I am 22 years old and I
ed teachers. But, today, I am not going to go into depth
am a member of this church. I have been attending FKBC
since I was in Pre School. Throughout my life, I have gone
to various mission trips through our church, including a
yearlong mission trip to Cambodia in 2014.
of all the things we did. Today, I am going to talk about
what God did in my heart. I had an incredibly blessed
time in Cambodia and Korea and I really do believe God
had a reason to send me there.
The English Ministry of First Korean Baptist Church of Raleigh | www.livinghoperaleigh.org
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