Recently I came across a moving prayer written by Missionary Horace G. Underwood, who served in Korea from 1885 to 1916, more than half of his life.  Despite the enormous culture gap and language barrier, he didn't give up, and God most definitely answered his desperate prayers for Korea.  Read the prayer below and decide for yourself.
Title: The Heart of Chosun (조선, Korea's old name) That I Cannot Comprehend

“Lord, nothing is visible at this moment. Lord, you have planted us on this barren and poor land, where not even a single tree can grow tall enough.
It is such a miracle that we could come to this land across the wide wide Pacific Ocean. Nothing is visible, though, in this land on which we seem to have been dropped off by your hand.
Only stubbornly stained darkness can be seen. 
Only Korean people chained with poverty and superstition can be seen.
They don't even know why they are chained, what suffering is.
They just distrust us and express anger to us as we tell them
how to take away their suffering, which is not suffering to them.
The thoughts of Korean men are not visible.
The mind of this government is not visible.
We are afraid that we may not have any more opportunity
to see the women commuting on kamas (가마, a cart covered and carried by men).
And we do not see what to do.
Yet, Lord! We will obey.
We believe that you begin your work as we humbly obey, 
And that the day will come when our spiritual eyes will see your work 
according to your Words, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
We believe that we will see the future of the faith of Korea.
Although we are as if standing on a desert with bare hands, 
although we are condemned to be Western devils, 
We believe that the day will come when they will rejoice with tears realizing
that they are one with our spirit in Christ, and that we all have one Kingdom and one Father in Heaven.
Although there is no church to worship you, no school to study,
although this land is filled with doubt of suspicion, contempt, and disdain,
we believe that in the near future this land will become a land of blessing.”

100 years later, Korea indeed has become ‘a land of blessing,’ the world’s second-largest missionary-sending nation after US.   Thank you, Missionary Underwood, for your faithful prayers for Korea! 

From Pastor Sara’s Heart
November 17, 2013

“A few more minutes, Dad!” was the groggy response I heard back as I tried to wake my 2 older boys. With the start of the New Year, I have asked Caleb and Caden to commit to waking up early with me to do bible reading and devotionals before they head off to school (in the past, we had read the bible together before bedtime). With Old Man Winter finally arriving, the lure to stay a little longer in a warm and cozy bed is very inviting. Lately, God has placed on my heart the hope and prayer to see the next generation raised up, a creative and passionate generation who would be willing to take steps of faith and at the same time persevere when the going gets tough!
Working with the younger generation can be very capricious at times (just ask any parent)! There are days when you scratch your head and wonder if any change will come about. But I was reminded of God’s goodness and faithfulness in the midst of our perseverance through a Facebook message I received a few months into our Home Assignment here in the U.S. Over ten years ago when I was still a single man, working as a civil engineer, God had given me the privilege to meet up and disciple a group of students at the University of Maryland.  Week after week for about four years, I would commute to campus right after getting off work, and lead a bible study with this group of young men in their dorm room. After they graduated, we parted ways and I didn’t feel like much really resulted from my efforts.
A couple months ago I received a Facebook message from one of the young men in that group. All he wrote was, “Thanks for making those long commutes out to College Park, Dave!” And right under the message was a link to a testimony he wrote for a Christian website. You have to understand that he was the only non-Christian in the group at that time. In fact, he shared in his testimony that he was furious when confronted with the existence of hell and the exclusivity of Jesus as Savior and Lord in one of our bible studies. He even exclaimed that he would rather be in hell than believe in our kind of God. But along his spiritual journey, he came to believe in Jesus Christ by God’s grace through the Alpha Course in a local church, and is now currently a fourth year graduate student at Westminster Theological Seminary preparing to be a pastor.
So what is the point of sharing this story? Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with the younger generation is not always easy. Ministering to and discipling the next generation is not always effortless. Many times we may not see any immediate results or fruit either. Yet, the bible says, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).
With the recent Timothy Retreat, it was quite encouraging to see so many young adults be small group counselors – to listen, to love, to pray, and to pour into the lives of the Timothy students. As a church, may we recognize the need for inter-generational ministry, and learn to cherish and invest in the next generation with perseverance!

From Pastor Dave’s Heart
January 10, 2016