Where can you find SEBTS this summer?
This Wednesday, Yiyoung Yuk, one of our lovely seminary students, is sharing her plans for the summer! Yiyoung, tell us where you'll be and what you'll be doing:
I love summer vacation, not just because my birthday is in August, but because it is so wonderful to have a break from school. We do not have to worry about quizzes, writing papers, and constantly checking our to-do lists. I am not a planner. I am more of an artist! Trust me, I love studying, and SEBTS has been stretching my mind, challenging my thinking, and most of all, creating deeper love for the word of God. But I desperately need a break to express God’s beauty in creative ways instead of in Turabian style! I also want to experience His love, enjoy His nature, and enjoy His people without the burden of assignments. In this post, I will include some of my drawings. They speak my heart better than my words.
Where will I be?
I will be going to New York and New Jersey to visit my mom and sister. I am originally from Korea, but my mom and sister live in NJ. After having my little girl, Ruah, I haven't had the chance to drive all the way up to New York to visit them. I had been to NY many times before I got married, but having my baby girl changed that! Americans say 10-hour-driving is nothing, but for Koreans, it is a very long time!! (It takes less than seven hours to drive all the way from Seoul to the very south of Korea.) It will be an adventurous month spending time with family and friends this June. The rest of the summer, I will be here, serving in many ways.
What will I be doing? How will I serve?
God has really given me a heart for Bible storying. For those of you who aren't familiar with Bible storying, it's a process of oral and visual communication that includes a narrative presentation designed to communicate a Bible story followed by dialogue, interpretation, application, accountability, drama, song, and retelling the story.
Seventy percent of the unreached people in the world are oral learners. In our churches, we often communicate through printed literature such as tracts and lesson books. However, people can more easily embrace God’s ways when they can see, hear, smell, taste and touch the Gospel. Learning Bible storying has been an amazing journey. Over a year ago, I started a group that consists of mostly female seminary students or wives of students. Our group is international, and we meet every Thursday at 1pm for Bible storying, fellowship, worship, and coffee and dessert. Most of women in the group are moms, so their kids have become part of the group, singing along and having a blast! Last semester, through Bible storying techniques, we memorized almost the entire book of Acts. Now we are studying Bible panorama from Genesis through Revelation, finding redemptive themes in every story. If you are interested, please email me at luvu620@gmail.com.
Also, God has given me a heart to design a curriculum for ESL learners using the Bible and Bible storying to serve immigrants or to teach English in the mission field. I am a non-native speaker myself, so I understand the frustration and struggle of learning a new language. I also understand the passion & joy that comes from such an accomplishment. I am in the process of writing a 1-year curriculum, with the help of other women who have the same heart, that can be used in an ESL ministry in the U.S or on the mission field. While meeting a social need, the curriculum can be a great channel to share the Gospel and build great community and fellowship.
My husband and I are both serving as interns at Goldsboro Korean Baptist Church. The members are mostly Korean immigrants who are married to Americans soldiers. I am leading a Bible study for English-speaking members as well as spending time counseling women. We have are learning so much through this ministry opportunity. God is most definitely teaching me what it means to have the heart of a shepherd.
Most importantly, if people ask me what I do, I do not hesitate to answer that I am a mom. I have a two-year-old daughter named Ruah. Her name means "breath of God or God’s inspiration" in Hebrew. I was pregnant with Ruah while I took Hebrew I, and she was born on the day of the final exam day of Hebrew II. The professor jokingly said that some people would do anything to avoid the test ;) This summer, I will spend most of my days with her!
Looking back, it has been the grace of God that I am here, writing this. I was lost. I came to Christ in my early twenties, but I had financial difficulties and health issues. I am from a broken family. Everything seemed like obstacles. Even now, being a full time mom, a full time student, and an intern sometimes feels so overwhelming. Studying in English is challenging, and studying theology is even more difficult. But He knows my heart, and it is Jesus who carries my burden every day, who encourages me, who serves me, who teaches me to never be afraid, and challenges me to press on. He makes my heart glad and makes it sing like a bird.
Yiyoung Yuk is married to Kitae Kim. They are both of pursuing an M.Div with Christian Ministry. They are from South Korea. Yiyoung loves to express God’s love and find His beauty in every day life through drawing and writing. They have been here for over 3 years and have a 2-year-old daughter named Ruah Spring Kim. Kitae works as event staff at the Ledford Center, and both of them are serving as interns at Goldsoboro Korean Baptist Church. They have a heart for missions.
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