Last News Letter in Costa Rica

 

God's Plan for our Family - again to Mexico.

After I arrived Costa Rica, I wanted to share my news letter with my friends in Mexico City, so I tried to write my news letter in English after I wrote in Korean. However, after the Pandemic, I lost my motivation to continue to do it, because of many complicated feelings in the midst of Pandemic. We had to convert all the ministrio in virtual (Like everybody all did...) and at that time, we didn't know what to do... we didn't know the direction for the ministry. 

After few months of Pendemic, my husband all of sudden decided to move to US to finish his seminary. He thought that this will be the best timing because anyway, we won't be able to do any ministry during this time. However, maybe it was not God's plan, all of sudden my visa got rejected, and we didn't want my husband to go to US to study alone. However, my husband could continue to study because anyway, it was all online.. So... starting from 2020, my husband started study in Trinity Evangelical Divinity Seminary in Chicago, not in US, but in Costa Rica. 
However, it was part of God's great plan. While he was studying, we also could continue our ministry by online. We didn't know what to do, so we just did whatever we could do. We didn't know it would be working or not... but we tried to find whatever the way to reach the new students and continue to do the discipleship. 

Thanks to God's grace, we could see new Disciples Multipliers in our movement, and we could do many things with them, and I could see our ministry turns to movement, and the student leaders are having same vision and I could feel that we are going to the same direction. 

In the midst of that I visited Mexico City two times to get a vaccion and I could see the movement in Mexico City keeps growing and I really started pray for the new staff in Costa Rica. Now, we have 3 new staff (part time) to continue our movement. 

After the pandemic, we could go back to campus, and last year, we could see three different campus reunions in three different main campuses in Costa Rica. And now, those three new staffs are taking charge each campus. 

We are Moving to Merida on 9th of September

Now I want to share the story, how we had decided to move to Merida. 

As the ministry goes well, Jae could also do many roles in LAC Area in the area of partnership between Korea and LAC. Now, we have two more missionary family from CRU are serving in LAC (Guatemala and Panama). and we could start many different partnership from other countries in LAC and many different cities in Korea. 

This summer, we could have four different teams from Korea to four different countries (Honduras, El Salvador, Peru, and Guatemala) and Jae was in all communication process and preparation preocess. Also, he visited El Salvador to discuss about the further partnership with Seoul City Director. 

As the ministry grows, and while we are doing many different roles other than campus, we could see many needs of more training for the student leaders in Cru, and we wanted to make it withing multicultural environment. 

1. Last year, we've got a suggestion to work in the Christian Middle and High school in Izamal (a city near Merida) which is founded by Korean missionary and he wants to retire. So last year, we had visited that school and after lots of conversation with them and the Korean church that offered this job, we had decided to go there. However, we also didn't want to leave Cru, so we decided to work in both area. 

2. As we visited Izamal, we could have an opportunity to meet one of the Korean missionary in Mexico City and we could hear history of in Merida. We heard that Merida is the first place that Koreans moved to Latin America about 100 years ago. They came to Mexico with the dream of working here and make a lot of money, but it was wrong information and they couldn't go back to Korea after their contract because at that moment Korea was colonized by Japan. Therefore, Merida is the place that many 3rd generation of Koreans are living. (Korean & Mexican, maybe Maya people more exactly). A couple of decades before, one of the Korean American missionary had visited there and found the hard situations of Korean Mexican in Merida, and motivated a lot to the Korean American Church in US and ever since that time, many Korean American Churches are sending mission teams or missionaries in that city. That was we had heard from him and we could have more heart for this place. 

3. As we do the ministry here, and for the last one year in Costa Rica after we had decided to move, we had couple of things that we've learned and through out this time, God had given us the vision about what kind of ministry we want to do. And finally, we had decided that we are not going to work in the school, but we will only focus on ministry Cru but still going to Merida to complish the vision that God had given us. 

3. to make everything short, we want to make Merida be a good place to come to receive good training to be a better follower of Jesus. We want to use a lot of resources from US and Korea to offer more opportunity of training to the student leaders in Latin America. 

5 years in Mexico City, and another 5 years in Costa Rica... Although my second son, Nathan was borned in Mexico City, Costa Rica is almost like his hometown now... Last week, Jae had visited Merida to get to know the place and even though we are still scared of heat of Merida, but now we are looking forward to seeing God's grace that will be totally different that we've experienced in Costa Rica. 

We might start ministry with the resources of Korean students by receiving interns or mission teams, but we will also ask leaders of each countries of Latin America to send the students leaders to learn about the mission. 

Above all of those, it would be the first priority that my family can be adapted well there, and find the good house and car and raise fund to be able to do all these things. If God gives hear to support us, please click the link below. 

https://give.cru.org/2846643
Sung Jae Lee & Hanna Yoo

Wraping up times in Costa Rica

Coming to Costa Rica was easy decision for us. Jae always wanted to work in the LAC office and it was the good opportunity. However, they asked us to work not only in the office, but also in the campus. And it was not easy... We had to start the campus ministry with 0 Cru member, and mission team from Korea and our Mexican disciples also came to Costa Rica to help us the pineering the campus. Office work was not easy either, decided to come with lots of vision and dream, but the reality was not same, and one year after, the pandemic hits. However God had allowed us to bear much fruits here. Colombia short term mission with Tico students, three new staffs, many student leaders, Costa Rica first student national conference and so on, we have so much memories in Costa Rica. Because of all those, we are afraid to move, buy also we believe that those memories could be the energy for us to continue to do work for God's Kingdom. 

Thank you so much.