A week ago, the first Jubilee planning committee of the National Caucus of Korean Presbyterian Church (NCKPC) decided to commemorate the late Rev. Jean Kim by donating funds to two organizations. By the grateful recommendation of her son, Sam Kim, Nest Mission was selected as a recipient. The committee asked for a video that showed our ministry briefly. William Kim gladly created this well made video in a short period of time (See https://youtu.be/5oMPKNgKlhE). Many people have seen it and have conveyed they been deeply moved.
Watching the video made me think and reflect. There were many friends passing by in the video. I know most of them by name but still, I see unfamiliar faces. Since the pandemic, I have met about 300 friends and had a chance to talk to them personally and gather their contact information. However, there are friends who just came to the JKF Hygiene center and left without fellowship. If I include them, it will be over 500 homeless people I have encountered. I can remember friends, with whom I had conversations, even their names, and stories, but those I haven’t talked to are still left, unknown street people. They may have been precious ones to someone. However, their image reflected in the video is just an alien, isolated, marginalized person. I feel sorry for them and that saddens me. 10% of them I have been in a meaningful relationship with. Most friends have been rejected from their family, community, and church due to various reasons, such as having the wrong parents or spouse, making the wrong friends, making some mistakes, having some accidents or health issues, etc. Eventually, they were forced onto the street and lived there for as many as 10, 20, and 30 years. They have been going through hardships each day with their damaged body, mind, and soul. They literally only survive.
The retreat at the end of the pandemic, however, has changed four lives of our friends and laid a foundation for ‘the Street Home Church’. God will raise up these friends to build up a new community of faith for the homeless friends.
The Nest Table is a point of contact with our friends and the basis of our ministry. This is a place where we meet and get the energy to get through the day. It is a place where we can feel the warmth of people through service and conversation between volunteers and our friends. It is also a place where people can get a fresh start with a shower and laundry service provided. Here we worship together and listen to the Word of God. The Nest Table has become a place that is like a lifeline. There are many volunteers and ministers. These are the people we have met and shared the burden of services together during the pandemic. Now, most of them serving at the Table are newcomers. Due to the pandemic, the place of service has been changed from indoor to outdoor and the dates of service also have been changed from the weekend dinner to weekday lunch. Because of that, many people couldn’t come to serve and many volunteers have been changed. A sister serving at the meal service, an aged couple preaching the gospel, and two brothers playing the music have come and joined us after the pandemic. We have neither met before nor known each other. Also, we had a photographer who was able to come and take pictures of our friends and our ministry. From the Table to the video, there is a lot of hard work, dedication, and service involved. Those efforts, visible, or invisible, have built up today’s Nest Mission ministries and the homeless church. It would have been impossible if God had not given a heart of compassion to all of us.
Seeing the late Rev. Jean Kim in the video, we also see how the calling and dedication of the first generation of immigrants are passed on to the next generation. We will be moving forward as a community of God that serves each other across different cultures and races from generation to generation. In this calling, each one of us is important and has our own roles, including our homeless friends. Everyone is precious in this work. We will share the burdens of our work and raise up each and every one of us as God’s people. God will provide the fruits of our work. All praise, honor, and glory to God who calls us one and leads us to His will!