Inauguration Message from Mr. Chong H. Ye, new President of Nest Missi…

Greetings in the Name Jesus Christ our Lord.

As we observe Lent and anticipate Easter shortly, I want to point you to Jesus Christ, who relinquished His throne, humbled Himself, and became a man. Jesus Christ ministered to the sick and the social outcasts on earth. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners,” (Mark 2:17). Jesus Christ came to us for this band of misfits and not the religious authorities.

I am humbled to serve as the new President of Nest Mission. Conversely, I have a tremendous burden of following those footsteps of Rev. Jean Kim and Rev. Deuksil Jung. Together they have done such a tremendous job in leading Nest Mission during the 1st ten years. Through their leadership and your generous support and prayers, Nest Mission experienced tremendous growth these last several years. Now, they have passed on the baton to me.

The Executive Board has recently met and has drafted the 2017 preliminary operations budget that we hope to present and pass in our next board meeting. This budget is aggressive and we have earmarked the budget for new programs to further carry out our mission statement in helping our homeless brothers and sisters in the community. With that in mind, we have divided the Puget Sound region into two different regions—North Puget Sound and South Puget Sound. Rev. Lee, who has previously served as our executive director, will head the South Sound and the newly appointed executive director Rev. Jung, my immediate predecessor as President of Nest Mission, will lead the North Sound. Thanks to your continued interests, prayers, and generosity, we are truly excited about the new opportunities presented to us. 

However, we still need your continued support in helping our homeless neighbors. Recently, I had lunch with a respectable Korean business owner who on Friday mornings volunteers his time to feed the homeless at the local Catholic Food Bank. One conviction I gleaned from this lunch was that he attributed his success to the opportunities he gained living in the United States. He was living the American dream that he wasn’t afforded to in Korea. He has a successful business. His successful business enabled him to send his children to the universities for them to find success in their respective careers. He volunteered at the food bank to repay to this country for the unimaginable opportunity it had afforded him and his family. He was adamant that more Koreans needed to volunteer their time to these causes to repay the USA for the opportunity it had provided for us as immigrants individually, and to our family and to our community.

My goal as President of Nest Mission is actively engage 2nd generations/non-Koreans in hopes to expand our organization beyond the 1st generation Koreans. I realize we have myriad interests from the 1st generation Koreans during my involvement with Nest Mission for the past 3.5 years, however, we do not have much exposure to the 2nd generation Korean-Americans and other non-Korean Christians though this organization does so much for the community. I request your continued support and appeal to the 2nd and non-Korean-Americans enriched by the opportunities afforded to them by living in the USA to accomplish the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to be His “witnesses in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8. It is not coincidence Jesus begins the Great Commission with Jerusalem in mind, then Judea and Samaria, and ultimately to the ends of the earth. We must love and care for our closest neighbors locally as much as we love and care for our unreached brothers and sisters overseas. We focus so much of our time and energy on caring for our brothers and sisters overseas, but we neglect to care for our brothers and sisters locally in our cities and counties. I would like to ask the 1st generation Koreans who have supported us for the last ten years to continue supporting us, but to move one step further by sharing our ministry with your children, grandchildren, and non-Koreans so that they may learn about our ministry and take interest in our ministry.

Every week, we provide weekly dinners to our homeless brothers and sisters with the help of our local Korean churches and frequently from local families who volunteer their precious time. Kids in middle school and high school volunteer their Friday evenings to help their parents prepare and serve meals for our homeless siblings. We need you to bring awareness about our ministries to your families, friends, and neighbors so that more people can help our cause. We can only continue with our projects and ministry through your financial support and volunteering of your time. I solicit your continued interest and prayers in our ministry and sharing our ministry with others.

May God bless you, your family, and your work. 

Written on March 15, 2017