Hello and Merry Christmas from
South Korea! Yes, that’s correct, I said
South Korea. Last year I was unable to
make a Christmas letter because I was busy working 2 jobs and preparing for a
move to Seoul, S. Korea. I have been
here since mid-February, teaching English at an after school academy. I just re-signed for another year. My goal is to pay off my student loans so I
can have more freedom to do work as a missionary. What a mind-blowing experience this has
been. Never in my life did I have any desire
to visit, much less live, in Asia (with the exception of the Great Wall of
China). Here is a brief background of
how I ended up here and the journey I have been on the past 9 months. If you would like more details feel free to
email me. I don’ t want this letter to
be too long.
Back-up to
Fall 2009, I was reading the book “Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers. When I finished that book I was really
touched by the story. I was convicted
about sharing the love of Christ with prostitutes but how could I do this? What way would be effective. I also, through my studies at Liberty, knew
there were a large and growing number of child sex slaves throughout the
world. How could I reach those? I wasn’t sure what to do with this. So I prayed.
May 2010, I
went to Brazil for my internship. While
there I met many street kids. These are
children who live on the street because their parents kick them out or because
they are orphans. I met girls as young
as 10 who were already selling their bodies for sex because they were lied to,
thinking it was the only way they could survive and earn money. They didn’t want to do it, but they believed
the lie their pimps fed them.
I came home
from Brazil and began looking for jobs with Trafficking organizations. I couldn’t get the faces of those girls in
Brazil out of my head. For a year I
looked, applied, interviewed…. nothing.
I decided to apply for Seminary but felt none of the programs I looked
into would have prepared me for a career in Trafficking. I found everything equivalent to my undergrad
at Liberty so I didn’t go.
October 2011, I became a substitute
teacher. I loved it! I subbed in a lot of the poorer schools in TN
with many different ethnicities and the thought occurred to me, what if I use
teaching as a way to get in and help prevent students from joining gangs or
becoming prostitutes? I decided to go
get my Masters in teaching…. too much money.
My undergrad student loans were preventing me from so much. I applied to begin teaching with Teach For
America…. denied (to my surprise and the surprise of many TFA teachers I subbed
for).
Thanksgiving
2012, I received an email from a recruiter looking for people to teach English
in Korea. I was curious as to how they
got my information and thought it was a scam.
Turns out TFA had given them my information and they thought I would be
a good candidate. Reluctantly I decided
to go through with the process just to see what happens. I had no desire to go to an Asian
country. I loved to travel and had
pretty much given up on my desire to work with Trafficked victims. Within 1 ½ months I had all my paper work and
been hired with a school in Korea!
Everyone I talked to that had been to Korea was surprised at how fast it
was happening, including myself. With
everything that happened in that 1 ½ months I began to realize that this was a
door that was WIDE open and if I didn’t go through it I would miss out on a
HUGE blessing, so I said yes.
I had no idea what to expect
because I really didn’t do research on Korea before leaving. I was scared to death and hid in my hotel the
first day. My first day on the job I had
an atheist tell me how stupid and ignorant I was for believing in all that
“Jesus Crap” (to put it nicely). I was
horrified. I knew I needed to find a
church and fast. I was the only
Christian at my workplace. I ended my
first week in Korea saying to myself, “What
am I doing here? 51 more weeks to go.”
I asked the lady that hired me if
she knew of any English churches I could go to and fortunately she was a
Christian. She invited me to her
church. My second Sunday in Korea I was
sitting in church and the pastor began to poor out his heart and reveal his
passion for Justice especially in the areas of Trafficking, Orphans, Homeless,
and Abortion. My heart leaped for joy
as I realized this could be my opportunity to get involved. Maybe this is why God brought me to Korea.
Over the past 10 months I have
joined Onnuri English Ministry volunteering with their Hope Be Restored Justice
Ministry. Every month we go to a
Durabang, a Restoration House outside of Seoul that helps women who have been
victims of Sex Trafficking. We spend
several hours visiting with the ladies and have really developed some good relationships
with them. We also do a lot of prayer,
research, and awareness on the issues of Trafficking.
Recently I have partnered with Pastor
Choi and his Love Neighbors Mission. He
goes out every week to several Red Light Districts in Korea and passes out
snacks to the ladies working there and praying for those that request it. He has been doing this for 5 years. While in Seminary, he said he wanted to reach
the unreached people groups in Korea and asked God to reveal to him who they
were. God revealed to him the people working
in the Red Light Districts. At first he
was hesitant and didn’t want to do it but he did. These woman love him coming to visit and look
for him in anticipation on the day he is suppose to come. Recently, I got my Korean Drivers License so
I can help Pastor Choi drive twice a week to a Red Light District that is far
from Seoul. On Christmas Eve I got to go
out with him to the Red Light district he visits frequently to hand out
Christmas cards and gifts to the ladies.
It was such an awesome experience and I loved seeing their faces light
up!
I’m not really sure what the future
holds but I know who is holding my future.
I still desire to go back to Brazil and work with those kids but I feel
for now, God wants me to do some more work in Asia and I’m praying about
Cambodia and Thailand when I finish my 2nd year contract. When you think of me will you please pray for
these things:
*Student loans will be paid off by
February 2015.
*Guidance and direction on the next
steps
*More opportunities to continue
being trained and educated about Trafficking issues
*****Protection of heart, mind, and
spirit for me and the team that is ministering in the Red Light Districts. (This is the biggest one because it is so
dark in those places)
*That I will be a good leader at
work as I was recently promoted to Head Teacher!!! (Many of my co-workers aren’t saved so I am
also witnessing to them.)
*Courage and strength to continue
witnessing to non-Christian co-workers
I’d love to
hear back from you. This letter is just
the beginning of what is going on so I’d enjoy sharing more with you. We can email, Facetime, Skype, Facebook,
G-Chat, whatever. I’d love to hear what
is going on in your life or answer any questions you may have. rprescott3130@gmail.com.
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