Part Three: Love is Enduring - My Family
	26. My Second Daughter, Jung Joo, Dedicated to Jesus Christ
	Jung Joo was very active and kindhearted since an early age. When she was young, during a family worship one day, I said, “I was brought up in a Christian home and had never smelt a cigarette, but since your father smokes three packs a day, I have bad headaches.” From that day on, Jung Joo prayed at meal times or before going to bed, “Dear Father God, I earnestly pray that You will help my father quit smoking.” After a while, my husband got a soar throat and went to the hospital. The doctor told him, “Please stop smoking. You will really become sick.” Upon hearing this, my husband said, “Was I born to smoke? No. I was born to work.” He quit smoking that day. It’s been more than 36 years since he quit and his health is excellent. We moved to Seoul when Jung Joo was in her second year of middle school. When we were deciding which school she should transfer to, I advised her to go to Ewha Middle School for Girls. I told her, “There, you will learn the Bible, the Word of God. It is a light in our hearts all throughout our lives.” I helped her transfer to Ewha. Ewha is a mission school and the students in Seoul were very smart. In her first year at this school, she was middle in her class. But she studied hard during the winter vacation of her second year and, she became the top student all throughout her third year. When graduating from middle school, she received the highest honor and also got the top grade on her high school entrance exam. The scholarship that was awarded to the top student at Ewha Girl’s High School for was quite a large amount. Jung Joo received it. But she never spent it on herself. She first showed it to my husband and me, and the next day, she took the money to her homeroom teacher and asked him to give it to poor students who weren’t able to pay for their own tuition. Each semester, about four students were helped with it. Jung Joo still doesn’t know who the recipients were and the recipients didn’t know who paid for their tuitions. Only the principle and her teacher knew who gave the money and who received it. Whenever Jung Joo returned home from school she always made it a rule to have a map sleep after having an early dinner. She would ask, “Wake me up at midnight, please.” She started to study from that time on usually until 5 o’clock in the morning and then slept one more hour. This was her unique way of studying. God blessed her with a gift of understanding and she always had the best grade on all her exams. Whenever she returned home after having taken one, she always told me, “I made many mistakes and I don’t think I will get the highest mark.” But she always received the best grade when the results were announced. Jung Joo said that she felt sorry for her friends, who also would have liked to receive the highest mark. All her friends loved her dearly because of her kind nature. During her second year in high school, an election to choose a president for the students’ association was held. Jung Joo was almost unanimously elected except for one vote, which was Jung Joo’s vote for one of her friends. The next year she gave up on her vote, feeling sorry for her friend for what had happened the previous year. Jung Joo was elected president, unanimously. One day, a letter came from Mr. In Soo Lee, a teacher, who supervised a students’ club called the Morning Star Club. In it Mr. Lee wrote, “Jung Joo is not your daughter, nor Ewha’s, nor the daughter of our country; she is the daughter of humankind. I hope that you will raise her with the greatest care.” This letter left a deep impression on me. Jung Joo, being also beautiful and gentle looking, gives joy to everyone she meets with her sweet smiles. Right after her high school graduation, Jung Joo entered Ewha Womans University with the highest honors on her entrance exam. As soon as the news was reported, I was asked to bring five photos of Jung Joo to her high school. The principal, Mrs. Myung Hak Suh and the school’s dean were there and they told me, “We have seen many top students before, but never have we seen a student as kind as Jung Joo here at Ewha Girl’s High School.” They also said that Jung Joo left a lovely impression in the hearts of the teachers and other students. I thanked God for this. Jung Joo has never said no to anything I asked of her. She is truly a good daughter. After she graduated from Ewha Women’s University’s Department of English Language and Literature, she went to the University of Michigan to further study English literature. When she first arrived in Michigan, one of her professors said, “Jung Joo, how did you come to study English Literature as a foreign student? Wouldn’t you consider changing your major? It is quite a difficult subject?” To this, Jung Joo replied, “Professor, I have done well in Korea, I’ll do my best here also.” When I visited Michigan a year later, Jung Joo was managing well her studies in English Literature as she had intended and I praised God. The dormitory that she was staying in was called the Martha Cook Building. It was nice just like the living room of a wealthy man and was built by a lawyer who wanted to honor his mother. It was built of teak wood and the ceiling was carved. One of Jung Joo’s friends was named Dana Weisman. She was very kind and she loved Jung Joo inviting her often to her house preparing good dishes for my daughter. Having heard that Jung Joo’s parents had come, she drove to our hotel and invited us to her house. I went, wearing an orange sukosa dress. Her house didn’t appear to be that big from the front, but there was a forest in the backyard. I realized once again that America was a vast land. She told us that her husband and her children often camped out there. How delicious were the dishes she prepared for us! She was a diligent and a good person. She was beautiful and looked a lot like Jung Joo. Her husband was a surgeon earning a good income and went to Europe once a year with his wife. They had a lovely family. During our conversation, I used the expression “day by day” while talking about children’s education and she said, “I can feel your love for your children when you use those words.” She also added, “You should be very tired after your long trip, but on the contrary, you look as beautiful as a fresh rose, refreshed by the dewdrops in the early morning.” The next day, Jung Joo held a reception at the beautiful parlor in her dormitory, Martha Cook to welcome my husband and me. About 50 people were invited including professors, Korean doctors, pastors, their wives, and her friends. She asked her friends to demonstrate their talents to celebrate our visit. That evening was like an international concert. At the end, in return for their performances, I was asked to sing a solo. I sang a hymn entitled, “When They Ring the Golden Bells.” There’s a land beyond the river, that we call the sweet forever, And we only reach that shore by faith’s decree; One by one we’ll gain the portals, There to dwell with the immortals, When they ring the golden bells for you and me. (Refrain) Don’t you hear the bells now ringing? Don’t you hear the angels singing? This the glory hallelujah Jubilee. In that far off sweet forever, Just beyond the shining river, When they ring the golden bells for you and me. After my solo, word spread around Michigan that Jung Joo’s mother sang well. The director of her dormitory came forward that day and eagerly spoke of Jung Joo. Jung Joo didn’t interpret for me, but just kept smiling. It was only later that I found out that the director spoke of Jung Joo being kindhearted like an angel. Jung Joo taught Sunday school. During the weekdays, she led a busy life studying because English Literature was a difficult subject. She usually went to bed around midnight after a long day. One day, her roommate, Jane, invited her to go to a Thursday prayer meeting. She had no time to spare, not even to write letters home. One day, God spoke to her these words: “Jung Joo, would you come if I asked you to?” That prompted her to attend the prayer meeting with her friend. At the first meeting, Jung Joo was greatly convicted by these words written on the wall: “You have been first in my thoughts. Have I been first in your thoughts?” For the first time in her life, she realized her shameful sins; her enslavement to studying. It was ahead of herself, her parents, her brothers and sisters, friends and ahead of Jesus. She came to realize that Jesus was more than an accessory in her life. Jung Joo was then led to take a course entitled “Life in the Spirit” at this prayer meeting called “The Word of God.” She was baptized with the Holy Spirit after much prayer. Ever since then, she has been filled with the Holy Spirit. She began to witness boldly of Christ, thus leading many friends in the dormitory to our Savior. She received new strength after having been baptized with the Holy Spirit and also did well in her school work. She was always filled with joy and love. When she left Michigan after her graduation, the director of her dormitory hugged and thanked her with this blessing, “I found Christ through you. You are a good girl and some day you’ll be the homecoming queen of Michigan.” Returning to Korea, Jung Joo began to attend the Tuesday prayer meetings led by Reverend Dae Won Oh also known as Reverend David Ross. Young Hoon, my third son, was also led to this meeting and was baptized with the Holy Spirit. Jung Joo gave her testimony at a retreat for university students organized by Young Nak Presbyterian Church. The fire of the Holy Spirit came upon the meeting and all the students that were present experienced the grace of God. With the testimony of Jung Joo, not only did Duk Ja Nam, a junior at the English Department of Ewha Womans University and the daughter of the head of a Buddhist Association, receive Christ, but also many friends and neighbors were baptized with the Holy Spirit. Many among the latter studied theology, others went abroad as missionaries or dedicated themselves to become servants of the Lord. In 1978, Jung Joo went to the Asian Center for Theological Studies and Missions. In 1979, while at Fuller Theological Seminary, she prayed for a whole year, so that she could go serve as a missionary in Nepal or Bangladesh. But quite contrary to her expectations, a ThD program at Harvard University was opened to her as a mission field. After much prayer and long discussions with Young Hoon and me, she finally left for Harvard in 1981. For eight years, until she received her doctoral degree, she lived each day miraculously, fighting great spiritual warfare. When her ThD dissertation was accepted at Harvard Divinity School, Professor Jim and Vera Shaw rejoiced with tears, saying that Jung Joo’s victory was a great opportunity for evangelizing to the Harvard community and America. While Jung Joo was at Harvard, she always prayed with Jim and Vera, who had served as faculty advisors for the Harvard-Radcliffe Christian Fellowship for over 40 years. This organization was responsible for leading Buddhists and non-Christian international students to Christ. Relying on the words, “Be faithful unto death,” and having fought the good fight to the end, Jung Joo finished her ThD in the New Testament, writing her dissertation on Paul’s Pneumatology in 1989. After returning to Korea in 1989, Jung Joo was offered the post of professor by six different theological seminaries, but believing it to be God’s will, she started to work as the executive director of the Korean Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in February 1990. In 1992, she was elected as the vice-president of the World’s Woman’s Christian Temperance Union at the 32nd World Convention held in Goetteborg, Sweden. I pray that by the Holy Spirit’s guidance, she would always give glory to God in the field of theology, world missions, and in the temperance movement. Jung Joo is like a lily, spreading the fragrance of Christ everywhere she goes while the ever-present smile on her face makes everyone around her happy. Since March 1994, she has been a professor at Yonsei University and puts forth much effort in witnessing about Christ to all the young students there. I always trust and pray with joy and thanksgiving that Jung Joo will bear much fruit through her evangelism. My Daughter Jung Joo Though people abound in the world, there is only one Jung Joo Always bringing joy to her mother’s heart Being ever so kind and good. May the joy of the Lord Eternally flow from your heart like a fountain. Whenever I think of you, happiness and gratitude fill my heart. My daughter, Jung Joo! How I long for the day we meet again. When that day comes, let’s share the thoughts in our hearts In the sweet presence of our Lord. (A poem written in a birthday card, sent to Jung Joo during her study abroad, October 16, 1972.)
	22. My Husband, Soo Keun Kim, a Successful Businessman
	23. My First Son, Young Tae, Dedicated to God
	24. My Second Son, Young Min, and His Temperate Lifestyle
	25. My First Daughter, Young Joo, Born with a Talent in Painting
	26. My Second Daughter, Jung Joo, Dedicated to Jesus Christ
	27. My Third Son, Young Hoon and the Cross
	28. My Last Daughter, Sung Joo, a Businesswoman
	29. My Mother’s Advice
	30. My Conviction for Children’s Education

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