Sterling College

We met at Sterling College, a small liberal arts Christian school with Presbyterian roots in Sterling, Kansas. Ben was drawn by soccer, tennis, and choir scholarships he received. He double-majored in Religion and Philosophy and Christian Education. Julie chose Sterling for the academic scholarship they offered her, and she majored in Elementary Education with emphases in literature and history. Looking back, we know that God brought us to Sterling as part of His sovereign direction for our lives. We made many good Christian friends who have continued to be part of our lives over a decade later, and we were given our first opportunities for ministry in Asia.

A Sterling professor had developed a relationship with Sooyoungro Presbyterian, the largest church in Busan, South Korea, and she took students on one-month missions trips to serve there. We partnered with church members to teach English classes and do evangelism, and we lived with Korean host families during our stay. Ben did this missions trip three times, his freshman, junior, and senior years at Sterling, and Julie did it her junior and senior years. We fell in love with South Korea through these missions trips. The Korean Christians we worked with were so warm and welcoming; they loved the Gospel and truly desired to reach out to the lost, and we felt blessed to join them in ministry. The non-believers we witnessed to were open and interested, viewing the church as a positive part of their community. The time we spent in South Korea was truly life changing for us both.

During our senior year missions trip, leaders at Sooyoungro asked us each separately (we were not dating yet) to return to Busan after graduating to become their first non-Korean staff members. We both felt the Lord's leading in this wonderful opportunity, and six weeks after our college graduation, we were on a plane headed back to Korea for a year.