The Power of Family
I’ve been serving the orphans here in Korea for almost nine years now. What stood out to me right away for the kids was that their greatest need was committed relationships. I’ve traveled to orphanages in Myanmar, Cambodia, Philippines and other places and have seen the same. So often we feel our greatest needs are the things we could use more of in the moment: money, better food, better shelter, better education, better opportunities. But in the long run, what we need most is love. We need people we can lean on in times of trouble. We need people we can trust will be there for us. We need people we can celebrate life with. Billions of dollars could be earned and amazing achievements could be made, but without someone to truly celebrate life with everything is empty.
The orphans in Korea who apply for Oak Tree Project are almost always looking for their most current, pressing need: money to help get through school. This is important! Without the scholarship money they will have to get part time or even full time jobs to get through school, and most of them will drop out from exhaustion. What these students applying don’t realize is that the true power behind Oak Tree Project is the mentors who are committed to them until they graduate. These mentors call them once a week to check in on them and meet up with them once a month to give them a good meal and get to know them more. For almost all of the students, they are very slow to trust their mentors because they haven’t had a sincerely committed person in their life before. But as time passes, these students open up and get blessed deeply.
In this video two of our students share how their mentors have helped them. Please check it out!
Psalm 68:6 reads, “God sets the lonely in families…” His desire is that no one be alone. Oak Tree Project currently has nine students in the program and our goal is to accept another eleven in 2015. One scholarship is about $6,000. While we have raised about $55,000, we still have another $70,000 to go to reach our goal. We are also currently receiving applications for mentors who want to serve in the program starting next year.
If what Oak Tree Project is doing blesses you, then please e-mail us at otpkorea@gmail.com to receive our monthly prayer e-mails. If you’re interested in becoming a mentor for the students (minimum 2 year commitment, must be living in Seoul, and must be good in speaking Korean) then please e-mail us at the same address. We are currently taking applications for mentors for 2015.
We also have an event coming up: RAT Race Seoul. RAT stands for “Run Against Traffick.” Oak Tree Project is partnering with Run Against Traffick to participate in a fun run on Saturday, November 15th, in Seoul. There will be a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and a full marathon. All registrants will receive a bright t-shirt that will help bring greater awareness to trafficking and runners will also be encouraged to raise funds on behalf of Oak Tree Project. Please e-mail RatRaceSeoul@gmail.com if you would like to run. If you would like to support, then please see our fundraising site: http://www.rideagainsttraffick.org/en/ratrace2014. More than 99% of all funds raised go straight to the students.
Last, I want to include the video of the sermon my wife Sky gave this past Sunday titled, “Abba, Father.” She shares about the power of knowing God as our father and also shares personally about her own father’s transformation. It is a powerful sermon!
