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Dear $%name%$, please stand with David who will fulfill the call
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Dear partners, I am Kenneth Bae.
I deeply appreciate your warm help in continuous prayer and financial support for the North Koreans and North Korean refugees. I earnestly pray that God's grace and peace may be with you in 2021 in everything you do.
NGI is raising funds to provide scholarships to North Korean refugee students. These scholarships not only help the North Korean refugees who wish to continue their studies but are short of money, they also empower the students in both intelligence and spirituality, thus training them as leaders of the next generation, like Nehemiah in the Bible.
Today we would like to introduce this year's 4 recipients who are currently studying as undergraduate and seminary students.
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Hello, I am David Kim from Cheongjin, North Hamgyong Province. I escaped from North Korea in January 2008. Now I am a father of a child and a self-funding (which means I am raising my own support) assistant pastor at One Nation Grace Church. I accepted the Gospel while escaping from North Korea.When I first heard the Gospel, my heart was in a deep shock, feeling as though it was all twisted, and I could do nothing but accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. He saved me from death and gave me the hope and purpose of real life, which is eternal life in Him.
Now I am focused on studying at a Presbyterian Theological Seminary withthe vision of the Korean Peninsula becoming one nation. Last May, my wife acquired a franchised restaurant selling Budaejjigae (sausage stew) to support my theological education. However, due to COVID-19, the restaurant has been in an economic crisis, unable to pay for its monthly rent.
However, we have a mission given by God; therefore, we will never give up despite any obstacles or difficulties in our way. If God's grace is upon me through Nehemiah Scholarship and I become able to finish my degree, this is the vision I would like to achieve after graduation. First, I want to cooperate with other pastors who are also North Korean refugees and continuously delve into ways to spread the Gospel to other North Korean refugees and prepare practical, effective, and realistic ways of evangelization to the locals in North Korea.
I would also like to contribute to the North Korean refugee ministry in South Korea as the pre-reunification epitome. While escaping from North Korea, many North Korean refugee females get sold to China, live a hiding life over ten years, and finally come to South Korea with a child of theirs. I desire to help them overcome the difficulties they face with their self-identity and their children accept the Gospel and recover from the childhood traumas. I am committed to pray and prepare to offer proper programs, education, and training to them, so they and their children discover their real self-identity in God and are established as God's disciples.
I am praying for God's timing of Korea's reunification with the dream of establishing a church in my home, Cheongjin. For the past 13 years, I have been in South Korea; I have been endlessly trying to connect to my family and relatives in North Korea, telling them the Gospel and helping them establish churches in their homes. I have a passion for building churches in North Korean families' homes in my connection when I finally get to go back home with my fellow pastors. Starting from the home churches, I have a calling from God to be used as a tool to re-establish churches in North Korea.
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Hello, I am Abi Jeon from Hyesan, Yanggangdo Province in North Korea.
My dream is to become a nurse who heals those who are sick and exhausted. Back in North Korea, my grandmother was a nursewho did not favor patients by their social status but always cared for all, with unconditional love. She always told me to become a person who embraces everyone in love.
I met so many sick people while escaping from North Korea. Seeing the North Koreans who suffer and die from diseases while escaping via China, Thailand, and Laos, where the conditions are poor and unsanitary, I have firmly determined to become a nurse in South Korea and save the lives of those who are unable to get help.
I miraculously met missionaries on my journey to South Korea, accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, and experienced His love, which ultimately healed so many areas of hurt and brokenness in my life. As an individual who did not know God's existence and grew up in an environment where I could not have faith, living in faith in Him gave me such courage and hope to overcome the hard times in resettlement in South Korea.
After entering college, I started volunteering with my friends to help single elders. While taking care of them, I realized that so many didn't get proper treatment at the right timings and thus develop more health complications, making me passionate about serving seniors as a professional nurse.
I am currently working towards achieving my dream. However, the financial problems such as tuition and living expenses still put me in a deadlock in continuing my education despite the basic national provision. Having to afford 20% of tuition on my own has made my living budget even tighter after escaping from North Korea. (The S University, which I am currently attending, supports 80% of tuition at the maximum.) I have consideredtaking a few semesters off, but it would significantly hindercatching up with the nursing school curriculum.
This has been putting such a heavy burden on my shoulders as I striveto achieve my dream. Then Nehemiah Scholarship has shed a light of hope for me to continue my education and get closer to my dream coming true every day.
Suppose I get to receive the scholarship and become able to continue my studies. In that case, I promise not to lose sight of my vision, diligently work hard and finally become a professional nurse specialized in senior care to spread the love of God towards them. Moreover, I would like to become a nurse who cares for physical health and psychological and spiritual health so the lonely, sick seniors can see the light of hope of the Gospel in this turbulent world.
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| Hello, I am Ruth Lee, 24 years old, a University student from Musan, North Hamgyong Province.
I did not grow up in an affluent family but was raised by parents who always emphasized the importance of diligence and communication. Thanks to their parenting under such value, I became an approachable person where people could easily come to open their hearts, and I could empathize with their troubles. This led me to be interested in helping people even after escaping from North Korea. Now I am studying 'Youth Guidance' to help the North Korean refugee youths in a similar environment.
Escaping from North Korea is undoubtedly a turning point, but resettlement is not an easy process but rather challenging and exhausting. Thankfully, I could endure by faith in God and ultimately depend on His love and experience many healingsby acquainting and receiving love from the church family. Knowing that the resettlement is a difficult journey, I have a passion for helping the North Korean refugee youths not be astray and find the right paths in their lives by fitting well into the society with self-confidence.
I came to South Korea alone but had been using the minimum of my monthly provision from the government and focusing on my studies to achieve my dream. I recently heard that my family back home is in a worse economic situation and I had to give up on my studies in break sessions and start a part-time job. This in-between semester session is crucial for me to catch up with other students, but having to support my family and myself led me with no choice but to give up on it.
I have been fighting so hard to survive here, but now carrying the family's living expenses on my shoulders has put me in deep concern and fear that I will eventually have to give up on my dream and even living in this land. Thankfully I could apply for NGI's Nehemiah Scholarship. I thank and give glory to God, who helps me overcome my difficulties through NGI.
I want to continue to strive to finish my education by working even harder and become a youth counselor who helps the North Korean refugee youths. The financial situation I am currently in is a tough time for me. However, even this time of trouble, I believe, will eventually turn into a valuable asset for me to utilize to help the North Korean refugee youths. I want to return the love I received from each one of them by loving and caring for the North Korean refugee youths I will meet in the future.
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| Hello, I am Chole Kim, 24 years old from BoChun, Yanggangdo Province.
I escaped from North Korea right after turning 20 years old. My initial resettlement life was without knowing God. In 2020, I met God through NGI's Discipleship Camp, and now I am experiencing God's goodness every day. After the camp, God has placed so many people who helped me grow in faith step-by-step to have a more profound relationship with Him. Especially last October, when my mother suddenly got very sick and unable to move around or speak due to paraplegia from complications. And I had to afford her treatment all by myself, so many helping hands were placed on me, which I will never be able to forget. Each of them directly showed me who God is by living it out and taught me what real faith and grace are.
My mother's hospital fees are now taken care of, but I am still handling both school and a part-time job to support my family back home as well as myself. Moreover, this year the government is not giving me basic living provisions anymore, so I felt like I am at a dead-end. I didn't have sufficient time after work to prepare to go to school, and this unchanging burden of life has pushed me into the middle of the storm. I had beenpraying I could have time to solely focus on my studies, at least while preparing to apply to college. Then I found out about the Nehemiah Scholarship, which is a light of hope for me. I am so thankful to God and all those who show His love and grace.
Right after the escape, I didn't even know the English alphabet, but now having learned English for two years at Nehemiah English School, I got to a level where I could communicate with native speaking friends. Seeing the teachers who are so dedicated to helping the students at the school, I now dream of becoming an English teacher who teaches with love to the North Korean students in financially difficult situations like mine.
With the Nehemiah Scholarship's help, I promise to work hard as a full-time student at Nehemiah English School and prepare to enterEnglish Education Major at college. After graduating from college, I would like to live the rest of my life using my talent for God's good work, just like the teachers and administrators at NGI. |
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| If you have a question like...
Q. Why do they need support if they receive basic living provisions from the government?
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$500.00 of a basic living provision from the government is provided to North Korean refugee students. But $250-300 for monthly rent and utility bills, $100 for transportation, $50 for communication(phone), $20-30 for school materials take up most of the provision, leaving almost none for them to afford meals and other expenses. This leads them to survive from only one meal a day or to eat only ramen noodles.
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| They can do a part-time job to make additional savings for meals and school materials, but this will reduce the time spent to cope with their studies, which will leave them with low self-confidence and higher psychological pressure. These North Korean refugee students have no way to receive any benefits or provisions like South Korean students do from their parents and friends. They desperately need someone who can be their family, friends, and supporter who can give practical helping hands. If only $10 can be donated a day, a total of $300 a month and $3.30 for a meal can be provided. Furthermore, full-time students at Nehemiah English School are unfortunately excluded from the basic living provision list. They, therefore, need a 'Life Support Scholarship' to maintain the minimum level of life. |
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I cannot express enough how sorry I feel for the North Korean refugee students who risked their lives to escape from North Korea, where they could not dare to find hope and dream. And when they move to South Korea to live a new life of hope, they have such difficult times resettling and facing obstacles in achieving their dreams. Thankfully, God has placed unceasing hope and dream in their hearts, so they don't give up the hope and desire to follow God in their lives. NGI and I are earnestly praying that God sends souls who will plant seeds in and give water to the students so worldly pressures do not trample their dreams.
I firmly believe that the love you supporters send to the students will echo in their lives, shedding unstoppable light of hope in others around them as well. Furthermore, I am confident that your love for them will work as good soil for their lives to sprout, bloom, and bringing forth fruits to become 'Nehemiah' in this generation and leaders to make the Korean Peninsula one nation in God's will.
The students are patiently praying and waiting that God sends the warmhearted souls who will reach out to help them build up their lives together.
We love you.
May God bless you abundantly and give you the spring of peace that never dries out!
Sincerely,
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* We used the alias for the safety of the recipients and their family members.
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About us
Nehemiah Global Initiative (NGI) is a non-profit organization established by Kenneth Bae, dedicated to rebuilding the lives of North Korean refugees through holistic education. Focusing equipping North Korean youths resettled in South Korea with the critical skills they need in their education to fulfill their path to a successful future as leaders and contributors to this world.
Nehemiah Scholarship
Nehemiah scholarship is for the low-income North Korean refugees to equip them with spirituality and knowledge. It is also to raise them as a leader for reunited Korea.
Qualifications for Nehemiah Scholarship
- Must be a North Korean refugee Must be a Christian or a student enrolled in a Seminary
- Must be willing and dedicated to work hard in studies
- Must have a God-given vision
- Must be living alone and/or without financial help to continue education
- Must be verified as a future Nehemiah to rebuild North Korea and its people as God's Kingdom and His people
Types of Nehemiah Scholarship
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Nehemiah Scholarship: Supporting a student who receives the government-funded basic living provision but facing financial difficulties without being able to do a part-time job due to studies in undergraduate, graduate, or Nehemiah English School (The scholarship mostly goes into meals, school materials, etc.) | $300 * 10 times donation
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Life Support Scholarship: Supporting a student who is excluded from the government-funded basic living provision but has to pay for school | $500 * 12 times donation
Types of Nehemiah Scholarship
NGI has chosen 4 recipients as above, they are the third recipients of this scholarship program in 2021 after thorough screening and interviews. This scholarship fund that we are raising now will be used primarily for them. And the rest will be used towards the Nehemiah scholarship fund, which focuses on supporting low-income North Korean refugees who have similar struggles in their studies due to financial needs.
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| Nehemiah Global Initiative
+82 2-363-8488
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