In Nepal: Experiencing God’s Greatness

Q: Why did you decide to go?

A: When I heard that this trip would be about empowering other women, I was sold. I instantly responded within minutes. It was like my entire body was responding to the ask and it would have been blasphemous to do otherwise.

With that said, once I found out we would be holding a conference on prayer, I immediately felt inadequate. I’ve always been a straight A student, even in Sunday School, but prayer isn’t one of those things you can just study and do well, it’s a practice – a discipline, and I knew it wasn’t my strongest spiritual discipline. But by then, I had already committed to the trip so it was too late to back out now!

During the conference, it was incredible how God spoke to me, how my teammates’ teachings were actually preaching to me, encouraging me. I thought I was going on the trip to Nepal to offer up my time and my gifts, so it was absolutely wild to me to have been nurtured and loved during those precious 11 days.

Q: Would you describe Nepal to those of us who haven’t yet been?

A: I was so moved by all of Nepal’s beauty. There is a fragrant aroma throughout the country, laid with diverse flowers and trees. You’ll see coniferous trees next to palm trees, majestic snow mountain tops and a jungle-like national park. As most of the country practices Hinduism or Buddhism, you’ll feel some of the fierce spiritual strongholds there, but you will also feel God’s undeniable love for his people.

Pro Tip: If you’re also worried about what you’ll eat on a short-term trip, this is the trip to go on! We had delicious Nepali food throughout the entire trip. Never have I ever eaten so well on a missions trip!

Q: How did you see God at work?

A: I consistently saw the transformative power of the gospel.

During one of our drives to the training center, Ramesh, founder of Our Daughters International (ODI) Kensington’s Global Partner, was telling us how there are organizations similar to ODI that are also fighting against human trafficking in Nepal.

However, they aren’t seeing the same type of success – and why is that? Ramesh’s response was powerful: because it is only Christ who can transform trauma and create something new. Of course, I know what the “good news” is. I know that only God can heal and only He can change us, but this was merely intellectual knowledge to me.

By meeting “the daughters” (an affection term for the women rescued by ODI) in person, getting to know their tragic stories, yet seeing the type of joy and fire only the Holy Spirit can provide, I was so humbled.

There is no other explanation for their rebirth other than Christ! I met so many daughters who are now strong leaders, business owners, employees, trainees, worship leaders, teachers….and they are happy.

What I had only heard in sermons previously, I saw and felt for the first time:

Christ can not only transform pain and turn it into purpose, He can also bring joy and happiness after dire circumstances. 

Q: Why does the work of Our Daughters especially align with your passions?

A: I grew up in a traditional and relatively conservative Korean home. While I knew my parents loved and valued me immensely, I also felt a need to fit into a traditional gender role. When I wanted to be a doctor, my parents urged me to pursue something easier and become a registered nurse like my mom.

Jokingly, they’d tell me I was beautiful enough to marry a doctor, why be one?!

So, from a young age, I felt like my dreams and ambitions were too big. My opinions were too strong. I should be modest, not only in how I dress, but how I speak. That’s what’s fit for a lady.

It wasn’t until I moved away for college that I think I subconsciously allowed myself to grow without limits. It felt like my voice and my mind were nurtured during that time and I started to gravitate towards my political science and women’s studies classes.

When I learned about how laws can shape communities and people groups, I had a better understanding of why the world felt the way that it did to me. It always felt like I was straddling two cultures – the U.S. and Korea.

My parents and I immigrated to the U.S. when I was young and we certainly faced racism and poverty, but it also felt like a façade. Because when I visited my grandparents back in Korea, we lived in a luxury apartment with a chauffeured car. Shifting through these different lenses helped me to see how economic privilege, racism, and my particular immigration experience intersected.

I can see how clearly those experiences helped me understand the power of empowering others and being empowered myself. 

I’m a mother of two daughters that I am raising to be fierce women who know who they are and whose they are. I’m a wife to a husband (while also Korean American) that is my biggest cheerleader and supporter. He is someone who suddenly started making all of our meals so that I could attend law school full time when our kids were 2 and 5 years old.

I’m also a corporate (mergers and acquisitions specializing in private equity) lawyer at one of the largest law firms in the world and I chair the Diversity and Inclusion Committee at my firm’s local office. I enjoy the substantive nature of my work, but what I really feel called to is to speak into the lives of young lawyers – especially younger women and minorities.

I feel God asking me daily to be brave. Brave enough to bring my full self to work. If you’re familiar with diversity, equity and inclusion work, you’ll know that asking underrepresented groups to be their full and authentic self is often a trap. It’s also incredibly difficult to do when you’re an “only” in the room – the only woman, the only minority, the only woman who is also a minority.

But after I went to Nepal and saw the work of ODI, my professional life and my faith intersected for the first time. A couple weeks before I left for Nepal, I found out that my firm has a strong pro bono arm and regularly works in Nepal training women lawyers. I was quickly introduced to the head of our U.S. and international pro bono team. Since I’ve been back, I’ve met with the team to brainstorm other ways for my firm to get involved.

As a believer, I always knew my calling was to serve and to use my talents, but if I’m honest, those “talents” were likely used in the welcome center at church, on the worship team, or in the kids’ area, but I never dreamed my professional skills and network could also be used.

I can feel God stirring something up in me and around me, and I’m not yet sure what that is, but the stirring sure feels exciting. It feels like I’m at the cusp, the edge of greatness – the type of greatness that only God can produce; the unimaginable and unfathomable kind. 

Q: What would you say to someone considering but hesitant about joining a short-term trip?

A: There’s no need to think about it any more than you already have. If you felt a little nudge, just go. Obey. Ask others to join you in this adventure and raise financial and prayer support for the trip. You and those who support you will be immensely blessed for it, for there is no richer experience in life than seeing, smelling, tasting and feeling the greatness of God right before you. 

You won’t know how you lived life before it… and when you start to feel like you’ve lost it again, maybe it’s time to sit still and let God know you’re ready for another adventure. There are no borders and no limitations when we open ourselves to be used by our great God.