early twenty-five years ago, in response to a growing trend in Korean-American churches and the need for English-speaking Korean pastors, Rev. Dae Hee Park and Mr. John H. Chang started the Korean Endowment Fund at CST with the stated purpose of providing tuition assistance to Korean and Korean-American students. Over the last two decades, the Korean Endowment Fund has been used to award more than a million dollars – making possible the theological education of hundreds of students. This semester, the Korean Endowment Fund is supporting six students, including incoming student Hyun-Jae Lee . Like many of you, Hyun-Jae set out on a theological journey to fully understand the nature of God. He grew up in the church as a preacher’s kid and hungered to know God and the Bible completely. So, he entered Methodist Theological University in Seoul, Korea as a Theology major. What Hyun-Jae found was that God cannot be contained. He says, “I found that my theological study could not lead to a complete comprehension of God. My knowledge was too poor, and I seriously considered dropping out.” However, Hyun-Jae found hope through one of his father’s sermons. That night, Psalm 39:7 spoke to him: “And now, O Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.” That verse reminded him to find hope in his helplessness. He said, “Through my own experience, I came to understand that human weakness sends people into a state of despair, but the power of faith changes that weakness into hope. This understanding changed my despair and pain as a theological student into hope and encouraged me to study theology even more deeply.”
Hyun-Jae completed his undergraduate studies, fulfilled a 21-month military service, and volunteered for two months with the YWCA in India. He says, “These activities broadened my perspectives as a global Christian, and I saw that we are all created in the image of God.” At CST, Hyun-Jae plans to pursue both his master’s and doctoral degrees. He was inspired to attend CST after reading Dr. Frank Rogers’ book Practicing Compassion and is very much looking forward to studying with him . He also hopes to introduce CST to traditional Korean culture through music and worship. He plays samulnori percussion and believes traditional Korean music and worship could serve to connect people to God. He says, “Commitment to people begins with an understanding of them. The same is true of committing ourselves to Christianity and living with various religious bodies and multi-religious partners. Traditional worship has the power to help us communicate with each other.” Hyun-Jae wants to explore that further at CST. Hyun-Jae, eager to fulfill his calling, states he bases his life on the message of 1 John 3:18, “let us love not in word or speech, but in truth and action,” and he is confident that the theological education offered at CST will lead his “spiritual theology” into a lived compassion and love for others. If you would like to contribute to our Korean Endowment Fund or any of our other Endowed Funds, please reach out to our Vice-President for Advancement and Communications, Rev. Sharalyn Hamilton, at shamilton@cst.edu or by calling (909) 447-6361.
This semester, the Korean Endowment Fund is supporting six students including incoming student, HYUN-JAE LEE.
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