It's been 16 years since the Well Mission--a Korean urban ministry in Los Angeles--first began serving the homeless and the poor with love. On July 18, the Well Mission hosted a 16th anniversary thanksgiving worship service, and gave scholarships of $300 each to 16 Korean high school students.
16 Korean high school students were awarded with scholarships in commemoration of the Well Mission's 16th anniversary.
For the past ten years, the Well Mission leaders acted as the caregivers of 20 Korean foster children, but currently, they are unable to do so. Normally, foster children are required to be let go from their foster families at the age of 18, but the leaders of the Well Mission failed to follow this rule.
"I couldn't tell the kids, 'Now that you're 18, it's time to leave,'" said Hannah Na, one of the missionaries of the Well Mission. "How would we expect them to live? We wanted to take care of them until they're fully independent and self-sufficient."
The Well Mission decided they could no longer continue the fostering ministry after this incident with the 20 foster children they raised as their own, and these 20 went on to work in businesses, the military, and to study in college.
While the Well Mission leaders were trying to overcome their disappointment in having to stop their fostering ministry, they started to embrace a new vision to replace the fostering ministry with a scholarship for Korean youth. They wanted to give scholarships to 16 students to commemorate their 16th anniversary, but there was a problem -- they had no funds to provide scholarships. One of the financial supporters of the Well Mission heard about the issue, and single-handedly provided enough money to provide scholarships to 10 students. The Well Mission leaders were then able to fill the rest to make a total of $4,800. It was a miracle.
Those who gathered at the Well Mission's 16th anniversary worship service enjoyed musical performances by numerous choirs.
Meanwhile, the 16th anniversary worship featured numerous worship choirs, decorating the service with beautiful music. Joo-Ok Na, the president of the Well Mission, read 2 Corinthians 4:5 to those who gathered, after which Pastor Jun-Sik Kim of Shalom Church of Southern California preached a message titled, "We do it for Jesus."
Those who gathered also shared in a time of fellowship over lunch prepared by the congregants of Shalom Church of Southern California, located in Torrance, CA.
