As much as Bokman and Dongeuu Han and their children enjoyed the annual meeting of the Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches in America, there just wasn’t enough money in recent years to attend.
This year was different, in part because of the tax consulting business/ministry Han and his wife started two years ago, which helped with finances, and in part because, “I want my kids to enjoy time with other PKs,” Han told TAB Media, referring to a well-known acronym for preachers’ kids.
Support for PKs
“There are things I can’t teach them,” said Han, pastor since 2000 of First Korean Baptist Church, Melbourne, Florida.
He wasn’t a pastor’s son, so he doesn’t know what it is like to be one, Han said. He was an immigrant, so he doesn’t know what it’s like to be second-generation.
His oldest son, now 21, benefited from attending the Korean Council conference as a child and teen. He wants the same for his four younger children, now in their tweens and early teens.
“What I am hoping for is for them to find some comfort as PKs,” Han said. “They will teach each other how to survive as PKs and second generation. I want them to have some relationships with other kids and keep it going so when they come again next year, they will have friends.”
Psychologist and pastor Jey Kim of First Virginia Baptist Church, Springfield, Virginia, near Washington, has led the youth sessions for the past 30 years.
Reaching young people
Some 130 students between the ages of 9 and 19, plus 21 volunteer helpers, most of whom had previously attended as students, participated this year.
While parents attended the Korean Council’s general sessions, the youth worshipped in large groups, studied together in age-level group discussions, played games, ate and worked on the talent show that culminated the three-day event.
Heejoo Kim of Layton, Utah, 20, served this year as Jey Kim’s assistant. (The two Kims are not related.)
“When I was younger, the leaders had a big effect on me,” Heejoo Kim said. “They taught me I am not going through Christian hardship alone. Now I have an extended Christian family who have had similar experiences.”
Joseph Kang, 30, son of James Kang, executive director of the Korean Council, is a six-year veteran volunteer with the youth program.
“I remember coming as a little kid,” Joseph Kang said. “It was really fun being with other PKs.
“Pastor Jey tries to focus his sermons on the parents’ perspectives,” Kang continued.
“It touches your heartstrings. You’re more thankful to your parents.”
Jey Kim has a long history of investing in young people. In 1989, he started the church he still leads with a youth program that emphasized the creative arts.
The ministry “exploded” into a church as parents started coming to see what their teens were up to.
Today, about 250 attend what has become a church with a focus on youth, seniors and families.
Kim reflected on his reasons for giving so much energy to teenagers.
He accepted Jesus as a college student, in the hospital after a second suicide attempt.
“While I was in the hospital, I finally met Jesus truly,” he said. “I didn’t want young people to go through that unnecessary struggle, so I started a youth ministry.”
Creative arts ensemble
By 1991, those students had grown into a creative arts ensemble that toured the East Coast in the summer, which is how they were invited to the SBC annual meeting in Atlanta that started the Korean Council’s youth program.
“My second goal was that I found pastors’ kids have more pain, more problems,” Kim said. “PKs have to sacrifice a lot.”
PKs face high expectations and academic pressures, combined with the physical, emotional and relational changes that come during the teen years, topped off by the clash of cultures, Kim said.
“They’re torn,” he said. “Some feel like unpaid ministers, and they watch everything their parents go through.
“There are financial problems. New beginner [immigrant] parents really depend on their children’s help for language and for ministry, and [PKs] can’t say no.”
Kim wants the children to know what their parents are doing and to understand the Kingdom impact.
He also wants the PKs to embrace their faith, which is why during the final day of each conference he preaches about Jesus.
“And every year, this has worked,” Kim said.
“Every year there are about one-third newcomers. Every year, 20 to 30 accept Jesus.
“Every year, about 20 want to be a missionary or a pastor. This [keeps] me going every year.”
This year 17 people accepted Jesus as Savior and 14 pledged a future in ministry, Kim said. “It was a remarkable work of God!”
To read about the 40th annual meeting of the Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches in America, visit tabonline.org/korean-council.
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