Unexpected Paths - Bock Ki Kim and Sook Kyoung Park

Unexpected Paths - Bock Ki Kim and Sook Kyoung Park
Their Journey to South Korea

“Sometimes God plays unexpectedly with his children and leads us in totally unexpected paths that he has prepared,” says Bock Ki Kim, MC Canada International Witness worker in South Korea. Bock Ki and his wife, Sook Kyoung Park, have found that there lives are completely different from how they would have ever imagined them to be. 

Becoming Mennonite was not Bock Ki’s plan at all. He had planned to study landscape architecture in North America and, while pursuing his PhD, he somehow found himself studying theology at Canadian Mennonite Bible College in Winnipeg. Bock Ki, Sook Kyoung and their family then moved to Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, IN so he could pursue a Master of Divinity. “Sometimes God twists our lives in good ways,” he says. 

Sook Kyoung’s English was not strong so she tried to avoid people rather than speak with them. When they moved to Elkhart, she found employment in a factory. “I ran away from speaking English,” Sook Kyoung says, “but in that factory, people looked at me to be a translator!” Several Korean people worked at the factory. “I realized that even though my English was not strong, this was something I would try to do so I could help other people. I learned more and more English.” 

During the interview, she shared honestly that her weakness was the language – English – but told them that she deeply loved children.

Three years later, when they returned to Canada, Sook Kyoung volunteered at the Jane and Finch community, an under-resourced neighbourhood in Toronto. “As I asked God what he wanted me to do, the thought came to me that could be a childcare worker,” says Sook Kyoung. She took an intensive course and interviewed for a job in the childcare sector. During the interview, she shared honestly that her weakness was the language – English – but told them that she deeply loved children. The manager was thrilled to find someone who cared for children and was confident that learning the language would simply follow. Sook Kyoung got the job. 

Their call to South Korea was also an unexpected one. Tim Froese, who worked with MC Canada, challenged them to think about going back to their homeland as International Witness workers. “My call to South Korea came from the outside, not from an inward voice,” says Bock Ki. “It was Tim’s nudge that caused us to consider returning to South Korea.” 

Upon returning to Korea, Sook Kyoung was surprised when she found the transition difficult. “Even though we lived in Korea before - this was our former nation - it was really hard to adjust!” she recalls. Sook Kyoung struggled to find what God had for her to do in South Korea. Sook Kyoung’s love for children and her gift for developing relationships with people was strong. They turned to their congregation, Jesus Heart Church. 

Listening to brothers and sister’s voices is one very important way of listening to God. It was a transforming moment.

She shared with the congregation her vision of working as a childcare educator. Bock Ki and Sook Kyoung asked the congregation to pray with them to help discern Sook Kyoung’s call. This was a brand new experience for both them and the congregation. 

The congregation intentionally prayed with them over the next few weeks. At the end of the sessions, a plan emerged and Sook Kyoung began a small business teaching English. “That was an unforgettable moment for us and for the congregation,” says Bock Ki. “We had never before practiced that kind of discernment as a community. Listening to brothers and sister’s voices is one very important way of listening to God. It was a transforming moment.” 

Seven years later, Sook Kyoung still works as a private English teacher and runs an after-school program, teaching English and peaceful educational skills to children and youth. “For me, working with children is God’s calling on my life,” says Sook Kyoung. “I’m not just teaching English but I’m also teaching the students to respect and care for each other.” If conflict happens between the children, Sook Kyoung invites them to talk together, find out what went wrong and then they discuss what they might have done differently. 

 “God’s unexpected call has challenged me.”

Bock Ki is a peace-church pastor and a resource to the Korean people on pacifism and conflict transformation. He has translated 35 books on Anabaptism and peace theology and has helped to found the Korean Anabaptist Journal. “I never thought I would be a translator but God is using me and has trained me to follow in that way,” says Bock Ki. “I have been transformed because of it.” 

Bock Ki has started working in the area of restorative justice flowing from his lectures on peace theology and peace issues. “My life has changed over the past five years,” he says, “God’s unexpected call has challenged me.” He now leads a training centre where, over the last year, 19 people facilitated 31 mediation cases. He educates and trains facilitators who then work in areas of conflict mediation, domestic violence and restorative justice.

“We stay open and ready to hear from God,"

“It’s amazing how God has led us and how God guides our feet wherever we go and whatever we do,” says Sook Kyoung. “I am really happy to work with children at this moment but I don’t think that will be forever. I am an English teacher now but I’m not sure what will be next.” 

“We stay open and ready to hear from God,” says Bock Ki. “Wherever he wants us to go, we need to follow.” 

Bock Ki and Sook Kyoung have been in South Korea for ten years as Witness workers. Bock Ki explains that when they first began to share of God’s love, people did not understand. “Sometimes it takes one, five or even 10 years before people ‘get it.’ And I see that to be true in our lives as well,” he says. “When God showed us his plan 10 years ago, we barely understood. But now we see and know that it is, and was, God’s way of transformation in our lives.”