Blessings Among the Lost

My name is Chan Lee, I am a Korean who has grown up in other cultures for the majority of my life as my parents are missionaries.

This is a first to describe what has been happening in my life, especially in the past weeks. But before you continue reading, I want to emphasize the purpose of sharing my very personal and vulnerable events with you. The main reason is to make known the sovereignty and the goodness of God in my life, the generosity of many who believe and follow Jesus, and for my story to be an encouragement to you regardless of whether you believe in Jesus Christ. SO…sit back and read on…

On a typical Thursday in Busan, Korea, on June 30th, between 11 am and noon, to be precise, I was on a video call with my girlfriend when I got a call from an unknown number. Usually, I am hesitant to pick up an unknown number, but as the place I was staying in had a leak that was being fixed, I picked up the call believing it was the person in charge of the repairs. However, I was very mistaken. The person on the other end was a detective, so he said. He asked for a confirmation of my name. He explained that a person named Go Chang-oh had stolen my identity, opened up a bank account on 2021 November 26th, and was money laundering others investing in cryptocurrency. Thus, 72 supposedly affected people had sued me (as they were transferring money to an account under my name) for over USD 70,000. At this point, he explained the case in great detail, and I was confused and scared. The man continued explaining that I was obliged to be investigated if not that I would be arrested. Moreover, as this was such a big case, anyone I shared information with about this case would also be investigated and considered a perpetrator. Thus, in fear of being accused of being a perpetrator of a ridiculous claim and accused of being a criminal, I gave into being investigated as I had no other choice. And so what proceeded for the next five days (until Tuesday, July 5th) was being caught in a money laundering scam by a supposed prosecutor who pretended to be investigating me and helping me gain my declaration of innocence. Within five days, I had lost all the money I had saved for my future and was in debt, thinking it was all part of an official investigation.

While being “investigated,” I could not inform anyone of my situation, not even my family, as I thought I was protecting them. Furthermore, I was under continuous surveillance through unending phone calls throughout the day and night and constantly reporting my situation via text messages and screenshots. The only way to describe those five days is that it was a living hell. I felt so trapped and helpless, no choice to choose, exacerbated by my struggle with Korean. I have never felt so alone and fearful as my mind was just overwhelmed with the whole situation thinking of every outcome from questioning the reality of my life to questions regarding the future and my plans for the rest of the year. Some may believe me to be naive and ignorant to fall for a scam like this (as it is so common in Korea), and I am guilty of saying exactly that to others, too; however, at the moment, I could not think or act accordingly as the fear consumed me. I followed exactly as the supposed prosecutor said as he intimidated me by blackmailing my plans for the future. It wasn’t until he scammed a substantial amount of money and tried for more that, by the grace of the Lord, through my parents and uncle, I could wake up to the scam. Thus, on Tuesday, July 5th, I finally filed a report to the police.

The aftermath of the scam was that I had lost all the money I had saved, approximately $20,000, and I was in debt of roughly $36,000, totaling USD 56,000. The money I had lost cannot be insured as the scammers were cunning enough to avoid liability. Nonetheless, the worst part of my experience of being scammed was not that I had lost the money I had saved up, as I could always work to earn again, but that I had involved my parents in my mess. That broke my heart. As a son, I felt ashamed, despicable, disappointed, incredulously naive and stupid. My parents are not wealthy, yet they have always supported me. And now, the soon-to-be 30-year-old son had nothing to give back, starting from zero. I was just so devastated and destroyed. Nevertheless, this story does not end there. It does not end with me being depressed, overcome by my shame and just wanting to give up on life. No, this ends with redemption and hope.

After an emotional rollercoaster of a Tuesday after filing the police report, the only thing on my mind was, “how do I pay back the loan to the bank?” I was ready to give up my plans to study in Canada again and work the next five years of my life, paying my debt back. However, the Lord had other plans. After talking with my parents about the scam, my dad called the director of our family’s mission organization (Kosin Presybetarian Mission, KPM) and informed them about my current situation. What followed the next day was a miracle. The sum of my debt was ready to be paid through donations from my parents and other missionaries from KPM. AND ON THURSDAY, JULY 7TH, MY DEBT WAS FULLY PAID. $36,000, ALL PAID FOR IN A MATTER OF A DAY. I am still speechless and often in tears in comprehending how everything has played out. I am sure that if I did not believe in Jesus and His sovereignty and faithfulness, I would be in a much different place right now. Though being scammed is not a “good” experience, what I take away from it is that God is still in control of whatever hardship may come my way. He is a good, just, righteous and faithful God. Could he have stopped the whole thing? Yes. Could he have intervened sooner? Yes. But He did not, and I do not need to know why. I trust His purpose, and I trust in His provision. He is more significant than I and bigger than any problems I may face. “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21). This leads me to my second reason why I am sharing this with you.

Through my experience over the past few weeks, I have been challenged to be more humble in reaching out to others for support. For those of you who know me, I am quite an independent person who does not enjoy relying on others for help. I like to keep on top of my responsibilities the best I can, and I try my hardest not to burden anyone. Hence, humbly asking for support is one of the hardest things for me; however, witnessing God paying off my debt and having next to nothing in my bank account, having only the Lord to rely on to provide, I have been challenged to reach out to others. In asking for support, I have been challenged to be vulnerable to you, the reader.

My plan for the future has been to pursue an After Degree Bachelor of Education degree in Ambrose University in Calgary, Canada, come the Fall. The purpose of going for an education degree is that I want to become a teacher to use it as a tool for missions in third-world countries. I had planned to use my savings to pay for school tuition and work during the summers to make it through the degree. Nonetheless, I need finances to start school again and to take the financial pressure off my parents, who have been so kind and generous in willing to support me, yet again. I am aiming for CAD 25,000, go big or go home right? All jokes aside, through the past few weeks, the verse that has been in my heart is Romans 4:20-21 (ESV), “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” CAD 25,000 has been a sum that has been on my heart because I believe that God will restore the money that I have been scammed one way or another. The funds will be used to pay my tuition for Ambrose; however, please understand that I am not solely relying on the support. I will be looking to work to support myself at every opportunity.

Therefore, if you are willing to help a brother out, please feel free to support me however much your heart desires, and feel free to share this with whomever you think would be encouraged by it.

Here are some photos of the scam.

Be blessed.