Help Mom Kim's Surgeries & Care

GO FUND MOM

Friends,

Our beloved mother is in the ICU at Gil hospital in Incheon, South Korea once again due to her benign brain tumor. We are in need of your financial support to cover her medical costs, future rehabilitation, care-giving and unexpected associated costs for our mother’s future. We are so thankful for your support and encouragement. Thank you for considering.

In 2016, mom was rushed to the ER in Grand Rapids, Michigan to undergo an emergency brain surgery, then biopsy, then her first brain shunt which had complications, and finally her second brain shunt which was successful.

The reason: a benign brain tumor in the literal center of her brain, blocking spinal fluid causing pressure to build up, resulting in vomiting, disassociation, memory loss, lethargy, the works. Mom’s road to recovery was long and arduous. She had moments when she would forget our names. She had moments when she thought it was 1984 and was living back in Cerritos or Garden Grove, California. But, let me tell you, she never forgot how to pray.

We're people of faith, the Christian faith. We are pastor’s kids. We each have walked our “road to Damascus” and made our way back home to the Father’s house. But we would be amiss if we didn’t attribute a part of our faith journey to our mother’s persistent, unshakeable faith in Christ.

Mom was born in South Korea in 1953 as the youngest of five children, and grew up in a Christian household only after her mother was saved through a relative who invited her to church. The early Korean church was very evangelistic and revival-led during the time of the Korean War and thereafter. This influenced my mother’s faith to want to say “yes” to the call of God on her life, to be a missionary. In her early 20’s she decided to pursue an opportunity to become a nurse in Germany. This move would eventually be the way to meeting her husband, my dad, Rev. Kim. He was a sprite young man in his late 20s traveling the globe with Operation Mobilization, visiting over 60 countries in a year. After 6 months of dating long distance through letters, they decided to marry in Scotland, of course. Our mom would always remember her honeymoon as a 9-month tour of Europe while evangelizing and encouraging the saints in various church communities. Bliss.

Fast forward to 2005 when I (Becky) was in 5th grade and would take my first 3-hour bus ride alone to boarding school. I was afraid, but Mom was with me, holding my hand, and repeating the same verse leading up to this very day, “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). She would share this verse so frequently I would begin to feel irritated by the verse and her persistent reminder. But Mom was always right.

September 26th, 2018. Mom is in the ICU at Gil Hospital in Incheon, South Korea. Her condition has declined since 2016. She has undergone her sixth surgery to fix her brain shunt. We are yet again waiting to see the success and result of this surgery. Currently, Mom is weak and immobile, unable to speak, and has just opened her eyes a few times. The nuerosurgeon is weighing the possibility of requiring an operation to try and remove the brain tumor which is a very high risk surgery due to its location in the center of the brain. 

Friends, we are in need of your support in 3 ways.

One, we need you to pray with us—please pray that God would protect mom’s mind, body, soul and spirit and be on the road to recovery to full health and a full life. Pray for my dad, who is in his 70s and her full time caretaker. Pray for their future and how to move forward with long-term care.

Two, we need you to give financially—my church has a saying, “not equal giving but equal sacrifice”. Our limitation to pay for mom’s medical cost and long term care doesn’t need to be a limitation if we have our loved ones give what they can; not equal giving but equal sacrifice. We will put all of your generous donation toward mom’s medical costs, rehabilitation, caregiving, long-term care, and unexpected travel costs associated with flights to and from Korea to the United States. Our dad’s income is very limited due to him balancing care for my mom while trying to stay committed to his mission work as a teacher and preacher of God’s word. There is a hopeful possibility of bringing my mom and dad to the United States for long-term care and for stronger familial support. We want to move towards this goal with your financial assistance.

Three, we need you to share your stories—we want to hear about all of the different stories you have of mom. We would love to know how you were touched and encouraged by mom. This is one way we can remind Mom of the lives she touched and encourage those around us to do the same as we go forth and make disciples. You may email your stories to [email redacted].

Friends, we are all on a journey. As a person of faith, I am praying for all our journeys to lead to the same journey my mother has chosen to know and live for and that is a journey of faith, hope and love in Christ alone.

We will not be afraid. We will be strong and courageous, for the Lord our God is with us and he will go before us.

With gratitude and love,
Hannah, Joe, Sarah and Becky