The STSM Updates series will highlight current STSM trainees sharing about their experiences of the training process. This week’s update is from Hannah Kim of the Nicaragua team!
Hello! My name is Hannah Kim, and I recently graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in Religion. I’ve been given the opportunity to go to Nicaragua this July through KCM’s STSM program. This will be my second time going on missions with KCM, as I was blessed to be able to go to North India last year.
Prior to going to India last summer, I saw missions as a great way for Christians to help other people, share the gospel, and grow in their own faith. All of which is true. But my mistake was in thinking that missions was just a compartmentalized aspect of Christianity that some could partake in if they had time and just wanted to.
But last year, and this year again, I was humbled in realizing that missions is in fact an integral aspect of life for every single person who calls themselves a disciple of Jesus Christ. John Piper says that there are three types of people: the Goers, the Senders, and the Disobedient. World missions is not merely an option that Jesus has given us, but a command that He’s commissioned each and every one of us with.
So I find myself here again at STSM training, every week learning more about and being reminded of God’s heart for all the nations and His desire for all believers to partake in His work here on earth. And I find God teaching me through the sermons and readings both why missions is so crucial and how we can be effective messengers of the gospel in cultures different from our own.
This past Sunday, Daniel Nam, the missions director of KCM, spoke on cross-cultural gospel fluency. Sometimes it’s so easy to get fired up about sharing the Gospel with the nations but then forget that we’re walking into cultures that are very different from our own. And then we experience culture shock that shocks the excitement out of us.
We withdraw from people, are overwhelmed by homesickness, and forget the reason why we came in the first place: to glorify God by bringing the gospel to all nations. I can say that I’ve personally experienced this. Culture shock is inevitable, but the negative symptoms of it can be reduced if we are open to learning about the culture before we step out onto the mission field and while we’re on the field.
So throughout training, my teammates and I have been learning about the culture in Nicaragua by talking to past STSM trainees who have been there, hearing about the country from our leader Anna (who has been to Nicaragua multiple times), and brushing up on our Spanish.
And as Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:22-23). My prayer is that, by God’s grace and strength, we will be willing to do anything and everything to win some for Jesus Christ.
So with just a month left before we head out onto our respective mission fields, we’ll be diving into more intensive training. I’m excited to see how God stretches me and teaches me more of His heart during our Prep Week and Intensive Retreat. As my team and I learn our dances, skits, and VBS songs, may every movement, every word and every note bring glory to God.
My team and I cannot do this without prayer. Please join us in this mission by praying for these prayer requests:
Please pray that my team and I would fix our eyes on Jesus and His mission, and not fall into the temptation of selfishness, but pour out His love to the Nicaraguans and to each other and in everything seek His glory.
Pray for the people of Nicaragua, where so many have been taken captive by the prosperity gospel. Pray that they will see that God, and God alone, is our reward and joy.
Lastly, please pray for America, that God will convict our churches to raise up strong disciples that live for His glory and fervently seek to obey His Great Commission.
I’m incredibly thankful that God has given me this privilege to be able to go on missions to Nicaragua this summer and I’m excited to see what He has to teach me. And I look forward to the day when I get to see the God of all cultures being worshiped by all.
Hannah Kim is a graduate of Pepperdine University and an STSM trainee on the Nicaragua team.
