Welcoming My Immigrant Family

Lloyd is an unusual name for a Korean-American and so I am often asked how I got my name. My parents were immigrants from South Korea in the late ‘60s. When they came to America, they settled in a small California town and struggled with the language, culture, and life. My mom was one of the first foreign nurses the local hospital ever hired. Very soon it became evident that she needed help, especially with her English. So the hospital looked for someone who knew Korean to assist. They found an older couple who had served as missionaries in Korea. This older couple adopted my parents, welcomed them into their church, and helped them adjust to life in America. My parents never forgot their kindness and generosity. When their second child was about to be born, they were hoping for a daughter they could name Grace, after their adoptive mother. But I came out, and so they named me Lloyd after their adoptive father. There were many Christians in that small town, but I am named after the one who welcomed my immigrant parents in the name of Jesus.

Now my parents’ difficulties as immigrants only scratch the surface of what many refugees across the globe experience. Their stories are tragic. Who will come alongside them with love and kindness? Who will share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ? Who will welcome them into Christ’s Church? God not only loves the foreigner, but He tells His people to love the foreigner because they too were once foreigners (Deut. 10:18–19). And Jesus Himself knows what it means to be a refugee. His family fled to Egypt to avoid persecution (Matt. 2:13–15). There are more than 65 million displaced people across the world, the most human history has ever known. More than 50 percent of them are children. Will you pray for the refugees here in our country and across the globe? Will you help support our efforts in making disciples among these who long for rest, home, and love that only God can provide?

Making disciples among refugees is not only compassionate, it is strategic. Many will return home to places difficult for missionaries to enter. Many will stay in host countries learning how to minister cross-culturally. Who knows? Perhaps one of their children will be the next coordinator of Mission to the World.

Lloyd Kim is the coordinator of Mission to the World.