Inside Story: Stuck in the Middle East

Inside Story for Friday 21st of March 2025

By Andrew McChesney

Ki-nam’s world came crashing down after she arrived from South Korea to work as a student missionary in the Middle East. She arrived on a short-term tourist visa that needed to be upgraded to a residence visa, allowing her to stay for a full year. Her apartment landlord had agreed to sign the paperwork, giving her proof of residence for the new visa. But suddenly he changed his mind and demanded a large sum of money to sign the document.

Ki-nam didn’t have the money. The missionary leader overseeing the small group of student missionaries didn’t have the money. The small Seventh-day Adventist community didn’t have the money. The community mainly was comprised of poor refugees who worshiped in a house church.

Ki-nam’s choices were limited. She couldn’t simply move to another apartment because it was difficult to find landlords willing to rent to foreigners. Staying illegally in the country wasn’t an option, and she didn’t want to bribe an official for the resident visa.

She prayed, “Lord, if You sent me here, You should solve my problem.” She prayed every day for two months. Her parents in South Korea prayed. The missionary leader put Ki-nam’s name on the house church’s prayer list, and church members prayed.

Two months passed, and the landlord didn’t sign the document.

Then the day arrived when Ki-nam had to go for an interview for a new visa. But she didn’t have any documents to support a new visa.

Shortly before the interview, Ki-nam’s cell phone rang. It was the missionary leader. “There may be a solution,” he said. “Let’s go.”

He explained that a church member had felt impressed to stop by a real estate agency just a few minutes earlier. The church member knew the agency owner and had asked, “Can you help my friend?” The owner had replied, “Bring her passport, and I’ll give her proof of residence.”

Ki-nam was stunned. She could only say, “Thank You, God.”

The owner signed the document, and Ki-nam received the resident visa.

After that, Ki-nam had no doubt that God would bless her year in the Middle East. And He did. Seven people were baptized through her work. “God called me and used me to save people,” Ki-nam said in an interview with Adventist Mission in Seoul, South Korea. “He was with me every step of the way, helping me. I realized that there are no mistakes in God’s calling, and it was a year of gratitude.”

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Korea sends missionaries around the world. Thank you for your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering on March 29 that will help South Korean Adventists spread the gospel at home. The student missionary’s name has been changed.