Multi-Ethnic Attention

New City IPC were given the opportunity last June to minister and serve the British-Korean youths of London Korean Church (londonkc.com). As the rest of our leadership team taught the older teens, I taught the under 10s.

While waiting to preach to the little ones, I sat at the back with a little girl, Sara (not real name), who did not want to sit with the others. The service was mostly in Korean with a little English here and there.

The group sang worship songs, danced and prayed but Sara didn't seem to participate. At first, I thought she was just having a moody day so I asked why she didn't want to sing or participate.

She said that she can't read some Korean and that she didn't understand what the teachers were saying.

As this little British Korean girl responded, my heart sank but it was also injected with a fresh sense of purpose to keep serving God the way He has called me to serve at New City.

I saw, in this girl, the struggle I had since I was a little boy in this same church that I too grew up in. Her need of people that understood her struggles and challenges both in language and culture were overlooked by those that clearly desired to show her Jesus. Like many immigrant churches who desire to raise their children in the faith, they had the challenge of accommodating the needs of this girl who was subtly but very different to them; more British than Korean.

As the time came for me to preach, I preached the gospel with great confidence, knowing in the back of my mind that these children needed a big brother like me to look like them, to speak like them, to tell them that they too belong to a church family just as I do.

During our teaching time, Sara became very active, putting her hand up for almost all my questions. Her passivity became joyous activity as she understood that she was heard.

Brothers and sisters, pray that New City would continue to aspire to be a home to those that do not quite fit elsewhere. Pray that we would be attentive and equipped to meet the various needs of the community of Shepherd's Bush so that they would belong to a church family, so that they too would not be hindered in their pursuit of a relationship with God our Father.