Moving to a new country can be a difficult experience: new food, new language, new culture. It can be overwhelming and even scary. Adventists in South Korea wanted to create a space to help people integrate into the country, while feeling supported.
Moving to a new country can be a difficult experience: New food, new language, new culture. It can be overwhelming and even scary.
Adventists in South Korea wanted to create a space to help people integrate into the country, while feeling supported.
The Adventist Multi-cultural Family Service Center is an Urban Center of Influence situated in a diverse area in the city of Ansan [ahn-sahn], where many foreigners come to work. Most of them don’t know how to speak, read, or write the Korean language when they arrive, so the center offers free Korean language courses. More than 400 people go through this program every year!
A few years ago, the staff at the center developed a plan to improve and expand their operations. This new plan offered a wholistic experience to others in the community.
Some of the most widely used services are the center’s various shelters. These include an emergency shelter for those who have no income or housing and group shelters for single parents. The families who stay in the shelters are offered free meals as well as safety.
Many of the foreigners don’t know how to navigate the healthcare system, so the center provides free dental care services once a week and general medical treatments once a month. Additionally, visitors have access to counseling services.
As a result of the center’s presence in the community, a number of new congregations have formed in a variety of languages. Groups meet and worship in Russian, Cambodian, English, Urdu, Chinese, and Korean. They have been blessed with up to 30 baptisms in a single year!
The center has a heavy focus on children and youth. First, a kindergarten was established. Then, an afterschool program was created for elementary students. This gave parents a place to send their children for tutoring and afterschool care. For the parents who needed to work late, the center established a night protection care program, where children would be supervised until 9:00 in the evening.
The Korean-Russian School Academy for elementary and secondary students is especially popular. There are more than 60 students enrolled!
The staff at the center see new, exciting opportunities to connect with families, but they need your help. This quarter a portion of the 13th Sabbath Offering will help provide other care services for immigrant children in Ansan, South Korea. Please consider what you can give to this opportunity. Thank you for supporting the 13th Sabbath Offering!
