Here at Grace International School, one of our deeply held beliefs is partnering with “called staff.” Meet Mimi, our Elementary Korean Studies Teacher. Her last choice when selecting a school to teach at was Grace. So how did she get here and what impact has she had?
Before coming to Grace, Mimi had been teaching Secondary English for twelve years in a Korean public school. However, she could not find joy or purpose in her job. After getting accepted into TeachBeyond in 2018, she was given three choices of schools in three different countries with one of them being Grace International School. Grace was Mimi’s last choice due to being the only school that asked for a Korean language and culture instructor for elementary students. This did not align with her English major or her experience teaching secondary students. However, after much prayer she was reminded of her short term mission trip to Thailand back in 2013 and said, “Okay, if this is your will God, so be it.” After giving everything up to God, she packed her bags and came to Chiang Mai.
Mimi has come to realize that God knows her better than she knows herself. Despite her wanting to teach English, God used her Korean background to be a blessing to the Korean students at Grace. She says, “Coming to Grace, I finally realized why God sent me here on earth as a Korean.”
Teaching Korean language and culture to Korean elementary students has allowed her to reconnect with her roots and give her a sense of joy and peace. She is happy to get to know her kids better each day. “My prayer is for the students to become Christian leaders. A lot of Korean kids at Grace would like to eventually go back to Korea, so I pray that they can be Christian leaders in Korea. Every day before we start the lesson, we pray together in Korean. This is because I strongly believe that a true leader is someone who prays for others and for the nations.”
We are thankful for God moving in Mimi’s heart so that she can equip her students at Grace to influence Korea and the world for Christ. It is because of staff like Mimi that we feel confident we are fulfilling our mission of providing a quality education for the children of international Christian workers.
Please continue to pray for our diverse community of staff and students as we press into 2021 and beyond.
