From Executive Director, Dan Chung

Crossing Borders is fueled by tremendous support from people around the world. I have traveled far and wide to meet and work with many of them and through my travels, I’ve found inspiration and deep friendships.

This has been one of the biggest blessings of working for Crossing Borders full-time. I’ve met so many like-minded individuals with the passion and drive to show the compassion of Christ to North Korean refugees. This month, I thought it would be an encouragement to highlight one of my interactions on our blog.

It was a series of coincidences that drew me to one of our strongest supporters and, now, an integral part of our team, Charlene from Glendale, California. A few years back, she was convicted to support a ministry that addressed the needs of both North Koreans and orphans. They searched the internet and found another organization who eventually referred them over to Crossing Borders. There was one problem: they couldn’t find our website.

As recently as five years ago, Crossing Borders did not have much of a web presence. In fact, we purposely made our website unsearchable on any search engine for security reasons. Unless someone had our specific web address, there was no way for us to be found. This was not good for business.

Charlene’s husband happened to have expertise for this problem. He was an internet marketing manager specializing in things like web design and search engine optimization. When he eventually found our website, he wondered if we were still in operation. The website was out of date and was in need of a major rebuild. 

Charlene emailed us and I happened to be tasked with answering her email. It was a Friday and we spoke for about 15 minutes. I thought it was a generally positive interaction so I was relatively hopeful that they’d support us. 

The next day was a Saturday and I was about to play basketball with some friends. I received a text from Charlene with a picture. She asked if the people in the picture looked familiar. Charlene and her husband had some friends over. Charlene had been sharing with her friends about how God was moving her and her husband to support a ministry that involved North Korea and orphans. She had shared about her interactions with Crossing Borders.

Charlene’s friends happened to be my cousin, Nina, and her husband. The picture that Charlene texted me was with all of them around her dinner table. My cousin assured Charlene and her husband that Crossing Borders was still in operation and that they knew me well.

Over the next few years, Charlene, her husband, and my cousin’s family proceeded to run a number of fundraisers in Southern California that raised tens of thousands of dollars on behalf of Crossing Borders. I was able to share about Crossing Borders’ mission at Charlene’s church and many of the church members have been active volunteers for us both in the US and in China.

Charlene’s husband has personally helped Crossing Borders build a strong presence online and has pushed us to revamp our website. It is much easier to find Crossing Borders via Google and other search engines. He now serves as a member of our board of directors and guides Crossing Borders’ future.

It all started with an inkling in Charlene and her husband’s hearts. They felt compelled to search. They felt led to reach out to us and to share. Once they committed, they made themselves an indispensable part of what we do.

We used to say that Crossing Borders is a meeting place for refugees and the world. Crossing Borders has also become a place where people from different backgrounds and locations find kindred spirits. Once we find each other, there’s no telling what can be accomplished.