At the end of each year, my wife and I like to take stock of the past year. We jot down the good things, the bad, the funny and enjoyable. And we keep these yearly musings in a single folder for us to go back to. I have a feeling that our 2020 document will be full of unique challenges and blessings.

As I begin to reflect on 2020 and specifically with Crossing Borders, I’d like to share three prayer requests and three things that give me hope.

Three prayer requests for 2021: 

1. Continued growth - Crossing Borders has been growing despite the pandemic. We opened operations in South Korea this year and our China operations are slowly growing despite major restrictions on the movement of our missionaries and staff. We hope and pray that, as global restrictions lift, Crossing Borders will be able to help more and more North Korean refugees. 

2. Coronavirus restrictions to lift - This year has been difficult for us because of the hampered movement from country to country. South Korea requires that all incoming travelers quarantine for 14 days in a government facility. China requires the same and to travel anywhere within the country, an additional seven days is required. As these restrictions lift, we can resume ministering to our refugees face-to-face again.

3. A social worker for Elim House - If the COVID-19 vaccines are as promising as the studies show, movement in South Korea will no longer be hampered and as a result, we will likely have more residents in Elim House. This year our missionaries have been working around the clock at Elim House while managing our field operations in China remotely. This is a herculean task and is wearing on them. COVID-19 has restricted the number of job applications that we would have normally received for this position. Please pray that God provides a faithful and capable social worker for Elim House. 

Three things that make me hopeful: 

1. Time - December 31 will mark the passage of another year. This is painfully obvious but as difficult as 2020 has been, it has to end at the stroke of midnight on January 1. Time moves us forward. And as the days, months and years go on, we will be able to process what took place this year. In Psalm 90:12, Moses asks God to “teach us to number our days so that we might gain a heart of wisdom.” I am looking forward to a different year but I am also looking forward to the perspective that time will give me on this year. 

2. Resilience - Working with North Korean refugees has taught me that human beings are truly resilient. North Koreans are not by nature more resilient than other people. They have simply been put in a situation where their innate, God-given resilience is used. As humanity turns the chapter from COVID-19 to the future, I am confident that those of us who have been blessed to survive or avoid the pandemic will not only move forward but thrive in the years to come. 

3. God’s past faithfulness - January 1 will also mark Crossing Borders’ 18th birthday. We have seen many things as an organization (add a global pandemic to the list) and we have survived them all, by the grace of God. Sometimes it seemed as if the world was against us. We have had all kinds of conflict, internal and external. We have had to fire corrupt staff. We have seen other missionaries and organizations get kicked out of China. And yet here we are. The thing that has always been true about this work is that it is impossible to take credit for any of this. God has made it abundantly clear that it was Him. So whatever 2021 brings, for better or for worse, I can rest that He is in control.

From all of us at Crossing Borders, we wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and happy New Year!