To me, the Transformasphere Movement means expanding the Kingdom of God in the field that I identify myself to be a part of.

When making decisions in our lives, we are often limited to the time, the environment, people we are affiliated with, and imminent tasks that are expected to be completed. In my experiences, making good and appropriate decisions were often made with a specified end result to the accomplishment of an objective in mind, in which case the objective outweighed the limitations. As a Christ follower, while limitations still exist, I intend to make decisions that are based on the clear objective to transform my surroundings where Christ will be glorified.

God is glorified by His creation that has the pure heart to worship Him. As one of His delicate and purposeful creations, each and every one of us, by His good and perfect will, is allocated a portion of bringing glory to His name. All of us have had a journey of life that is unique and different from one another. While trusting that God oversees everything that He has created, I believe that every one of us is meant to be who we are, have relationships with particular personals, and accomplish jobs in ways we are experienced to do so.

This I could not have testified without God’s perfect promises revealed in my life.

It all started from generations before me. My great grandfather became a reverend when missionaries from England came to Korea during the early 1900’s. When the Korean War broke out, he sent his family down to the south of Korea, but he refused to go with them saying that he could not abandon the believers that are remaining in the north. Soon after Korea was separated, the rest of the family received the news that he was executed by the North Korean government. I grew up hearing more stories about him and watching my family and relatives praying for the Christians in North Korea in remembrance of him.

While having this heritage in my life, I became more burdened for the people in North Korea who the God of the persecuted had the heart for. God constantly put me into places where I could meet leading people of North Korea missions who tutored Kim Jung Ill and who also taught at Pyongyang University, the most prestigious university in North Korea, and a missionary who offered me to go to North Korea with her during this summer. I was also able to become friends with refugees of my age from North Korea, whom I have been able to talk about my faith from time to time. Just recently God also spoke through Dr. Tennent during the Missions Week at HMCC that North Koreans who have gone through persecutions and sufferings are likely be used by God to spread the gospel in Islamic nations.

I am convinced to say that God’s purpose in my life as a part of the Transfromaphere Movement is to extend the territory of God’s love amongst the North Koreans. While I am still being trained and disciplined to become more effective in fulfilling this purpose, I am thankful that He is continuously working through my life to transform dorm rooms, classes, and work places at the University of Michigan as His mercy in transforming my life is revealed.

Julie Kwon's essay was the runner up for the recent undergraduate essay contest. She is currently a freshman at the University of Michigan.