Those Who Press In

“The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who press in.”

It had always been one of my favorite passages, but during this season, it felt like a word God was speaking to me with particular strength.

I met with James and Tom and shared about the things God had been doing in Guinea-Bissau and the dreams connected to it. Around that same time, while I was in my hometown of Changnyeong during the process of preparing for the trip and meeting with YWAM, I naturally found myself sharing all these stories with the ministry partners there as well.

As I talked about bringing James along, I kept returning to this passage over and over again.

Even so, I never imagined anyone else would actually join us.

There were less than two weeks left before departure.

But there was one sister who heard these stories.

Her parents had previously gone with me on one of the Bible delivery trips, and many people around her had gone as well. She said she had always been interested, but never to the point of feeling that she absolutely had to go. She thought maybe someday she would, eventually.

But after hearing the stories, she said something in her heart shifted.

If God was truly doing all these things, then she wanted to see it for herself too.

Without sharing any of those thoughts or struggles with me beforehand, one day she suddenly said:

“I decided yesterday. I’m going.”

I was caught completely off guard.

And yet, I thought to myself: These are the ones who press in.

Then she turned to another sister standing beside her and asked if she wanted to come too.

That sister was someone who, during the recruitment for the forty Bible couriers in 2023, had been one of the very first to apply. She had said her heart was pounding and that she knew she had to go. She had even purchased her plane ticket, but in the end, because of her parents’ opposition, she canceled the trip.

Now she was preparing for marriage, and just the month before, she had traveled with our family to the Philippines.

When she heard the invitation to come along, I could see her eyes begin to shake.

I knew the situation was complicated in many ways, and honestly, I thought the same.

But later I learned something I hadn’t known before.

After the 2023 team safely returned, she said she deeply regretted not going. Seeing the stories, the photographs, and the things God had done there left a mark on her heart. After that, she began praying that if another short-term team like that ever formed again, she would be able to go.

But as time passed, she began feeling that such an opportunity would probably never come again. Maybe there would simply be no chance left for her. Perhaps marriage would come first, and that season would pass.

And then suddenly, she heard me talk about another short journey to Guinea-Bissau.

She said her heart started racing.

The thought that God might actually be answering the prayer she had carried all this time overwhelmed her. She knew she could not ignore it.

That was the reason her eyes had trembled.

And so both sisters asked the same question:

Would it even be possible, with so little time left, to receive arrival visas and invitation letters?

If that part worked out, they said they would go.

At first, Missionary Kwak thought it might be difficult. But after quickly looking into it, she told us it seemed possible to prepare the invitation letters in time.

And just like that, two more people joined the team.

Excluding Dan, who had already entered Guinea-Bissau ahead of us, five of us would now depart together from Korea.

After more than fifty hours of travel, passing through multiple countries along the way, we finally arrived in Guinea-Bissau.