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“THE LORD GIVES, THE LORD TAKES, PRAISE HIS NAME”

“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21b) 

Missionary Caleb Kim went to be with the Lord on August 5 at the age of 46. He is survived by his wife Esther and by his daughter Esther Jr. (9). Caleb was taken from us rather suddenly and unexpectedly. Though he was in good health, while trying to retrieve his daughter’s water tube from the Baltic Sea, he had a heart attack and drowned. 

No one was prepared to deal with this tragedy especially with having just two families in the ministry. But as soon as the news was received, Missionary Peter Kim from Ukraine, Missionary David Park from Russia and Missionary Paul Oh from Minsk came the next day and comforted Esther and proceeded to do the practical preparations for the funeral. They were spiritual comrades who acted like 911 emergency workers. 

Around 50 coworkers came for Sunday worship service and the funeral ceremony on Monday from Moscow, Yekaterinburg, and Petersburg in Russia, Ukraine, Korea, Lithuania, Estonia, Minsk, the United States and Sweden. On Sunday, Dr. James Suh delivered the message from John 14:1, “Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life.” He taught us that God does not leave us alone like orphans but leads us through the Holy Spirit.  Missionary Esther sang a hymn which had been chosen by Missionary Caleb Kim for the upcoming St. Petersburg conference. 

On Monday at 11 am, Missionary Dr. Mark Yang delivered a sermon entitled, “May the Name of the Lord be Praised.” based on Job 1:21, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.“ It was a very powerful and relevant message proclaiming the gospel clearly. God is the Sovereign Lord whose name is to be praised because He is the Giver of life. God had led Missionary Caleb to Christ through Bible study about 28 years ago, and since then he had lived faithfully for Him as his disciple. In 1994, he married Esther, who shared the same calling and they went to Moscow as missionaries. For 13 years, they participated in pioneering ministry in Russia. God used Caleb and Esther as an exemplary house church for raising many Russian students as Jesus’ disciples. Especially, they raised Maria Nikizina, Hannah Zivaev, Nazezda Paminoh, Krasnadar Vera Mauh as servants of God. 

Five short testimonies were shared by close spiritual friends: Abraham Song, Isaac Choi, Andreanna Kang, Anna So and Paulus Oh. We praise God for His grace and the power of the gospel which changed a sorrowful sinner to be a man of God. Little Esther played a beautiful piano sonata for her dad. 

Since 2009, he served Latvia ministry along with his wife Esther and young daughter Esther Jr, Timothy and Andreanna Kang’s family. They went only by faith, without any visible prospect of obtaining a proper job or visa. Caleb got a job as a travel guide, which was very busy and demanding. Nevertheless, he prepared Sunday messages wholeheartedly with life-giving spirit. He loved God with all his heart and loved God’s sheep as his own children. He was known for loving his wife as Christ loves the church. He loved his daughter so much that his nickname was “loving father of his daughter.” He taught the Bible faithfully to her and played with her whenever he found time. He was a faithful steward with small things. He also served sheep, Samuel Kang Jr. and Artyom with messages at their level. He was a man of vision who prayed not only for evangelizing Latvia but also for three Baltic countries. 

God is the taker of life for His sovereign wise and good purpose. In all things God works for the good. Through the story of the life of Elizabeth Eliot, we are taught how to turn adverse situations to give glory to God by trusting in His Sovereign good purpose. We prayed for Missionary Esther to find God’s comfort, spiritual direction and prayer topics for her future missionary life. 

I thank God for blessing this wonderful fellowship with God’s comfort. Missionary Timothy Kang opened his home to all the men missionaries while women missionaries stayed with Esther. Even though we are deeply sorrowful at the loss of Missionary Caleb, we were also joyful because of resurrection hope and the outpouring of God’s love through the Holy Spirit in and through coworkers. Missionary Mike Thompson told me that we should mark this event in CIS UBF history. The homecoming address taught all our mission coworkers the kingdom of God as our ultimate destination. We all decided to press forward to the kingdom of God as holy pilgrims with urgency in carrying out our mission. 

When Missionary Caleb’s family from Korea heard and witnessed the love relationship with many brothers and sisters in Christ and saw the pictures of a happy and blessed house church, they expressed their deep thankfulness to God and confessed that Missionary Celeb had lived his life to the fullest. We prayed that their family may accept the gospel deeply in their lives through this event. 

God has used the life and death of Missionary Caleb Kim as a kernel of wheat for the evangelization of Latvia and the Baltic countries. Let’s pray that God may help Esther to hold on to God’s great love and live as a blessing to many people like Elizabeth Elliot. Missionary Timothy Kang has to succeed the Latvia UBF ministry. May God help him to fan into flames the seed of prayer that Missionary Caleb planted and serve Latvia and three Baltic countries with the gospel of Jesus and make Latvia a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.