Crossway Mission Connects Cultures

   Crossword puzzles have a way of presenting the most unlikely combinations of words, bringing them together from different directions and enabling them to complement each other.

   Reverend Jung Jin Choi has a way of doing that with cultures.

   I first wrote about Reverend Choi in November of 2002 when I was working as a merchandiser in Winder. He was between ministries and working at a convenience store that was part of my territory. We picked up a conversation about the Post crossword puzzle he was working when I made my routine visit. 
Choi discovered crossword puzzles by chance in 1983 while still living in Korea, and taught himself English by working them.

   "There is a study book that is 1000 pages long. If you read it through, it takes more than a year. I memorize go, going, gone and then I forget. But if I see it in a crossword puzzle, then I can connect it to everything," he said.

   And making connections is what Choi's ministry is all about. The Lawrenceville resident is co-pastor of the Athens Korean Presbyterian Church in Athens, but has recently fulfilled his dream of ministering to Gypsies in Eastern Europe.

   "Many people in Eastern Europe are in need, especially Gypsies," he said.
Over one million Gypsies were exterminated during the Holocaust. The survivors and their descendants continue to experience discrimination in Eastern Europe.
Most are uneducated, unemployed, and living in unhealthy surroundings. Choi says they are shunned by churches and lack the resources to help themselves. A few local ministries have attempted to help them, but because of the Holocaust, they are distrustful of Europeans.

   This is where Choi's ministry crosses over into the picture. Though it may seem to be an unlikely pairing of cultures, Choi said, "They trust Koreans because they have no bad experiences with us."

   In fact, Choi named his ministry The Crossway Mission for Christ because like a crossword puzzle, it purposefully fits together people of unrelated cultures.
The Crossway Mission began in Sarospatak, Hungary in 2003, with outreach into Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. So far the main thrust has been to train Gypsy leaders and provide scholarships for Gypsy students, so they may become more mainstreamed. This Spring, Choi hopes to establish a Gypsy Mission Center which will provide training for church leaders and after school care for Gypsy children. 

   To help Gypsies become self-sufficient, Choi said, "We hope to purchase some area for farming and grow staples and vegetables. Through this, gypsies may learn how to handle the earth and work together."

   A strange thought crossed my mind regarding Reverend Choi's Crossway Mission. This man I met in Winder is ministering to people in the very part of the world that my grandparents fled to escape persecution. Had they stayed, might Choi's path and mine still have crossed?

   For information on supporting The Crossway Mission, call 678-557-6559 or e-mail cmcusa@hanmail.net

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