Pastor Isaiah Kim and his family moved to Hinton in August to serve at First Presbyterian Church of Hinton.
“We are so blessed to be a part of Hinton’s community,” Pastor Kim said.
Pastor Isaiah grew up as the fourth generation of a Christian family in South Korea. The Presbyterian Church USA began sending missionaries to South Korea 135 years ago. These missionaries, including Horace Allen and Horace Underwood, dedicated their lives to the gospel of Christ and practiced evangelism in South Korea. Through their missionary work God brought revival to Korea. Today, there are many churches and Christians in South Korea. It is through the work of the missionaries and revivals that his great-grandparents became Christians and handed down their faith to the following generations.
Pastor Isaiah says, “I am so thankful for their faith. I have a spiritual debt to American churches. As I serve as the pastor of First Presbyterian Church, I consider this my opportunity to give back to American churches what my family has received through missionaries from America.”
He grew up in South Korea and came to the United States to study.
Pastor Isaiah says, “I received sound theological education in America. I graduated with M.Div. & Th.M. at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts and a Ph.D. at Concordia Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. I also am an adjunct professor at Denver Seminary, Littleton, Colorado. As a pastor, I will dedicate myself to two things. First of all, I would like to do my best for our church members’ spiritual growth. For this, I will faithfully preach and teach the gospel of Christ as much as I can with the help of God, so church members can be nurtured by the pure Gospel of Christ so that they can have spiritual power and strength to do good works for the glory of God. Second, I will do my best to serve my church members with the love of God. And finally, I would like to work together with other pastors and churches, so that God would bring another spiritual revival in our community, Hinton, West Virginia.”
His wife, Mi Young, is second generation Korean-American. She grew up in Chicago, Illinois. Her father served as a pastor for Korean American immigrant church for almost 30 years. She taught elementary school and then she studied Christian Education at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts. She loves kids and has a vision to raise godly kids with the Word of God and the love of Christ. They have four children (Joelle, Josiah, Hesed, Salome).
Pastor Isaiah says, “I appreciate that the people of Hinton are so friendly and kind. I enjoy the gorgeous nature. I pray that Covid-19 will end very soon and I would like to have more relationships with people after Covid-19.”
