After preparing for about two and a half months, the Kairos team went to Over the Rhine to participate in the Living Waters Ministry. The team consisted of 15 Karosians including Pastor Mark, Mira and their kids.
Half the team spent the first night sleeping, breakdancing and waiting for the arrival of the rest of the team in the Columbus airport. The first three days of the trip consisted of a School of Evangelism. Pastor Ben Torrey preached several messages, and members of Joy Fellowship from the Bronx trained students to do street evangelism.
Permanent missionaries (Pastor Paul & Sister Joanna, Pastor Johann and Sister Grace and their families) hosted, led, and ministered to participants throughout the trip. Forty missionaries from five churches (GCC, Harrisburg, Kairos, Remnant, and Southland) remained in OTR after the school and participated in a mission week. The mission trip consisted of doing street evangelism, painting/cleaning the church, fellowshipping with the Joseph House (a rehab center for recovering veterans), hosting a retreat for OTR youth, and having a bbq/party for local children and residents.
A predominantly poor and neglected African-American community, OTR was once a bustling neighborhood of the 19th century Midwest. However, the streets that had been lined by architecturally elegant houses are now abandoned and replaced by boarded-up buildings. Illicit drugs, poverty, and crime are realities here; every street corner seemingly has a dossier of its own.
Nonetheless, God is faithful to His people. He’s sent two traditional, conservative Koreans, a university physics professor and a medical doctor, to share the Gospel in their broken English. They are also moving from their comfortable suburban homes into OTR at an age when most are futilely working on their short game or catching up on Korean dramas and current gossip.
Melissa Goto
Matt Ku
Bryce Kuboyama
Alice Lee
Charles Lee
Kerry Phonharath
Jason Sato
Jennifer Su