PD Blog | Mar 2025


As we continue in the theme of His Story, I have more stories about how my family was called into ministry.  This past Sunday, I preached a message on the suffering of the Apostle Paul during his ministry.  In that message, I share a little about how my mother’s family escaped North Korea during the Korean War.  I didn’t realize how significant that story was until I took my mother to Somerset Mall and had lunch with her a couple days later to get the full story.


I mentioned that my mother’s father was an Anglican priest in Korea, and it turns out that it all began when he became an orphan.  My great grandfather was a Lay Minister in the Anglican church and served the community that was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB). Unfortunately, after one of his visits to the segregated town with those that suffered from TB, my great grandfather ended up getting TB which ended his ministry and life.  It was during that time that my great grandmother was pregnant with their third child but during childbirth, she and the baby died.


Without any other family to take care of my grandfather and his younger brother, they were taken in by the Anglican nuns as orphans.  These nuns raised my grandfather and he ended up going into seminary.  


During this time, my grandfather’s first appointment into ministry was in Pyongyang.  He was a junior pastor (jundosa) back then serving under Father Lee (Priest).  My mother was born in Pyongyang along with her two siblings. It was 1950 when the Korean War broke out and because my grandfather was originally from South Korea, he had no choice but to escape North Korea.  


It was during this time that a parish member told my grandfather that it was too difficult to travel south on foot but there was a ship that took about 36 people at a time to the southern provinces of Korea for cash.  So, my grandfather took whatever he could with his family of five plus the five year old son of Father Lee because he wanted his son to escape to live with his older sister in Seoul.  


When they arrived at the port city, the captain of the ship wouldn’t depart until he had enough passengers to make money for gas and expenses.  My grandfather had no choice but to wait two nights with his family in hiding.  On the last night, there was a commotion outside the house they were hiding in and heard the North Korean soldiers arresting the escapees.  It was during this scary situation that my grandfather hid everyone in the captain’s house. The brave wife of the captain was able to cover the front door of her house with her apron because houses built near the seashore had very small entrance doors to protect the inhabitants from sea storms.


My mother vividly remembers hearing the North Korean soldiers screaming out loud to the escapees to come out of their hiding places.  “One, two, three…” the voice of the soldier started counting everyone that came out but in fear my grandfather told the children not to make a sound and to be still.  This was very risky for the captain and his wife, but God was with them.


After the soldiers left with the prisoners, the ship’s captain quickly loaded my grandfather and his family on board to set sail for South Korea.  After they safely landed on the South Korean side, they took Father Lee’s son to his older sister’s home in Seoul and my grandfather went to the local Anglican church.


During the next three years of war, my grandfather was sent to pastor a small Anglican Church in the countryside Eumsung.  My mother recalls my grandfather was very popular with the Anglican Bishops from England who visited Korea because he was the only one who could speak a little English.  He also knew that they couldn’t handle spicy food so he would fry potatoes and make them homemade ketchup by grinding tomatoes and mixing salt, sugar, and vinegar.  Because of his popularity among the Anglican Bishops from England, he was the first delegate to travel to the Philippines representing the South Korea diocese.


My mother also recalls how charismatic my grandfather was.  Because he hosted many priests from England, he learned violin and tap dance.  Although he had no formal music training, he picked up both trades quickly and used it to entertain his congregation members during the festival seasons.  My mother said she hated having to prepare and perform the four songs her father made her, and her siblings learn.  One of the four repertoire was the national anthem of England, “God Save the King.”



When my mother got married, I always wondered why there was a Caucasian man standing behind my parents in their wedding photo.  I found out that this man was the ArchBishop of South Korea. Who knew one day I would become a pastor where the Methodist roots all began from the church of England under the Anglican Church.


When my mother got married, she was already a high school teacher and with the DNA that was passed down from my grandfather, she inherited the gift of dance and music.  In the picture is my mother with her high school students as a dance/Phys Ed teacher. 


One of the most interesting things about my grandparents was that my grandmother was the only priest’s wife who worked.  She was also a high school home economics teacher at Jinmyeong Girl’s High School where alumni include Linda Park, Andy Ko and Dr. John Lim’s mothers.


My grandmother was one of the few women back then to have a formal education and work. She was an avid tennis player and followed the Toronto Blue Jays passionately.  After living a fruitful but hard life, she was called into her eternal home at the age of 102. This photo is with my mother, her sister-in-law, younger brother and sister celebrating grandma’s 100th birthday in 2009.


Recently I found out that my grandmother and grandfather were separated for many years because when she was teaching at Jinmyeong Girl’s High School to provide money for her three children to send them to college while my grandfather ministered in the countryside.  While attending college, my mother raised her two siblings in Seoul and sent them to Hanyang University to become an architect and Ewha Women’s University to become a pharmacist.  


Now that my wife Tarah and I have a son in ministry, our Ryu/Choi family is a fifth-generation Christian family with four generations of ministers.  As we look back in His Story, God has graciously planned our family’s history with all my mother’s children, grandchildren loving and following Jesus.  There is no greater blessing than that!