This month I am sharing a blog written by my daughter when she returned from her recent time in South Korea. One of the most rewarding choices I’ve made as a parent is to encourage my children to go through the open doors God has put in their lives. Two of them have had the amazing opportunity to study abroad for a semester and I know it has greatly impacted the direction of their careers. All three of my sons live in other states, and as much as I miss them, I would never want to hinder their dreams and pursuits.

Ali was given the opportunity to travel to South Korea on an outreach to minister in dance with her college professor,  It included performing in the Goyang International Dance Festival with professional dancers from South Florida.

I love how God used this time to speak to her heart, and share His deep love for us with her new friends.  Here are her thoughts…

Before I left for Korea I felt like the Lord was healing hurt areas in my life that I had grown accustom to. He slowly started to remove lies I believed about myself. Most of these lies were about my body. Looking in the mirror I would typically say negative things about the way I was created. I was about to go dance with professionals in Korea and I thought my body was going to be an inconvenience to the people I would dance for. But slowly I started to be kinder to myself. When I looked in the mirror I would thank God for giving me a body that I could create art with, a body that was capable of proclaiming the gospel through dance movement. What was crazy was that my body didn’t change at all but it was as if it did when I looked in the mirror each day. Yes, I was not in the best shape of my life but I was going to love myself like I was.

Before departing to Korea I knew the Lord was going to test all I had learned this summer and use it in my ministry. I felt ready. I felt strong. I felt covered in love from head to toe. We arrived in Seoul, South Korea and I immediately noticed a shift in the atmosphere. When we first arrived in Seoul my professor and I began to walk around Seoul and take in all the people and sights. We ended up in the middle of a square and she pointed her finger up to the buildings surrounding us. As she was moving her finger from building to building she read to me all the plastic surgery advertisements and offices. There were more plastic surgery offices than there were places to eat. We piled onto a bus and a loud radio advertisement came across the speaker. My professor translated, “Do you wish you could get your nose, cheeks, mouth, and eye lids done all at the same time?! Come over to New Face Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.” I asked my professor how many people get plastic surgery done here, and she said most women do and many of them start receiving it in middle school. They cut their jaws to have prominent cheek bones, they make their noses pointier, and they sew their eyelids so they look wider. The list went on and on.

I couldn’t believe that this was reality until I entered the dance studio. I trained with college girls my own age and they began telling me about their diets and weigh-ins. If they were dancers, they were expected to be the thinnest girl in every room. I began to talk with one of the students who spoke English and share with her all the Lord was teaching me about loving myself and being kind to myself in the way I think and speak over my body. She became curious about the God that made me feel so beautiful and so loved. It was in this moment that I realized the Lord was using what I had learned to minister in a whole new way.

Now, I am aware that I can’t change an entire cultural mindset through one conversation, but Jesus can. I believe He can heal and reveal to the people of South Korea the beauty of being made in His image and the freedom that comes from grace.

God in His infinite grace took me half way around the world to deepen the truths that were already stirring in my heart. I’m so grateful for his provision in sending me to South Korea to share His love not just through dance, but with words of affirmation of His great love for each of us, regardless of our outward appearance.