One Woman - An Entire Nation
The Story of Sung Yol Shin

by Elyse Fitzpatrick

Sung Yol Shin was excited about her first counseling case in Pusan, South Korea. She had traveled to San Diego in 1989 to receive training in biblical counseling from IBCD. However, she couldn't have imagined what she would encounter in her first opportunity to counsel back in her homeland. Nor could she have imagined how God was going to use her to help not only her counselees, but her entire country.

An Unexpected Turn of Events

Sitting before her on that day was a woman whose face had been badly burned when her husband hit her with a boiling pressure cooker. Shocked and outraged at this brutality and overwhelmed with compassion for this woman, Mrs. Shin realized that God was calling her to a different ministry than the one she had planned - a ministry to the battered women of South Korea.As she struggled to find a source of help for battered women, she discovered that there were no shelters or crisis centers for battered women in all of Pusan, a city of 3 million people. Incredibly, it wasn't even against the law for husbands to abuse their wives, a practice common even among Christians.

The Ministry Grows

In the beginning of 1990, God's love and compassion moved Sung Yol Shin to open the Pusan Women's Hotline with borrowed money. Within two years, she opened the Pusan Women's Shelter and this year, she rented all three stories of the building. The first floor is used for counseling, the second is the battered women's shelter, and the third is for education. God has used Mrs. Shin to help over 1,000 battered women receive counseling, shelter and hope. She does all of this free-of-charge. She has also been instrumental in training hundreds in biblical counseling, having translated the biblical counseling materials she received from IBCD into Korean. The center now employs 9 full-time counselors, 20 volunteers and 14 volunteer lawyers.

Changing Lives in An Entire Nation

God has also used Mrs. Shin to impact her entire nation. Working with other counseling centers across the country, she spearheaded an initiative to outlaw domestic violence - and on July 1, 1998, her initiative became law. It is no longer legal to abuse your spouse in South Korea, and those who do so must face punishment and go through counseling, frequently at the Pusan Women's Shelter. Although spousal abuse is still culturally accepted in South Korea, Mrs. Shin and other biblically oriented Christians are working hard to change the hearts of the people.

Uncompromising Love and Devotion

When Mrs. Shin came to America to receive her training, she worked 8 hours a day from January to April to complete all the courses, desperately striving to comprehend and assimilate the teaching -- which was in English, a language foreign to her. She came to recognize that the truths that were affecting her life were too important and precious to keep to herself. She knew that she had to return to her home, her church and her country, to serve the Lord in changing people's lives. She had no idea how God would use one woman's dedication and sacrifice; only in heaven will she learn the true impact of her ministry.

God's Call to You

Even though you might not be able to study every day for four months, perhaps He is calling you to begin your training. Please take time now to consider what is involved in becoming a counselor. Ask the Lord to grant you love and compassion for those around you. Like Mrs. Shin, one woman who was willing to serve, God can use you in His vineyard. Will you answer His call?