Thomas Yoo who, along with his wife Tina, is currently serving at Ottawa Citadel – Intercultural Community Ministries.
I was born in Seoul, Korea and grew up in a Catholic Christian family. I immigrated to Canada in 1986 because I wanted to live in a big country with greater opportunities and freedom for my future, but God had other plans. Looking back on my journey, I now believe that God sent me to Canada to meet Jesus Christ and start a new life.
I met a Salvation Army Korean officer in Toronto in 1988 and he witnessed Jesus Christ to me, who I received as my Saviour. I met Tina (my wife) at the Korean Corps and we married on Easter Day in 1989. We both enrolled as Senior Soldiers on Easter Sunday in 1990.
I worked at the GM dealership as a salesman and opened a buffet restaurant, but in 1992, I had to shut down my restaurant due to the economic recession. Consequently, I lost everything and was totally broke. This was the most challenging time for me, physically, financially and emotionally. But by God’s grace, my wife and I were able to hold on to the scriptures and slowly overcome our hardships. I kept working at GM and Toyota dealerships. I continuously studied the Bible and involved myself in various church ministries at Agincourt Corps since 2000. By doing so, my spiritual growth developed day by day.
During Bible study in 2005, I felt God’s calling for me to work for Him for the rest of my life. There were many difficulties including age and language barriers, however God opened the door step by step for us. Thanks to the grace of God, Tina and I were accepted as Auxiliary Captains and appointed as Intercultural Community Ministries & Family Service Officers at Ottawa Citadel in July of 2009.
Tina and I were nervous and afraid of our first appointment. We discovered that God had already prepared the way. His wonderful people in Ottawa have been working with us as a team since we arrived.
Since July, we have had the privilege of encouraging 15 new members, from eight different ethnicities, to the congregation. We also held our first training seminar called “Preparing Leaders for Intercultural Ministries” at the corps with 40 participants. What an awesome God! We have experienced that the Lord will provide.
Serving the Lord as an Auxiliary Captain and studying at the same time is challenging. But we want to use this training as a valuable opportunity. We were thrilled to go to Winnipeg this spring for intensive training at CFOT. It was also a wonderful opportunity to meet our new friends who have joined us in training for the next few years. Praise the Lord!
