By: Jo Jo Leckie, Perimeter School mom

I was born in South Korea in a small village in a valley by the mountains. I grew up Buddhist, like my parents and my five sisters. I would pray at the local Buddhist temple with my family a few times a year. The temple was next door to my home, so the daily prayers by the monks would wake me up with the bang of a gong at 5:00 AM.

I would often play at the temple with my friends. There were only a few Christians in the village. My parents would warn me not to get close to them. They would tell me something was not right with the Christians. Although, I sensed in my heart something did not seem right about Buddha. Maybe he was not really God.

I Met Jesus

When I was in my early twenties, I moved to Seoul. One day, new next-door neighbors moved in. They had a girl who was about six years old. She would play in the hallway and sing Sunday School songs.

I opened the door and started to talk to her. Her mother invited me into her apartment. After we got to know each other more, she invited me to a women’s discipleship group called “The Attic” (in Korean). I thought, “who would have an attic in a big city like Seoul”? I did not realize I was attending a discipleship group. It was my first experience with anything like this.

The people in the discipleship group were studying the book of Acts. We went through each chapter and verse for a few years. I met Jesus, and He changed my life!

The Power of Prayer

The neighbor taught me one-on-one from the Bible almost every day, and she taught me how to pray. She would take me to a prayer house on a mountain often, and I learned how to pray aloud, how to pray silently, and how to intercede on behalf of others.

I started spending almost every day at the church. I would pray for hours in one of the prayer rooms. Many days, I would even sleep at the church overnight. I would wake up at 5:00 AM and attend the early morning prayer service.

Meanwhile, my sisters were continuing to embrace Buddhism. I would pray and fast for my sisters. During my prayers, God would reveal how to pray for each of them. After many days of praying, two of my sisters accepted Christ. After seeing God answer my prayers for them, I began also praying for other church members and interceding for them day and night. I prayed for those who were mentally ill, physically ill, and many others who desperately needed help. I realized I could pray for anyone.

I found purpose and meaning in my life through Jesus Christ and through prayer.

I became closer and closer to Jesus as I prayed more and more. I noticed how prayer changed things in my life. I realized as I saw changes in my own life and in the lives of my two newly Christian sisters that Jesus was changing us. Buddha never did that.

At Perimeter School, we value the power of prayer. All Perimeter School students, parents, and siblings are invited to "See You at the Pole" tomorrow, Wednesday, September 22, at 8:15 AM by the flagpole near the playground (or in the Gym if it is raining). “See You at the Pole” is a special opportunity for our covenant community to gather together before school to lift up our friends, families, teachers, school, and nation to the Lord.