“I saw the need and condition of the Cambodian young people,” MC relates, recalling a previous mission trip. “They kept asking me when I was coming back.”
From the time he enrolled at Hartland College many years ago, MC Shin has been no stranger to the idea of service. From assisting in various areas of practical training such as the auto shop, cafeteria, and farm, to participating in the college’s touring choir, the Three Angels’ Chorale, it has been evident that MC loves to serve others.
After graduating in 2000 with a degree in pastoral evangelism, MC became a Bible worker, assisting Korean churches in Georgia, Maryland, Illinois, and New York. Now he is serving in ministry as the director of Battambang Center of Influence in Cambodia.
“The center of influence is an urban ministry. We have a vegetarian restaurant, a dental clinic, a fitness center, a language program, and a music school. It’s a multi-programmed center where many secular people will come to learn; and while they’re learning they will learn about Jesus Christ, too.”
Driven by the desire to see a nation radically changed, MC visited Cambodia in 2012 to assist with missionary efforts. While there, he was offered a job in Cambodia by the mission conference president. “But at the time my wife was pregnant and we had a two-year-old boy, so we couldn’t have moved right away,” MC explains. Unsure of what would take place next in their lives, MC and his wife began to pray for God’s leading and guidance for their family’s future.
Some time later, in 2016, he was contacted yet again to serve in Cambodia. Believing this to be God’s purpose for his family, MC accepted the call.
“Throughout the years, God prepared me to become a pastor. I was more interested in business, but God knew He could use me more effectively in pastoral work, especially dealing with young people in Cambodia,” says MC.
“I don’t know how long we’re going to stay in Cambodia, but one of the things I really want to do is start a school where young people can come and learn the Bible and be trained as a missionaries.”