Interview Series: Amy Choe!

Amy Choe.

I don't think that I could say enough good things about Amy. She staffed a DTS while I was doing Community Transformations last summer, and living on the same base, she quickly became a close friend. One thing that I admire about Amy is her ability to give herself so completely to the Lord and to serving others. Amy has an incredible testimony, but what makes it incredible is not simply it's context; it's that she genuinely uses it to give glory to God. She is one of those people that you are naturally drawn to because she has so many of the qualities that draw us to Jesus; her servant heart definitely being one of them. I don't think I've ever met a believer that is so willing to give all of themselves to the Lord's will as Amy is. It's truly inspiring. Just getting to watch her trust in the Lord and step out in simple faith as she does is such an encouragement to anyone that has the privilege of knowing her.

Amy definitely has a beautiful skill in her spoken word. Her ability to articulate the love and beauty of the Lord is captivating, and inspired me even as I interviewed her and wrote this article. However, it's not just her words that captivate people. Anyone can put together a sophisticated sentence. What captivates people is the heart behind the words; and Amy's heart shines with the light of Jesus. Here is a glimpse into her heart and what the Lord is doing in and through her!

Interviewee:

Amy Choe; age 23. Originally from: South Korea. Currently in: Orange Country, California.

When did you come to know the Lord?

2012: 20 years old.

How did you come to know the Lord?

I wasn't originally raised with a Christian background, but I got in some trouble in Korea. I got kicked out of the country because I was trafficking out a lot of drugs, and out of a last resort, my dad sent me to America. He heard about YWAM and told me that it was a rehab, not a Christian organization. He told me that it was a rehab and he told me that it was a last resort. I went there in April of 2012 and did a photogenic DTS. I at first completely rebelled; I smoked pot, drank, and was addicted to cigarettes (got corporately called out). I was rebelling against the Lord and it wasn't until week eight when my school leader was like 'I can't send you on outreach if you're drinking and smoking'. He said, 'you have to choose'. He didn't know what to do either so he just said, 'I'm going to pray for you'. We were at the fountain and he started praying for me. I hadn't cried, at that point, in a while. And as he was praying for me I felt for the first time in eight weeks God speak into my heart. I felt Him just keep asking me 'do you want to be loved', and that was the first time I felt the warmth of His love just rush through my heart. My mind was so at peace for the first time, I had no worries. I was just at complete peace. I felt love. He gave me an image that he was going to overflow my heart. Then I went to Africa and God just took over my heart there.

Explain the feeling or emotion you get when you fully worship.

I feel like Heaven is just all around. Like, if this was Heaven, this is like people singing in heaven. Rather than Heaven invading the earth, I just feel like He takes me up and gives me a glimpse of what Heaven sounds like. This is what Heaven would be like.

What is the Lord doing in Orange County, California, and in your own life?

Since I've been here I've been into gardening a lot, and it kinda gives me a glimpse into God's perspective on how he sees my family in LA. When I first started on my backyard, no one had touched the dirt in years; it was super solid hard. It was so hard there were cracks in it. I got so overwhelmed, I was like 'I don't want to do this. I wish I had an already blooming plant there'. I felt like that ground was my family. God reminded me, 'this garden represents your family'. You have to spend time working on this ground and weeding it out. He was like, 'you can't expect to start a garden with already grown flowers'. And those are the things we want to do. But radical living starts with the things we don't want to do. He was just saying that you have to cultivate and ready the land so that one day when you can plant the seeds there, it is insured it would grow because the ground was fully cultivated. He was showing me that this all starts with prayer; the start of revival is prayer. He was showing me that he's breaking into the hardened ground and softening my family's heart. That He was weeding out all the pain and scars that had grown within my family. That He was getting rid of all the rocks in my family that stood between our hearts and His. He was just showing me that He's the perfect gardener, but we need to sow and plant into the land first by prayer. Everything begins in prayer. He is the perfect gardener, and He is sowing into the ground so that the seed will grow into a beautiful flower one day and bloom into a garden of hope. But it all begins with prayer; prayer is the posture of our hearts. So I'm not doing anything crazy, but by staying here and sowing with prayer into my family, he's been showing me how to have simple obedience in the small things and just that everything begins with prayers. He was just like, you can't have a garden with the snap of fingers. He's a God of process. He's been showing me that my family is a process of a garden that will not die or wither; its going to be standing steadfast in faith because its been cultivated through prayers. It's so important to love your family before you go out and love the nations, and he's teaching me to love my family.

What makes your heart come alive?

My heart comes alive when I see the beauty of God in nature and when I see other people getting filled. When I step out in obedience and see God working in them through me. When I see people encounter the Lord through obedience; I'm like, this is why we do what we do as missionaries. And personally, just resting in Him and just remembering the faithfulness he has in my life, and how I never would've expected to be where I am or do what I do.

“I would just say; just rest in him. And when you hear God, just step out in simple obedience. Don't be scared because when you step out in obedience joyfully, that's when all fear disappears. And God is always going to be filling out hearts and giving us opportunities to draw close to Him, so when we say yes to him we are opening up our hearts to just receive the fullness of His.”

Amy Choe.