(Picture 1) Commemmorative Speech by President Chang during the Online Orientation of the Joshua Scholarship

On the 13th of April, HGU (President Soon-Heung Chang) held the Joshua Scholarship ceremony and orientation online, due to the COVID-19 crisis. The ceremony included an event introduction, words of encouragement, scholarship awards, and the introduction to and information about the scholarship.

The Joshua Scholarship is founded to support pastors' kids (PKs) and missionary kids (MKs) who struggle to afford tuition and the living expenses while studying at HGU. The scholarship provides 600,000 KRW per semester, and the students will receive the same amount as long as the scholarship standards are kept. The scholarship students are matched one-on-one with their sponsors. They send letters of appreciation and prayer requests, and they may continue the relationship by attending an annual meeting ceremony if they desire to.

For this semester, 203 PKs and MKs were selected and provided with a total of 121.8 million won. The Joshua Scholarship was first started in the spring semester of 2016. In total, 1,239,322,000 KRW has been awarded to 1,382 students in the last 5 years.

Soon-Heung Chang, the president of HGU, said during the word of encouragement session, "There are a lot of MKs and PKs in our university, which means there are a lot of pastor parents and missionary parents who are doing work for the kingdom of God. It is a big blessing for the school since we can help them (through the scholarship.)" He continued, "I have had a  deep interest in MKs and PKs, even from the beginning of my inauguration, and we established this scholarship, 5 years ago. Later, the school could not afford it by itself. We asked other Korean churches and sponsors. They shared their love, and that love formed the scholarship we have today." He also added, saying to the recipients, " I hope you are proud of your parents, and I hope you become missionaries and ministers in your professional fields after your graduation."

(Picture 2) Self-Receiving Award Ceremony of the Scholarship

Ye-Dam Chon (Class of '19), a recipient of the scholarship this semester, said, "It is a miracle to receive this Joshua Scholarship. Once again, I give thanks to the sponsor who fulfilled my needs with their loving hands."

Sarah Yoon (Class of '20), another recipient, showed gratitude, saying, "My heart was burdened after getting into university, but it has gotten lighter, thanks to my sponsor."

Parents of the scholarship recipient, Sae-Eun Yoon (Class of '20), who are missionaries in Argentina, sent a message, saying, "We were put in a desperate situation as the Argentinian exchange rate continually increased, and the economy kept crippling. That was when we heard the news about the scholarship. We sincerely thank the sponsor for the support."

Also, an alumnus from the class of 2015, a former recipient of the scholarship, sent out a message, saying, "As I am now pursuing my career, I felt it is uneasy to unanimously support a student that I do not know well. While I was in school, the sacrifice and heart that the sponsor poured out with prayer and finance was a huge comfort and encouragement. I will live with this grateful heart wherever I go, and whatever I do."

HGU started a fundraising campaign for the Joshua Scholarship to support PKs and MKs with financial needs with their tuition and living expenses. The staff in charge at the Fundraising Office said, "PKs and MKs face many different difficulties, including financial difficulty; maybe even more than regular students. The Joshua Scholarship intends to let the students know that there are helping hands, and to give the message to not give up."

The Joshua Scholarship runs by the support of 259 individual, church, and community sponsors. Individuals and communities can participate in the sponsorship via HGU development fund website or the Fundraising Office (054-260-1063).

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