Rev. ByungHwoon Lee
Just Call Him 'Pastor Paul'
Rev. ByungHwoon Lee was born in South Korea. When describing his spiritual journey, he said, “I automatically thought of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ when I thought of my spiritual journey. Similar to Alice, who experienced a mysterious world, I met God – it was just like a miracle! Meeting an unseen God might sound strange to people who can only feel through five senses. Maybe, some people would say it is a sort of gamble. However, I believe that is the power of spiritual life.”
Rev. Lee had a Confucius and secular perspective before meeting God. So, it was a great turning point for him to believe in a God who came to this world as a human being. Since then, he became a person who experiences miracles all the time. When he served in the army, he met God in a profound way. He says, God told me, "You owe me love". So his purpose in his spiritual journey is to meet peoples who give love to him. He would like to share love with them.
Therefore, he started a mission church in 2007 for undocumented Chinese immigrants in South Korea. After that, he served a mega church in Seoul as assistant pastor. He came to US in 2011 to study in GTU California Berkeley. He served the Ames Korean UMC from 2013 and Des Moines Korean UMC since 2016. He is now serving Epworth UMC, Simpson UMC and Des Moines Korean UMC, and assignment that began July 1, 2019.
Pastor Paul has a very talented family that includes his lovely wife, EunJeong, a 13 year old daughter SeoJin and a 10 year son WooJin.