November 2019. Early rise. Prayer. Devotions. “Lord, bless this trip.” Morning frost at O’Hare. Mid-row seat. Sigh. Long-haul flight—Tokyo, Seoul.

Sahmyook Adventist University. Meet and greet. Warm guest room. Shower. Bed by midnight.

Up at 3. Jetlag. Prayer. Devotions. Bleary eyes, blurry text. Emails. More emails. Cold morning walk. Missionary memorials. Prayer mountain.

Korean breakfast. New flavors. Warm fellowship. Meetings. Meetings. Meetings. Dizzy with fatigue by 5 p.m. Need to sleep. Not yet. Emails. Prayer.

Guest arrives at 8 p.m. Young businessman burdened for missions. Broken English. Loves the Yasna people. Really? New AFM family just recruited to reach the Yasna! He wants to help. Many options. God is working. Divine encounter. Finally, blessed sleep.

New day. Still jetlagged. Up by 3. Emails. Prayer. Emails. Morning walk. Meetings. Division. Union. Publishing House. Attorneys. Accountants. Pastors. Students. Administrators. Local mission groups. Partnership? Cooperation? Many possibilities. Eyes are heavy. Need to focus. Information. Language barrier. Questions. Answers. Clarifications. Options. Considerations. Concerns. Prayer. More meetings. More walks. More prayer. Theology department presentation. Give Friday vespers.

Sabbath School. Can you teach? Sure. Sermon, too. Nutritious lunch. Better without chopsticks. Afternoon nature walk. Up we go. Steps. More steps. Up and up. Hikers pass by. Professional trekking gear. Walking sticks. Backpacks. Radios? Why? Up we go. We begin to understand. Trail narrows. Slippery granite. Wet leaves. The final ascent. Steep scaffolding stairway. Side of cliff. We summit. Notice the time. Down we rush. Shuffling. Slipping. Sliding. Take a shower.

Evening meeting. Potential missionaries. Husband and wife. Devout. Devoted. Dedicated. We can serve in X. You sure? Yes. It’s our calling, our mountain. A dangerous totalitarian mountain. A spiritual mountain. Unconquered. Silence. What to say? Modern-day Calebs, Esthers. Deadly serious. Deeply humbling. Faith affirming. We circle. We pray.

Rushed meal. Business plan. Cash-flow analysis. Incorporation options. Employment strategies. Taxation consideration. Planning meetings. Bathed in prayer.

Final day. Up at 4. Better than 3! Prayer. Email. Morning walk. Final meetings. Planning. Probing. Preparing. Praying. Pack bags. Final goodbyes. Airport bus. Two-hour ride. Check in. Tokyo flight. Delay. Arrives 6:30 p.m. Chicago flight: 6:45 p.m. Airport mile. Record time. Doors are closing. Last man on. Mid-row seat. Sigh. Long flight.

Arrive at O’Hare. Bags in Seoul. Drive home. Half asleep. Welcome home! Try to sleep. Unsuccessful. Body confused. Mind racing.
Up at 1. Emails. Prayer. Devotional. Office. Morning huddle. Board Chair. Treasurer. Donor connections. Funding available? Yes!
So it begins. New mission agency. AFM Korea. Korean missionaries. Korean finances. Korean Board. Korean leadership. Together we climb. Physical mountains? Easy. Spiritual mountains? Hard. Despotic mountains. Dark mountains. Deriding mountains. Dismissive mountains. Dangerous mountains.

2020 dawns. What’s your mountain? What to do? Ascend in faith. How? Eyes to the hills. Whence cometh help? From the Lord! The Creator! Heaven and earth. All is His! We’re not alone! And on that day. Oh, glorious day. We will be all together. On Mount Zion.

• Twitter