D: How did you guys meet?

M: This is a great plug for SooJung. We met at church. So, if you’re dedicated and you come to church, you’ll meet your spouse there. Just kidding.

[All laugh]

I started coming my freshman year of college, and that’s when we first met. He was a Sunday school teacher. I was a youth group teacher. One of our mutual friends actually brought me to church. Back then, our EM was smaller so we used to kind of hang out in group settings. And then sparks just … [All laugh]

D: How old were you when this happened?

M: When we first started dating? Oh, I was 19.

D: You were still in college right?

M: Yeah, beginning of junior year.

D: Was Pastor Steve still there?

M: He was our EM pastor. He played an instrumental role in bringing us together.

D: Tell me about the EM and your roles in the ministry back then.

K: I was part of the Sunday school ministry at that time. That was like a couple years after I came back from college, so at that time I was very involved in Sunday school. Before that, I was actually in youth group ministry as well.

D: Wow, you had a lot of roles at SooJung.

M: He’s been going there since … what year?

K: So, basically this would be my uh … 30th year at Crystal.

M: It was founded before this location.

K: The church was founded in 1986. I started coming in 1987.

D: Where was the original location?

K: In Ozone Park. In southern Queens. 101st Ave Woodhaven Blvd.

D: So did you grow up in that church?

K: Yeah, pretty much.

D: When did you first attend SooJung?

K: Oct 27, 1987.

M: You were born then, weren’t you [Daniel]?

D: ‘88.

[all laugh]

M: That’s pretty sad.

K: SooJung back then was obviously very different. Some of the people are kind of still around especially in the KM ministry. Volleyball was huge back then too. The old church actually had a gym.

M: He was a rockstar. Center receiver.

K: We went out like 9 o'clock in the morning and then played ‘till like midnight.

D: Wow you guys were really serious. Competitive.

M: This is before like computers, the Internet, and phones and all that. We actually spent time physically, all day, with people.  It was the volleyball culture days. It was a big deal. 

D: Do you still play?

K: Not really. Not good for my joints.

D: Do you have any hobbies ?

M: When we have time for them.

Well, photography for him. Definitely for the both of us, I would say, traveling. I like to read although I don’t have a lot of time to do it.

D: Have you guys travelled anywhere recently?

M: Yeah, we try to travel a lot as a family.

K: The last trip we had, we went to Amish town.

M: Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We took the kids for winter break.

D: Anything overseas?

M: We’re going next month to Spain. That’s our next trip. We try to take one international trip at least once a year.