Serving anywhere, anytime

Stanley and Wendy Choi are proof that God can use late bloomers.

In May of 2007, when they should have been enjoying retirement, the Chois went to Northern Iraq. Within a month Stanley, who was 67, had been placed as an instructor at a blind school and with the Blind Union. Wendy, who was 62, was serving as a sewing instructor at a community centre and in a jail for women.

How it all began
This Korean-Canadian couple’s journey to Northern Iraq really began in 1996 when they left Toronto and their two children, who had just entered university, and went to Vancouver to care for Korean MKs (missionary kids). It was nonstop work that lasted seven years and was the training ground they needed for their next placement, this time in Jos, Nigeria. There Stanley taught in a school for children of Korean missionaries and Wendy established a sewing school for widows who needed to support their families.

Three years later, while on furlough in Toronto, God gave Stanley a desire to work in Northern Iraq among the blind. As Stanley and Wendy prayed, and Stanley fasted, they were led to MECO. Three months later the Chois were in Northern Iraq.

Not that their placement was easy. People had reservations: “Would they be able to adapt to the culture?” “Is there work for them to do among the blind?” “What about learning the Kurdish language?” However, God paved the way and three years later everyone can look back and see all that He accomplished through them.

Working on a Braille Kurdish New Testament
One of the finest accomplishments involved printing into Braille the Kurdish translation of the New Testament. It took Stanley more than a year to input the New Testament using a Braille computer and printer purchased with funds from supporters in Canada, Korea and the US. The task was carried out after school hours and fraught with problems. At one point, Wendy says she asked Stanley to give up the project. “But he scolded me and said he had a concrete vision for this worked. Soon I realized this must be God’s work and the enemy is trying to stop us.”

It is the Chois’ hope that as the blind read the New Testament “the truth will touch their souls”.

In June of last year, Stanley and Wendy reluctantly retired from the field. They say the fruit of their three years in Northern Iraq belongs to the Lord. They also say that all of the difficulties and challenges they faced were the back drop for God’s grace to be worked out in their lives; for His love to be reflected through them unconditionally until they stand before Christ.