MEET PASTOR JOEY
AND HEEA

Pastor Joey and his wife, Heea, have been serving at Kake Memorial Presbyterian Church in the Native village of Kake, Alaska, since 2011. They have two daughters, Maria and Lydia. For the first seven years, Joey worked full-time as a maintenance mechanic at the local school while also serving as pastor, until God called him to become a full-time missionary through The Antioch Partners in 2019.

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Kake is a unique place, with the majority of its population being Alaska Native people who have lived there for hundreds of years. This community of 550 people face many challenges, including high-cost of living, isolation, depression, substance abuse, and domestic violence. Joey and Heea are especially burdened by the passing of people who have died without coming to know salvation in Jesus.

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Joey started a soup kitchen, "Peace of Kake," which has served lunch to the whole community every Friday for the past nine years, with a delicious meal, devotions, and fellowship. He also started a recovery program for people struggling with addiction. Heea helps with the "Good News Club" and "Youth Café," which reaches out to younger children and teens. They are now hoping and praying to train young adults to become future Christian leaders for their own community.

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Joey and Heea both grew up in Korea but met each other at King College in Bristol, Tennessee. They married in 1999 and went on to Moody Aviation School to train as missionary pilots. In 2001, after the 9/11 attacks, they both completed Master of Divinity degrees at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. In time, as their call to missions remained strong, God brought them to Alaska to seek out the lost.