Southwestern alumni reunite as faculty at Korean seminary

Starting more than a decade ago, three individuals from South Korea studied together and then graduated at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, becoming close friends in the process. Now Kiyoung Kim, Jaehyung Lee, and Yoonhee Ahn are alumni and find themselves reunited as faculty of Korea Baptist Theological University and Seminary (KBTUS).

“After graduation, we each pursued our callings, and remarkably, all three of us were eventually reunited as faculty members at Korea Baptist Theological University and Seminary,” Kim said. “It has been a special joy to serve together once again, this time as colleagues.”

Kim was born in South Korea, where he was raised in a Christian home attending a Baptist church, saying he has had faith in Christ for as long has he can remember. He studied microbial engineering as an undergraduate and continued into graduate school pursuing an MBA. He also served as an officer in the Republic of Korea Air Force. It was during that service that he met his wife Minhee Cho, a United States citizen, and then immigrated to the U.S.

“Throughout that journey, there was a persistent sense that God might be calling me into ministry,” Kim said. “Yet, I spent much of my 20s wrestling with uncertainty, unable to fully embrace that calling.”

He finally answered that calling by attending seminary at Southwestern, earning his Master of Divinity in 2013 and a PhD in Old Testament in 2020.

Jaehyung Lee was born in Seoul and recalls praying about his future while in high school.

“God revealed His desire for me to become someone who teaches His Word,” Lee said.

After speaking with his pastor, he completed his undergraduate studies at KBUTS. Then Lee said God opened the door for him to study abroad at Southwestern.

“As I look back on the path I’ve walked until now, I confess that everything has been accomplished solely by God’s grace and provision,” Lee said, adding the Lord even provided other Korean students who studied alongside him and encouraged him.

Yoonhee Ahn grew up in a different context, saying she believed in evolution when she was young with an interest in learning about aliens and the possibility of other civilizations in the universe.

But then Ahn says she met Jesus and began attending church, which led to a conflict in her mind between her knowledge of what she had considered evidence of the truth of evolution and her new belief in the truths of Scripture.

She began to pray for answers to those questions and initially attended another seminary, where she received a Master of Divinity and Master of Theology. Her desire to continue to pursue truth as well as seek evidence led her to consider studying biblical archaeology. Having been recommended to consider Southwestern, Ahn said “I experienced good people and good programs” on Seminary Hill.

Once they were at Southwestern, Kim, Lee, and Ahn began to build bonds with each other.

“We didn’t know each other before coming to Southwestern, but we quickly formed a close connection once we realized that our academic paths aligned,” Kim said, pointing out all three majored or minored in Old Testament studies.

Kim and Lee both completed their graduate work in 2013 and were neighbors while living in the townhouses at Southwestern, where their oldest sons became close friends. The two then studied for their entrance exam together, staying up late at the Naylor Student Center or preparing for hours at an area Starbucks.

When Ahn began working on her PhD at Southwestern, Kim and Lee welcomed her to the campus and culture with which they had already become familiar. All three encouraged and supported each other through the seminars phase.

“We often discussed class content and shared our struggles in our native language, which allowed us to support each other both academically and personally,” Kim said. “… Sharing that experience forged a deeper bond than what typically forms in standard degree programs. We became, in a sense, comrades, having completed the rigorous seminars required by SWBTS together.”

The three students completed their PhDs in 2020 and 2021 and agree their time at Southwestern greatly prepared them for their future ministries in the academic field and in churches.

Kim said his time at Southwestern shaped him as a pastor and a theologian, as well as providing a place for his family to experience life.

“Having had no prior theological education in Korea, it was here that I formed my identity as a minister of the Gospel,” Kim said.

Southwestern also gave Kim a better understanding and appreciation for the authority of Scripture and the importance of using scholarship to build up the church, something he said he discovered to be at the heart of every Southwestern program.

“Now, as a conservative evangelical Old Testament scholar, I see it as my calling to continue affirming and advancing those convictions in both the academy and the church,” Kim said.

Lee said the training and mentoring he received from faculty, such as his supervisor Matthew McKellar, professor of preaching, “not only shaped my academic path but also deeply influenced my journey of faith and service.”

“The greatest grace and blessing during my PhD studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary was the education and training I received to prepare as both a biblical scholar and pastor,” Lee said.

Ahn was able to train in the field at excavations in the Middle East as well as under professors as she studied the Old Testament.

“I established a view of biblical history at Southwestern,” Ahn said, saying she feels her academic sword was sharpened in the classroom as she studied and debated with fellow students and faculty. “I got convinced in the historicity of the Old Testament at Southwestern.”

Joshua Williams, professor of Old Testament and director of research doctoral studies, had each of the alumni in seminars and was Kim’s supervisor and remains in touch with him.

“It’s exciting to see,” Williams said of  the Southwestern alumni now serving in international contexts. “I think it’s easy to underestimate how much of an impact Southwestern does have, especially training teachers who will train pastors and missionaries elsewhere in the world and the reach that they have.”

After their graduations, the three alumni eventually found themselves joining the faculty of Korea Baptist Theological University and Seminary, located in Daejeon, South Korea. Kim is an assistant professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, Lee is an assistant professor of preaching, and Ahn is an assistant professor of Old Testament and biblical archaeology and plans to bring students to Israel as an academic course to experience excavations themselves and tour the Holy Land, though she is currently waiting for conflicts in that area to resolve.

Kim is also an associate pastor at Hanuel Vision Baptist Church while Lee is involved in pastoral ministry as the associate pastor at Saenuri 2 Baptist Church. Kim and Lee have contributed articles to societies in the United States and Korea while Ahn has presented papers at conferences in Korea concerning the relationship between archaeological findings and biblical texts.

“Southwestern prepared me for teaching Old Testaments and archaeology,” Ahn said. “… My study to find answers gave me a firm foundation to teach.”

Kim expressed deep gratitude for Southwestern and the legacy it passed on to them that they are now able to share with others in Korea.

“We believe that when Southwestern graduates serve not only in one region but across cultural and geographical boundaries, it ultimately reflects well on the seminary’s global vision and mission,” Kim said.