We cannot believe it is already April! It's amazing to see the weather warm-up as nature beautifully blooms again. Along with much of the world, Ignis Community is warming up after a year of COVID-19 hardships. It has been an incredibly tough year for many of us in 2020 and may still be right now. Our normal activities halted due to border closures, but we are happy to announce that we do have counterparts working diligently on the ground. Children with developmental disabilities are continuing to receive treatment by visiting the hospital you helped Ignis build. And although it is bittersweet, we are grateful that work remains ongoing despite border closures. Meanwhile, we are hoping and praying that the doors will reopen for Ignis team members to return to the frontlines ourselves.
We also have a special announcement! Our co-founder Joy Yoon launched her newYoutube channel called “Discovering Joy”. One of the things Joy's family has learned was to treat disabled children in Pyongyang and share with their parents the joy of being found in a difficult and hard environment. Joy and Stephen's two youngest children have developmental and physical disabilities. Joy works as an educational therapist to educate and train children and parents with pediatric disabilities.
Her hope is to encourage and share training experience tips with many parents who are enduring similar challenges. This is a program for parents who think their child has a developmental disability or their learning ability is delayed. And these training are the training that children and parents do together at home. Not only in hospital or treatment facilities, but at home, parents can do it in everyday life with their children. Although the videos are in Korean, you can always turn on the English subtitles! Please comment, subscribe, and like Joy's new Youtube channel!
Our team has been wanting to connect with new faces, donors, and friends so we encourage you to sign up for our newsletters. Through these newsletters, you can hear about various events we hold virtually. We’d love to connect with people who are interested in Ignis Community and the work we do in North Korea. You can subscribe by visiting our website and clicking on “Subscribe to Ignis” at the bottom of the page.
We also encourage you to reach out to us any time. We want to be transparent and share updates if you are curious! You can always contact us and ask questions at any time.
This journey is not easy, especially in the midst of the current worldwide pandemic, but as our name suggests, Ignis Community is all about igniting hope to the hopeless. Without fail, we are determined to keep pressing forward and bring hope to the children of North Korea.
Ignis Community Team.