Background and Process of the A Building TOV Relocation

Kim Yohan

Tov Café has long been a place of rest and fellowship for staff and students at UofN Jeju. Over the years, however, it became increasingly clear that the café was too small for the number of people using it, and there was a growing need for a larger space.

These ideas had already been around for a few years, and we had even requested quotes from outside contractors to actually move forward with it. But the cost through an outside contractor was significant, and as other more urgent needs arose at University of the Nations Jeju,the relocation plan was eventually put on hold.

After this year’s decision to hold the Leadership Training School (LTS) this summer, and with the expectation that a large number of students and staff would be coming, the need for a bigger space where more people could gather and rest naturally came up again — and so the decision was made once more to relocate Tov Café and create a lounge.

But this time, instead of hiring an outside contractor, we decided to do it with our own hands — and the renovation began, led by the staff of the Operations Department.

At first, the plan was simply to clean the existing space and use it as it was for the relocated Tov and the new lounge. But the campus leadership group decided that this space — the only place for students and staff to gather — deserved to be properly designed. And so the project grew from a simple cleanup into a full renovation.

Jung Gijun

The project began out of a shared desire to create more space where our staff could rest and connect. As we talked with others who carried the same heart, the renovation gradually began to take shape. For me personally, this began right after the Building D project ended, soI wondered whether I would have the capacity to see another major project through to completion. There was pressure to create something good while staying within budget, but even so, I looked forward to building this together with others.

Stories and Episodes the Team Experienced During the Renovation

Kim Yohan

Building A, where the renovation was taking place, had a window and door structure between the 1st and 2nd floor classrooms with no soundproofing, so sound passed straight through from one floor to the other. We carried out the work to minimize as much of that sound transfer as possible.

One part of that process involved applying silicone sealant to the window frames. While doing that work, I hit my head on the structure hard enough to tear the tissue beneath the skin. It was an impact strong enough to feel like the building shook, and it brought me humbly to my knees. In that state, I drove with one hand on my head and the other on the wheel to a nearby local clinic, got treated, and came back.

Then, toward the later stages of the renovation, there was a heart-stopping moment. While removing the glass installed in the middle of the first floor, we had kept a large piece of glass carefully stored to reuse later. It was inconvenient throughout the renovation, but we kept moving it from place to place to keep it safe.

Then, for one last move, three of us were carrying it — one person in front of me and one behind — and the moment we lifted the glass to move it, tthe large pane suddenly cracked diagonally and came down over my head. In that instant, thinking “what is this?”, I shouted urgently, “Glass! Glass!” Thank God, right as the glass split, the staff member in front of me holding it with me grabbed hold of it firmly with one hand, and thankfully no accident occurred. If that hand hadn’t been there to hold the glass, it could have resulted in a serious accident.

I still vividly remember the three of us catching our breath afterward, looking at each other with tense faces.

Jung Gijun

Handling the technical side, I thought a lot about how to deal with the ceiling and the noise. So we decided to attach sound-absorbing material to the ceiling, and during the actual installation, I remember thinking at first that it was perfectly attached — but while chatting with staff for just a moment, the sound-absorbing material fell from the ceiling, which caught me completely off guard.

There was also the process of trying to locate the water pipes for the café bar installation. With no way of knowing exactly where the pipes were hidden, we made educated guesses and demolished sections one at a time to search for them, but in the end, we couldn’t find them. Then, while demolishing a bit more in order to repair the section we had already opened up, we finally found the water pipes right there. It became one of those memorable moments when we could see God’s hand even in the unexpected.

Kim Yohan

Building A is the only one among the buildings first constructed when University of the Nations Jeju began that still retains its original form. At first, I didn’t really feel the weight of renewing such a symbolic building. But as the renovation went on, people from many different ministry units came out day after day to work alongside us, from the easy tasks to the hard ones — and through that, the conviction God gave me was that this was a season of being “built together.”

There were a few staff who came out every day, working hard from morning to afternoon for more than two months, but God strongly impressed on my heart that what was being built here could never be credited to the effort of any one person.

When God gave me the conviction that I should not think “I worked hard from morning to late afternoon, so I deserve praise” or “that the person who worked the hardest deserved the recognition,” I came to understand the heart of God watching over University of the Nations Jeju.

And it was a great joy for me to be used in this season of change, and of course, I was grateful simply to do the work entrusted to me.

Jung Gijun

Seeing God send helpers according to our needs and having them work alongside us, seeing us come through dangerous moments without serious injury as if nothing had happened, and seeing staff give up their vacation days to quietly come help when we were exhausted and struggling as the renovation neared its end — through moments like these, we were able to find the strength to finish. Looking back, I think it wasn’t by our own strength but within God’s plan that we were able to bring it to a good conclusion.

Grace, Change, and Lessons the Team Experienced

Jung Gijun

I learned a lot from seeing how we respected and tried to understand each other even when our opinions differed. And in repeating the work over and over, I often noticed myself defaulting to what felt familiar — so the moments when someone offered an idea I hadn’t considered, and we worked it out together, showed me that differences don’t have to lead to being dismissed. I was grateful that we could bring things to completion through respect instead.

Choi Sunhui

A few years ago, when we spent time together seeking God and listening for His voice about relocating the café to Building A, there was a conviction God gave me.

It was the conviction that God desired Building A —the first building constructed at UofN Jeju and the place where the campus first began — to become the center of worship, prayer, and fellowship. Just like the name “A,” He gave me the expectation and hope that this first building would be newly established as the center of our community, a space to worship God and share fellowship together.

And now, following God’s timing and God’s way, I am deeply moved to see the café finally relocated and renewed in Building A, in God’s timing and in His way. It’s also a truly remarkable grace to be able to take part in the process of transforming a space that had long been familiar to everyone as the library into something new. Each person contributed a different amount and in different ways, but that only makes it more precious — this is the story of a space that our community family built together, step by step, gathering our hearts and lending our hands. It was a season where I felt that not only was the physical space being renewed, but the inner life of our community was being renewed together with it.

These days, whenever I sit and watch the people gathered in the Building A café, a thought sometimes comes to me. Seeing people naturally staying, talking, laughing together, praying, and sharing fellowship, I’m overwhelmed with the sense that the vision God first placed in my heart is slowly being fulfilled.

“…And it was good.”

Just as its name Tov—the Hebrew word for “good”—suggests, I hope this space will be one that is good in God’s sight — a place of rest for anyone, and a space where worship, prayer, and warm fellowship flow, used for a long time to come.

Do Hyunhui

Tov is a space of rest and sharing for everyone, and at the same time, it’s a space being built through everyone’s service. In the early stages, staff took on demolition and painting together as part of their work duty, gradually carrying out the renovation.

Some teams were skilled at painting, some were skilled at demolition, and another team took on hauling away waste — through this labor of showing up in whatever way was needed, traces of the staff remain throughout the renovation.

Managing the finances for the Tov renovation, I was reminded again of what it means to be a faithful steward. I carefully managed the donations and UofN funds entrusted to the project, checking that nothing had been double-paid. It was a season that gave me the conviction that if finances, materials, and even buildings have been entrusted to me by the Lord, I should manage them before God in a way that is healthy, joyful, and grateful.

It was only some time after everything wrapped up that we held a debrief with the staff who took part in the Tov renovation. Since it was the early stage of LTS and the Operations Department was busy with their own responsibilities, we kept pushing the timing back — but looking back, I think it would have been better to hold the debrief earlier, so everyone could process and reflect, body and mind, while it was still fresh. Listening to staff talk about what felt lacking or missed, even after all their effort, I was grateful to see how faithful they had been in the small things. Seeing them respond to the needs of UofN Jeju in this season—not because they were experts, but simply because they were willing to help, wrestle through the challenges, build, and serve—was deeply moving and beautiful to me. It made me wonder how much more precious it must have been in the eyes of the Lord.

Tov is still, even now, a work in progress — its gaps being filled, being cared for. Seeing some people notice needs with attention and love and speak up about them, and others quietly fill those needs without a word, I sense that this is what it means to be built together.

The staff who serve on their assigned days, the staff who rolled up their sleeves at night when there was a need. This is how Tov continues to be built—not by one person, but by all of us together.

My hope is that the same spirit of service, joy, and love that went into building Tov will continue to flow through everyone who comes here to rest, connect, and share life together.

The Completed Tov Café