Retired pastor Sang-cheol Lee (84), who resides in the United States, generously donated 100 million won to his alma mater, Sahmyook University, for human resource development.

Pastor Lee was born in 1938 and graduated from Sungkyunkwan University College of Economics and Business Administration, Department of Commercial Science in 1964, and transferred to the Department of Theology at Sahmyook Theological University (predecessor of Sahmyook University) that year. After graduating in 1974, he served as a frontline and institutional pastor and finance minister before retiring in 2005. Since retirement, he has been residing in Loma Linda, California.

Pastor Lee, who recently visited Sahmyook University for the first time in five years, heard about the university’s progress at a dinner with President Il-mok Kim and was so impressed by the university’s development plans centered on cutting-edge departments, such as the Department of Artificial Intelligence Convergence, Big Data Cloud Engineering, and Bio Convergence Engineering that he decided to donate.

Pastor Lee said, “Sahmyook University is my alma mater, and all four of my children are Sahmyook University alumni. I was deeply moved by the fact that a new department that was unimaginable in the past has been established to deliver cutting-edge knowledge and the message of the three angels to young students.”

Pastor Lee said that donations are no different from if his children made them. His children cared for him during his 20 years in the US after retirement. Over the years, he had accumulated quite a bit of money from Educational Support Fees (the church’s private pension system). While on his trip to Korea, he wanted to retrieve the money and give it to his children, but they first recommended donations.

Pastor Lee said his children thought, “Wouldn’t it be a good idea to donate to the development of Sahmyook University, their alma mater, as well as their father’s?” They said it would be a great legacy for their father’s name to remain at Sahmyook University for a long time. He continued, “My wife was also pleased and proud when she heard about my decision.”

“Donation is about ‘gratitude and commitment.’ It’s about gratitude for what has passed, gratitude for the gifts that have helped and blessed me, and committing in return. It’s not a large amount, but this donation will probably be the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done, including me and my family,” he said.