Peter Kang was born Kang Soong Chul in Seoul, South Korea in July 1954, just after the end of the Korean War to Kang Yoon Man and Hyun Myong Soon. In 1964, the family immigrated from Seoul to Parana, Brazil, becoming some of the first Koreans to move to Brazil in search of new opportunity. They lived on a farm where my father helped to grow coffee and other crops, as well as livestock. Growing up, he always told me that he loved animals, especially horses and dogs, which were his main companions during his early years in Brazil.

Later the family moved to Sao Paulo for a while before finding their way to the United States in 1969. The family settled in Denver, Colorado, where Peter went to junior high and high school. He learned to speak English from one of his teachers and developed a mastery of languages from this point, being fluent in Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and English for the rest of his life. He had fond memories of Denver, where he worked odd jobs, including as a dishwasher and cook at restaurants.

In 1971, the family moved to Los Angeles, where Peter attended Cal State Los Angeles studying accounting and finance. His first major job out of college was at the then prestigious Arthur Anderson, which only paid $12K salary but trained him to be a top banking auditor. He grew in the corporate world, becoming a CFO of a mortgage bank and then eventually becoming the CEO of a mortgage bank. He went on to operate other mortgage brokerages through the first part of his career before finding God’s calling as a minister.

In late 1980, he met Christina Um through an arranged date at the legendary Top of 5 Restaurant at the now Westin Bonaventure Hotel. Though initially resistant to the setup, he quickly fell in love with Christina and proposed to her on Christmas Eve, 1980. They were married in June 1981 in a grand wedding at Young Nak Church of Los Angeles, at the time located on Fairfax Avenue and co-founded by Peter’s father, Kang Yoon Man.

In December 1984, Christina and Peter gave birth to their son Matthew, then later in December 1988, their daughter Michelle. They lived in Cerritos until 1992, when they moved to Glendale, California. Peter loved to take his family on vacations throughout his lifetime. From incredible destinations such as Europe, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Turkey to plenty of stateside spots like Yosemite, Vancouver, and Florida. Traveling was indeed Peter and the family favorite hobby, and as the children grew up he often asked where they wanted to go and asked the children to help organize the trips.

Throughout his life, Peter loved to cook and loved eating at restaurants, instilling both hobbies in his son Matthew, who eventually became a food writer and journalist for Eater LA. He also loved coaching sports, becoming a coach for Matthew’s baseball and Michelle’s softball teams. He was very musical and loved to sing and play the flute, though the rest of the family often questioned his ability to keep a solid rhythm. He loved to garden and build landscapes, nurturing many plants and succulents in recent years and helping to beautify Matthew and his wife Rochelle’s home in Torrance. Peter was a lifelong lover of coffee, as someone who grew the crop in Brazil and eventually enjoyed amazing coffee from his son-in-law, Frank, a barista and coffee roaster.

In the late 90s, Peter and Christina decided to enter into ministry under the guidance of pastor Starr Pak, attending classes and eventually earning Masters degrees in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2000. They went on to earn M.Div from San Francisco Theological Seminary and eventually Ph.Ds from Fuller, where they credit professors Charles Kraft, Sherwood Lingonfelter, J. Robert Clinton, Charles Van Engen, Pablo Deiros, and Paul Pierson among numerous mentors. Peter was an adjunct professor at Fuller Theological Seminary until 2020, where he helped translate to Korean, taught classes, and mentored numerous masters and doctoral students.

Peter and Christina were active in church ministry at All Nations Church, helping to found the family ministry in 1999 and leading the ministry for over 16 years. They helped bring together families especially through couple seminars, helping to restore marriages and relationships. In 2015, they were commissioned to perform member care ministry to missionaries across the world, including Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Cambodia, Russia, Ukraine, Mongolia, Nepal, India, Singapore, Vietnam, Korea, Slovakia, Croatia (and many more), traveling to far-flung locations to provide personal counseling, encouragement, and edification to Korean-speaking missionaries across the world.

In 2019, Peter and Christina were co-founders of Providence University, a school committed to providing additional theological, biblical, and missiological training to missionaries and pastors.

In February 2020, Peter and Christina welcomed their granddaughter, Bailey La, and he loved to shower Bailey with love and affection through her first year. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Peter and Christina stayed safe and isolated while continuing their work at Providence University and other missions-related activities.

This past December, Peter was diagnosed with COVID-19 and hospitalized, where he stayed for six weeks and eventually succumbed to respiratory failure in the early hours of February 11, 2021. Just a few hours prior to his death, the family had seen him wake up while still on a ventilator through his trachea, opening his eyes and seemingly able to hear us through Facetime. The family was devastated, as they were hoping his lengthy hospital stay had indicated he had overcome the worst of the disease. However, God had other plans and brought Peter home to paradise, where his suffering has ended and he is in perfect fellowship with his creator, our heavenly Father, the Holy Spirit, and savior Jesus Christ.

While we mourn the sudden and tragic loss of Peter’s time on this earth, we know and believe we will see him again in glory, surrounded by the multitude of witnesses who ran the race and finished well. We’re comforted in Peter’s incredible testimony and life, which attested to the saving grace of Jesus Christ and God’s ability to use him and Christina’s ministry to transform lives.

Peter was buried at Rose Hills Cemetery on Friday, February 26. He is survived by his wife Christina, son Matthew, daughter-in-law Rochelle, daughter Michelle, son-in-law Frank, and granddaughter Bailey.