Through The Wilderness

by Seneca Moraleda-Puguan

It’s 3 o’’clock in the morning. As I write these words, I am still fighting jetlag.

We flew for 22 hours from our beloved South Korea, a place we will always call home, to Switzerland, our new home.

Yes, after a decade (13 years for my husband) in South Korea, we are now in Switzerland. It feels so surreal. Switzerland is a country on many people’s bucket list. It is on ours too.

Never did we imagine that we get to stay here as residents, not just tourists, that we get to have enough time to fully explore and take in the beauty of this country and not just pass by to have a glimpse of it.

How did we end up here? God must have heard a passing thought I had while watching a video about Switzerland with my husband one night. “Lord, how does it feel living there?”Anyway, let me tell you my family’s story. We have been enjoying and loving our time in South Korea. It was where I said ‘yes’ to my husband. It was where we started and built our family.

We have gained covenant relationships and a wonderful community, both with locals and co-expats. It was home. It still is. It will always be.

But from the very beginning, we knew that our stay in Korea was just temporary. It was just for a season. And the end has come.

A year before the pandemic, JM and I have been contemplating moving. For a long time, the desire to move to Europe had been in my heart. Having lived in London for two years, my very first out-of-the-country experience, I knew I would get back to that lovely continent.

So, we talked about the possibility of moving there. We prayed about it, did some research, and shared it with our friends and family who can stand with us in prayer. But it was only in December of 2022 that we started to step out in faith and apply for opportunities in Europe.

Every day, my husband would send out his CV to job openings in different universities and research institutes across Europe, specifically in Germany, Sweden, Spain, the UK, and Switzerland.

Every day, before sleeping, he would look for job openings and would sometimes sleep at 3 am sending his CV. He had sent dozens of applications.

But among his applications, he only had 4 interviews.

The first one was a university in Belgium. They wanted to hire him, but the salary was only enough for a single person to survive so my husband declined.

He was interviewed by a university in Germany and another in Estonia, both of which hired another applicant. One door after another would close.

There were many times in our waiting that we would both cry in exhaustion and anxiety. Sometimes doubt fills our minds.

But in these moments, we would pray together and set our eyes on the God who holds all things together and works things out for our good. He would always remind us that great are the plans He has for our family.

One day, he received an email. An invitation for an interview from an institute he’s been praying for and really wanted to be a part of, the Adolphe Merkle Institute of the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

Just when our hearts were down after a rejection, a glimmer of hope brought life to our souls and a smile on our faces.

The day of the interview came. We were both nervous but excited at the same time.

Little did we know that both of us prayed the same prayer (while he was in the lab and I was at home) that if this opportunity was from God, he would be hired on the spot and not asked to wait. But we both had peace.

It was an hour-long interview. I was praying the whole time.

I was eavesdropping from the other side of the door when I heard that the professor was willing to pull the trigger on him and I coached my husband to say that he would be willing to take the shot. It was a funny moment.

Finally, after 9 long months of waiting and no doors opening, God opened one door and it was wide open.

I can still remember that moment when my husband finally said goodbye to the professor, closed his laptop, and went out of the room to see me and our children, we all jumped and shouted for joy, with tears flowing from our eyes.

For several minutes, we were both on our knees acknowledging and thanking God for His faithfulness and goodness to our family.

We repented of our doubts, anxiety and fear and just released praise and thanksgiving to Him who knew exactly what He was doing in our lives and whose timing is always perfect.

Going through this journey made us feel like being led through the wilderness.

We didn’t know what lay ahead, we just knew that there was a promised destination waiting for us. We had to trust God every step of the way and just wait on Him. He delivered.As for conquering our Jericho wall and fighting the giants of the land, I will reserve those stories for next time. We have been blown away by God’s supernatural favor and divine intervention, assuring us that He truly is a God who keeps His promises.

So there, here we are now, in Switzerland. And as I write this, everybody’s asleep. And I am about to go back to sleep.

It’s now 4 in the morning.

My body is still tired from the stress of the past weeks, packing and preparing for our move, but my heart is energized with joy and excitement for the great things God has in store for us in this new country and new season.

It’s bittersweet because we love South Korea so much and we miss its beautiful people and the family we have gained there but we know that just as He was with us there, He will be with us here, in our new home.