Missionary Focus: Daniel Lee in Boston, USA

Daniel’s story helps explain why Jewish mission can’t be reduced to a simple formula. 

Daniel grew up in South Korea in a Christian home, where he first heard about Jesus as a child. His faith was sincere, but it was also familiar. Like many young believers, it had not yet been tested in a way that made him ask whether the gospel was not only true in general, but true enough to shape the whole direction of his life. 

That question became personal during his first year at Handong Global University. Near the end of that year, on an ordinary Sunday night, Daniel prayed with unusual honesty. He asked God to show him whether the gospel was truly real. He describes what followed as a personal encounter with Jesus. From that point, his faith was no longer simply something he had inherited from his family. It became his own, and he committed his life fully to Christ. 

As Daniel grew in faith, he began to sense God’s heart for those who had never heard the gospel, especially those living in what is often called the 10/40 window. Through a Korean mission organisation he joined during his university years, he became involved in hands-on mission work, helping lead training programmes and short-term teams. His work took him to Tibet, eastern Turkey, and eventually to Israel and Palestine. 

Over time, Daniel began to see that mission was not simply something he took part in. It was becoming central to his sense of obedience to Christ. 

Israel marked Daniel particularly deeply. He lived first in Haifa and later in Tel Aviv, choosing not simply to visit, but to enter into the life and culture around him. He learned Modern Hebrew, built friendships with local Israelis, and opened his home as a place of welcome. Alongside his team, he shared the gospel, invited people into community, and explored forms of worship that connected meaningfully with the local culture. 

Much of his time was spent with secular Jewish Israelis. Many were agnostic or atheist. Many felt distant from anything connected to religion. Yet Daniel noticed something important. People were often drawn to the warmth of Christian community and surprised by the joy they encountered among believers. Some became curious. Some began asking honest questions. 

But one barrier remained. 

For many Jewish people Daniel met, faith in Jesus felt foreign. It sounded Gentile, and therefore not Jewish. That is not a small barrier. It cannot be answered by enthusiasm alone, or by assuming that people have simply misunderstood the message. For many Jewish people, the name of Jesus comes wrapped in centuries of persecution. 

That question stayed with Daniel. After leaving Israel, he pursued further study in conflict resolution and Jewish history. As he learned more about the story of the Jewish people, especially their experiences in Europe and their complicated relationship with the Christian world, he began to understand more clearly the separation he had witnessed firsthand. Centuries of pain, misunderstanding and persecution had helped to make Jesus seem distant from his own people. 

That was a difficult realisation, but it did not weaken Daniel’s commitment to Jewish mission. It deepened it. Through study and experience, he came to understand more of the complexity of Jewish identity, and more of the patience and humility required in sharing the gospel with Jewish people. He also became more convinced of God’s enduring love for his people, and of the need for Jewish people to hear the good news of Jesus the Messiah in a way that is faithful, sensitive and true. 

Today Daniel serves in Boston with his wife, Sula, whom he met during those formative years in Tel Aviv. Together they are raising their three children and are rooted in their local church. But the calling that began to take shape in Daniel’s university years has not shifted. 

Daniel can often be found on Boston Common with a team of volunteers, speaking with Jewish people about Jesus the Messiah. It is patient work. It depends on listening. It depends on trust. It requires an understanding that, for many Jewish people, Jesus may not feel like good news at first. He may feel foreign, unfamiliar, or even painful. 

That is why this work matters. Jewish mission is not about winning arguments or forcing conversations. It is about bearing faithful witness to the Jewish Messiah with love, patience and courage. It is about recognising the wounds of history without allowing those wounds to silence the gospel. And it is about believing that Jesus is not a stranger to the Jewish people. He is Israel’s Messiah and the hope of all nations. 

Daniel’s story is a reminder of the kind of work Jewish mission requires today: conviction without harshness, sensitivity without silence, and faithfulness that keeps showing up. 

When you support this work, you stand with missionaries like Daniel as they build relationships, open conversations, and help Jewish people hear the message of Jesus in a way they may never have heard before - so that, ultimately, they may come to know the only One who can save them and give them eternal life.