Protect, Restore, and Empower with Haejin Shim Fujimura

Haejin Shim Fujimura describes her college years as rebellious. While searching for her life purpose she received a calling to raise funds and attend World Vision’s® 30 Hour Famine retreat. Haejin witnessed horrific images from the civil war in Sierra Leone, which left fifty thousand dead over eleven years. She wanted to help those terrorized, vulnerable and left behind. After college Haejin pursued her calling to become an advocate for the abused, enslaved, and those born into human trafficking. 

Throughout law school Haejin’s intense, focused, and unwavering personality gave her the resolve to intern with the International Justice Mission. Haejin shared her lowest moment after she was betrayed, stolen from, and assaulted; this soon to be generational steward of justice was completely shattered. She then embarked on a journey of healing and forgiveness. 

During Haejin’s first trip to India, she met children born into brothels, now she had the experience as a legal justice advocate to help. In 2018 Haejin with partners Nelli Kim, and Briana Johnson founded Embers International, to protect, restore, and empower victims of injustice with the goal of ending intergenerational exploitation, and prevent human trafficking.

Haejin started her law firm Shim and Associates in 2012, with the intension of leveraging the law to mend broken relationships, uphold core values, and provide a space for attorneys to express their true gifts, and be supported with a work, rest, life balance. I hope you enjoy this inspirational message from this fearless advocate fighting for human justice. We are thrilled and honored to welcome Haejin to this episode of Intrinsic Drive ® . 

Ms. Shim has extensive experience litigating various civil lawsuits in both federal and state courts.  She has represented e-commerce, software, manufacturing, insurance, real estate, hotel, restaurant, franchise, art management, design, beauty, automobile, and transportation companies, nonprofit organizations, and individuals in matters involving commercial litigation, breach of contract, partnership dispute, directors’ and officers’ liability, breach of duty, personal injury, subrogation, business formation, governance, and trademark. Her clients range from start-ups to publicly traded companies to nonprofit organizations.

Ms. Shim is actively involved in the legal industry and the local community.  She has served on the Board of Directors of Embers International, Restore NYC, Goldenwood, Open Hands Legal Services, Inc., The Father's Heart Ministries, and Center for Public Justice.  Ms. Shim is a frequent speaker at various community and legal organizations to encourage the youth and to promote professionalism. 

Notably, Ms. Shim was a keynote speaker and lecturer of U.S. nonprofit law at the 2015 International Charity Conference, hosted by South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, National Council of NPOs Korea, and the National Assembly Forum on Advanced Culture of Philanthropy. Ms. Shim holds a B.A, from Barnard College at Columbia University, and J.D from the Brooklyn Law School.

Intrinsic Drive ®  is produced by Ellen Strickler and Phil Wharton and Andrew Hollingworth  is sound editor and engineer.

Transcript

Phil Wharton  (00:00):

A lifetime of training, practice, study hard work through discipline, some achieve excellence, mastery, fulfillment, self-actualization. What can we learn from their beginnings, discoveries, motivations, and falls. How do they dust themselves off and resume their journey? During these interviews, stories and conversations, we reveal their intrinsic drive.

(00:26):

Haejin Shim Fujimura describes her college years as rebellious while searching for her life purpose. She received a calling to raise funds and attend World Vision's 30 hour famine retreat, hedging witness horrific images from the Civil War in Sierra Leon on which left 50,000 dead over 11 years. She wanted to help those terrorized vulnerable and left behind. After college, Haejin pursued her calling to become an advocate for the abused, enslaved, and those born into human trafficking. Throughout law school hen's, intense, focused and unwavering personality gave her the resolve to intern with the International Justice Mission. Hen shared her lowest moment after she was betrayed, stolen from, and assaulted. This soon to be generational steward of justice was completely shattered. She then embarked on a journey of healing and forgiveness. During Haejin's first trip to India, she met children born into brothels. Now she had the experience as a legal justice advocate to help.

(01:39):

In 2018, Haejin with partners Nelly Kim and Brianna Johnson founded Embers International to protect, restore, and empower victims of injustice with the goal of ending generational exploitation and preventing human trafficking. Haejin started her law firm, Shim and Associates in 2012 with the intention of leveraging the law to mend broken relationships, uphold core values, and provide a space for attorneys to express their true gifts and be supported with a work rest life balance. I hope you enjoy this inspirational message from this fearless advocate fighting for human justice. We are thrilled and honored to welcome to this episode of Intrinsic Drive. Haejin, thank you so much for taking the time out of your globe trotting schedule and as an advocate for all those in dire need. And thanks for coming to Intrinsic Drive.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (02:45):

Thank you for the invitation. I'm excited to be here.

Phil Wharton  (02:49):

And let's go to your beginning. The genesis for you was it as a girl in South Korea, I understand your mother really encouraged you to read the classics and like Moby Dick and Jane Eyre an avid reader. Take us to the beginning, paint the picture of that for us.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (03:11):

Absolutely. Growing up in South Korea in the seventies and early eighties, we were not in very high economic class, just very, we weren't poor, but we didn't have a lot. But my mom makes sure that she will spend all over her savings to buy books for us. And back then we didn't have internet, we had encyclopedia's in the book form, and that's all we really had. So we couldn't really travel. We didn't have the means for it. And it wasn't even traveling was, especially global travel was not something that a common people was privileged to back then. So I learned about the world and really expanded my imagination through books. And that was my really childhood growing up. And I think the books that you will read in high school, college or post-grad level, I read all of them when I was really young and I probably didn't really understand it, but at least it really whet my appetite for curiosity. Yes. I remember one time, I think I was in fifth grade, I was on my way to piano lesson. And I don't know about you, Phil, but I did not like practicing piano as a very young child.

Phil Wharton  (04:43):

Yeah, I had that with violin. So I know I was a very flawed, very flawed musician early.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (04:51):

I wish I practiced more now that I think back. But I remember I had my piano lesson backpack on me. I had my sneakers on. I'm at the entrance of the apartment about to go to the lesson, and I had a book in my hand and I couldn't put it down. And I just went inside of the book into the story and I had to finish. And of course I missed a piano lesson.

Phil Wharton  (05:20):

No Way! Where's Haejin?

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (05:25):

I Know. And so my mom got so worried she thought I got lost or something happened to me and I was just home reading the books. So that was my beginning and I'm so grateful for that. And looking back, of course, mothers know the child the best. So I think she really knew me and how to really encourage my curiosity and inspiration and imagination to expand.

Phil Wharton  (05:56):

That's fantastic. And then in the discovery, obviously, what were you learning through experiences and events and what new things came to light? And talk to us about your mentors, teachers and coaches. I mean, at that time now, are you going into Columbia now? You were a great student, you had good test scores and you were able to get into Barnard College. What was happening at that time for you?

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (06:27):

College years was more of a rebellious season for me, and I was searching for something that will really inspire me for life. And so it was the season of really searching, looking for things, and I couldn't really find it. So I am sure I was really frustrated about that and I didn't really realize what I was looking for even. And it was right after college that I found my very first mentor. And of course we have this amazing God that we love and adore and learn from, but God also is very gracious to give us human mentors in our lives. And right after college, I had this calling to be a voice for the voiceless. And this calling came through a season of me helping to raise funds for the people who are dying from hunger and starvation in Africa. And I was doing that just as part of a church community.

(07:37):

And I was part of a fundraising campaign called 30 Hour Famine by World Vision. During that campaign I saw images of children who were victims of violence in Sierra Leone, who in Sierra Leone in the late nineties, there was a severe civil war that was going on absolutely in Sierra Leone. And a lot of children were victims of civil war in a way that they were drafted as child soldiers against their wills. And a lot of these children were victimized because they were terrorized by the militias. And what they have done is just to show off their power and to terrorize them for life that they will cut off their limbs. So I saw images of children whose limbs were cut off. They only had one arm, one hand or one leg. And I never knew something that was happening as a young person just out of college.

(08:47):

So when I encountered that reality, there's something in me that started to really question what was going on in the world and I wanted to do something about that. And that was the very first, I think, experience that was very, it was a turning point of my life where my entire life trajectory was directed to doing something for someone else that is not me. And that was not incidental or temporary, but for a much more permanent life calling. So I wanted to do something for the children and women and people who are really vulnerable, especially in the poor communities that don't have advocates or power or resources. So I wanted to become an advocate for them, and I just didn't know what that looked like in reality. So I knew a lot of teachers, professors, pastors, missionaries in my life, but I just knew that I am called to be a lawyer advocate who's doing this kind of, I call it missions work because I didn't know how else to describe it. So in 2000, the day that I dropped off my last law school application, I went to the Urbana Missions Conference by InterVarsity. I had one prayer, Phil, just one. I said, God, they told me that there will be hundreds of missionaries from all over the world at this missions conference where about 20,000 students are going to be gathered. So help me meet one missionary who's doing legal work, or one lawyer who's doing missions work because that's what I'm called to do. And I don't have any examples of doing anything, anyone who's doing that. So

Phil Wharton  (10:55):

Was this Gary Haugen?

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (10:57):

Yes, Gary Haugen.

Phil Wharton  (10:58):

Haugen. Oh, so God brought you all together at that moment.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (11:03):

Exactly. And that was the very first time Gary gave a public speech about the work that he was doing through the International Justice Mission. And I got to meet him, speak with him, and ask him questions about what it means to be a lawyer for God's kingdom. And then my journey with his mentorship and this work of justice for the poor and the oppressed, and especially fighting human trafficking in this world really began in 2000.

Phil Wharton  (11:38):

In 2000. Wow. That's such a blessing. And so now we're kind of getting onto the ascent we call it. And when did you feel yourself kind of rising in your craft now? How old are you here? And was there an event that made that clear to you? Was it from the Urbana Conference and then you're starting to rise up and feel this vocation take you over? I guess what you would say?

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (12:07):

Yeah, there was an, I think also everyone has different personality and characteristics in them that the motivation is expressed in different ways. And for me, once I am convicted, I don't need anything else. So I am very focused. 

Phil Wharton 

Yes, that makes sense. 

Haejin Shim Fujimura

My personality can be described as very intense. So it's intense, but that also comes with unwavering.

Phil Wharton  (12:40):

So the resolve, the resolve is always there.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (12:42):

That's right. So throughout law school, I didn't lose that passion to be an advocate for the oppressed and graduating from Barnard, and then during law school, I also had an opportunity to intern at International Justice Mission, which really affirmed my calling and then graduating from law school, I just knew that going into human rights law or public interest law to really represent the poor from the very beginning, it wouldn't actually be beneficial for the organizations or the people because I didn't have any experience going through law school made it very clear to me that graduating from law school, you actually don't know anything.

Phil Wharton  (13:31):

You're a clean slate, but you're ready to take that in. But you need those internships and those

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (13:36):

Absolutely fellowships, why we call it practice. So you have to practice and that's how you gain your skill sets and expertise. So I really wanted to be trained well in a courtroom setting, in a setting where I need to actually handle a case that is in dispute. So I went into a civil litigation firm, and at that firm I really wanted to handle as many cases as possible, most difficult cases as possible. So I really accepted all these opportunities that was before me. And so I worked a lot and not because I'm a workalcoholic and they forced me to, they didn't, but I really wanted to gain the skillset before anyone else. So I got to be the most biller and I handled the most diverse cases. And that really set me up to have a really wide understanding of legal practice that actually allowed me to start my own law firm 11 years ago. And that allowed me to start different organizations including Embers International, which is anti-human trafficking organization that I serve.

Phil Wharton  (14:59):

Right, that's right, that's right. In the next segment we call it the drives. When you're getting urged forward by this vocation pulling God's work is pulling you in and you're saying, give me all this practice, give me all this training and I want to learn and I want to soak it up like a sponge. Are you starting to see also the brokenness in some of the aspects of law at that moment that you think could be mended or things that needed to be adapted and turned into doing it for the kingdom and in that to serve his agenda? Are you seeing that at that moment or not yet?

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (15:42):

Phil that's a very insightful question and yes, and I didn't expect that. So I was in my prior law firm for about eight years, and during the time I was really focused on doing what we will call human rights work. 

Phil Wharton 

Okay, got it. 

Haejin Shim Fujimura

But at the same time as I was getting all this training, I realized how much I actually enjoy legal practice itself. I really enjoyed it. And I began to understand what law can do in this world to restore this world from broken relationships,

Phil Wharton  (16:22):

Justice and beauty into justice and beauty, A whole transcendence.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (16:26):

That's right. And law, if you think about any type of law that you may be familiar with, whether it's business law, family law, employment law, environmental law, all kind of laws criminal law are about relationships. 

Phil Wharton 

That's right. That's right. 

Haejin Shim Fujimura 

Between two individuals, between businesses, between citizen and government, between us and the environment. So law is in place to guide us how we can have flourishing relationship. And it also guides us in a way that in the event that there was a brokenness in this relationship, we need to do these things to mend it as much as possible. Of course, law is not everything and it doesn't solve everything. However, it's a very clear guideline that we come together to agree upon. So as I was practicing law, I saw the kind of beauty that can be created through proper legal practice. 


Phil Wharton 

Now there we go.

Haejin Shim Fujimura (17:31):

The legal practice itself can be really fun, but the environment that we're in, whether it's law firm or the legal structure or justice system, we know it's very broken. And I didn't realize it until I began to really practice the areas of the legal practice that was really broken. And then during the time, what God showed me was that some of my friends were excellent lawyers who loved practicing law, were leaving legal practice altogether because they didn't want to be in a working environment that was very toxic. They couldn't see hope in the broken justice system, and they were really spent, they were so exhausted. So I felt so terrible about lawyers having to leave law practice, not because they don't like to practice law, but because of other factors that is so broken. So I wanted to create a place or environment, a culture where lawyers love to work

Phil Wharton  (18:45):

So good.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (18:46):

And so that's how I started my law firm, Shim and Associates.

Phil Wharton  (18:50):

And I love those eight core values. I mean, I think it almost reminds me of a John Wooden in the sports world, John Wooden is considered one of the great coaches of all time because he has this pyramid of excellence and it's based on this foundational work. And I think if you look at these eight tenants, I would see them as right, the core values and identify and cultivate each member, their human design, what is going to be the best fit for them. And then advise, advocate, counsel, like you just said, being able to go in and mend these broken relationships and allow God to put that lacquer and gold in there. And then the life balance, which we see in my work, working with lawyers over three decades, it's one of the highest burnout and more heart events and all these things because of just the pressure to even, they're in the hospital and then people are texting and all, I got to get into this. And it's like, where is the boundary there? And so I totally love what you're doing and understand from that aspect.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (20:07):

Thank you. Thank you. I know we have stories like that. My colleague will email and text and call right before going into surgery because of the pressure that they have. Yeah,

Phil Wharton  (20:19):

That's right. That's right. So now as we look in the next segment, kind of like the fall speed bumps in your life, tell me about the lowest moment in your career or life overall, like a major inciting moment or event for you.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (20:42):

I would just describe very briefly, we don't have too much time, but right before I started my legal practice actually, so I graduated from law school and I'm about to start this wonderful career that I feel very passionate about. And that's when I experienced the biggest broken relationship in my life. And that was when I was betrayed, stolen from, lied to and assaulted. And all of those things happened all at once actually. And there was very painful because it was done to me by people who were supposed to be my protectors, the closest trusted group of people.

Phil Wharton  (21:31):

The betrayal.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (21:32):

And that was very, very hard. And I guess because God created me to be this intense person with resolve, even this traumatic experience was very intense. But by God's grace, it wasn't too long in terms of time. But when I experienced that, and of course I was in my rock bottom and I didn't know what to do, and I heard from my family members the voice of God lifting me up, and encouraging me to seek help. And I did. And what I realized was through that process, God was teaching me how to forgive and how to forgive even myself because sometimes we are so hard on ourselves about the choices that we made.

Phil Wharton  (22:33):

That's right and that can keep us in a victim in a victimness from that abuse. And is that the same period where there was a 10 day period where there was a question and answer between you and God and you and Jesus, and was that in that period where you were really wrestling with this because of that abuse, was that part of that period or a different period?

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (22:55):

That was a different period, and that's very interesting question that you brought up. Because the Q and A period that I had with the Lord really asking questions and getting the answer was on behalf of someone else. It was when I realized that there was such abuse that was happening in the world against little children in a civil war setting and human trafficking setting and just violence against a poor setting at large. I really needed to understand what justice means, why injustice was happening and what we can do about it. So that was before I went to law school. So I had this understanding of what was happening in the world and sort of an understanding of what I can do. But this time when I experienced this personal trauma, and God is just so gracious about this, because now I'm about to going into the world as an advocate. Now I've been educated. I have this vision and calling. Now, God really needed to work in me.

Phil Wharton  (24:07):

In you to have the visceral response in your own kinesthetics, in your own psyche, in your own energetic field.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (24:14):

Absolutely. And he needed me to experience and understand personally what it means to have the trauma, live with the trauma, experience it and overcome it, be restored and forgive and move on and be empowered and have hope, and have compassion.

Phil Wharton  (24:33):

And be reborn in a new creation as he has done for you in all of us.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (24:38):

Of course, we have these Kinsugi moments of the broken bowl being mended into a new creation with precious lacquer and gold throughout our lives because we have all these scars from different seasons of life. This was the moment that I was, I don't actually call it broken. I was shattered during that time and completely reshaped and remolded into this kind of a bowl that God can send into the world

Phil Wharton  (25:13):

That's right

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (25:13):

To have the kind of compassion for the truly broken and traumatized. So as much as it was painful, I'll never go back and change anything. I wouldn't be who I am without that experience today. 

Phil Wharton  (25:29):

Yeah no, without those scars, I think in the pivot, I mean you brought us to that and I so love that you wouldn't change anything because I feel the same way about all the suffering that I've been through. I know that it brings us closer to him and closer to the truth. But if there was, let's say, a pivot for you, was that the moment that sort of turned you around, you think in that moment of all these realizations and God speaking to you and saying, okay, strengthening your mission through this, and was this before you initially went to India for the first time?

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (26:09):

That's right. That's right. And God had to really prepare me for that because in India when I went and met the people that I've been supporting from home in America, but I met them for the first time and I met the victims who are still awaiting rescue in the brothel, I needed to be ready to receive them, to have compassion for them, the kind of true compassion because I also experienced a kind of trauma and betrayal. And now in India, of course, God wasn't sending me there just to affirm what I was doing. God had a plan to show me something new for the next season to come. And there in India, I met children who were born into a brothel. And these were second and third generation who are receiving the legacy of exploitation. And if you are a parent and listening to this, if you can ever imagine a situation where a parent can only give a legacy of abuse and exploitation to a child, it will be the most devastating situation. And that is what was happening in the red lights that now we get to serve to bring restoration and rescue. So that moment when I saw these children, now different sets of children, the children that I saw as an image early in my twenties from

Phil Wharton  (27:47):

In Sierra Leone,

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (27:48):

The Sierra Leone,

Phil Wharton  (27:49):

Yes. In the Civil War

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (27:50):

The children who were abused and who's limbs were cut off, and now God is showing me another set of children who are victims of injustice. And now there's something that I can do for them because now I have the training, I have the resources, I have the kind of network and communities who can come alongside with me to journey with them. So that led me to co-founding Embers International, to end intergenerational exploitation and bring about generational freedom and empowerment

Phil Wharton  (28:25):

And turn it into this intergenerational restoration and healing instead of staying in that and seeing that generation going to school and building schools and having educational opportunities for the children of the enslaved and people that have been trafficked in there. And some of the stories are just so heartwarming to know that this can happen.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (28:53):

Absolutely. It's very interesting where, because we always think about parent protecting the children and inspiring the children, but now our children who are being educated, although they're born into brothel now, they are writing their names, counting numbers, speaking English, and beginning to have this confidence. I mean, if you can imagine a child born into a brothel having confidence, and because of their growth and restoration, they are inspiring their mothers still trapped in the brothels to have hope. That's right. So some that I can actually have, maybe I can also have a life outside of this.

Phil Wharton  (29:39):

And having the courage to be able to get out of that environment, it's just so horrific. And the embodiment of evil, I mean, I don't know if the statistics are the same, but in a conference you gave last year, it was mentioned about 50 million people being trafficked each year similar to the countries of Canada and Sweden combined. That's right. And so the numbers are just staggering. And so to know that you have ways to get in and infiltrate and turn what was once a red light district brothel into a safe haven, those kinds of things that we need to be a part of that and champion those initiatives. Now, if we look at sort of the anvil we call it, it's just an event decision that forged you, a defining moment that shaped your destiny, what would you say that would be in all this?

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (30:45):

If I can go back and then think about that moment, I'll have to say the moment that I met Jesus as a personal savior, I grew up in a Christian home. I had all the freedom to explore my faith, but it wasn't until after college that I met Jesus as my personal Lord. Because to me, God being a creator and Jesus being the Savior was convincing. It was very compelling to me. But the idea of Jesus being the Lord over my life, I just didn't know what that meant because we don't live in a lordship kingship kind of environment anymore. And we are taught to be very individualistic and be independent, our own independent self. So I just didn't have the kind of idea of what that meant. And then I realized for the very first time right after college, when I was going through the kind of struggle as a young person, what am I to do in this life and so forth?

Phil Wharton  (32:04):

The rebellious period and the questioning that's makes sense. And you're right in the upper West side of New York City and there's a lot of other stimulus and it's just change from where you were from.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (32:15):

And then I realized what grace meant for the first time, this free gift from the Lord, from God that is so valuable, so worthy, and it's priceless. That's given to me as a gift, and I don't have to pay back. 

Phil Wharton 

That's right. 

Haejin Shim Fujimura

That God doesn't expect me to do anything except I am so compelled out of love to do something for God's kingdom. So I think that was the moment, and I will just journey back to that moment. And then every season there is a development and growth and trials and tribulations and victories that led me to who I am now, and I'm still becoming.

Phil Wharton  (33:06):

Yes, I can feel that. And being able to give yourself completely. And I think that it's so wonderful that combination with your own personality of having that inner drive like we call in the show intrinsic drive, you have that so beautifully. And so you can channel all that energy that you were made to have and created to have restoring humanity into bringing justice. And then it makes such a beautiful metaphor with your vocation, with law and the practice of law is getting to do that in so many different ways. That also feeds the creative side of you, the artist inside of you.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (33:49):

Absolutely

Phil Wharton  (33:50):

It's so beautiful. And in your journey now, what's most important to you now? What does the road ahead look like for you and what's next?

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (34:02):

The reason why I do this work of justice overall, whether it's my legal practice or Embers International or many other endeavors that I have, ultimately I want to see beauty restored

(34:18):

Injustice. What it does is that it fractures the beauty that is given to us as a gift in this world and our work of justice is to restore the beauty, but not to go back to where we were, because there's no way that we can turn back the time the scar will be there. So looking at these fractures and see them, of course, recognize them to be trauma and injustice, but also being able to see the light through the fissures and take that into an opportunity to create something new, something more beautiful and more valuable. So that's the journey that motivates, should motivate advocates, just seekers, and should give us the hope towards that. So that's the learning and experience that I've had last now two decades of my legal practice, my advocacy and my next journey I think is of course to continue to do that, but also to really teach others, especially the young lawyers and advocates, what that is. That's great. A lot of times I think we lose the passion and desire and hope in what we do because we don't really understand where we are going. So to be able to show that to younger generation, and so what Mako and I call this generational stewardship.

Phil Wharton  (36:05):

Yes, that sounds great. That makes sense.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (36:07):

So what is given to us as calling and what we have done until now, we want to create platforms or create opportunities for people to learn and store that for the next generations to come.

Phil Wharton  (36:22):

That's right. The Kintsugi generation. I love that. When Mako was, so taking us into that beautifully in his episode and the idea of, okay, there's so much brokenness in the world and many of us have felt that in different ways, but knowing God uses us as that tool, as you said in our testimony and coming out into the world and bringing light through those fissures. And actually the Tea Masters beholding these amazing pieces of pottery that are now actually more valuable. And I also love that motif. It's actually more valuable. And you said earlier in one of your episodes of another podcast that at first it was hard for you to understand that brokenness. You didn't want to see that because we're also taught in the world to move into perfection and mastery in that way. But I think it's so beautiful with your marriage and your relationship with you and Mako. The artist and the advocate, the artist, and going into the vocation as you're taking him into this beautiful restoration of justice and he's taking you into the beauty and the art that you've all had. God has put you there, but it's that beautiful balance I think together, and it's very inspirational also.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (37:46):

Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. I feel like our marriage is a beautiful dance. Sometimes it may not look beautiful to others, but it's beautiful to us.

Phil Wharton  (37:55):

That's great. No, I love that. In one of the shows, it said, we've made a vow not to be apart most days. And so that must be logistically with all these globe trotting and work that you both do that discernment. So you really have to give it over to God. I remember one show that was an interview where you were saying Mako had something with an artist, Mark Rothko's son. And it was okay because Mako is doing a lot of writing now with his books. And so someone, they wanted him to write an essay about Rothko's work. And so you had to, okay, I got to go to the city, I'm going to sit. And all of a sudden God brought you into a whole new pathway meeting someone who was in the field of trafficking. And so we don't know the places he's putting us together. You and I seem to be in such different fields, but are we? We're also working for the kingdom that's really giving ourselves of ourselves to be reborn in a new creation. So dying to the self, but being reborn to serve.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (39:06):

There are millions of reasons why we are doing this interview right now, and we can only fathom one or two or a handful. So I think when we are faithful to our calling and what we can understand, we honor it, then God honors us with all other openness and opportunities that make us dance.

Phil Wharton  (39:34):

That's right. That's right. Oh yeah. And so in this slipstream, as we call it, as you're going, and it makes, it's such a great metaphor for you all in that jet plane just going at 40,000 feet and any parting gemes of wisdom or advice you'd like to leave with us today?

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (39:54):

So one thing that I do every single day is to ask God, teach me what it means to be an advocate. Teach me what it means to be a lawyer. Teach me what it means to be a leader. So whatever calling that you have, meditate on that every single day, but not in a way that you ask yourself, but you ask God. That's right. Because God will show you and teach you. He's so faithful. So I'm still learning, but because I ask, he can answer because he honors us so much that he waits for us to ask. So that's number one. And if I can give one more please. In the very beginning stage of my legal career, when I was a first year lawyer, God asked me this question and it was very poignant question. He said, now that I had this calling to be a lawyer, justice advocate right after college, and I spent a couple years preparing to go to law school, now I finished my law school. So for the past seven years, or 5, 6, 7 years, I've been in this justice advocate, and that's on my mind. Everybody knows me as someone who's seeking to be that. But the very first year of my legal career, God asked me, Haejin, if I tell you to stop being a lawyer and go home and do nothing today, what would you say?

(41:29):

And I had this kind of out of body experience of listening to myself. It wasn't a conscious kind of response. It was more my inner self responding. And I was listening to myself and being surprised, and I said to God right away, no hesitation whatsoever. And I said, that will be fine, Lord, I just want to be with you. 

Phil Wharton 

That's great. 

Haejin Shim Fujimura 

That's all I want to be with you. If you want me to not be a lawyer anymore, that'll be fine as long as I have you. And then I realized, and I asked, God, why did you ask me that question? And why did you let me hear my own answer? And I think what God wanted me to do is to ask that question to myself every single day. That's right. So that this vision that God gave me, that I think it's my life calling does not become my idol.

Phil Wharton  (42:25):

That's Right. That's right. Letting go of the ego, letting go of the ego and being in the daily bread, I'll give you your daily bread.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (42:34):

That's right. Every day. That's right. Even your work, your calling, your passion is what God gives us as a gift. And I should be ready to give it back to God anytime he wants. That's right. And I asked that question every single day to myself for the last 20 years.

Phil Wharton  (42:54):

That is so beautiful. Well, that Haejin, thank you so much for being so generous with your time and thank you for sharing your story, and please come back anytime. We loved having you on Intrinsic Drive.

Haejin Shim Fujimura  (43:11):

Oh, thank you so much, Phil. It's been just amazing pleasure. So thank you. God bless you.

Phil Wharton  (43:17):

God bless you. Thanks for being with us. We appreciate you opting in, subscribing and reviewing us for thumbing us up and following us on socials liking us. We like you, drop us a note. Tell us what stories move you for books, videos, resources, and more information. Visit us at www.whartonhealth.com/shopwhartonhealth and be sure to join us for the next episode of Intrinsic Drive®.