About Us

Our Mission

Mustard Seed Generation exists to eradicate barriers to mental health that increase life dissatisfaction, family dysfunction, and suicide in the Korean American community. We provide culture-specific training to increase the mental health literacy of Korean American churches, families, and youth.

Our Vision

To bring hope, healing, and reconciliation across the entire Korean American community

Our Story

In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, strong emotions and high levels of distress echoed throughout the Korean community. Virginia Tech’s Provost requested that Dr. Josephine Myong Hwa Kim provide counseling services for Korean students on campus and in the surrounding community. In response, Dr. Kim founded Mustard Seed Generation, Inc. (MSG), a faith-based, non-profit organization dedicated to education around mental health issues of Korean Americans. MSG held conferences around the United States and the world, bridging families and bringing much-needed messages of healing to the Korean American community until 2014 when it took a brief break. In 2017, a group of Korean graduate students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) joined Dr. Josephine Kim in organizing a conference on campus to raise awareness of mental health needs in the Asian American community. There, the current MSG staff and team members witnessed the hunger of Korean parents, youth, young adults, and church leaders in wanting to learn and talk more about holistic well-being — and more specifically, what that looks like for Koreans living in America. After lots of conversations and prayer, they decided to partner with Dr. Josephine Kim to relaunch MSG in 2017. Since then, they have made it a mission to make conversations around mental health normal for our fellow Korean-Americans. We’re partnering with like-minded organizations and professionals to serve our community so we can help bring reconciliation, fight statistics, provide resources, and inspire hope for Korean Americans, together.

Why a Mustard Seed?

Matthew 13:31–32 (NIV)

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

We took our name from this parable: faith and healing often start small. A single conversation, one referral, one directory listing—none of it looks impressive on day one. Yet God grows humble beginnings into shelter and rest for many. That hope shapes how we serve.