"We don't see people as charity cases or define them by their hardships. To us, they're simply friends."
For nine years, my husband Joseph and I lived in South London surrounded by international students and foreign workers from many countries who were struggling.
Many could not speak English, could not find work, and felt alone. What affected me most was the example of local British people who gave their time freely to help.
"Their love was not abstract. It was active and costly. Watching them changed me."
Hanna An is the founder of Hanna's Safe House Amigo, a refuge for North Korean defectors, refugees, and vulnerable foreign residents in South Korea. For more than twenty years, she has opened her home to people in crisis, offering meals, shelter, counsel, and friendship. In the interview below, Hanna shares the origins of her journey.
Q: Your work with refugees and foreigners began in the United Kingdom in 1997. How did that experience shape your life?
Hanna An: My husband, Joseph, and I lived in South London for nine years. He became the director of an international ministry connected to Dundonald Church. We were surrounded by international students and foreign workers from many countries, including China, Taiwan, Finland, Mexico, Pakistan, Turkey, Japan, and Korea. Many were struggling. They did not speak English well, could not find work, and felt alone. What affected me most was the example of local British people. About thirty volunteers served with us, many of them professionals who had studied at Oxford or Cambridge and later moved to London. They gave their time freely to help foreigners they did not know. Their love was not abstract. It was active and costly. Watching them changed me. I knew I wanted to spend my life giving that same kind of love to others.
Q: You were also adjusting to a new country and raising a baby. How did you care for so many people during that season?
Hanna An: It was hard work, but it was also a kind of exchange. Everyone had needs, and everyone could help someone else. I cooked large meals for our international cafe, sometimes for fifty or even a hundred people. My son Joshua was a baby at the time. I used to carry him around the cafe in a little basket. One Finnish woman in her forties came to me in deep distress because she could not pay her rent. I told her, "Come live with us for free. You can help look after Joshua while I work." That is how we tried to respond. We looked for practical ways to help. Mexican students were often terribly homesick, so I studied recipes and cooked food that reminded them of home. Chinese students needed local references to apply for jobs in the UK, so I invited them to our house for Bible study. That gave them a chance to build real relationships with British people who could later support them.
Q: You returned to South Korea in 2006. What led you to begin your own self-funded ministry here?
Hanna An: When we came back, Joshua was only one hundred days old. My husband joined a North Korean missionary organization, and I stayed home. During that time, I kept asking myself, "When was I happiest?" The answer was clear. I was happiest in the UK while serving others. That work was exhausting. I cooked, hosted, listened, and counseled all the time. But the joy I felt in helping people was something this world could not give me. I knew it was my calling. When I looked around Korea, I saw a fast-growing multicultural population. There were North Korean defectors and foreign residents living in places most people did not notice. For three years I volunteered with the local police, helping foreigners after car accidents or thefts because many could not speak Korean and had no one to stand beside them.
Q: How did Amigo begin in a physical sense? Where did you first welcome people?
Hanna An: It began in our apartment in Cheongna, Incheon. I invited in women who were having a hard time, including the wives of foreign pilots and Middle Eastern used-car dealers. Many of them were struggling with ordinary things that become overwhelming in a foreign country, such as shopping, hospital visits, or setting up internet service. Later, a friend's mother offered me part of her bakery factory without rent. It was about fifteen pyeong, and I used it as a base for Amigo's ministry for six years. Since then, we have moved to a place near our neighborhood that we call Lupin House. We also operate a safe house in Pohang called the Small House in the Woods, where people in crisis can come and recover.
Q: You have met people in severe distress. What are some of the stories that have stayed with you?
Hanna An: There are many. Some people arrived at my door carrying all their belongings because they had just been evicted and had nowhere to sleep. I once took in an African kindergarten teacher who became pregnant and was abandoned by her Korean boyfriend. I also helped a Filipino woman who was going through menopause and suffering from severe depression. Because of the language barrier, she misunderstood local shop workers and thought they were mocking her. The situation turned into a serious conflict. I stepped in, helped mediate, and connected her with counseling. These are the kinds of situations that often go unseen. A person may look as though they only need translation or practical help, but underneath there is often loneliness, fear, shame, or deep emotional pain.
Q: You also spend much of your time with North Korean defectors. What kind of burden do they carry when they arrive in South Korea?
Hanna An: They risk their lives to gain freedom, but the pain does not end when they arrive. The trauma and loneliness can be very deep. When I lived in the UK, I missed Korea terribly, but I could always buy a plane ticket home. North Korean defectors cannot do that. They leave behind parents, siblings, and the whole world they knew. Even when they become financially stable, there is often a deep emptiness that remains. I counseled one North Korean woman whose family had been relatively comfortable back home. After she was caught trying to escape, her father spent everything he had to save her. She eventually escaped again, reached South Korea, and married a successful man who bought her a Mercedes-Benz. From the outside, her life looked secure. But inside she was frightened and hollow. Her husband used a Busan accent to hide his own North Korean background. She was terrified that her own accent would come out at social gatherings and expose her. That fear shaped her whole life. When I meet people like her, I listen, I cry with them, and I try to fill that emptiness with friendship.
Q: You often cook birthday meals for North Korean defectors. Why does that matter so much?
Hanna An: In Korea, we eat seaweed soup on our birthdays. For many defectors, their birthday is the day they miss their mother most. So I invite them to my home and cook seaweed soup for them. I tell them, "My cooking will never taste like your mother's soup in North Korea. But I made this for you with all my heart." That matters to them. Sometimes a small act carries the weight of home.
Q: Why did you choose the name "Amigo"?
Hanna An: "Amigo" means friend. I never wanted this work to feel like an institution. We have tea together, bake cakes, watch films, and arrange flowers. Whether someone is from Syria, Myanmar, Ukraine, or North Korea, the message is the same: "I am your friend. You can trust me." Jesus approached the marginalized as a friend. That is the example I want to follow.
Q: After seeing so much pain, and also so much healing, what do you hope for the future of Amigo?
Hanna An: The greatest reward is seeing a hardened heart become soft again. When someone recovers in our house, packs their bags, and says, "Hanna, I want to live like you. I want to spend my life helping others," there is nothing better. As for the future, my son Joshua, who grew up within the ministry my husband and I carried out in the UK, is now older and teaches English to North Korean defectors here in Korea. I hope he will carry the spirit of Amigo beyond Korea, even to the United States and other parts of the world. My hope is simple. Wherever displaced people go, I want them to be able to find a friend.
Together, we seek restoration, resilience, and a more compassionate society where everyone has a place to call home.
We work alongside refugees in South Korea, providing practical support to help them access education, public services, and community as they build new lives.
We support refugees in overcoming language and learning barriers by providing educational opportunities that build skills, confidence, and pathways toward employment and long-term independence.
We walk alongside refugees as they rebuild their lives by offering practical and emotional support, strengthening well-being, restoring dignity, and fostering meaningful community connections.
We support refugees who are often excluded from government systems by providing clear guidance on public policies, assisting with applications, and accompanying them through complex administrative processes.
Amigo's work is not about one-time assistance. It is about long-term accompaniment rooted in friendship. We believe every person is created in the image of God and deserves to be treated with respect, compassion, and a sense of belonging.
Most organizations measure success in transactions. Amigo measures it in years in trust built slowly, in relationships that hold through hard seasons, in the moment a refugee family realizes they are not navigating this alone.
"Together, we seek restoration, resilience, and a more compassionate society where everyone has a place to call home."
We believe every person is created in the image of God. This conviction shapes everything how we speak, how we listen, and how we walk alongside those entrusted to our care.
Genuine friendship takes time. Amigo commits to relationships that last showing up not just in crisis, but in the ordinary, daily seasons of rebuilding a life.
Refugees are not recipients of charity. They are neighbors, friends, and equal participants in the community we are building together. Amigo exists for restoration, not dependency.
Guided by biblical values of love, justice, and service, Amigo responds to both practical and relational needs because people are whole human beings, not problems to be processed.
Amigo is built by people who believe what Hannah believes that showing up consistently, year after year, is the most powerful thing you can do for someone.
Year Amigo was founded
Refugees and families walked alongside
Programs: Education, Community, Advocacy
Locations: Seoul and Forest Small House, Pohang
Whether you give financially, volunteer your time, pray for the work, or simply tell someone about Amigo every act of faithfulness matters. You do not have to do everything. You just have to begin.
Your financial gift funds the presence that makes everything else possible. No gift is too small when it is given with intention.
Amigo always needs people who are willing to show up, use their skills, and stay for more than a day.
Churches, organizations, and businesses that share our values are welcome to explore what partnership with Amigo could look like.
Explore photos and stories from years of ministry International Cafe, retreats, classes, and moments that have shaped our community.
Hannah is a missionary whose journey of love and care began in Wimbledon, United Kingdom, and continued in South Korea in 2006. For more than 20 years, she has walked alongside refugees, including multicultural families and North Korean defectors, offering meals, counseling, language support, and musical events for healing.
Her story is not only about service, but about staying, listening, and building belonging one relationship at a time.
Hannah grew up shaped by a faith that was lived before it was spoken. From an early age she was drawn toward people on the edges the neighbor who needed help, the person navigating an unfamiliar place, the question no one else was asking out loud.
She learned early that love was not primarily a feeling but a direction something you pointed your life toward, repeatedly and imperfectly, even when it was inconvenient. That conviction would shape everything that followed.
"Genuine friendship can restore dignity and open pathways to new life."
Hannah's journey of hospitality and accompaniment first took visible form in the United Kingdom. While living there, she encountered refugees and immigrants facing isolation, language barriers, and unfamiliar systems.
She responded not with programs but with presence sharing meals, offering practical help, and simply being there. She began walking alongside people navigating displacement and uncertainty. What started as personal friendship gradually became a recognized way of life.
As Hannah's calling led her to South Korea, the same values took deeper root. Opening her life and home to refugees, North Korean defectors, and marginalized families, what began as small acts of hospitality gradually grew into a community grounded in trust and long-term relationships.
"Walking with families through language challenges, daily life, and complex systems became the foundation of Amigo."
Guided by biblical values of love, justice, and service, Hannah began responding to both practical and relational needs education, advocacy, community not as separate programs but as expressions of the same friendship she had always offered.
Today Hannah leads Amigo from South Korea. She continues to work directly with refugees, North Korean defectors, and marginalized families staying close to the people and relationships at the heart of everything Amigo does.
Today, Amigo continues to grow as a faith-rooted community that sees refugees not as recipients of aid, but as neighbors and friends. The kitchen table is still at the center of it all.
"Together, we seek restoration, resilience, and a more compassionate society where everyone has a place to call home."
Click through the major eras that shaped her mission and life's work.
Hannah's journey is a living one. If it has moved you, there are ways to walk alongside it with your prayers, your presence, or your generosity.
We support refugees in overcoming language and learning barriers through Korean language classes, English instruction, and music programs giving both children and adults the tools to belong and to thrive.
Many refugees experience interrupted education and significant language barriers that affect both daily life and long-term opportunities. Limited proficiency in Korean can make communication, employment, and participation in society difficult for adults.
Children often struggle to keep up in school without sufficient language and learning support. At the same time, access to quality education including creative learning opportunities such as music is often limited for refugee children, affecting confidence, emotional well-being, and healthy development.
We address these challenges by providing inclusive education for both adults and children. Our programs focus on Korean language learning to support daily communication and integration so that a trip to the market, a parent-teacher meeting, or a job application no longer feels impossible.
We also offer English instruction and music programs, such as piano lessons, for refugee children. Through education that combines academic learning and creative expression, we help refugees build confidence, skills, and pathways toward long-term growth.
Every class begins with a relationship. Teachers and volunteers show up week after week, not just to teach, but to be present to the person sitting across from them. Learning, in the Amigo model, is always an act of friendship first.
Your support helps refugees access language classes, music programs, and the learning opportunities that make long-term belonging possible.
Shared meals, quarterly concerts, and retreats that restore belonging and build trust across cultures.
Read MoreGuiding refugees through government systems so no one is excluded from the support they deserve.
Read MoreWe create gathering spaces shared meals, quarterly concerts, and retreats where refugees and local residents build real relationships, restore belonging, and find a community that feels like home.
Many refugees and socially isolated individuals experience loneliness and a lack of meaningful social connection in their daily lives. Cultural differences, language barriers, and limited opportunities for interaction often make it difficult to build relationships with local communities.
Without welcoming spaces to gather and connect, isolation can deepen over time, affecting emotional well-being, mental health, and a person's sense that they truly have a place in the world around them.
We create spaces where people can connect naturally through music, shared meals, and community. Each quarter, we host small concerts that invite refugees and socially marginalized individuals to gather, share food, and experience comfort and connection through music.
These gatherings create opportunities for simple greetings, meaningful conversations, and relationship-building, allowing refugees to engage with and feel welcome in the local Korean community. What begins as a concert becomes a friendship. What begins as a shared meal becomes a network of trust.
In addition, we operate a retreat space called Forest Small House in Pohang, where we regularly host community retreats that bring together refugees, local residents, and North Korean defectors. By spending time together through shared meals, conversations, and communal activities, participants gain a deeper understanding of one another's cultures and life stories. These retreats foster trust, mutual respect, and lasting relationships, helping to restore a sense of belonging and community.
[add later: specific event dates, retreat schedule, how to attend or volunteer for community events]
Your support helps Amigo host gatherings, run retreats, and build the kinds of spaces where refugees and neighbors become friends.
Korean language classes, English instruction, and music programs that open long-term doors for refugees and their children.
Read MoreGuiding refugees through government systems so no one is excluded from the support they deserve.
Read MoreWe walk alongside refugees through government systems, welfare applications, and administrative offices ensuring that language barriers and complex procedures never stand between a person and the support they deserve.
Many refugees in South Korea face significant barriers in accessing administrative and institutional support. Even when public assistance and welfare programs exist, information is often unclear, difficult to navigate, or unavailable in accessible languages.
As a result, many refugees remain unaware of the support they are eligible for, while others face complex procedures that make it challenging to apply on their own. These systemic barriers often leave refugees without essential resources needed for stability and integration, not because help does not exist, but because the path to it is too difficult to walk alone.
We help refugees access public and administrative support by guiding them through available government policies and welfare systems. Our team provides clear explanations of relevant programs, assists with application processes, and accompanies refugees to administrative offices and welfare centers when needed.
The work is patient and unglamorous. It means sitting in waiting rooms together. It means translating not just language but bureaucratic logic into human terms. It means calling the right office, returning when things fall through, and never giving up because the system is complicated.
By walking alongside refugees through each step, we help ensure that no one is excluded from essential support simply due to language barriers, lack of information, or complex administrative procedures. Advocacy, at Amigo, is friendship applied to systems.
[add later: specific types of advocacy support offered, eligibility, how to request help, partner agencies]
Your support enables Amigo to keep accompanying refugees through complex systems so that no one is turned away from help because the paperwork was too hard to face alone.
Korean language classes, English instruction, and music programs that open long-term doors for refugees and their children.
Read MoreShared meals, quarterly concerts, and retreats that restore belonging and build trust across cultures.
Read MoreBrowse photos and stories from Hannah's ministry work over the years Amigo programs, International Cafe, Visa Course, Weekend Away retreats, Singing Class, Sunday Bible Class, and the countless moments that have shaped lives and communities.
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