History

History of OTP

John-Michael Becker moved to Korea at the end of 2005 to live and serve full time in a children's home. He lived there for three years and in 2006 established a tutoring program for foreigners serving orphans. The tutoring program at its peak had 55 volunteers serving at 9 different children's homes, but was closed for good in 2020 due to the covid outbreak and new restrictions for volunteers serving in the children's homes. Hundreds of kids received personal tutoring in English, music, art, and other subjects through the tutoring program.

In 2007 he coordinated the first annual Christmas Secret Angel that provided personal gifts for every child at one children's home. That program has since expanded to providing gifts for five children's homes in Seoul. All together, over 2000 children have received gifts through the Christmas Secret Angel.

In 2008 the first annual soccer camp was held, followed by the first annual arts and crafts camp in 2009 and the first annual basketball camp in 2014. All together, the camps have had well over 1,000 participants. Many of these participants later joined our scholarship and mentoring program.

In 2013 the staff established a scholarship and mentoring program for orphans attending college. Our first class was only four students with our full time staff (John-Michael, Sky, Jee, and Mijeong) being the mentors for the first class. This program has grown year by year. As of 2026, 41 students are currently on the scholarship program and 63 students have graduated from college.

In 2015 our first Oak Tree Run was held with 450 participating. The run has gradually grown over the years with 1500 people participating in 2025. Altogether, Oak Tree Run has had over 7,000 participants.

Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV84) - The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.