This is already the fourth Sunday away from you. Time has gone by very quickly and lots of things have happened. I am grateful that the Session has done a remarkable job to continue the ministry at Hope during my absence. I do also thank the Lord for all of you for your faith and faithfulness. As you know, I have been ministering in Korea and elsewhere. Though you all know where I went to and what I had done there, I do not want to name the country I had visited in this article. However, I’d like to share some of my thoughts and works in that country with you. I went to that unnamed country on Monday and left on Saturday.  It was a short flight, but this was my first visit to the country. I had a bit of anxieties before this trip and did not have any idea about what was waiting for me. It was a good experience for me to commit myself to the gracious hands of the Lord.

There were more than 20 people waiting for me to come. I was driven for about four hours from the airport to get to the place, and the road was impressively good. I was not allowed to stay with the students, but there was a reasonable motel to stay. My primary responsibility was to teach them from the Scriptures. One of their weaknesses was a lack of theological training. I focused on the doctrines of God and Jesus Christ. Thank the Lord for Gillian for helping me with the translation work. People were quite surprised and very much impressed by the quality of the work. Initially they thought I did it! People did not know English at all, even simple words like ice cream, large or small. KFC is KFC, but they pronounced it differently. So if I read KFC as it is, they do not have any idea. In order to order small drinks from a fast food restaurant, I had to become a good actor.

My teaching began at 7:30 in the mornings and continued till 11:50. There was a lunch break till 2 pm. The afternoon session was from 2 to 5 pm. The evening session was from 7 till 9 pm. There were times for prayers and testimonies each night. They came from various places. Because of the secrecy of the nature of our meetings, these students could not be recruited openly.  However, they wanted to learn the Scriptures, and only through personal contacts were they able to come. All of them were church leaders and they preach and teach in their churches regularly. Despite some potential dangers, they were willing to take the risk to learn the Scriptures. Praise the Lord for them. Once they come to the learning centre, they stayed there till the last session.  When every teaching session was done, we had to have a tearful farewell. There were lots of tears and prayers. Their singing was enthusiastic and they wanted to know more about the Lord. It took some time for them to understand my teaching, especially about the doctrine of trinity. There were lots of questions of course. But, very sadly, our time was not sufficient to cover all of those topics.  Students do have various backgrounds and are from various age groups. Some of them had to travel more than three days to get to the place of study. They are lots of ethnic groups, too.  Even they themselves could not understand each other if they began to use their local dialects. Both male and female students studied. I noticed that women were quite active in church ministries in the country. Though these church leaders were poor in material things, they were rich in Spirit.  They sat on the floor all day long to study.

It was an honour for me to teach and fellowship with them. It was also an opportunity to taste different dishes from different provinces. One particular dish was very hot and spicy, and even my stomach could not take it without having some troubles in my tummy. But, to some students it was a gourmet, and they preferred an even hotter dish.  Personally, I had a great deal of cultural shock. By the time I finished all the teaching sessions, I was very weary and sick. I was overwhelmed by fatigue but praised the Lord for the ministry I had. I had an opportunity to visit one local church in a country side. I also saw lots of car accidents on the road. Thank you for your prayers for journeys’ mercies.

Preaching and teaching in Korea have been very productive. I had a pastors’ conference for a few days. It was a beneficial experience for both of us. I learned that there are lots of pastors who are truly committed to the Lord’s work and honestly examining themselves concerning ministries and personal life. My presentations were received well, and some pastors expressed their desires to extend the conference. It was an honor to receive such a warm reception from fellow ministers. Of course some of them were much senior than me. I have been visiting churches in various places.  One commonality among various congregations is their hunger and thirst for the truth of God. My morning sessions began at 5 am. It was truly amazing to see that people broke the darkness of the early mornings and drove their cars (or rode on bicycles) to get to their churches to listen to the Word and to pray. Young mothers brought their little babies with them. There was another morning session at 10:30 am. I did not expect many people to come because it was an office hour. However,

many took a short leave from their work and came to hear!  How couldn’t I be thankful to the Lord for them! Evening sessions began at 7:30 pm.  Pastors wanted to give me as much time as possible. They started the session on time and sang one hymn and made a short prayer.  Then, they led me to the pulpit to preach.  On Sundays I had to travel quite extensively. Some Sundays I spoke four times a day, and others three times. These churches were scattered all over, and I had to travel from one place to another to reach those churches in time for preaching. Most of the times, I did not have any time to fellowship with those congregations because of the lack of time. I had to rush to travel. Such circumstances have not yet allowed me to visit TaeYul’s church. I am trying to visit the church but not so sure at the moment.  There is an overwhelming number of invitations for preaching.

God is good.  People have responded to the messages from the Scriptures. Many are coming to repent of their sins. Many people have rededicated their lives to the Lord.  Lukewarm Christians are being edified and rekindled. The Word of God has power to break the hardened hearts. I am sure that your prayers have been behind all of these fruits of my ministry in Korea. I am beginning to become homesick. I guess I have been away from home too long. Take care of yourselves. I’ll see you again, not next Sunday but the following Sunday. May the Lord keep and bless you!

With thanks and prayers,

Your Pastor

More Lively Hope

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