The Bible teaches us that the church is the body of Christ, the community that brings Jesus’s will to this Earth. As the church is a living organism just like the human body, it takes time to develop. Mission is a command given by Jesus to the churches; however, this does not happen overnight.
For the past 23 years, our church has focused on saving souls through the House Church ministry. Ever since I started serving as head pastor, 5-10 percent of regular attendees have met Jesus through our church and gotten baptized every year.
The Hanmaum church had obtained an even stronger missionary DNA after sending our head pastor to Uganda 11 years ago. I see that we have reached another milestone in the mission ministry this year. I feel that our ministry has expanded towards short term missions trips and local community service. Specifically, through the present Missions Festival, worship has gone from focusing on my feelings and my life to embracing God’s mission for the world as well. We have started to name and pray for the missionaries our respective Mokjangs serve during service. We have started to think and prepare for next year’s mission ministry as well.
When God works, He first places a ‘person of God with the heart of God.’ A new wind has been blowing in our church ever since Mokja Yoojung Hoon came back from a mission trip earlier this year. Mokja Yoojung himself has stated that he does not know why he feels his heart burn for this subject. It is because we have reached a point in time where our church needs to expand our horizons. That is why God is pouring out His heart to us through Mokja Yoojung.
Without a doubt our Church is still in the development process. I pray that we encourage this growth and work towards Jesus’ will together as a community.
Following the shepherd…
Pastor JiWon Choi