Prayer Request for Turkey
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작성일 2018-06-21 (목) 21:22
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Founder’s Note(June 2018 Newsletter)

“Restore the fundamental of mission!”



It is deplorable to observe the declining trend of missionary vision and passion in recent years among Christian churches and their members. It is a fact that young missionaries who commit on a long-term basis have been dwindling lately. And I must point out that the church has abused or misused the word “mission” irresponsibly.
The word “mission” was derived from a Latin word ‘missio’ and a Greek ‘apostello’, which means ‘send’ or ‘dispatch’. Thus, when we say ‘apostle’ or ‘missionary’, we mean those who have been sent or dispatched to spread the Gospel commanded by our Lord Christ Jesus.


Accordingly, the purpose of Missio Dei (Mission of God) is to fulfill the completion of the Kingdom of God on this earth. It is the will of God to proclaim and reveal the glory, power, reverence and majesty of the Kingdom of Heaven throughout all the nations on earth. In other words, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

Thus, until the day when the Kingdom of Heaven be completed to the end of the world, our missionary works should be focused on the propagation of Christ’s Gospel to all nations overcoming barriers of language, culture, religion and geography. We have been called up by the Lord for the fulfillment of this purpose.

The Bible sums up three essential conditions of the mission.  


Firstly, to make Christ’s disciples of all nations.   

Matthew 28: 18-20 is so adamant of the Lord’s commandment: “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”
In the Greek version of the Bible regarding this verse, there are 4 verbs: "go", "make disciples" "baptize", and "teach" Only "make disciples" is predicate verb and other 3 verbs are participles. It means: you must go out into the world in order to make disciples; baptize your disciples with a proclamation; teach and nurture them to develop into matured disciples. The commandment of ‘make disciples’ signifies embracing all nations and races. This is the Great Commission from Christ Jesus to preach the Gospel transcending the walls of culture and nationality.

Some people pose a question to me, “Pastor Kim, why do you have to go to nations so far away from here spending so much time and resources? Aren’t there many races right here in this country?”

Even one lost soul in this country as well as in other distant nations, is so equally precious and worthy to be saved. But, let me tell you. There is a distinction. The lost soul in this country would have better chances to hear the Gospel by attending a church and listening to messages of the Bible through publications and mass media like TV and radio. But, in fact, most of them have refused to accept the truth of the Gospel. That’s why we have to expand our scope and territory to reach out to people who have never had chances of hearing the Gospel. Our mission should be to fulfill the commandment of Christ the Lord. Their salvation belongs to the absolute sovereignty of Almighty God.  




Secondly, to become witnesses of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.

The Bible says in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The conjunction "and" in this verse is equivalent to "kai" in Greek that has a meaning of "at the same time". We may interpret this "and" into the meaning of "continue to expand the territory of evangelization", namely, to encompass many localities and different races beyond the scope of families and friends and relatives. It may be translated as, “You will be my witnesses, then Judea, then Samaria, and then the ends of the earth.” By this Greek word "kai", a simultaneous missionary mandate by God is amply signified.
If a big church claimed to have done a worldwide mission, it could constitute delusionary bragging. On the other hand, if small churches retracted from missionary commitment for the reason that they are limited in capacity and shoved their responsibilities to big churches of financial means, they would violate Jesus’ commandment by their negligence and disobedience to the will of God. How could they handle the fear of a stern reprimand from the Lord? 




Thirdly, we should reach out to pagans who have never heard of the Gospel.

My dear friends, listen to Apostle Paul in Romans 15:20, “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.” Christians in the first century scattered around many regions of Asia Minor to spread the Gospel. Paul himself preached the Gospel in pagan lands where Jesus Christ had not been known, avoiding places where communities of believers had already been founded. In this way, Apostle Paul exemplified the fundamentals of what true mission of God should be.

According to a statistical survey, Korean Christians numbered 9,670,000 that was 19.72 % of the population of 50 million in Korea. Can Koreans ask the U.S. and Europe to send their missionaries to Korea, because 80 % of Koreans don’t believe in Jesus Christ? I believe we Korean Christians are capable of evangelizing unbelieving populace without outside help with a special sense of missionary responsibility. 

Dispatching missionaries to the region where the Gospel had already been preached goes against the fundamental purpose of the mission, because local church leaders have already been trained, so that they are capable to do the task of widening regional evangelization. Accordingly, it is ineffective and redundant to dispatch foreign missionaries to regions where Christian churches have already founded.

Therefore, it is imperative to recruit, train and develop urgently missionary workers armed with a special purpose of evangelizing far-out, unbelieving foreign countries. Remember, my friends, it is the noble calling from our Lord Christ!

Regardless of reasons and excuses, I exhort all the churches to participate in a worldwide mission for the purpose of preaching the Gospel to people who have suffered and persecuted. The pathway toward this goal is rugged and torturous, because it is the way of the cross. But, it is the pathway to glory and blessings.

Now is the time to restore the fundamental purpose and spirit of the true mission mandated by the teachings of the Bible. Amen!  


Sincerely,
Missionary  Paul  Jin-young  Kim  
President  of  Silk  Wave  Mission




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