The phrase "An Inconvenient Truth" was popularized in a documentary based on the book of the same name by former US vice president Al Gore. There are inconvenient truths that we all implicitly agree with, but are reluctant to speak openly about because we are criticized. One of these inconvenient truths concerns finance. It is not easy for pastors and missionaries to deliver a message about finances, and it is also burdensome for the saints to hear a sermon on the matter.

Some of the world's wealthiest people have pledged to give back more than 50 percent of their wealth to society because they know they can't take anything with them when they die. The Giving Pledge movement started in 2010 and now has 236 signatures, including Microsoft's Bill Gates, investor Warren Buffett, Tesla's Elon Musk, and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, with 14 billionaires and two Koreans also participating in the movement in 2021. Why do the world's richest people return all their wealth to society? It could be pure philanthropy or it could be for the sake of fame and honor through good deeds. It might be a religious act that seeks salvation through good deeds. It is a great act in itself to return wealth to society without satisfying one's greed or passing it on to their children. What would happen if these finances were spent on missionary work that preached the gospel locally and planted churches? There must be Christians among the entrepreneurs of the world, but not many entrepreneurs participate in evangelical propagation and missionary work, although they are generous in philanthropic business. Why is that? Is it because of the lack of trust in church pastors or missionaries, churches, and missionary organizations?

Companies in the United States can donate to relief ministries for tax benefits, but they cannot donate to Christian evangelism and missionary work for those same benefits. Of course, missionary work is never done with much money. However, without financial support, missionary work cannot be accomplished; if the soldiers of God’s kingdom are not provided with weapons and necessary resources to preach the gospel, ministry cannot carry forward. These days, the church is being challenged as to why young people are not committed to missionary work. It might be very rare for a young missionary to devote his or her life to the field, but it is increasingly difficult to get financial support from the church. And it's even harder to get financial support if you're a lay missionary, not a pastor. If we force young people to sacrifice what they could earn as a salary out of college without raising our standards, it will become difficult to find anyone willing to commit to missionary work in the future.

Missionaries who went into the field in the ‘80s and ‘90s have retired or are about to retire. Unless young missionaries are continuously dispatched, within 10 years the number of Korean missionaries will decrease by more than 60%. Therefore, a new alternative must be found. The alternative is the local evangelist, church planter, and local missionary. We need to train local evangelists, educate them, and send them out where there are no churches and where the gospel is not yet preached. Amazing revival and explosive church growth are taking place in Iranian churches right now. Among the Persian-speaking (Iranian and Afghan) and Kurdish peoples, churches are being built and workers are being raised up among Syrian and Iraqi refugees. From the Church of Egypt to the Church of Armenia to the Church of Russia to the Church of Ukraine to the Church of Armenia and Georgia to the Church of Africa and Central and South America, God is building His armies.

Through the united movement for Turkey and the Islamic world that began in 2005, God made a spiritual breakthrough among the people of the Islamic world. And it has been 5 years since the church planting movement began in 2018. What began as 20 families has now grown to 65 families. There are about 40 different projects dedicated to church planting. The church planting movement that began in Turkey has expanded to Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt, Georgia, and Armenia. All of this is God's grace, but this ministry was possible because the churches and prayer partners joined the church planting movement with prayers and finances. All finances from the church planting movement are collected in a dedicated fund, in an independent bank account (called the Church Planting Fund) and managed and operated by the independent KBP board of directors.

The church planting fund is used for three purposes. First, it supports the living expenses of local evangelists, church planters, and local missionary families. Among the local ministers, there are 18 Turkish families, 10 Syrian refugee families, 4 Iraqi refugee families, 18 families in Iran/Afghan/Persia, 7 families in Egypt, 7 families in Armenia, and 1 family in Nigeria. Second, it supports the education and training programs of local ministers. The training of local ministers is conducted in various ways, and the most important ministry is the BTS Bible/Theology Master course. Eighteen ministry officials are studying the course. It also supports various training, education, seminars, and language training sessions in each language. Third, it supports various projects dedicated to evangelical propagation and church development by local ministers. The evangelical ministry also supports a variety of related projects including Internet ministry, Bible distribution ministry, refugee children/youth English ministry through the Oasis Learning Center, building rental and goods purchase, vehicle purchase for missionaries, M center operation, and helping needy refugee families.

God has made a spiritual breakthrough in spreading the gospel to the land and its people through our united intercession. As God prepares for the end times, a spiritual earthquake is taking place in the Muslim world, which was like the mighty Jericho to all nations and all peoples. Now, the death of a woman is shaking the people of Iran, the Afghan people are thirsting for freedom from the Taliban regime, the civil war goes on in Syria, religious and social conflicts continue in Iraq and Turkiye, Egypt is in political and economic chaos and despair. We are seeing that God is indeed preparing a great spiritual harvest, such as the current situation and the wave of liberalization in the Arabian Peninsula. Therefore, we must work with local people so that they can spread the gospel and plant churches as soon as possible. Although we have language, cultural, social, and religious limitations, we can communicate the gospel more effectively by understanding the local culture and religion.

Dear prayer partners, along with your prayers for the Islamic world, please donate one time to the Church Planting Fund. And as 2023 approaches, please consider joining the Church Planting Fund regularly and encourage your children to participate as well. Now we must count our days. Time flies by quickly like an arrow. The kingdom of God belongs to those who advance and conquer.