May 21, 2013 is a historic day to the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD). For it is the opening day of the 2013 NSD Midyear Committee as well as the very same day when the Seventh-day Adventist Church was organized in 1863. Also, it was reported that on the same day May 21, Wuxi Church which is one of biggest Adventist churches in China held the opening ceremony for the celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Adventist Church organization. Marking 150 years of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the church leaders from the General Conference, Northern Asia-Pacific Division, China including Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia recommitted themselves to the mission with the theme, “United for Mission.”
It is the second time for the NSD to hold an official annual executive committee meeting in the mainland China where more than 410,000 members worship at about 4,600 churches and companies. The venue place is Hangzhou which is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province 100 kms from Shanghai in Eastern China. It has been one of the most renowned cities in terms of the Chinese history and beautiful natural scenery.
Devotionals from the opening session in the evening of May 21 to the last day May 23 were presented by General Conference Undersecretary Myron Iseminger, Chinese Union Mission President Robert Folkenberg Jr., and Taiwan Conference President Steven Wu. The focuses of the messages delivered by all these speakers were on the unity of church leaders and members for the mission. During the meetings, Dr. Jairyong Lee said, “We are the special people of God for the mission. We should be united for the purpose. The very reason of existence of church is for the mission.”
During the business sessions, reports on various mission initiatives and programs were presented to the participants. Especially the reports for the “Tokyo 13” preparation and “Mission To The Cities” brought an attention to the evangelism works in for the big cities. Also the progress of the preparation for the upcoming 2013 NSD International Mission Congress in Jeju was shared with the current number of registration, more than 3,000.
One of the major decisions is the Mongolian Mission Field’s (MMF) status change to “Mission.”
In order to strengthen the mission work in Mongolia and help the church grow to be more self-supporting in the future, the executive committee members voted for the MMF status to be changed to “Mongolia Mission.” The inaugural session of the Mongolia Mission will be held on November 18, 2013.
In 1926, the first Adventist missionaries from Russia came to Mongolia, but because of the communist government’s control all Christian workers have been expelled for the next 70 years. In 1991 Brad and Cathy Jolly entered Mongolia as missionaries. Since then, through the many sacrificial efforts and supports of missionaries from the outside as well as the church members in Mongolia, the Adventist Church in Mongolia has been growing high. In 1999 the Mongolia mission territory became an Attached Mission Field (MMF) to the Northern Asia-Pacific Division. As of December 31, 2013, there are 1,897 members, 8 churches and companies with 16 additional worship places.
To view pictures of the 2013 NSD Midyear Committee, please click below link.