The Adventist health message is one of the emphases the General Conference (GC) has recently focused on when it comes to city evangelism. Along with the GC’s initiative, the Korean Union Conference (KUC) held a conference on the Adventist health message on October 10, 2016. The conference, which was co-hosted by Sahmyook University Mission and Society Research Institute and the Theology Graduate School, focused on how our health message currently works and the future direction of health ministry in Korea. Church leaders, experts of health ministry and students who are interested in health evangelism attended the conference.
The first part of the conference was about practicing the Adventist health message in sanatoriums. Elder Kim YongGoon, director of Saeronam Shelter, gave a presentation titled “Jesus’ Remedy.” He stated, “Whereas we misunderstand the character of God, the greatest love for people, He tries to reveal His character by healing people’s diseases, including those that couldn’t be cured by doctors in the world.”
Moreover, Dr. Yang IlKwon, director of Back to Eden Center, talked about the strategies for health ministry and the Latter Rain. Chae EunHa, director of Marah Lifestyle Medicine Center, equated God’s love and His power of creation in her lecture. She said, “A cure is a recovery of life, that is, a recreation; only God can save us from our illness as only He can save us from our sins.” Joanna Kim, who works for Wildwood Lifestyle Center, introduced “Medical Missionary Movement.”
The theme of the second part of the conference was principles and visions of the Adventist health message today. Dr. Kim IlMock, theology professor at Sahmyook University, focused on Adventist health beliefs from a theological point of view. He demonstrated that our health message deals with salvation from sin rather than simply people’s health issues.
Dr. Lee ChungJae, professor at Chungnam National University Medical School, gave a presentation titled “ Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Medical Mission in the 21st Century.” He emphasized that the fundamental goal of medical mission is to lead people to God and that cooperation among pastors, medical missionaries, and medical experts is necessary to achieve this goal.
Also, Pastor Im JongMin, KUC health department director, presented a comparative study between Adventists and the general population on various aspects of death. Dr. Cheon SeongSoo, professor at Sahmyook Health and Welfare Graduate School, dealt with the Adventist Church’s work for preventing addiction.
In addition to listening to the presentations, attendees of the conference had an opportunity to discuss various topics under the theme of the Adventist health message and its strategic usage in evangelism. It was agreed that the conference was meaningful in that all attendees could reaffirm the significance of our health message and share thoughts, concerns, and practical future plans with one another.