From October 19 to 23, 2020, the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) had a mission revival week. This special week aims to boost and enhance the mission spirit in the hearts of NSD workers. The Adventist Mission department decided to find speakers who have had good experiences in doing mission work in the Division territories and even beyond. Five speakers were invited to share their testimonies and mission stories for five days.
On the first day of the week, Pastor Kim JeongTae, Pioneer Mission Movement missionary working in Vietnam, joined online as a speaker to share his mission stories during COVID-19. As a foreign pastor in Vietnam, he received the document giving him permission to preach. This is not the usual case, but he was able to get that permission and to open the International Church in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, by God’s grace. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has not subsided, his church is providing community service for the people, especially giving lunch boxes to people on the street.
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On the second day, Lee ChunOk, deaconess at Chuncheon Central Church in Korea, shared her service experience with voluntary ministry for North Korea defectors. When North Korea defectors arrive in Korea via other countries, they stay in Hana Center for a couple of months to receive necessary education on how to adjust themselves to the new society and live as South Korean citizens. After completing that education, they are released to live by themselves in the society. From that time, North Korea defectors need some help from voluntary helpers. Deaconess Lee has been working as one of the volunteers. While helping those people, she has led some North Korea defectors to the Adventist Church. She is still caring for around ten defectors with love.
Pastor Yutaka Miyamoto, who is serving in Kashiwa Church in Japan, was invited as the third speaker for the week. He has been running “Kids’ Restaurant” every Saturday for the past five years. This is a part of the church becoming the center of influence in their community. Kids’ Restaurant is a means to meet the need of the community by providing free lunches for children. Every Sabbath, 10 to 30 children attend the church for lunch, and church members and volunteers from their community are teamed up to provide free meals. The church also offers free tutoring classes for elementary school students and junior high school students whose families cannot afford to send them to tutoring classes.
On the fourth day, Pastor Cho KiSang from Chunyang Church in Korea visited the NSD to share the story of his church. When he was first assigned to the church, the church was isolated and its building was decrepit. He convinced the members that they needed to renovate the church. After renovating the physical area of the church, he encouraged his members to provide community service for local people. Members learned how to bake several kinds of breads and cookies. The church invited a professional in foot massage and learned from him how to massage feet. All members started investing their energy and time in providing necessary services for community people. In September 2020, this church baptized six precious souls, and four of them were led through community services. It is certain that the church was connected to the community through those services.
On the last day, Lee SooKyung, Youngam Church deaconess, spoke to NSD workers about her personal evangelism experiences. She was a psychology professor in college, but she was not satisfied with it. She could not find the satisfactory answer to her life. She studied fortunetelling and combined it with her knowledge of psychology. As a result, she earned a lot of money, but she was still not satisfied. While she successfully pursued her career, she was diagnosed with acute leukemia. This disease led her to an Adventist hospital, and she had a chance to study the Bible there. She found the truth in the Bible and devoted herself to the Creator God and Redeemer. Later, she started teaching the Bible. During COVID-19, she visited people staying at home and gave them Bible studies. The Youngam Church baptized 12 people in 2020 through her door-to-door visits and teaching of the Bible.
Throughout the week, the NSD workers were touched by the testimonies and mission stories. The mission spirit must have been instilled in the hearts of the NSD workers.
Joo MinHo, NSD Adventist Mission Director