The Adventist Church in Korea has trained and dispatched its first digital missionaries for online mission work as shown when the General Conference declared “digital evangelism” one of the key initiatives for this quinquennium. On Jan. 15, 2022, the Digital Evangelism department of the Korean Union Conference (KUC) held an Adventist digital missionary dedication service and officially dispatched 62 missionaries.
Digital missionaries will spread the Three Angels’ Messages in the digital world through the Internet and social media, using various digital tools and techniques. The activities involve engaging in digital evangelism while leading the participants to Jesus and training them to be His disciples. They will collaborate with relevant departments such as Hope Channel Korea and the Bible Correspondence School. The KUC digital evangelism program is supported by the Digital Evangelism department of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD).
The first group of digital missionaries were recruited for a month starting in October 2021 with 160 Adventist participants. And those who successfully finished the required six-week training became official digital missionaries. The training, which was conducted via video conference, dealt with the topics such as God’s call for a missionary, the identity and history of the Adventist Church, digital missionaries’ activities, etc.
Digital missionaries will perform their digital evangelism activities through a weekly mission given by the KUC Digital Evangelism department. They will also run their personal blogs and SNS accounts to do their mission work. The KUC Digital Evangelism department will provide various materials made solely for this purpose, such as 365 Bible texts, images including texts from the Spirit of Prophecy, and video content for mission purposes.
The Korean Union Conference expects that digital evangelism will bear the fruit of saving souls, thereby expanding the base of this style of evangelism. This has the potential to change the mission work environment by causing a spike in Adventist content sharing on the Internet and SNS, contributing to the influx of truth seekers and new believers through cyberspace.
The dedication service took place on Gather, a metaverse platform, and progressed in the order of pastoral prayer, Bible reading, sermon, introduction of digital missionaries, presentation of appointment certificates, and dedicatory prayer. Gather Town was accessed simultaneously by 82 people including the official missionaries, and more than 1,000 people watched the service on YouTube.
In his welcome address, Pastor Shin GwangChul, KUC Sabbath School and Personal Ministries director, cited the Bible verse in Romans that says, “for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” Pastor Shin said, “I am thankful to God for His grace and providence in calling you to do mission work in digital space. I look forward to seeing your amazing achievements in the online world.”
KUC President Kang SoonKi said in his sermon, “The mission of the church is to spread the gospel throughout the world. Jesus told Peter, who had tried all night in vain to catch fish, to cast his net on the right side of the boat where Jesus was standing, the side of faith. The lesson here is that we will surely succeed without fail if we work closely with Him.” He added, “Now it’s our turn to cast our net. Jesus, even now, through various channels, puts truth seekers in contact with His people, who know the truth. Just like Jesus revitalized His disciples’ mission at the Sea of Galilee, I hope to see the Holy Spirit’s amazing work of spreading the news of eternal life throughout the world achieved through all of you.”
NSD President Kim SiYoung said in his congratulatory remarks, “The COVID-19 pandemic is shaking the whole world. It has changed the world and the environment. Due to intensive ‘social distancing,’ mission work is confronting major challenges. Given this situation, it is like making a road across the deep Red Sea for KUC to discover a new way of mission work, sending digital missionaries along that way.”
The missionaries who had just taken the first step in their new career reestablished their determination, saying they would spread the news of salvation and the gospel through digital cyberspace according to the great commission of Christ.
Missionaries Kim DongWook and Kim JiHo, who gave dedicatory speeches on behalf of their fellow missionaries, appealed to church members for their interest and participation in digital evangelism, saying, “We hope many people will take part in spreading the light of God with dedicated hearts.”
In his dedicatory prayer, Pastor Byun SeongJun, NSD Digital Evangelism director, prayed that the Holy Spirit would fill the hearts of digital missionaries, who dedicated themselves to the gospel mission so that they can quickly spread the gospel in the digital world.
Pastor Lee SangYong, KUC Digital Evangelism associate director said, “My thanks go out to all who gave support and encouragement for the recruitment of digital missionaries. In line with the digital platform development and mission work initiatives of the GC, the Korean Union Conference will create various digital evangelism methods that can meet the needs of people, using tools from digital messengers and SNS to the recently spotlighted Metaverse.
News Article by SangYong Lee, KUC Asso. Communication Director