The Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) decided to build a Leadership Training Center that will have a key role in spiritual training for church leaders of each Union, and Conference in the NSD territories. The center will be located in the Jeju Seogwipo area, Korea. The groundbreaking was held with church leaders which included Elder Ted Wilson, General Conference (GC) President; Dr. Jairyong Lee, NSD President; Gilbert Wari, West-Central Africa Division (WAD) President; John Rathinaraj, Southern Asia Division (SUD) President; DaeSung Kim, Korean Union Conference (KUC) President; and, local church members present on September 1, 2013. Pastor GwangHui Hong, NSD, will be the director of the center. He is a professional in spiritual growth, revival, and training as he had served as the director of the Adventist Training Center in Korea for 18 years.
Jesus Christ-Centered Center
“I really expect development of this project. But the most important thing is not the size of the building, but what occurs in the building,” said Elder Wilson, citing Titus 2:11-13. He added. “I hope Jesus Christ’s plan of Salvation will be the center of this center. I wish it to testify how prophetic mission, and the spreading of the gospel is accomplished. And I pray for this center to be a lighthouse, shining the present truth God has given to us, to shine on others.”
The Spiritual Cradle of Spiritual Revival and Soul-winning.
Explaining the motivation, and the purpose of this center, Dr. Lee said in his welcome remarks, “Whenever I visited China, the Chinese church leaders said the most urgent need is a systematic overall training course on the Adventist faith. This center is established to meet that need, so I wish it to be the cradle of spiritual revival. Someday soon, it will be a spiritual missionary training center that trains a number of God’s people to be missionaries. When many members meet the Lord through training for words, prayer and Godliness in this center, when they go to their own mission field armed with the power of the Holy Spirit, there will be tremendous presence of the Holy Spirit.”
A Special Countermeasure for Unification, and Continuous Growth of Chinese Adventists
There are more than 5,000 Adventist members, and about 7,000 church leaders serving in China, but only a very small minority of them have taken a Theology course. Also, there is no Adventist college in China, so they have a shortfall in the opportunity to study Adventist beliefs, and theology in depth. Most church leaders are craving for spiritual training.
The NSD has often held a seminar by sending its departmental directors, and supervising the Chinese Union Mission to support them. But there were physical, time, and financial limitations to train nearly 7,000 leaders in Mainland China.
Moreover, the national background of China aggravated difficulties. Under the current law, foreigners cannot evangelize Chinese people, so there were many barriers for the NSD leaders or Korean theologians to give lectures. Hence the NSD decided to establish a training institution outside of China so that Chinese church leaders can freely study the Bible, pray, and praise.
The Most Strategic Place Serving Its Purpose: Jeju
Considering the motivation, and purpose of establishing a training center, Jeju Island, Korea, is the most strategic and suitable place. There are 29 direct flights between Jeju, and cities in northeastern Asia. It includes 15 routes to Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, and Shenyang in China (46 flights a week), four routes to Japan (21 flights a week), and two routes to Taiwan (five flights a week). As the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province is trying to expand regular aerial routes, it will be easier to access Jeju. In addition, Jeju allow Chinese entry without a visa, while the mainland of Korea requires a complicated procedure for visa issuance. May God bless the NSD Leadership Training Center so that it can be a spiritual cradle that greatly contributes to the training of Adventist leaders, and members who are eagerly working for the gospel mission to give the Three Angels’ Messages testimony.