Madalpy Youth Training Center was the location for the first of two Bible Conferences in Korea. It is a beautiful location at the end of the road in rural mountainous Korea. There is a lovely river that flows by the Youth Training Center and just a hint of spring in the air as over 400 pastors gathered for the General Conference Biblical Research Institute Bible Conference. March 12-14, 2013 the pastors gathered from across the southern part of Korea. They came from Middle West Korean Conference, South East Korean Conference, South West Korean Conference, the Seventh-day Adventist Language Institute and from Jeju Island. The Bible Conference was divided into two locations since there are around 900 pastors in Korea.
The speakers from the General Conference Biblical Research Institute were, Dr. Ekkehardt Mueller, Dr. Gerhard Pfandl, Dr. GanouneDiop, and Dr. Willie Hucks. The Korean Union Conference office leaders and staff worked very hard to make a very well organized program.
Each day began with a worship time. First we joined in singing, and special music. Prayer was also a part of the worship as we divided into groups of two or three and lifted our voices together to the Lord.
Dr. Gerhard Pfandl shared about how to interpret the book of Daniel. He presented several challenges and the solutions to questions that come up about the prophecies in Daniel. He also shared a historical/Biblical approach to understanding of the concept of the remnant.
Dr, Diop talked about mission of the church. His lecture was how to present the Adventist message in a multifaceted world and how to share a unified Biblical perspective. He also presented an understanding of the Three Angels’ Messages and how to share it with different world religions and different worldviews.
Dr. Mueller lectured on an in-depth understanding of the beast of Revelation 17 and how it related to the other apocalyptic imagery in Revelation. He also shared a theology of the remnant. His last presentation was about challenges to the Adventist interpretation of apocalyptic prophecy. He shared how many were trying to understand the prophecies, but were not using good hermeneutics. He guided the pastors on how to carefully allow the Bible to interpret the prophecies.
Dr. Hucks talked about the importance of worship and an understanding of proper worship. He shared how we should be worshipping all week long, not just on Sabbath. He also presented the importance of understanding and teaching the Seventh-day Adventist fundamental beliefs.
There were several goals of the Bible Conference. One goal was to strengthen the ministry of our pastoral leaders in Korea and encourage them in their day-to-day ministry efforts. Another goal was to strengthen the faith and understanding of our Seventh-day Adventist message. Still another goal was the refreshing of the pastors on how to understand the Bible and the prophecies that include prophecies of the end times of earth’s history; this time in which we now live. Also a goal was to remind pastors of the importance of sharing the essential messages we as Adventists have for our world.
The pastors were encouraged to not only share with the world themselves, but to present the messages given at the Bible Conference to their church members who should be invited to be a part of the ministry in their churches and communities across Korea. We believe this Bible conference will bless the ministry of the pastors for many years to come.