Even during a busy time of church activities, it is necessary to pause and check whether the mission work is going well. The midyear committees and the year-end meetings are the regular checking or regenerating time for church mission directors. The Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) Annual Council meetings took place from November 4 through 9, 2014, at the NSD office in Ilsan, Korea, with the theme “Revival and Prophetic Truth.”
At the opening session devotional service, General Conference (GC) Vice President Lowell C. Cooper affirmed the necessity of checking our GPS: “Where we are, where we are going.” Cooper emphasized the mission of the church by stating the four purposes of the church: (a) to bring attention, honor and glory to God, (b) to be a classroom for discipleship training, (c) to demonstrate to the world a new kingdom community, and (d) to participate with God in the furtherance of His mission by being His instruments.
NSD President Jairyong Lee reemphasized that the very reason for church existence is mission. “Mission challenges are enormous, and it seems it is almost impossible to finish the gospel work with the limited personnel and financial resources we have. We understand, however, that the work will be accomplished ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit’ as the LORD Almighty said (Zechariah 4:6).”
About 80 Executive Committee (EXCOM) members and invitees included representatives and leaders from the GC, NSD, Chinese Union Mission (CHUM), Japan Union Conference, Korean Union Conference (KUC), all local conferences under KUC, Mongolia Mission, and other institutions. November 4 was scheduled for the President, Executive Secretary, and Treasurer’s Councils and November 5 for departmental interviews.
The Adventist Church Membership System (ACMS, or Membership Software) Implementation Seminar was held during the Executive Secretary Council on November 4. The GC director of Adventist Membership Software Sherri Ingram-Hudgins offered a presentation on ACMS implementation to 19 participants, the executive secretaries of unions/conferences/mission in the NSD mission territory, including the KUC Internet manager and the secretariat personnel from KUC and the five local conferences related to membership management.
ACMS, which is web-based and operated by the GC, was developed and implemented throughout the world in order to help local churches, conferences, and unions manage the local church membership and new Bible study interests accurately and in live time. It is expected that the sophisticated membership software will help significantly strengthen and support the mission work by providing various live, empirical data and analysis for strategic mission plans and retention issues.
In addition, as the software is free of charge, it will save time and money for church administration and mission. Currently in our division territories, the CHUM has been on the implementing process.
During the Annual Council business sessions, the reports of administrations and departments, institutions, and various mission projects were presented to the delegates, and they spent time on reviews and discussions of various agenda. The authorized meeting schedule, annual budget, and policy amendments were also approved.
Delegates of the NSD Annual Council 2014 (Click for more pictures)
The theology of ordination, especially the GC Annual Council recommendation for the ordination of women to the GC Session 2015, was shared with the delegates. The full EXCOM approved to appoint Jorge Silva as the treasurer for Mongolia Mission due to the permanent return of Allan Joseph Deblois, current MM treasurer.
Reports on the Mission to the Cities initiatives encouraged participants during the Council on Evangelism and Witness as well as during the session. Kleber O. Goncalves, director of Global Mission Center for Secular/Postmodern Studies, delivered the morning devotional sermon and lectures at the Council on Evangelism and Witness on November 6. He said, “We cannot miss opportunities that the Lord brought to us. Even though circumstances seem difficulty, there are opportunities wherever we are. We need to look for the best methods or ways to communicate with people for the mission.”
The NSD video report on “Centers of Influence” highlighted the success of city evangelism. It was reported that there are more than 500 cities with a population of more than one million, and among those cities, 124 cities are in the NSD mission territory. It is reported that annually more than 5.3 million visitors have been coming to our centers, such as local church restaurants for the communities, language schools, humanitarian support for migrants, health foods, hospitals, nursing homes, social welfare centers, etc., in the NSD region.
The good reaping results from public evangelistic series in many large cities within the NSD mission territories were reported by NSD Adventist Mission and Global Mission director Kwon JohngHaeng. Following Tokyo13 which was held last year, UB14, Taipei14, Daejeon and Daegu big city evangelistic meetings in Korea, and Wuxi evangelistic series conducted by Doug Batchelor in mainland China were successfully finished this year.
The Wuxi evangelistic campaign was special as it was the first officially government approved, full-length public Christian evangelistic program presented by a foreigner in mainland China since 1958. The Wuxi evangelistic series took place for nine days from May 1, 2014, with more than 2,000 attendees. About 250 people were baptized through this amazing and unprecedented evangelistic series in a big city with a population of 6 million.
The Chinese Hope TV (CHTV) report impressed the delegates with the “Internet TV Box,” a new method to reach millions of people in mainland China. The Three Self Patriotic Movement Committee in China granted special approval for this TV Box to be made available in the country. CHTV have set a goal of reaching 5 million users with access to CHTV programs via this simple and small TV Box, which can work without computers or satellite receivers. According to Chinese government statistics, there are 70 million Christians in China.
Besides the Annual Council meetings, on Friday, November 7, the delegates attended the Celebration of Creation at Sahmyook University, which was organized by NSD Geoscience Research Institute director Choi ChongGeol. The delegates also attended the Pioneer Mission Movement (PMM) missionary family dedication service the following day, which was a Sabbath, and the Golden Angels music concert Sabbath afternoon at the Chunsung Church in Seoul. The PMM dedication service was for seven pastors and their families, who will each be sent to different foreign lands, including Congo, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, and Taiwan.
After the Golden Angels music concert, the delegates of the NSD Annual Council made a visit to the Seoul English Science Edu-Center. The management for the English Science Education Center, which is fully sponsored by the local government, has been entrusted to Sahmyook University since 2008. The center has been functioning well as a good center of influence with more than 460,000 students and visitors.