From Pandemic to Endemic
At a turning point in world history, with the visit of Pastor Erton Köhler and Pastor Gary Krause, General Conference Executive Secretary and Adventist Mission Director, we will hear what the General Conference’s world mission direction is and how Korean Adventists and believers should respond to it.
In particular, during the three-year period of the COVID-19 pandemic, we seek ways to overcome the crisis in the stagnant mission field and find solutions to “what path the Adventist Church should go” and “what our choices should be” in the era of new change.
1. First, please share your greetings to the Adventists in NSD.
Greetings from our worldwide family. Our 22 million brothers and sisters gathered in 212 countries of the world. It’s a real pleasure for me to visit NSD especially for a Mission Conference focused on North Korea, one of our greatest missionary challenge.
2. Coexistence with the COVID-19 virus is becoming more common, with mandatory wearing of masks being lifted in countries around the world. However, new variations are still appearing all over the place, and big and small trends are repeating themselves. Many experts now predict that the COVID-19 virus will continue to coexist with mankind. How is the General Conference analyzing and responding to the global historical transition period of the COVID-19 pandemic and endemic?
The consequences of the pandemic aren’t totally clear for everybody. In different organizations people are trying to anticipate the directions the world will follow, after the worse part of the pandemic. As General Conference we are working in some initiatives to adapt or take advantage of this “new normal” situation. We have a discussion in place currently about how we can integrate some of our services and optimize the materials produced by our different departments in order to be more efficient and reduce some internal costs to be able to invest strongly in the mission. We are also working in a movement called Mission Refocus to reorganize the sending of our missionaries and be more efficient to reachout non-entered and low entered areas of the world with the biblical message of hope. At the same time we are calling all our organization to work in an integrated way to adopt challenging areas out of their territories to help in the advancement of the mission. It is creating a great impact and expediting our worldwide mission. It is result of the sense of urgency raised during the pandemic. And the last initiative I can highlight is the use of technology. We are investing strongly in new systems, to help to improve the management of the technical aspects church, in different areas of communication and specially in digital evangelism, and exploring more virtual meetings, saving time and money, but reaching more peoples and places.
3. What do you think the meaning and lessons are that COVID-19 pandemic has left to the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its members? The first lesson we learned more clearly was the importance of people. During the pandemic our church was made literally by people. We were not able to meet in person, operate our offices, manage our meetings and many other things. But our members were there, keeping the faith alive and sharing the message in the most creative ways possible. It shows us that we need to invest less in structures and more in people. More disciple-making, total member involvement, and relevant missionary projects to reach the most challenging areas of the world where people need the lord.
4. In the beginning of the pandemic, there were many views that interpreted COVID-19 infectious diseases as apocalyptic signs. In South Korea, in particular, public worship was banned for a while due to the government’s strong ‘social distancing’ policy, and there was confusion, with the number of infected people continuing to rise in churches, and social antipathy against Christianity. If a situation like this happens again in the future, how do you think we should balance our faith and how should we respond missionally? As Seventh-day Adventists we are balanced people. Our objective is to respect and not faith against the official orientation in situations like this. When the authorities are not in conflict with the clear Word of God and when we face a unknow situation like the pandemic, the best is to be prudent and follow the authority’s orientation. When we act respectfully, in a balanced way, we are not only protecting ourselves but also witnessing to those that are desperate, how we can thrust in the Lord and face these situations with hope and confidence. Another aspect is the mission impact of a balanced behavior in times of crises. It is a precious tool to witness to people. When we spend our time in criticism, polemics and negative reactions we show lack of Christ’s spirit, and lose the confidence of people that we suppose to reach with a message of hope.
5. Now the topic is ‘restoration & recovery‘. It is time to restore faith in all directions, such as worship that was disturbed during the pandemic and reduced mission activities. Just looking at the numbers of evangelism and baptisms right now, they have plummeted since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a leader of the world church, what is your advice on how the Korean church should overcome this crisis. We are still in the process to find the way to overcome the crises. Nothing is totally clear respect the best strategies to reach people and grow again. In some areas of the world, our church reencountered the way and is back to the same level of growth before the pandemic. Only for your information, in 2022 we baptized 1,23 million people worldwide and it is almost the same number we had in the last three years before pandemic. It means the church is finding the way to reachout people and grow again. In the areas where we are growing again, the church is more involved in direct contact with people, through Bible studies, small groups, and prayer groups. Small communities where the person can feel involved and loved. On the other hand, we increased the use of comunicati0n to overcome all barriers and reachout people where they are. Much more people are involved in this area, especially volunteers, with more creativity and relevant projects that can communicate with the current reality. We are reaching a great number of people. The best ways to reencounter the growth after pandemic is to strengthen the spiritual life of our members and prepare them to share their faith with others, using the best connections they have. Love and friendship, through the power of the Holy Spirit open many closed hearts.
6. NSD society where in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia is experiencing a doughnut pattern due to a declining birth rate, rapid aging, and urbanization. Experts are concerned that we will enter a super-aged society in the near future. However, even if the population decreases, our mission must continue. Could you recommend an example of a region in the world that is achieving mission fruits and revival despite aging and urbanization, especially among developed countries? Well, let me use the example of the country where I came from: Brazil. The populational growth is facing a strong change in the birth rates, but the church is growing. The Adventist membership in the country is now 1,7 million. They are working strongly with communication, involving technology and printed books. They are investing strongly in projects for the new generations, to keep them faithful while the society in general is losing relevance in this area. And they are also investing in different initiatives to have members involved in Bible studies. If you are proactive, creative, and keep the focus clear on mission, the power of the Holy spirit will open doors and make the church strong despite the population decrease and other challenges. We need to think big, innovate, but specially remind that mission is miracle. If our hands are in the Lord’s hands, He will open doors in unexpected ways.
7. Lastly, please give a request or a word of emphasis to the Korean churches and believers living in the age of infectious disease endemic. thank you.
The pandemic isolated us. We became much more individualistic, and it affected our emotional health, our spiritual health, and the commitment to our mission. I have two words to share with a church that faced this situation: intentionality and integration. Intentionality to organize movements to increase the relationships again. People taking care of people. Intentionality to focus all the initiatives on mission avoiding distraction with other issues that can be nice but are not relevant. And integration is a call to organize projects to have everybody working together. It creates stronger satisfaction and make us more relevant to the community we want to reach. Many times, we have hundreds of good independent mission projects happening. They are irrelevant to our goal to reach the world to Jesus. The only way to do great things to the Lord is working together, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
II. North Korean Mission
- What is the meaning of North Korean mission in aspect of world mission, and why is it important? Please speak with the perspective of the General Conference on the reunification of the Korean Peninsula and evangelization in North Korea.
As General Conference we consider North Korea one of our main challenges. This Mission Conference is a symbol of faith and courage. Your initiative to strategize, prepare financial resources, train people, and start the work by faith is inspiring other areas of the world to also move by faith even if they are seemingly impossible situations. North Korea is a sample of what is starting to happen in many other challenging areas of the world. The movement called Mission Refocus, coordinated by the General Conference, is raising an army of new missionaries to go to forgotten or impossible areas of the world, like North Korea. We are preparing all resources that are in our hands, expecting God’s miracles to open the doors or borders. We are living in the very ending time and I’m sure that the next days, months or years will surprise us with unexpected opportunities.
- The reunification of the Korean Peninsula is expected to become a bridgehead for evangelization in China beyond North Korea. Therefore, it will not only be a simple symbol that the message of the Second Advent will officially be spread to North Korea, the ‘land of frozen land’. What kind of support does the General Conference have for North Korean missions?
We are together with the Northern Asia-Pacific Division in this project. The division is an extension of the General Conference for this area of the world. We work though them. The how and when God will open the doors or the borders of North Korea we don’t know, but we are preparing ourselves to take advantage of this moment. It can’t take us by surprise. We are preparing finances, personnel, and initiatives to be implemented as soon we can be in touch of North Korea.
- If you have any words of encouragement or emphasis to the Korean churches and members, please do so. thank you.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Korea have great challenges to face in these very last days of our history. Very unpredictable times full of difficulties and opportunities. The only way to face this reality is to follow Christ’s recommendation: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33, ESV). Walking with the Lord every day, “making Christ the first, the last and the best”, we will be able to face all difficulties, get the opportunities and especially fulfill the great mission God entrusted to us.