I am not ashamed of the gospel

Romans 1:6

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew than for the Gentile.”

Thank God for blessing European Directors Conference 2010 at the Sea of Galilee (Ein Gev Resort) abundantly. 100 Directors and Staff from Europe and Mission Journey Teams from USA and Korea met in Israel to report about God’s work in 2009, to receive clear direction and to pray for European campus ministry in 2010. This Conference was very special because it took place at the beautiful shore of the sea of Galilee where Jesus called his 12 disciples, healed the sick and taught the word of God and raised his disciples as fishers of men through whom God changed the world.

The house church of J. and M. So. hosted the conference sacrificially and prepared the best environment. We could sense their burning shepherd heart for Israeli students. The evening before the Conference J. gave a lecture on the history of Israel from God’s point of view. God did not give up on his people Israel but carefully leads them to salvation through the power of the gospel, precisely fulfilling his promises. Their Bible student S. attended this first evening. They pray to raise one Abraham and one Sarah of faith at Hebrew University and for J. to complete his PhD studies.

Dr. Peter Chang gave the opening message on the key verse for Europe UBF 2010 from Ezra 7:10. His powerful message helped us to understand Ezra’s decision to devote himself to deep Bible study, obedience towards God’s word and to the teaching of the word. Ezra’s decision was a decision that brought about a spiritual revival in Israel. Bible study and the main lecture by Dr. John Jun on Romans 1:16 taught us the gospel as the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. We remembered Jesus’ grace and that we are obligated in Christ to all people. All Directors were greatly encouraged through this lecture to preach the gospel boldly to post-modern young people who suffer because of idol-worshiping and immorality. In the evening the message of Sh. Eberhard Groß from Ezechiel asked us: “Can these bones live?” We could believe that the spirit of God even brings life into the students on European campuses who look like dry bones, raising them as a vast army of God. Three short testimonial lectures by M. David Kim, Sh. Moody Park and M. Samuel Peter Ryu vividly explained the topics Outreach, Disciple Making and House Church Ministry through their own testimony. Afterwards, Directors shared their reports on their ministry in 2009. They gave thanks for the hope of God that was revealed at the 2009 European Summer Bible Conference and talked about their spiritual and practical struggle for the growing disciples and for one-to-one Bible study ministry.

On the second day we shared our testimonies in groups and then studied the second main lecture, Galatians 5. Bible studies and the graceful message by Sh. Moses Yoon taught us to live by the spirit and to overcome our sinful nature. To live by the spirit means to unblock our “Spirit-pipes” through redemptive lives and to bear the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace etc. The topic of the evening program was “house church ministry”. Sh. Bruno Aussant of France introduced the exemplary house church of Priscilla and Aquila. After a brief book introduction of “Houses that change the world” by Wolfgang Simson, we split into two groups: Korean- and English-Speaking and held panel-discussions, led by M. Elijah Park and Sh. Paul Ridge respectively. Many co-workers participated actively by exchanging our experiences and views on house church ministries. The closing message was delivered by Dr. Paul Hong, UBF Coordinator for European Mission, on Hebrews 11. He taught us to live by faith like the ancestors Abel, Henoch, Noah: to come to God, to walk with God and to seek God and his reward. Dr. John Jun gave clear closing remarks and prayer topics, to pray for the doubling of the ministry in Europe as well as for the Muslim world.

Directly after the Conference, there was a special Sabbath worship service as all attendants entered a boat that brought us out onto the Sea of Galilee, where we listened to the message by Pastor Ron Ward on God’s unchanging hope for Israel according to Romans 11:26. Just to imagine that maybe we were on the same spot where our Lord Jesus walked on the water and calmed the storm and taught his disciples faith in God made this a very special and unforgettable occasion. Moreover on the journey afterwards we could praise God in the Land of Israel, e.g. as we sang “How great thou art” in a church on the Mount of the Beautidues.

Thank God who blessed this conference with the power of the gospel. Most of the 53 chapters in 22 nations of Europe consist of only one family. We could see their spiritual growth. This conference comforted all of them and equipped them with the power of the gospel and gave them vision to preach the gospel to post-modern students and to raise them as disciples of Jesus. There were less tears than in the years before and more loud “Amens!” Praise Jesus who answered our prayer for all 45 nations to be pioneered, as M. Joshua Kang was appointed as director of Spain UBF. Thank God for the sacrificial serving and encouraging message by Dr. John Jun, who had been traveling for more than a month and will continue his tour of Directors Conferences in Asia. In the end he encouraged us to challenge the doubling of the ministry in each chapter. May God continuously grant Dr. Peter Chang clear direction for Europe UBF and send out one house church to each of the 1,700 European campuses until 2020.