“Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another..” (Romans 12:10 NKJV). Recently Lucy W returned to Korea to celebrate her 80th birthday with her many Korean WMU friends. For years Lucy walked beside these women serving the Lord with a dedication and fervency that brought much fruit. Today the Korean WMU is strong and active fulfilling their goals for strengthening women in missions involvement throughout Korea and the world. When words of congratulations and encouragement were given, the bond of love and commitment were so evident. Pray that Christ will bind together the servants of the Lord in Korea to press on with fervency and dedication for the years ahead. Pray that more women will desire to give their lives in mission service and teach others to follow His call also.
Give praise that nearly 300 Koreans have been assigned as IMB career missionaries. The Korean Council’s goal is 1,000 by the year 2010. Korean Baptists will hold a major world missions conference in April 2009 in Dallas. The event will feature presentations by at least 100 international missionaries of Korean ancestry. IMB president, Dr. Jerry Rankin, Loren Cunningham of Youth With A Mission, and Rev. Daniel Lee, pastor of the largest Baptist church in Korea, Global Mission Church, are featured speakers. Begin praying for plans for this significant missions event.
Pray for Pastor Lee’s ministry in Pohang City, near Pusan, to youth from broken homes. Korea has a growing divorce rate and Pohang City has the highest divorce rate in the nation. When parents in urban areas divorce, the children often go to live with their grandparents in the country. For the last ten years, Pastor Lee’s church has reached out to troubled teenagers, especially those who have gone to jail. He explains that 40-60% of these incarcerated teenagers are from divorced families and are being raised by their grandparents in rural areas. The youth are often disadvantaged and lack educational opportunities. Pastor Lee envisions providing a youth center to minister to the youth and conduct English camps. He asks for prayer for his church’s ministry to the youth in Pohang City and that God will provide resources and workers to impact lives.
In 2007 there were 13,407 suicides in South Korea. Every day 36 people kill themselves. One writer has termed this as a suicide virus that is spreading in Korea. Teenagers feel stress from educational pressures, spend less time with family, yet a large amount of time on the internet. With 21.5% among 100,000 committing suicide, Korea has the highest percentage of suicides of any country in the world. A spiritual crisis is upon the nation as people seek answers for their daily problems. Pray that people will turn to Christ who forgives sins, gives new life and is the answer to all our needs.
Two teams of Koreans and non-Koreans reach out to refugees in South Korea. As they teach English and through random acts of kindness, God is using these volunteers to show His love and care to those who are in need and longing for someone to care. Pray for the refugee ministry of Global English Ministry and for more people to become an active part of reaching out to refugees in South Korea.
The Korea Baptist Convention installed a new president, Hu Dong Han (Mr. Han), on October 13. Pray for Mr. Han as he gives godly leadership to the Korea Baptist Convention. Pray for continued good working relationships between the Korea Baptist Convention (KBC) and the Korea Baptist Mission (KBM) during this convention calendar year. Give thanks for the vision and focus of these vital Baptist entities and pray that together they can accomplish God’s will in Korea and through Korean missions efforts.
Orphans were withdrawn, sad and frightened to stand before the church group last year. Now, after a group of volunteers has invested their time and gifts to reach out in love and compassion to these kids every Saturday, they can stand with confidence to sing before the fellowship and have a smile and light in their eyes. Pray for many of these orphans to come to faith and grow in Christ so they can in turn reach out to others just as God sent people to them in their hour of need. Ask God to lead believers to be faithful to minister to orphans.
At the small local neighborhood grocery Mr. and Mrs. Kim sell their few items from early in the morning to late at night. The change is made from coffee cans filled with various coins. They laugh and they bow with gratitude when one comes in to purchase even one item. They have little time for religion as daily work requires all their time and energy. Pray for many just like them living in South Korea and ask that in their daily lives
someone will come to tell them of His good news and show His love to them.
The Korean-American Partnership Crusades were held October 19-27. Twenty-seven volunteers from six states came and were divided into teams to work with 12 churches. Give thanks for travel safety and open doors of ministry. Praise the Lord for the 585 professions of faith. Because you prayed, volunteers came to serve in some of the most strategic areas last month and lives were touched for the Kingdom.
Seoul International Baptist Church is considering a new church start targeting international business people in the Yunhee-dong community of northwest Seoul. This is an area with a large number of expatriate families whose children attend Seoul Foreign School. In an effort to reach seekers and business people, it is anticipated that the service will be held on Saturday evenings. Please pray for the team that is pursuing this service as a two-month pilot project. Pray that adequate facilities can be located and that it will be successful in reaching those seeking a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Pray for Phil and Helaine H and Sue P who will be finishing temporary assignments and moving back to Jeju. Ask God to bring those former relationships back into their paths quickly and fruit to be seen from former planting of the Good News. Ask God to establish the work of their hands and to encourage them as they transition back to work on the island of Jeju.
Praise God for sending eleven volunteers from Parkway Baptist Church in Knoxville, TN to Korea October 11–16. The volunteers joined Calvary Baptist Church in Seoul and missionary Ellen H for a joint evangelistic outreach. The tract “Steps to Peace with God” was shared with 1,613 individuals. As a result of the Holy Spirit speaking through the Word, 1,378 people prayed to receive Jesus as their Saviour. Please pray for these new believers and for Calvary Baptist Church as they do follow-up through small group Bible studies.
The 2008 Advent Calendar Prayer Guide is coming! For the past several years the Pacific Rim Region has produced an advent prayer guide featuring stories from around the Pacific Rim. This year’s calendar will soon be available for download from the regional web page – http:// www.go2pacrim.org.
The Pacific Rim Summit is November 5-7. To register or to learn more, visit the website at www.takeit2therim.info <http://www.takeit2therim.info/> or e-mail at contact@takeitotherim.info. We hope you will join us as we “Take it to the Rim” this month!
November Birthday and Anniversary Calendar
12 Connie S
13 Ellen H
24 Andrew H*
*TCKs
