March 2005

Concerning Mission Interpretation

Dear Friends,

Mission interpretation. When you read these words, what comes to mind? Perhaps it is traveling in eleven states, using three different rental cars, and driving well over 5,000 miles in less than three months. Or maybe it is medical exams with eight different doctor appointments where we were poked, prodded, jabbed, X-rayed, scanned, and medicated. Perhaps friends and family come to mind—two grand reunions with family in the Atlanta and Boston areas where we saw in-laws and babies for the first time, and visits with life-long friends in several states. Or, maybe mission interpretation brings to mind speaking twenty-eight times in nine different churches—preaching on Sunday mornings, teaching Sunday school classes, speaking at family night suppers, giving a minute for mission, speaking to youth groups, and meeting with mission committees and other small groups of interested persons. Perhaps you think of fundraising or project planning—seeking funds for scholarship aid for students at Hanil University or laying the groundwork for future cooperation between Hanil and U.S. theological schools. All of that and more were part of our three-month interpretation assignment in the United States.

But there is much more to mission interpretation than statistics, activities, and projects. At the center of our mission interpretation assignment is people. We reconnected with old friends and made many new friends in each of the churches we visited. We found the churches to be growing and excited about global mission. We were the recipients of warm hospitality coupled with probing questions about Hanil University, the churches of Korea, the political situation in northeast Asia, and the state of Presbyterian mission work around the world. We were greatly encouraged by the many ways in which American churches are involved in mission. In the people we met in the churches we were able to see and experience new directions in mission. We found that we were in touch with the future of global mission as it is carried out in and through the congregations of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Our mission interpretation assignment placed us firmly in the present where we find ourselves building upon the foundations laid down in the past, even as we carefully consider the blueprints for how global mission will be carried out in the future. Three months of mission interpretation has enabled us to “step back” a bit from the rush of day-to-day activities at Hanil University and Presbyterian Theological Seminary. We have reconnected with local congregations who are on the cutting edge of mission, and we have reconnected with retired missionaries who are reflecting upon years of faithful service. We find ourselves in that creative space between the accomplishments of the past and the challenges of the future, and we have returned to Korea and Hanil with a renewed sense of dedication as well as a refreshing sense of freedom and joy.

Why freedom and joy? Freedom from stress and worry because we know that God has been faithful in the past and we know that God will continue to be faithful in the future. We could see this faithfulness reflected in the faces of the people we met during our three months of mission interpretation. Joy because we know that the work in which we are engaged is not our mission but God’s mission, and what could possibly bring more joy than to be doing God’s work in the world?

By the time you read this letter we will be well into the new academic year and spring semester of teaching at Hanil. The weekly afternoon worship services at the Jeonju English Church will be underway and our calendar will be filled with appointments for faculty meetings, academic seminars, special lectures, student conferences, meetings with international guests, and publishing deadlines. Books to be reviewed will be piling up on our desk and unanswered correspondence will fill bulging file folders. There will be weekly sermons to be written and hundreds of emails each day to be tended to. In short, the rush of day-to-day activities at Hanil University and Presbyterian Theological Seminary will be in full swing. But this time—because of our mission interpretation experience—freedom will take the place of stress and worry, and the joy of doing God’s work will bring delight in each present moment.

Mission interpretation. When you read these words, what comes to your mind?

Faithfully in mission,

Carol Chou Adams / Daniel J. Adams

The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 247