July 1, 2005

Dear Friends and Colleagues in Christ:

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, grace and peace be with you! It is my pleasure to report my ministries and activities in the mission field of St. Petersburg, Russia. First of all, I am so grateful to the Worldwide Ministries Division, General Assembly Council, PC (USA) for my appointment as a mission co-worker with a three-year term from January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2007. After the January orientation in Louisville, I returned to St. Petersburg and have worked on mission assignments without any difficulties. Thank you for your sincere prayer and support, which has made my mission work possible here in Russia for the glory of God.

Canaan Theological Seminary

I am a professor of practical theology at the Canaan Theological Seminary. During the last semester, I taught a course of Christian education to second-year students. At the request of our new dean, the Reverend In-Chul Kim, I have been serving as the chair of Curriculum Committee the purpose of which is to build the four-year academic program for the bachelor of divinity degree, which would start in the coming school year.

With God’s help, we hope to build the seminary into a regular theological seminary offering a master’s of divinity. More efforts and financial support are required to enlarge the facilities and find qualified faculty members, and we must also recruit good students who are highly committed to serving God in Christian ministry. Your prayer and support for these matters will be deeply appreciated!

Ministering a mission church

The “Light of Christ” church, which I started, has been gathering to worship God together with a Reformed Church. Co-Pastor Michail Boluboyarinov and I take turns giving a sermon at Sunday worship services. After services, there is fellowship time, Bible study sessions for adults, and a youth group. On Wednesday evenings we have worship services and Bible study meetings. Would you please pray for our church to grow fast and stand up as a self-sustaining church?

On a mission trip during the second week of May, our youth group visited a church and a home for the elderly in Helsinki, Finland. They performed a Korean traditional dance and sang gospel songs. In addition, a number of youth group members left for Hungary to participate in the training program for Christian youth leadership development (July 1 to 12, 2005). We need a professional youth minister and also your prayers and assistance with our youth ministry to make youth members the disciples of Jesus and Christian leaders of the nation.

Seminar on spiritual formation and training

Under the guidance of the Reverend Dr. Chul-Soo Park, director of the Korean Spirituality Development Institute, in Seoul, Korea, a seminar was held at Baltic Sanatory, June 13-15. I was grateful for the opportunity to attend the seminar, understand the meaning of Christian spirituality, and learn how to live a deep spiritual life, especially in handling material things and human relationships.

CIS Korean missionary conference

Along with a number of Korean missionaries from St. Petersburg, I participated in the 12th Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States Korean Missionaries Conference, which was held in Bladibostok from June 21 to 24. In the discussion session of reviews, prospects, and need for mission in Russia and the CIS, I presented a paper on mission work in Russia. I wrote about the need for (1) highly strategic programs for developing qualified ministers and inter-denominational partnership (2) mission projects for community development and unreached people in Siberia (3) special mission for “Korean descendants” as an ethnic group in Russia (4) biblically required mission for Jewish people returning to Israel from “northern” countries and Jerusalem’s revival, and (5) cooperative mission and team ministries with emphasis on the field-centered leadership rather than missionary-centered.

Finally, thanks to God, I have been able to maintain good health and keep up the hectic pace of life here. Everything is all right with me. Meanwhile, I will be back to the States for a check-up and coming back as soon as receiving a new visa from the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Sincerely yours,

Rev. Jin Eun Kim