January 16, 2007

Dear Colleagues and Friends in God’s mission:

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came down as the Messiah to save us from sin and eternal death, I wish you a wonderful and happy New Year. May God our Father bless you and your family with a joyful, successful, and fulfilling year in 2007. As a mission co-worker of the PC(USA), I deeply appreciate your concern about my health and your prayers and support for God’s mission in Russia. Thanks to God, everything is all right with me, and I am happy to continue my mission work without any barriers or difficulties.

Teaching at Canaan Theological Seminary

Ever since 1993, when I came to St. Petersburg, I have been teaching a number of courses in practical theology. It was a great honor for me to receive a “Plaque of Appreciation” for the recognition of ten or more years teaching at the seminary. During last semester, I taught a course on Christian worship to first- and second-year students, and homiletics to third-year students. Seminary education is very important in order to prepare prospective ministers, and especially to prepare them to establish Presbyterian Churches, because there is no Presbyterian tradition in Russia.

Among the graduates from our seminary, about 10 Russian pastors have been ordained by the St. Petersburg Council of Presbyterian Churches, which consists of Korean missionaries. They are quite active in establishing the Russian Presbyterian Church. In conjunction with the Council, and as chair of the Council’s Education Committee, I prepared for ordination one of our seminary graduates, Aleksei Rim, in November.

Serving the “Light of Christ” Church

I serve as co-pastor of Light of Christ Church with the Rev. Mixail Boluboyalinov, who belongs to the Russian Evangelical Reformed Church. I preach every other Lord’s Day service and minister to the youth group for Bible study and music practice. Under the leadership of Pastor Boluboyalinov, an international conference for Reformed churches was held here in St. Petersburg on November 10 –12. Along with around 50 Russian Reformed church pastors, a number of bishops from Hungary and the Ukraine participated and lectured. Our church made contributions and joined in the conference. It was a good opportunity to become acquainted with each other, and to learn and share about the status of Reformed churches in the region.

Currently, the Light of Christ Church holds worship services at the Lutheran Evangelical Church. Additional ministers are badly needed for leading the youth group and directing the church choir. Would you please join us in praying for fulfilling these needs as well as for church growth?

Sharing the vision for Korean diaspora mission

In the CIS countries (Commonwealth of Independent States), the number of people of Korean descent is estimated to be 500,000, with about 5,000-10,000 in St. Petersburg. There is a great need for Korean missionaries to establish Korean diaspora churches. This is not only a new challenge, but also a reasonable approach to Russian mission.

The Russian Orthodox Church doesn’t want their members to turn toward foreign Protestant churches. Nonetheless, it is permissible for foreign missionaries to evangelize their own nationals without any conflict with the Orthodox Church. Not only that, even though it is said that Koreans have a hard time working together, once they are gathered together, they work hard. I believe that Korean congregations in Russia might be fast-growing churches and quickly become self-sustaining. As a result, it would be more effective and productive to first evangelize people of Korean descent so that they may take turns preaching the gospel in their national language, without any barriers.

In fact, I think this strategy would be effective with Korean churches and missionaries over the world. It is known that over seven million people of Korean descent and Korean nationals live abroad in more than 130 countries. If we are going to make them international missionaries committed to the great commission of Jesus Christ, then “the gospel of the Kingdom will be preached” sooner than we expected, “and the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). As God used Jewish people to save all nations, may He also use the Korean diaspora, so-called “Korean Jews,” to preach the gospel over the world in the last days. We are so blessed to be called to bless other nations. In accordance with the will of God, let us stand up and move on the Korean diaspora to be Jesus’ witnesses “to the ends of the earth” by the power of the Holy Spirit!

Rev. Jin Eun Kim, Ph.D

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 186