First of all, as a representative
for the second-generation Korean-Americans, I would like to thank
our mission-minded God who loved us and sent His only Son into
the world so that we might have eternal life. I believe KWMC is
a response to that agape love of God, so we offer Him thanks.
Secondly, as a second-generation pastor, I would
like to thank the first-generation pastors, including my father,
명돈의 목사님, and lay leaders also, for starting and continuing this
missions movement called Korean World Mission Conference. We are
especially thankful to you for working hard this year to make
the English conference possible. Our hope is that it will not
end here, but that it would continue through annual or biannual
regional meetings as well.
Thirdly, the first generation is calling on the
second generation to carry on the torch that they carry. The Korean
churches are some 3,500 strong in North America. But many of its
leaders are retiring. As second-generation Korean-Americans, we
have benefited from the faith of the first generation. We cannot
have an “Am I my brother’s keeper?”--attitude toward our Korean
churches. God calls each of us to our own distinctive ministries.
But the second generation must also have willingness to serve
in Korean churches as pastors and lay persons.
Moreover, just as Rev. Sam Jung Suh appealed
to us, we need to spend our time and efforts on building up God’s
church. The church is the body of Christ. Jesus said, “I will
build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it.” Jesus is committed to building the church, and so should
we. KWMC, which started 20 years ago, also is a church based movement.
Fourthly, we also need to be ready to take the
baton from the first generation in terms of missions. According
to the stats here at KWMC, there are some 12,000 Korean missionaries
abroad. However, over 90% of those are from Korea, and only about
1000 from North America. As Rev. Suh mentioned, with the empowerment
of the Holy Spirit, we, too, must be witnesses to the ends of
the world. Jesus commands us. This past June, I had the privilege
of being a witness of Christ in Thailand. I fell in love with
the children of Thailand. The trip convinced me more than ever
that we need to go. We need to go because Jesus is the only way
to the Father.
Finally, I pray that as we hold this conference
that God will bring the first and second generation closer together.
We, the second generation, need to appreciate the deep tradition
of faith in the Korean church. We need to love and respect our
parents. I also pray that we will learn to work better together,
so that God can use the Korean-Americans to bring about a spiritual
awakening in North America.
Recently, I have been reminded that missionaries
from both Canada and USA gave of their lives to share Christ’s
love with people in a country far away called Korea. That is why
we are Christians today. Both generations of Koreans have the
awesome responsibility of being missionaries back to their children,
the people of North America. We can better succeed if we work
together. May God use the first and the succeeding generations
of Koreans to bring about revival in North America and the world!
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