CIS New Year Directors Conference, 2015
From January 2 to 4, 2015, the 2015 CIS New Year Directors' conference was held at a retreat center located on a beautiful beach of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan. A total of 75 people attended including 10 guests (6 from USA, 2 from Korea, 1 from Canada, 1 from Germany) and 2nd gens.
On the first day, M. David Byun served the opening message with the title of "CIS; Priestly Nation" based on Exodus 19: 1-6, in which he testified that God is giving eagle's training to each country in CIS as He did to the Israelites to raise CIS countries as a priestly nation. Main lecture 1 was given by Sh. Abraham Stas (Almata) based on Galatian 2:20, entitled, "Christ Who Lives in Me." His message was telling us with confidence that when Christ lives in us we must be changed and bear plentiful fruit of the Holy Spirit.
On the second day, P. Abraham Kim delivered the New Year message based on 2 Cor. 4, "The Gospel: God's Glory Displayed in the Face of Christ." He testified that when we have the gospel light, that is God's glory in our hearts, we will not be discouraged in any difficult situation. Rather, we can live a victorious and fruitful mission life. The closing message was served by P. Ron Ward from Chicago UBF based on Luke 24, in which he encouraged us to be powerful witnesses of the Lord's resurrection holding a living hope of the glorious kingdom of God in this New Year 2015 as well.
There were two special lectures. The first one was served by M. Caleb Choi from Kyrgyzstan with the title of "Nestorian's Ministry on the Silk Road." He lectured that although the Silk Road is only known for the trade between the East and West, in fact, God used the route for delivering the gospel. Through this lecture, 15 Central Asian native shepherds were greatly encouraged to know that once their countries were Christian nations and to find out the will of God who put a great hope for the future of Central Asia. The second special lecture was given by Sh. Nehemiah Kim from Kwanju, Korea, entitled, "The covenant and the Kingdom of God. " He emphasized that the Bible we are studying is one book which is running toward the theme of the beginning of God's kingdom and loss, and recovery and completion of the kingdom of God fulfilling God's covenant through those who obey the words of God.
I really thank God for blessing the CIS conference and all our co-wokers, especially M. Mark & Ruth Bang, Shs. Rebecca from Bishkek and M. Isaac & Rebecca Im, Caleb & Grace Kim from Osh, who devotedly served this conference to be beautiful and rich.
2015 CIS Prayer Topics:
- New pioneered chapters, Ruden UBF (M. Andrew & Josephine Choi) and Astana II UBF (M. Francis & Susanna Yun) for their pioneering
- CIS countries and UBF centers to be used preciously by God as a priestly nation for evangelizing Muslim countries, China, and North Korea
- Pioneering unreached 7 CIS countries: Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova and the major cities in each country
- A peaceful settlement of the situation in Ukraine
*The Next New Year Directors Conference will be held on Jan. 2 to 4, 2016 in Kiev.