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When Jesus Saw their Faith

1. To be people of faith

  In 2014, we studied Matthew’s gospel. We learned the ethics of God’s people through the Sermon on the Mount and the importance of faith. We had studied faith so many times before without knowing its true importance. But in 2014, God opened our eyes to the real world of faith. Faith is not an accessory, but a ‘must-have’ in following Jesus. Through studying Matthew, we could love Vancouverites more and more and have the power to struggle.

God blessed us through Sister Stephanie’s (UBC) steady growth. She accepted the gospel with a pure heart and attended Western Canada Summer Bible Conference (Aug. 15-17) and shared her testimony. In 2015, we pray that she attends Sunday worship regularly. Stacey (UBC) had a steady Bible study relationship with Msn. Anna. Msn. John Kim studied the Bible with a classmate at the community college. In fall, God sent a freshman-Leo (UBC) to us. We could build a good relationship with him and start Bible study in October. He attended our joint Christmas worship. Dr. Kurt Grimm moved to Mexico and we pray that he returns to be a prayer co-worker for UBC.

In 2014, God trained us through hard self-support situations. It was a semester at faith school. Msn. John Kim started a health care course at a community college, but failed in practicum. We pray that he can start again and finish it successfully in 2015. Msn. Anna could get the nursing assistant certificate in June by God’s grace. The course was very challenging especially in English and health, but God gave her enough faith to succeed. After graduation, she applied to more than 60 hospitals and facilities. For three months from June to September, she did not have any positive response from them, but she continued to pray, visit and submit applications. Finally, God blessed her through giving her a nice job at a government-run hospital. We really thank God for this blessing.

Second-Gen. Msn. John Kim had a very hard time in upgrading English and other subjects for university entrance. He had a frustrating time. He had to wait for more than three months because of a teachers’ strike in the province. However, God helped him to go forward and we pray that he becomes a man of faith and a source of blessing for campus students.

When we started 2014, we thought that our situation would get better, as we had lived in Canada for more than four years. But the reality is that the situation was more and more challenging, and without God’s grace, we could not stay in Vancouver. Especially, under a very hard financial situation and other frustrating things, there was nothing we could do. We could only wait and pray. God was sincere and helped us even in a car accident. In August, a big truck hit our car from the back, but we were all safe. Coworkers at Chung Ang chapter were very supportive in 2014, too. Their prayer assistance and financial help were very precious. Missionaries Paul Hong (Ohio), James Oh (New Jersey), Ezra Jo (Tokyo), and Peter Cho’s family (Stockton) visited and encouraged us very much.

The second Western Canada Summer Bible conference was a blessing for us. We attended the conference even though we had a really hard time and it was not easy to attend. But when we believed and went there, God gave us a new vision through many promising students’ faith from other chapters. Stephanie learned many things from the fellowship with other students and Little John Kim was encouraged and challenged by other second-generation missionaries and other shepherds. We could see a great vision for Western Canada, and since the conference, we could have a brighter vision for UBC.

1. 2015 Vision and Strategy

In 2015, we want to keep the living faith more and more and succeed. We pray that God may give us more faith and courage. But at the same time, we want to strengthen our inner attitude as a good shepherd and missionary. When we read 2 Corinthians for the New Year’s message, we came to find shepherd Paul’s deep love and maturity for the Corinthians. It challenged us strongly. God makes us realize that it’s time to learn maturity. So we will study 2 Corinthians in the beginning of this new year, and we will try to imitate Paul.

In ministry, we will invite students to Sunday worship. So far, we have put more emphasis on Bible study. But Stephanie’s growth made us think about inviting her to Sunday worship. We will invite more students and try to make a better environment for a better Sunday worship. We pray that Stephanie, Stacey and Leo grow more in faith.

Prayer topics:

1. Have a more mature faith and attitude as missionaries and shepherds
2. Have a stronger faith
3. Have a more spiritual and powerful Sunday worship
4. The spiritual growth of Stephanie, Stacey, Leo and Kurt Grimm
5. Msn. John Kim: finish health care study successfully and get the certificate
6. Have a better job Msn. Anna Kim: settle successfully in her job
7. Second-gen. John Kim: to be a man of faith and enter university