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The 2015 Paris Forum (the 7th) was held at Gordon-Conwell Seminary, Charlotte NC, during May 5-8 through the support of KIMNET (Kingdom Inter-Missions Network). Paris Forum is the Korean Missionary Community of the French-speaking areas in Africa, established in 2006. The main topic of this Forum was “the oneness in mission and the strategy for collaboration in the mission field”. For this purpose all attendants grabbed the key word, John 20:21, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” On the basis of this purpose, at every meeting all the missionaries cried out before God to unify themselves in the mission field and to advance God’s Kingdom in West Africa.

The 2015 Paris Forum has some historic weight in the history of the African mission. First, all missionaries who attended this Forum overcame the severe sufferings and maintained their identity as African missionaries. Most nations of West Africa such as Gambia, Senegal, Niger, Mauritania, and Mali have been classified as the poorest in the world (so-called “Yellow Windows”). Furthermore, in recent times, there was a severe outbreak of Ebola in these nations of West Africa, resulting in many missionaries leaving their mission fields. However, these missionaries sustained their mission in West Africa to the end and attended this Forum by faith.

Second, they have attempted to unify themselves for the glory of God and to establish the team mission for the advancement of God’s Kingdom in West Africa. In total, 33 missionaries attended the Paris Forum from 13 nations and from 12 Mission Institutes in Africa. All of them have their own mission strategies and different denominational backgrounds, but gave their differences up and unified together. Missionary Chang-Ho Ahn, chief leader of the Paris Forum from Mali, said that this Paris Forum was a great leap for the unity of the West Africa mission and for the evangelization of Islamic nations in Africa.

Main speakers in this Forum were Pastor Kang-SuK So (New Eden Church, Korea), Pastor Dong-Whi Lee (Antioch Church, Korea), Pastor Jacob Lee (UBF, USA), and Pastor Sung-Ki Ho (PGM, USA). Among them, Pastor Dong-Whi Lee emphasized the oneness in love and encouraged the missionaries with the message of “10-elements of Antioch Church”, saying, “Prayer is not the ministry, but our breath.” Pastor Sung-Ki Ho offered the challenging model for the world mission, that is, “The Fourth Wave of Mission”. He challenged all the attendants to have a sense of world mission, “here and now”. Pastor Jacob Lee suggested the healthy self-supporting laymen missionary model of UBF (University Bible Fellowship) for the next step in the world mission.

At the meeting hall of Gordon-Conwell, there was a big fresco (by Gerald Steinmeyer) to depict Jesus sowing the seeds of the gospel for the world, with the background of Jerusalem, the burning Twin-Towers in New York, and the harvesting workers in the field. This vivid picture clearly teaches us who the missionary is and how Jesus advances his kingdom in the world. Thank God for blessing the 2015 Paris Forum and advancing his Kingdom in West Africa.

Ezra Cho