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The righteous will live by faith

Romans 1:17 “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ ”

    I praise and thank God Immanuel who has been with us in this year 2016. By God’s Grace we thank our precious and sacrificial co-workers for serving the seventh annual second generation missionaries’ conference in the Czech republic. I pray for God to remind us of His grace for us to set a new direction for the upcoming year 2017 on how to serve Czech and European mission. Amen. 

I. The work of God through his word

    We began the year with the study of the book of Acts, John’s gospel and Romans. Missionary Hannah Shin, Shepherd Ale2 Máca, David Shin and Joshua Kang took turns to deliver the Sunday messages and grew as servants of his word. Sister Hanka Šámalová attended the Sunday worship service every week and through regular Bible study she learned about Jesus and is growing as a mother of faith. Shepherd Ale2 Máca, brothers Martin Gurín and Choi Yoon Seok are living common life at the center and learning about Jesus.

    Our Prague center had Easter conference on April 26-28, 2016 in Karlovy Vary with the theme, “Christ is risen” based on 2 Corinthians 15. Msn. Samuel Park and Peter Jeon served the the main lectures. Msn. Samuel Park testified about his personal resurrection faith. His co-worker Msn. Anna Park with her 2 children had a car accident while driving from her apartment. By God’s protection and Grace, they didn’t suffer from any serious injuries while their car was totaled. By God’s Grace Shepherd Aleš Máca shared his life testimony at the World Mission report in Korea. I pray God may give him the most suitable co-worker of faith to establish a house church next year. 

II. The seventh 2nd generation Conference God’s people, Kingdom of priests 

    Our seventh annual conference took place from July 2-5. In total 84 people from 14 different countries, 40 adults and 44 children attended. In order to prepare for this conference, Msn. Hannah Shin along with other women missionaries from the other European chapters had conference calls every two weeks for three months. They prayed together, studied the Bible passages together and discussed about the future program together. Through this conference we learned that our children are God’s people and have an identity as a Kingdom of Priests. We prayed that they may grow as good co-workers and shepherds in each European country. Missionary Dr. Paul and Sarah Hong from Toledo, Msn. David Kim from Indianapolis and Msn. John Jeong from Albany, P. Abraham Lee and Sarah Lee from Cologne and Msn. Samuel Peter Ryu from Mainz came to support our conference. Above all we were so happy that the second gens Sarah Ko and David Ko flew by themselves from Serbia to join our conference. That gave us great joy and grace. Most of our chapters in Europe are small, consisting of one or two families. This opportunity for our children who share the same faith and similar circumstances, to meet each other gave them joy and comfort. Our conference was divided into eight different groups.  Ages 5-17 were served by 14 missionaries who served their groups as group leaders. The program began at 7:30 when each of the groups met and memorized Bible verses. Every Bible teacher prepared Bible study and served his or her children wholeheartedly, according to their level. Second generation Missionary David Shin delivered Main Lecture I, “Jesus changes water into wine” from John 2:1-11. He testified Jesus’ power to transform. This message was to encourage our second gens to experience Jesus’ miracle of inner transformation. Sarang Yang from Vienna, Austria shared her testimony. Although she suffered from her friend’s betrayals and as a second generation missionary, she cried and thanked God for his Grace of salvation upon her. 

    Our second gens were given a homework assignment to read the entire book of Exodus and all 4 gospels before the conference. Msn. Pauline Lee led the Bible quiz. By quick replies of various Bible questions of our second gens, we all were mesmerized by their Bible knowledge and their effort. We could also see their improvement in the Korean language. Msn. David Kim from Indianapolis served a special lecture entitled “Do I live as a slave or as a shepherd?” In his lecture he encouraged our second gens to live as God’s people in this sinful world. In this occasion they also had an opportunity to ask some questions by writing them on a piece of paper. Msn. David Kim and along with the male missionaries gave answers. Msn. David along with the parents did their best to address all of their questions.

    Missionary Epafroditus Kim from Austria served the main lecture II. In his message he wrote that by the love and serving of Missionary James and Sarah Han he met Jesus personally as his Savior. He admitted he’s very happy in Jesus who helped him with studies and work. Second generation Missionary Moses Kang shared his representative testimony. He said that as a middle school student he suffered from pessimistic thoughts, lust and thirst for recognition by girls. In his testimony he repented and asked for God’s help. In the afternoon, we had a sports event with children and parents on the pitch at Agricultural university. Two different teams were formed and we played various games: Throwing water balls, jump rope, relay race, football etc. We were all overjoyed and united in spirit. During our conference 16 of our children shared graceful testimonies. Also we had a rich music program led by Missionary Petra Kang from Macedonia. The Main lecture 3 was delivered by second generation Missionary Samuel Ryu from Mainz from 1 Peter 2:9-10 “A Kingdom of Priests”. Samuel Ryu attended our conference with his co-worker Happy Maria and their three lovely children. Samuel Ryu was amazed by the children’s Korean and decided to study. In his message we learned about the “domino effect,” that if we begin a life based on the truth of the word of God, we can live an influential life of knowledge and faith.

    Second generation Missionary Esther Lee from Greece shared her graceful representative testimony. Even though she had some desires to live like her worldly friends, after meeting Christ she fought to overcome them. She moved our hearts to tears by her honest testimony, confessing with tears that her friends bullied her. Through her testimony she newly confessed Jesus as her Christ and decided to live in Greece as a Kingdom of Priests and a good shepherd.   

    Missionary Dr. Paul Hong gave us a practical special lecture on the “management of life” to our missionaries. Based on Matthew 25 he gave us some clear direction on how we should develop spiritually, professionally and globally. Our conference was the beautiful result of co-working of the European missionaries who serve their ministries in small numbers. Missionary Barnabas Woo from Greece came with his entire family of six people. Our second generation Missionaries from Austria and Sweden became university students and grow as best co-workers to their parents. I thank and praise God for His grace upon our small ministries in Europe by raising our children as good co-workers, shepherds and as a Kingdom of Priests. I thank and praise God that he gave our Czech co-workers joy and love to serve our conference sacrificially. 

III. New year direction 

    The key verse for the new year is Romans 1:17 – “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ ” I pray that we may also in year 2017 life by faith to glorify him. 

Prayer topics:

• God may give graceful Sunday messages to all Sunday messengers; Hannah Shin, Ales Máca, David Shin and Joshua Kang.
• We may serve well second generation Missionary conference continually. 
• All our co-workers to feed 1 sheep and raise them as disciples of Jesus. 
• Regular Morning devotion, Daily Bread and Campus outreach.
• To raise 12 Disciples and 12 Marys of faith at Czech technical, Czech agricultural, Charles University and Prague economical university
• Shp. Aleš Máca to establish a house church

One word: “Only by faith!”