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Press Release by Kukmin-Ilbo (Korea Daily Newspaper) for Korea UBF Ministry

"It is most important to focus on the next generation of mission work even though it is too hard to bear the fruit of evangelization." The young people of today who lost their dream can renew their dreams and visions through the living word of God." Nothing is impossible for campus ministers if they are armored with prayer and living word".

    On March 2nd the director of Korea UBF David Gilsoo Kim age 70 stressed about the significance of serving campus ministry when I interviewed him at the UBF office located on University Street, Jongro in Seoul, Korea. 

    He has served UBF campus ministry for about 50 years since he came to know Christ when he was a college freshmen. UBF ministry started in Gwangju, Korea in 1961 when the country was in too dark due to the 4/19 revolution and 5/16 military coup. After then It has been growing with many Korean students from Chunju, Daejeon, Daegu, Seoul, Pusan and other cities who were called by God. It is a laymen self-supporting ministry. Currently about 5,000 people are serving Korean campus ministry. It has also grown as worldwide missionary organization serving campus ministries of 90 nations in the world with 10.000 laymen professional and student missionaries along with professors, physicians various other professions.

    Preparing a new school semester UBF has been holding "Bible Academies" in each campus to invite new students. At the meetings student leaders share about their transformed new lives in Christ and their victorious in their school life as well. The main focus of these meetings were new students who do not know God personally. After the meeting they would like to invite those who were moved through the Bible Academy, to one to one Bible study and disciple ministry.   

    In order to attract new students he said, we had been engaging in cultural activities and other events for them but we failed. Eventually the living word of God moved their hearts and transformed their lives.

    Through UBF ministry many young people who did not know God came to know and meet God. The UBF director was also was one of them. He suffered from an inferiority complex when he was a freshman of the College of Pharmacy at Seoul National University. He was wandering because of his failure to enter the medical school at SNU, which was his only dream and couldn't find his life purpose. But by God's grace he was invited to UBF Bible study. Through the Bible study he came to know Christ and experienced revival of his soul and found a clear life purpose in Christ. In 1973 he was called by God as a full time minister after he was discharged from his military duty of serving in the Vietnam War. Since 2011 he also has been serving Korea UBF ministry as the Korea UBF director.    
    He again said that " to raise a next generation of faith is our future hope" because our future leaders come from the campus. That is why I would say it is worth serving campus mission. And whenever I see young people my heart is broken because most of them are in despair in fiercely competitive world, struggling with job problems, marriage and fear of the future. Although they are in the worst situation they can get out of it through the gospel of Christ and become a new creation. Also our UBF members will strive to concentrate on campus ministry so that many young people may come out of their despair with a new dream and vision through the gospel of Christ.  

     
Reporter : A-Young Kim

Link : http://news.kmib.co.kr/article/view.asp?arcid=0923707576&code=23111111&sid1=chr