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HAVE THE VISION OF JESUS FOR THE HARVEST!

“I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” (John 4:35)

<By PhilipWong, Canada UBF Coordinator>

<UBF General Director P. Moses Yoon's Words of Blessing>

<Entire Video of Canada UBF Leader's Conference>

When Jesus looked at Samaria, he viewed the people in a whole different way which the Jews normally did not. Racial barriers between the Jews and the Samaritans created a form of physical social distancing. And as Jesus approached a Samaritan woman in need of the gospel, Jesus overcame these barriers, such as the moral barriers between a rabbi and an adulteress, and especially the spiritual barrier between a sinner and Son of God. We are facing these kinds of barriers still today with the current pandemic and social justice issues. One big question on the mind of our leaders is how will we serve students on a virtual campus?

The theme of the conference was to have the vision of Jesus for the harvest. The goal was to for our leaders to have this new vision for the harvest through online ministry. The Canadian Leaders’ Conference was shorted from a whole day in-person event to a one evening online meeting. It was held on Sunday, August 16 from 6 PM to 9 PM. As it has always been a challenge to get leaders from Western and Eastern Canada to meet in one place, we thank God who made it possible for more leaders from almost every chapter to attend the conference with this online event.  A total of 76 participants joined the meeting on Zoom, with many of the “participants” being more than 1 person. Therefore approximately 100 leaders joined this event.

Pastor Moses Yoon (GD) blessed our conference with an opening address to bless us and plant faith in God to serve and raise disciples, and how God will use people who are spiritual zealous, well-trained, and centered on Christ, he who is our power to serve with the humility and love.

The first presentation “Great Awakening in USA and Canada” was given by a special guest from Washington UBF, Dr. Ezra Cho.

His presentation taught us how God uses times of crises to bring about a spiritual revival. He explained the revivals which took place in the USA and Canada such as the different awakenings which were brought about by great servants of God. As we are going through a time of crisis with the coronavirus pandemic, we can pray and see how God is using this current crisis to bring a spiritual revival for our nation and the world.

Our second presentation “Online Ministry during the Covid-19 Pandemic” was given by C*harlesKim (Ryerson UBF).

Missionary Charles has been serving a successful and fruitful online ministry. Before the pandemic, Ryerson averaged about 9 worshippers on Sunday and no group Bible study. But during this pandemic, Sunday attendance tripled and there are 12-15 regular students coming to group Bible study. His Facebook campus ministry includes having 3400 people as friends on FB! He described the method in which each of our leaders can practice our own ministry online through Facebook. It was exciting and encouraging to see how we can serve campus ministry online. God could give us a vision of this harvest online.

Our final presentations were given by a few chapters to share how they are using certain tools for online ministry. C*alvinRaveenthran (St. G*eorge) described how their ministry is using Slack as a virtual Bible center where announcements are posted, events are organized and a forum to share and receive messages. It is also a facilitator for daily bread devotion, reflection writing/sharing, and thanksgiving/prayer requests. And it is also a room for personal conversation and counseling.

Canadian chapters with online worship services are primarily using Zoom or Facebook Live. I*anAgard (T*oronto) shared their experience with Zoom and sharing some helpful tips and advice. While J*ohnGiesbrecht (M*ontreal) shared about the use of Facebook Live for worship in Montreal UBF. Each ministry experienced difficulties to master online worship service and pray God will use our online worship to glorify the Lord.

Through this conference, we thank God who can give us this vision of the harvest in a whole new way with online ministry. Many of us were somewhat familiar, but now with this situation and many campuses becoming virtual campuses, Jesus vision for the harvest great! May the Lord bless our Fall ministry!