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Sri-Lanka UBF

February 12, 2013

“For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.” (Ezra 7:10)

1.     The work of the word of God

Missionary Barnabas Baek participated in 2012 ADC held in Philippines and received the word of Numbers 14:24 and 2 Kings 2:9. We studied Genesis until the second week of May and after that Mark’s gospel until December.  We had group Bible study and Bible testimony meeting every week without missing any and were strengthened and comforted through them to carry out mission. In February we had a Bible academy in a Korean church in the village of Hope. The sheep were Geethiak, Upechsha, Indika, Byungchang and we studied Mark 2 in Group. In March we had a Bible academy in Subody, the Catholic Educational center. Geethika, Upechsha, John, and Byungchan participated and studied Deuteronomy 6:5. In April we had a Good Friday Bible camp at Athurugiriya Hall. Geethika, Upechash, Indika, Iresha, Nishantha, Samira attended. The topic of the main lecture delivered by Msn Luke Jeon was “Jesus Who was Forsaken for Our Sin” (Matthew 27:11-66). Geethika, Upechsha, and Nishatha shared their life testimonies. In September we had a Summer Bible Camp with the theme, “Who am I and Who is Jesus?” at Aththurugiriya Christian Hall. There were 22 participants in total. (Getheeka, Upechsha, Paul, John, Jayathilaka, Chitma, Kara, Kelum, Weelaje, Nithi, Byungchan, Alex.) The opening message was “What is Your Name?” by Msn Barnabas Baek. Lecture one was “Son, Your Sins are Forgiven” (Mark2) by sister Upechsha. Lecture two was “You are the Christ” (Mark 8) by sister Geethika. Lecture three was “Jesus Who was Forsaken for Our Sin” (Mark 15) by Msn Luke Jeon. Sister Geethika and Upechsha were faithful in spirit and debuted as the first women messenger in the conference.  

In November we had thanksgiving worship service. We brought fruits and our thanksgiving lists of this year and presented them before God. Msn Luke Jeon recited a thanksgiving poem. On  December 16, we had Christmas worship service in the Karate gymnasium. All seventy one attended and worshiped the Baby Jesus with carols, dancing, orchestra and praise songs. Msn Barnabas Baek delivered the message, entitled, “the Horn of Salvation”. We collected a Christmas donation (offering) and used it to support a church which was in persecution. 

2.     Open worship service

We had an open worship service after the main worship service in order to gather other sheep who could not attend the main one. We denied the desire to take a rest after the main worship service and went out to invite sheep. In the open worship service we had a simple tea party and gospel songs and an easy Bible lecture by Msn Barnabas Baek. One or two sheep attended open worship service constantly. Brother Samira and Sister Kara grew in spirit through open worship service and joined in main worship service. 

3.     Campus visiting

Msn Aroma Lee and Sarah Jeon visited Colombo Art faculty every Thursday. Msn Luke and Sarah visited the Open University and Msn Barnabas and Aroma visited Colombo Science faculty once a week. We went out to the campuses and planted the seeds of prayer with the farmer’s heart who went out to sow seed weeping. Through this we developed a relationship with several sheep; seven sheep from Colombo Campus and twelve from the Open University came to our Christmas worship service. We plan to make a relationship with them through Korean language study and lead them to our open worship service. In the course of that Msn Aroma met sister Amali who is a student of Kelania University and visited Kelania campus to care for her. In particular, I thank God for two lady missionaries, Aroma and Sarah, who visited the campus twice a week in spite of much cross. 

4.     An abundant blessing on our finances

Msn Luke and Aroma took charge of the finances of the ministry and carried out their duties faithfully. As a result of their efforts, our tithe and thanksgiving offerings increased drastically.  We could have several Bible academies and Bible camps due to the increased financial support. We also could host the 2012 Asian Directors’ Conference. Frist of all, sister Geethika and Upechsha began to give their tithe although they had a small income. This is an epochal event in Sri-Lanka church history. Though Christianity has a long history in Sri-Lanka, it still did not take root deeply because of lack of Bible study and lack of tithing. Most Christians do not give a tithe. Thank God for blessing our financial situation.

5.     Personal thanks and repentance topics

Thank God for giving abundant grace through Group Bible study, messages, question-making and Bible testimonies. I helped my two children, Obyung and Iear, through 1:1 Bible study and evening home worship. So they grew to be good co-workers in our ministry. I also shared the word of God with my mother who was alone in Korea through Internet via Skype every week. She grew in spirit and became “Kwonsa” in her church and served in her church. My sister was broken in a crisis. I earnestly prayed for her family, and God heard my prayer and helped her family to be reunited; he also guided my brother-in-law to God.  

Missionary Aroma won the first prize, an airline ticket to Korea, in a meeting of the Korean Association. With the ticket, I visited Korea last May and had fellowship with many shepherds. God brought many students to Msn Aroma and helped us to be self-supporting. This year I made a decision to quit my PhD studies and devote myself to teaching fully and to self-supporting. I had confidence to do it because I had fifteen years’ tuition experience. But strangely my students stopped coming after having class with me only a few times. I was depressed and my pride was hurt and I worried about my future security. Through this problem, I learned that I needed to change my attitude and my heart and even my way of speaking to serve a new generation. I accepted Msn Aroma’s advice from my heart and struggled to let God change me. Thank God for training me through the students of the institute so that I could serve God’s flock in Sri-Lanka. Thank God for helping me to overcome differences and to cooperate with Luke’s family.

My repentance topic is that I barely completed worship service message just before worship service. It seemed to be unchangeable. I tried to complete the message until Saturday. But I failed to do it. I was sorry because if I had done so my worship service message would have been more graceful by completing it early enough to be checked. I repent that I used hard and strong words when I helped brothers Paul and Nishantha. They couldn’t bear my advice and left our meeting. But by God’s grace, they came back to our ministry at the end of year. I repent that I hurt not only God’s flock but also my children and co-workers with hard and strong words. I repent that I did not study Sinhalese faithfully.

6.     2013 Prayer topics

1) For leader’s spiritual growth.

We still have no leaders who are standing firm in faith in our ministry. Giteeka and Uphechsha have grown in spirit through worship service and Bible camp and one to one Bible study. But they are weak in spirit. They need to meet Jesus as their personal Savior. We pray for Giteeka to enter Kelania University and for sister Upechsha to get high marks in the A/L examination. We pray for Brother Paul to get a job and establish a house church. Brother Pardeep is a doctor who has been in our ministry for 9 years. But he is too proud to learn the word of God. We pray for him to be humble and to be a good shepherd.

2) For Singhalese study and systematic Bible study.

A senior missionary in Sri-Lanka said that the most necessary thing in Sri-Lanka church was systematic Bible study materials and a teacher to teach them. Though Sri-Lanka is a Buddhist country, recently Christianity has revived in several places in the country. But there is a lack of study materials for building their faith on sound doctrine based on the word of God. It is necessary to have thematic Bible study materials, for example, materials that cover such topics as creation faith, gospel faith, Christ, the church, the Holy Spirit, discipleship, etc. and Sinhalese to support effective Bible study. We pray for publishing Bible study questions in book form according to each theme and translate them in Sinhalese.

3) For the growth of Aroma Institute 

Currently, two missionary families have visas and are self-supporting through Aroma Institute. We have made relationships with many sheep through the Korean language course at Aroma Institute. Therefore, the growth of Aroma Institute is very important not only for self-support but also for feeding sheep.  Until now, we have barely managed the institute. Therefore, we need wisdom for the growth of Aroma Institute. We pray for God’s blessing on our institute and practically for a van.

By Barnabas Baek