News > North America

The objectives of this meeting were to support house church ministries and find the ways to raise Jesus’ disciples in each chapter. After the dinner at 6 pm, the first meeting began from 7:30 pm with a message by Abraham Kim of Erie. His title was “Count the stars,” based on Genesis 15:1-6. He testified that God led him faithfully until now, giving him a job through which he could apply for permanent residency. By God’s grace, his three children are growing healthy. He wants to carry out his small house church ministry with a big vision of raising spiritual descendants as countless as the stars in the sky.

 

Next, with Tom Kalapos moderating, we had an open discussion for about 2 and ½ hours. The major topic was the identity of UBF ministry: Is UBF just a campus ministry or a church? Is UBF only for college students or for all people, including children? All kinds of needs were identified. Pastor Ron answered it, saying, “Our ministry started as a campus ministry but now it is clearly identified as a church.” He explained the limited resourcefulness of the HQ and encouraged us to find ways to meet the needs of the house churches at the regional level. We shared with one another the pros and cons of the house church ministry.

 

The next morning we gathered for breakfast at 8 am. The meal time was the time of personal fellowship with dear coworkers. We started the second meeting at 9 a.m. with a message by Jeff Gathergood of Columbus. His title was “Put this mina to work,” based on Luke 19:12-27. He testified that in the past he did what he was told to do, but now he is self-motivated to serve God. He identified his talents as his love for Bible study and a gentle and friendly character. Especially he is happy to serve men’s devotional (young men’s group meeting in Columbus) every Thursday and serve the Sunday messages occasionally. He encouraged us to find our own talents and give them to God. He also encouraged us to find others’ talents so that they might serve God joyfully by offering their talents to God.

 

Following his message, with Whit Cha moderating, we had an open discussion for about 1 and ½ hours. We thought about how to help students to be self-motivated to participate in the work of God sharing our core UBF values. The importance of communicating these core values was raised. Instead of pushing people to confirm to these core values, it is important to help them understand and accept these core values based on the Bible until they are self-motivated to participate in the work of God with their own initiatives. The meeting ended with Dr. Paul Hong’s final encouragement and prayer. Overall we believe that God was with us to open our hearts and share our real and genuine concerns with one another and be mutually encouraged by each others’ faith.