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Luke 7:14: “Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’”

April 20-21, 2011 Korea UBF held its staff wives spring Bible conference with the theme, “Young Man, Get Up,” based on Luke 7:1-14. It was held at Gwangrim monastery in Kyoungki province in Korea, and it was for the preparation of the Korea UBF 50th anniversary.

The first day when we all arrived, we took a walk on the prayer hills which had blossomed with forsythia and cherry flowers. There we had the first staff wives praise contest on the grass on the hillside near the memorial empty tomb for the risen Christ. All the staff wives eagerly participated in the contest, widely opening their hearts, singing in a passionate tone to give praise and render glory to God. The prize awardees were M. Sunji Jun (award of love), Sh. Choi Eunkyoung (award of faith), Joy Lee (award of hope), and Hannah Kim (award of resurrection).

Next we had a Bible study entitled, “Young Man Get Up,” from Luke 7:1-14 and we divided into groups. All the group Bible studies were full of the Spirit and grace because all of their hearts were opened widely after having the joyful praise contest.

In the evening, Sh. Abraham Park (kyoungwon UBF) gave a life-giving message based on Luke 7:1-14 and we worshiped God all one in Spirit in the upper room chapel which was composed of 12 pillars and was filled with the aroma of juniper. Through the message we listened to the voice of our Lord Jesus who ordered the dead young man, “Young man, I say to you get up.” We also learned that God wants us to have an absolute faith to trust in the word of God which has the absolute power and authority to raise the dead.

Afterward all of us knelt down before God and cried out to him in order to restore the spirit and passion of youth and faith in the resurrection so that each of us can carry out the mission of raising disciples and second generation children while co-working with our staff shepherd husbands. After that, we each began to write deep testimonies before God until dawn.

The second day in the morning we had a graceful and heart-moving fellowship by sharing our testimonies group by group. Through the testimonies, with many tears, we confessed the wonderful grace of Jesus who comforted each of us by saying, “Don’t cry,” and who has done great things among us, answering our prayers whenever we cried out to him for help because he knew all our agonies and difficulties, such as serving both the work of pioneering a new ministry and raising children, even in financial difficulty.

And we also had a symposium entitled, “Learning From The Jews About Succeeding In The Legacy Of Faith,” presented  by Sh. Paulin Shin, Moon Haejung, and In Junghoon. Through this we learned that true education for gifted children is to let them find their life goal through Jesus, from beginning to end, that they may imitate him and be raised as children of God. Jesus is the true model for children, both from the principal of the educational laws of the Jews and because it is the Biblical model, leading them to accept God and the Holy spirit in their hearts.

At the end we all had a united prayer meeting led by Sh. Lee Okhee based on Philippians 2:5, “Have The Same Mindset As Christ Jesus.” We all repented our sins of becoming like old wineskins and having stubborn hearts before Jesus who made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.

We also earnestly prayed that each one of us and our ministry may become like new wine skins so that we can be renewed in the spirit of our pioneering ancestors of faith and in the spirit of the early church in Korea. We prayed especially for the upcoming UBF 50th anniversary main messenger Dr. John Jun as well as the seminar speaker M. Sarah Barry, that God may give us a new vision and direction for next 50 years of UBF ministry. We pray that God may enable us to whole heartedly welcome and serve all the missionaries who will come to the UBF 50th anniversary throughout the world.

In conclusion we praise and thank God for renewing in us resurrection faith, making us one in heart, and for allowing us to pray earnestly for the Korea UBF 50th anniversary through this conference.

Priscilla Kim