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Have the Same Mindset as Christ Jesus

By Dr. Samuel H. Lee

Key verse : Philippians 2:5, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.”

Happy New Year!

Last year, nationally and internationally there were many difficulties. There was continuing confrontation and tension between North and South Korea; 22 million cattle died by foot-and-mouth disease; in Haiti, 220,000 people were killed by the earthquake; and the influence of Christianity in Korea decreased due to an increase in secular values and lack of moral credibility from spiritual leaders who have not been following the good example of Jesus.

Despite our weaknesses, human sins, and the challenges of the postmodern era, God has been working on his providential salvation history upon mankind without interruption.

By God’s grace, world church leaders gathered and prayed together for the completion of God’s mission through the 100th Edinburgh Missionary Conference Anniversary and the 3rd Mission Conference in Lausanne.

Korean churches sent out more missionaries and the total number of Korean missionaries steadily increased to over 2 million.

The most memorable spiritual festivals in UBF were in the South American International Conferences in Bolivia, Venezuela, and Mexico in July and August. Also God blessed the seasonal Bible conferences in each chapter in Korea and in many UBF conferences cross the world.

UBF in Korea struggled to establish campus discipleship and self-supporting ministries, which has been God’s given mission to us, by holding on to Romans 1:16, “The power of the gospel,” and Galatians 5:16, “Walk by the Spirit.” God also raised four full-time staff members: Abraham Joe, Samuel Sohn, Steven Kim, and Jonathan Kim. Among them, Abraham Joe, Steven Kim, and Jonathan Kim received both spiritual and language training in Chicago for 6 months.

God continued to bless UBF in Korea last year by sending out 56 missionaries to 37 regions, in addition to 26 short-term, self-supporting missionaries to 17 regions.He also enabled us to pioneer 82 nations through 1718 UBF missionaries. We served 51second generations missionaries came from 35 regions of overseas.  Through studying the Bible study and visiting chapters in Korea, they learned of their spiritual legacy and it mounted their identity as second generation missionaries.

We re-educated 264 missionaries from 101 regions, who came temporarily to recharge and receive medical treatment and then sent them out again.

With the heart of Jesus, we delivered rice six times to rural residents in North Korea who are suffering in the midst of extremely difficulties because of the interruption of food aid due to the lack of support from the international community over the nuclear weapon issue.

We also supported the construction of the UBF Bethesda mission hospital in Uganda, Africa. We supported any chapter in Korea which needed some help. We served and worked together with other organizations nationally and internationally.

Personally, I attended the African, Asian, Latin American, and North American New Year Directors’ Conferences and served either the main message or special lecture, both of which were titled, “Early House Churches of Christianity.” I also visited Venezuela, Nicaragua, Honduras, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, and Israel to encourage our missionaries with God’s word. I also served main messages for the Central Asian United Conference, Bolivian International Conference, and X nation conference. Moreover, I had the chance to give some special lectures: “UBF New Generation Mission Strategy” at the 100th Edinburgh Missionary Conference Anniversary in Tokyo, Japan; “UBF Discipleship Ministry and Mission Strategy” at the Back to Jerusalem Mission Conference in Israel; “UBF as a Moravian Missionary Model” at the 2010 Korean Christian Conference and Pusan Mission Conference; and “My Mission in UBF” at the Global Christian forum Asian Conference.

UBF in Korea marks the 50th anniversary in 2011. In April, we began to prepare for the UBF 50th anniversary and World Mission Report by organizing a committee to arrange each part. We will prepare the 50th anniversary world mission report and missionary seminar according to God’s pleasing will and celebrate them from May 29 to June 1. Through this, we want to look back at the last 50 years of God’s marvelous work in and through us and share it with one another. We also want to consolidate our spiritual legacy and mission statement in UBF for the next 50 years with God’s vision and clear direction.

In 2011, God gave us two key verses. The first was 1 Samuel 7:3, “So Samuel said to all the Israelites, ‘If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.’” And the second was Philippians 2:5, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” The key word in UBF in Korea in 2011 is, “Be like Jesus,” based on Philippians 2:5. For this purpose, we will publish Bible study materials for full-time staff members to serve the ministry effectively based on God’s word. We will also make a professional Bible research team to prepare Bible study materials in advance each semester.

We will keep supporting staff to receive language training and to experience the mission field overseas so that they may grow as influential and global spiritual leaders. We may also raise 2,500 new disciples of Jesus and 100,000 self-supporting missionaries by 2041 and evangelize North Korea, China, the Middle East, and Israel with the gospel of Jesus.

May God continue to bless Dr. John Jun as the general director and raise a successor after him according to God’s pleasing will. May God bless each one of you, your family, and your ministry as you serve our Lord’s world mission command as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation in 2011.

1.1.2011

Samuel H Lee (Korea UBF, Director)