News > Europe

At the European Directors’ Conference in 2010 in Israel, we had a very precious time seeing the historical places of the Bible. I saw the land which was dry, but that had become the holy place because of God’s work. Above all, God gave me the holy desire to learn more and more of the word of God so that I could be an excellent Bible teacher.

By the grace of God, I could be hired at the University hospital in Bergen from February. It took 3 years for me to finish the language course and 2 more years to complete the various medical tests and courses. Finally, after 5 years, I could begin to work as fresh medical doctor in Norway.

It was not easy to begin as a fresh doctor. I was very stressed and had anxiety and fear, so I had stomach problems in the beginning. Among the 16 new doctors, I was the only Asian foreign doctor. I had problems with hospital routines, new medical software programs, and communicating with patients. Especially, night duty in the emergency room was the worst for me. I didn’t want to go to the hospital due to tension and stress. I said to M. Maria, “Please pray for me that there will be no patients on my duty tonight.” But she never prayed for that. Instead, she prayed that I could take care of whomever and whatever. I also asked for God’s grace whenever I was at the hospital, in the hospital church, or even in the hospital bathroom. Now, by God’s grace, I can learn every single day, work without much trouble, and help other college and medical students.

We joined the Easter Bible conference in Sweden. We actually had the conference in a boat which sailed to Finland. We praised God in the boat, and in Helsinki, Finland, we prayed that God would send missionaries to Finland.

M. Maria worked hard for the last 6 years to serve the pioneering and self-supporting ministry. She was tired and needed rest. So we decided that she could do ministry as a full-time staff once I began working. She thanked God and said, “I never thought that I could be free from working so early.” And she began to study the Norwegian language again at Bergen University.

The Northern European Summer Bible Conference in Sweden was full of God’s grace. We didn’t have any direct support from big chapters. Musical students from Sweden served in the orchestra and second generations and Bible students served the praise and worship and dancing. Even Joshua and Ester were dancing on the stage during praise and worship. After the conference, we had a gracious time with 3 house churches from Northern Europe. We had good conversations and were encouraged. I felt like they were my spiritual family.

Last year, M. Isaac from LA, Kevin from Seattle, and Yu-young Lee from Kwanak UBF visited us. We had just a few days to be together, but we had a meaningful time full of grace with each of them. We met them for the first time, but they all felt like family because we are all in the same church community. Especially, I climbed a mountain with M. Isaac and we could talk about God, the Bible, and missionary life. He reminded me that the kingdom of God is built only by the Holy Spirit, not by our strength and ability.

Also, last year, M. Maria served Kyungmi and Soyoung with God’s word and prayer. They began attending the Korean worship service and we are continually praying for them. I also got the chance to preach God’s word in the hospital to college and medical students. Many of them thought I was weird that I believed God and even came to Norway as a missionary. But I could recognize spiritual desire in their souls. So I received hope and faith for the Norwegian ministry.

I thank God for taking take care of our children over the past years. Joshua had emotional anxiety and problems with the language. But he became stable and is now a very happy boy after M. Maria began to stay with him at home. And his relationship with me has also improved. Ester, even though she’s just 3 years old, began to correct our pronunciation. She is very talented with languages and has a serving mind. She has already been a good co-worker in Norway.

2010 was a year of thanksgiving for our house church. I did not believe that I could work again as a doctor in Norway. It was God’s great mercy that we could lay the foundation to be a self-supporting ministry. I chose Psalm 119:105 as my key verse in 2010. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” I had spiritual desire to become a great messenger of God’s word. But I was always tired after work and felt burdened by the Sunday worship service.

I must be a spiritual leader in my house. When I lost spiritual power, we lived a very tired life just trying to support ourselves and care for our children. But God loves us and restores faith and spirit when we are useless. He enabled us to have fellowship with a lot of faithful friends and gave us his word through the Bible, books, and several trainings.

Our key verse for 2011 is Matthew 6:33: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” We pray that we can seek first God’s will and his kingdom as a house church in Norway.

Prayer Topics:

1. Norway may be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation
2. M. Josef may be an excellent Norwegian Bible teacher and give powerful Sunday worship messages
3. M. Josef may begin residency
4. Maria Chin may be a mother of prayer
5. Second generations to grow in wisdom and health and become good co-workers
6. Raise ancestors of faith in Norway like Abraham and Sarah and 12 disciples