Why I Choose Korea as the Mission Field

Korea is a developed nation, unlike South America, Africa, or poorer parts of Asia. It also has many churches already—on nearly every street corner. From the outside, it might seem as though Korea does not need missionaries.

But the mission is never about wealth, poverty, or outward appearance. The true question is whether the gospel of Christ is being preached in its purity and whether the Lord’s Church exists in its biblical form. In this, Korea is in the same condition as America was in the early 1800s. Churches are many, but most belong to human institutions. People gather in them, but many have not truly died with Christ in baptism to be born again of water and Spirit. Much of what is practiced is not the Word of God alone, but human tradition.

This is why restoration is needed. The Restoration Movement in America began with Christians who were weary of division and human tradition. They desired only to be Christians, to return to the Bible alone, and to practice the simple New Testament Christianity. Restoration was never just going back to an “original state,” but continuing and expanding the Lord’s Church as the Word of God prescribes. However, when a thirsty soul seeks salvation in Korea today, he is fed not the pure spiritual milk of the Word (1 Pet. 2:2), but the leavened grape juice that intoxicated the Jews. His pearls are thrown before dogs and pigs, only for his soul to be trampled and torn apart. What Korea needs is the Lord’s Church, serving them with the truth in love. That restoration, which happened in America, must also happen now in Korea.

Just as the Restoration Movement in America began in one place and spread until the churches of Christ covered the whole nation, so also the restoration of Korea can begin in a city like Jeonju. From Jeonju, the Lord’s Church will grow and cover the whole nation. And from Korea, the Lord’s Church will extend to Korean immigrant communities across the world. I do not say this out of arrogance or confidence in myself. I say it because I know the God who is faithful and powerful. He will not let His Church be overthrown (Acts 5:39). He does not turn His eyes away from any people or nation, whether poor or rich, weak or strong. Wherever there are souls to be saved, God raises up servants to bring them the gospel—just as He raised up Jonah for the people of Nineveh, even through three days in the belly of a great fish.

I am one of those servants. God selected me in my mother’s womb, choosing that I would be born as a Korean, raised in a Korean home. He called me by the gospel, guided me to the Lord’s Church in Martin, Tennessee, and there, He saved me. He equipped me with His Word at schools while raising me in the fellowship of Christians who became my spiritual family. He trained me in the ministry of His Church. He also disciplined me: leading me through the wilderness to humble me, that I might obey Him with all my heart.

Now it is clear: all this was God’s providence to raise me as His servant for the Korea mission. He raised me first in my earthly home in Korea, and then in my spiritual home, the Lord’s Church, in the United States. And in His time, He raised me up and inspired me to return to Korea with a burning fire in my heart. It is a fire of compassion for my kinsmen and passion for their salvation.

Can there be any clearer calling for me to the Korea mission than this providence of God in every step of my life?