10 Years of Lord's Grace, Korea
An update from Songhwan Kang, Lead Pastor of Lord’s Grace Church, Seoul, South Korea…
This past month, we got to celebrate Lord’s Grace Church ten year anniversary with our members and give praises and thanks for the Lord, despite the covid crisis.
I was only forty when I was sent to plant Lord's Grace Church, with five families, but now I'm fifty with a lot of white hair on my head, and this past 10 years has been full of the Lord's grace. In all honesty, I can say that these have been the best years of my life.
Prior to Sovereign Grace, I served a presbyterian church in Korea as a junior pastor for 7 years from 2000 to 2007. As a pastor, I started my day by attending an early morning service at 5AM, and worked past 10 PM. I lived a life of a workaholic and failed to be a good husband and father. One thing I realized later on, was that I wasn’t the only one with this problem. It was a problem that all the churches in Korea had. I kept praying, asking God what the healthy church is, and how can the gospel change lives, and asked for his guidance.
In 2005, through an amazing event, God allowed me to meet Sovereign Grace. I was shocked by the gospel centered churches of Sovereign Grace, and I wanted to learn more. God opened the door for my family, and so in 2007, we were able to attend Crossway Community Church in Charlotte, and in 2008, I was able to study at the Pastors College.
It was then in 2009, that I was able to return back to Korea to look for founding members of our church, and we started a prayer meeting. And then in 2010, Lord's Grace Church was planted.
It has been by the grace of God that this Gospel centered church was planted in Korea. Many years ago, we had many weaknesses and we didn’t understand what it meant to form a gospel centered community. We didn’t understand what it meant to establish families and marriages in the gospel. We didn’t recognize the importance of a humble pastoral team. In Korean society establishing biblical manhood and womanhood was a big challenge. We had many weaknesses, but God has so faithfully guided us over the last ten years.
There were many difficulties, pain and failures in the lives of our members. Some families experienced relationship problems and were close to being divorced, but now they are loving one another. Others have faced financial difficulty and cancer and they were blaming God, but now they are trusting God's Sovereignty. Some of the members had misconceptions about the gospel and fell into legalism, but now they understand the power of the cross and righteousness of Christ and they are grateful. Many members are confessing that their lives have been changed by the gospel. Our church is growing into a forgiving, encouraging, and godly community in Christ.
I am very thankful in my life for meeting Sovereign Grace and being in fellowship with Sovereign Grace. I have experience so many joys in being a part of Sovereign Grace, and here’s just a few:
1. Caring for one another in the gospel: From the very first day I planted the church, my friends at SG have been helping me joyfully. I experienced many hardships and went through trouble when I first started the church, but my mentor Larry Malament, constantly encouraged me and looked after me. He taught me how to hold fast to the gospel and teach the gospel to the members, how to adapt the Gospel to one's life in their family and work place. Larry also taught me to be humble in all circumstances. His pastoral care has continued through these ten years and it is still continuing to this day. It is one of the greatest joys I have experienced.
2. Many SG family churches have visited Korea and helped us to organize conferences and served our church. They have showed our church the true example of serving one another in the gospel. We can never forget the love and fellowship that Grace Church and Cornerstone Church have shown us. The members of the Lord Grace Church thank Larry Malament, Bill Kittrell, Walt Alexander, Dave Taylor, Martin Machowski for looking after us and caring for us, and because of the sacrifices you have made for Korea, and our church.
3. I have experienced tremendous grace through attending the Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference. Every year, the conference has given strength to my wife and I, and allowing us to have new hopes about the church.
God willing, our church has a hope of planting another gospel centered church in Korea. We hope to spread the gospel in Seoul, to other cities, and to North Korea and other countries in Asia. Just as the Holy Spirit worked during the last ten years, for the growth of our church, he will work with us for the next ten years to unite our church and make into a loving community in the gospel. I give all glory and praise to God.
