Partnering with the Korean church
An update from Walt Alexander (Pastor, Trinity Grace Church, Athens, Tennessee USA) …..
“It’s been four long years since you last came to Korea.”
Those were the words one family said to me when I arrived.
Immediately, I thought to myself, “It’s not just been four long years. It’s been four hard years.” Four years ago, there was no pandemic, vaccines, masks, or travel restrictions.
After four long, hard years, it was so good to be back in Korea several weeks ago.
PURPOSE OF THE TRIP
I have visited Lord’s Grace Church in Seoul, Korea five times, but my relationship with the church is built on the faithful investment of Larry Malament (Grace Church) and Bill Kittrell (Cornerstone Church). For years, their churches have come each year to help Lord’s Grace Church host a Conference for its members and guests and an English Camp for school-aged children.
This year, we had a team of 12 folks—8 from Cornerstone Church (Knoxville, TN) and 4 from Trinity Grace Church (Athens, TN).
This year, given the difficult of the last couple of years, the conference theme was “Above All Earthly Fears.” We took three days to study the gospels and to consider the power of Jesus over everything we fear.
It seemed to be an especially helpful topic, not just because of the prevalence of fear surrounding the pandemic but also the prevalence of fear now in our daily lives. It was striking to hear one man testify about the call to fear God and trust God after losing both of his parents to Coronavius. Another woman testified of the fear of facing an unknown future with a severely disabled son.
During the conference, the rest of the team was leading an English Camp. While we did seek to teach English, the focus of the English Camp was to instruct them and help them face fear through skits, Bible lessons, crafts, and many different games.
Like any opportunity to invest in the next generation, the English Camp was a highlight! After learning that the English Camp’s theme verse of Isaiah 41:10, one child stayed up late into the first night memorizing the verse in English. Needless to say, no one on our team attempted to memorize the verse in Korean!
EFFECT OF THE TRIP
Like any mission trip, it is hard to capture the effect of the trip in a few words.
But, perhaps more than anything else, it is so exciting to help strengthen a local church like Lord’s Grace Church. Several folks on the trip mentioned that they had been on many mission trips but never one so focused on a local church. While they were able to serve in different ways on those trips, they were unsure of the effect. Those trips were disconnected from a local church and from discipleship and care.
While it was a bit sad to fly home, it was exciting to leave Songwhan and Miran behind!
God has positioned Songwhan and the growing team there to lead Lord’s Grace Church. God is building his church there. Lord willing, the years to come will include more church plants throughout Korea and into North Korea. To God be the glory!
