It was a joy to visit with Pastor David Hwang at SaeJoongAng Church in GyungGi-do, Korea. We will profile their church later in Outreach Magazine, but I wanted to let you know about one quick thing.
The church LOVES missionaries and they send them out all over the world. They currently are supporting numerous missionaries around the world. The Korean church is passionate about missions.
Now the church has over 10,000 attendance. Not every church can do this, but they have built something like a hotel for missionaries. They can house 60 missionary families and use these rooms to serve the missionaries when they are off their field for a session.
They call the multi-level facility the Kingdom Mission Center. Pastor Hwang gave me a brief tour.
There is a team that greets the missionaries and care for their needs, like a hotel.
They explain the purpose here:
But, it’s not just lodging. It includes clothing for missionaries.
They also provide education and fun experiences for the children.
I asked Pastor David Hwang about the global mission and vision of SaeJoongAng Church. He explained:
The vision of our church includes “Vision 100, Vision 1,000, and Vision 10,000.” “Vision 100” refers to establishing 100 churches in North Korea, “Vision 1,000” to pioneering 1,000 churches among the nations, and “Vision 10,000” to sending 10,000 saints as missionaries.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, God challenged us to achieve our vision by the year 2030. Under the name “Vision Missionaries,” saints are being sent as missionaries to their respective spheres of life. Starting with over 900 people three years ago, as of 2024, approximately 2,500 Vision Missionaries have been appointed and sent to serve in their respective areas of life.
I believe the beginning of global missions is making every saint live with the identity of a missionary. After receiving the power of the Holy Spirit, we live as witnesses of Jesus to Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, as missionaries to each family, workplace, and local community through the church. And through the church, we are carrying out pastoral work as missionaries beyond regions, generations, and territories, in addition to the perennial labor of preaching the gospel to all unreached people groups and to the ends of the ends of the earth.
Then, I asked why proving such a facility is important to their efforts.
Providing housing for overseas missionaries and helping them is directly related to global missions. I am confident that serving the countless missionaries who have no place to return to in their homeland is a ministry that pleases God.
It is my opinion that the housing ministry for current missionaries—who are like nomads preaching the gospel—is in some ways more important than sending new missionaries. In the future, the church will pray and do its best to serve more missionaries.
Finally, I asked what his future vision is for their global missions efforts:
We will creatively challenge ourselves for world missions and work together. Although past traditions are important, we will seek God’s wisdom and strategy for the next generation’s engagement in mission, preparing for the era of gospel-centered reunification on the Korean Peninsula and spreading the gospel of the Kingdom of God to the ends of the earth.
Believing that this is possible through unity, I humbly desire to serve beyond churches, denominations, organizations, and regions, as platforms and conduits, in order to achieve regional evangelism and ethnic evangelism.
Lastly, we aspire to be a church that encourages and empowers every saint to pray for the over 7,200 unreached people groups with an evangelism rate of less than 2%, cooperating with other mission organizations in preparing for the Lord’s return. Thank you very much for your prayers and kind concern.
Missionaries always need support. In one of the most famous missionary exchanges, before leaving for a missionary journey to India, William Carey told Andrew Fuller, “I will go down into the pit, if you will hold the ropes.”
Pastor Hwang and SaeJoongAng Church are holding the ropes for missionaries advancing the gospel around the world.
This article originally appeared here and is reposted by permission.