NEWS FROM HQ

Serving the Lord in Adelaide

Dear Friends and Supporters:

“O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.” (Psalm 136:26).

The month of April is about to slip away to bring more warmth and blooming flowers in Korea. Myung and I came to Seoul, Korea, in early March, by leaving Hope Church in the hands of our gracious God and His faithful servants. We planned to be away for two months, basically to recharge ourselves and to rest during the time. We came to Korea without any particular plan or schedule that we had to follow. We were hoping to visit some countryside we had not seen before and to meet people whom we had not met for a long time. Hope Church was more than gracious and showed great compassion and understanding to us and our needs. However, the Lord’s thoughts and plans were different from ours, and we have, in fact, been very busy with work! We have visited churches, and Tim has been busy with preaching. The Lord has honored him with many preaching and teaching opportunities, and both of us are happy to know that the Lord has such a plan for us to be used for His church and people here.

When we arrived here in early March, it was still cold and trees looked pitiful without green leaves. By now the famous cherry-blossom season has passed and other pink and reddish flowers are fully blossomed everywhere. However, as probably many of you know, the whole country has been mourning because of the sunken ferryboat and its many victims, mostly high school students. It is a heartbreaking and heart-wrenching experience to see countless numbers of people crying and mourning for those lost in the water. The captain of the boat and his crew fled the boat even without warning their passengers, who were waiting for an escape-call inside of their cabins. The emergency system in the government did not work, and it seemed that no one knew what to do. It reminds us of the importance of our Great Shepherd and His under-shepherd who ought to teach and guide the Lord’s sheep faithfully and lovingly. As the Lord loved His people till the end, so His under-shepherd ought to do the same thing. Young students faithfully waited for the captain’s announcement to leave the boat, which was never realized.

Let us first share a few things about Hope Church with you. The Lord has been gracious to the Hopefuls. The Session members have faithfully served the Lord and the Lord has given us a few new people this year. Some of them are young men, who have shown their faith and desire to serve God. In fact, Tim is planning to have a series of basic theology classes starting in July. He is still in the planning stage because there are lots of things he must think about. This study will be continued for 10 weeks on Saturdays. We are happy to report that there are many young men willing to come and study. There has been a series of lectures on how to interpret the Bible, or the art and science of Bible interpretation, for 10 weeks, on every Wednesday led by Rev. Ed Paauwe. He also was the speaker for our Easter Family Camp. We have heard very positive and encouraging reports that all messages were edifying and encouraging ones. There were many campers, too. We thank and praise the Lord for His mercy to His church. The Hopefuls also have shown their great compassion to a particular family (husband, wife, and two young daughters) facing lots of challenges in life. The husband lost both his parents by cancer when he was still young. He had a cancer operation two years ago but there was a reoccurrence recently. He is in serious condition. His wife has also had a cancer operation and is still receiving cancer treatments. The Hopefuls are rallying behind him by raising funds. We are most grateful to the Lord for the kindness of the Hopefuls, and do believe as the Scripture says, that the Lord is merciful to the merciful ones.

Hope Church has been privileged to have had a preacher for the last few years, while we were away to England. In fact, we thought that it would be a permanent arrangement for the church. However, the preacher had a strong desire to go for further studies and will officially resign as of the last day of April He is waiting for the Lord’s guidance for his future. The Lord has blessed by giving him two more children while serving in Hope Church. He and his family will leave for an overseas trip soon. Please pray for him and his family as they are waiting upon the Lord for His wisdom. It also means that the church needs another full-time worker. There is so much work to do, which is more than Tim can handle alone.

Hope Church will also celebrate her anniversary at the end of May. The Lord has allowed her to grow up steadily over the years. We thank the Lord for the faithful Session and congregation. There are some concerns over the church building, which is very old and requiring serious renovations, rebuilding, or a relocating plan.

London’s New Life Church has been well sustained and preserved by the grace of God. Again, the Lord has proven to be faithful to His people. Preacher Mok has been ministering to the New Lifers since January. There will be an extraordinary Congregational Meeting on the last week of April. Unfortunately, Rev Colin Wong who gave an affirmative answer to the calling from London, changed his mind and will not be available. However, we trust that the Lord is sovereign and all-knowing God. We commit all matters to Him. The New Lifers also had their annual family camp over the Easter weekend. We have received very pleasant and positive feedbacks from the campers. The church still needs its sponsorship status restored. Please continue to pray for this matter. In the meanwhile, the Task Force is doing their very best to meet the day-to-day needs of the Church. Please pray for these godly and dedicated men for the Lord’s ministry.

Thank you for your prayers and kind thoughts toward us. Tim will be fully in charge of the Hope Church ministry again when we return to Adelaide. It also means that we need an assistant pastor who could help him to strengthen and enlarge the work in Adelaide and beyond. Please pray for a man of God who will help the church with Tim.

May the Lord bless you all!
Tim and Myung Ki