Korean missionaries harness energies for worldwide evangelisation

WHEATON, Illinois - A Korean mission conference that drew 5,000 people from over 80 countries came to a close Friday with hope for future global mission and fulfilling the unfinished tasks of evangelising the whole world.

The 6th Korean World Mission Conference (KWMC) consisted of daily services, mission forums and special lectures which provided missionaries with mission strategies from various mission specialists and scholars. This year's speakers included the Rev Lorean Cunningham of Youth With A Mission, the Rev Reinhard Bonnke from Christ for All Nations, and Dr Ralph Winter of the US Center for World Mission.

At the closing service, the Rev Joon Won Kang, the chairman of KWMC, urged the missionaries in his message to keep going after the unreached.

"There are a lot of people running in this world ... but where are they running toward?" he asked.

The mission leader reminded attendees to run towards God and remember to direct others to runing towards God.

"Even in difficult situations, remember that you are taking part in delivering the Gospel globally," he said. "If God is with us, anything can happen."

Korean missions has grown rapidly since the first KWMC conference 20 years ago. Korea now sends around 18,000 missionaries to 168 countries, making it the second largest missionary-sending country in the world. The July 28 - August 1 conference concluded with a new goal to send out 100,000 missionaries by 2030.

Another highlight to this year's conference was its fully-documented declaration which was formally composed and presented. KWMC staffs the Rev John S Ko and the Rev De Heung Kang read the declaration, titled the "2008 Wheaton Manifesto", in the honour of the world renowned evangelist the Rev Dr Billy Graham and Wheaton College who supported the founding of the conference 20 years ago.

The declaration starts with stating the historical significance of the mission conference, which started in 1988 to avoid "mistakes of misguided zeal and amateurity" of the earlier attempts of Korean missionaries. It also proposed 21st century mission strategies to be developed in the future.

The next KWMC conference is slated for 2012. Held every four years at Wheaton College since 1988, KWMC was founded by a small group of Korean-American pastors and endorsed by Dr Billy Graham. It is sponsored by three Korean mission organisations, Korean World Mission Council for Christ, Korean World Mission Association and the Korean World Mission Fellowship.