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“We Live by Faith, Not by Sight.”

Part I.  2014 Annual Review

The overview of God’s work

My key verse for 2014 was Philippians 1:21, which says, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” As a human being, we are severely limited by our situations and our talents. We want to do great things, but we are helpless due to our circumstances beyond our control. It is easy to get frustrated and blame others, ourselves and God. Many people were limited by their jobs and families, and could not engage in one to one Bible study more actively. I got frustrated by my inability to help some people, and to increase our one to one Bible study numbers. Instead of getting frustrated, I prayed that Christ may be exalted in my life and my ministry in any circumstances.

We sent Joshua to Columbus and Paw Wah to Australia on Feb. 16. Joshua is in James Cook University Medical School in Townsville, Australia. Paw Wah is serving Karen community as a messenger of God’s word.

One to one Bible study and disciple-making ministry

We had a disciples’ retreat from Jan 2-4, 2014. Our coworkers had a sense of problem because many students come to Bible study but do not grow. So we decided to train students to grow as disciples of Jesus. We chose seven Bible study leaders and let them prepare Bible study and testimonial message and lead the group Bible study at the retreat. We prayed that it may be like a spiritual intensive care unit for our coworkers to restore their spiritual health through the word of God. Despite heavy snow, God sent 27 attendees, and raised Jake, Julianna, Luke West, Sheila, Sam Mukwedeya, Esther Lazo and Wah Paw as group Bible study leaders. They also helped cooking and washing dishes.

We had Club’s Day invitation ministry on September 3 and September 9. A total of 111 students signed up. Also we set up tables at the University of Toronto Sidney Smith building five times a semester for the invitation ministry. Many of our students participated in the outreach.

Conferences, Bible schools, etc.

First, Easter symposium. We had Easter celebration on April 18-20 by studying 1 Corinthians 15. Jake and Calvin delivered the messages on the first and second part. After the worship service on April 20, we had a baptism ceremony for Sophia Xu.

Second, summer Bible conference. We had a united Southern Ontario summer Bible conference on July 4-6, 2014. God sent 26 attendees. Peter Cho served the opening message, and Calvin and Sophia shared their life testimonies. Our chapter led the group praise, “Counting on God,” choreographed by Joshua Jung from Chicago UBF. Sophia volunteered to make T-shirts with “Counting on God” logo, and it brought great joy and spirit at the conference.

Serving guests; coworking

First, Canada night. On March 7, Chicago UBF hosted Canada night. It was to celebrate 33 years of Canadian UBF pioneering and to review the work of God in Canada. It was organized by Dr. Charles Kim in Chicago UBF. Many leaders in Canada coworked together. Andrew Christopher presented Canadian church history. John Giesbrecht, Joshua Lee and Daniel Kwon presented Canadian UBF pioneering history. David Jumeau, Andy Stumpf and Pauline Chang shared their life testimonies.

Second, Labor Day workshop. On August 30, Canada UBF had a workshop on worship, entitled, “Worship God in Spirit and Truth.” Many coworkers had a sense of problem about worship and we wanted to learn worship that is pleasing to God. I delivered a message based on John 4:22-24,

“Worship God in Spirit and Truth,” and Andrew Christopher and Charles Kim delivered lectures on worship.

I attended the European Summer Bible Conference as a prayer servant and visited Koln and Frankfurt UBF from August 13-21.

Thanksgiving topics

I thank God for answering our prayers last year: Luke West was accepted into a master’s program at the University of Toronto and served on the praise team. Sam Mukwedeya got a job as a lab technician in cytology.

Our lease of the current center expired at the end of 2014. When we signed a lease five years ago, we had a clear prayer topic to “double the ministry,” given by Dr. John Jun. Five years ago, our Sunday worship service numbers were around 15. Right now we have about 30. Several times, we had more than 40 attendees. God indeed answered our prayers. We had double weddings of twin sisters in 2012; Paw Wah and Joshua Columbus, Wah Paw and Jacob Jang.

I thank God that Elizabeth Kim became a valedictorian from her high school graduating class and she is attending University of Toronto. Joshua Kim is in his 3rd year at U of T. I pray that both of them may grow in their faith and become our coworkers in one to one ministry.

Part 2. 2015 Vision and Strategy

2015 Key verse

2015 will be a year of faith. I chose 2 Corinthians 5:7 as my key verse for 2015. It says, “We live by faith, not by sight.” The people of this world are influenced by the things that are seen. They live for wealth, power, and possessions; for the things, which this world can give. But the Christian looks beyond this world with a conviction that the best is yet to come. While living in this world, we groan because of frustration of our sins and future security problems. But we look forward to the glorious day when Jesus comes again and clothes us with the glorious resurrection body. Living by faith also means that we trust God to lead us in the best direction as our shepherd. David said, “The Lord is my shepherd…even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” By faith in God, we can find peace in any circumstances because God will never disappoint those who trust in him.

Conference and Bible school plans

We will have Easter Bible symposium. We will have Canadian summer Bible conference on July 9-12 at Trent University, with the theme, “Faith that pleases God.” Summer conference committee met three times to come up with the program which focuses on faith in God.

Part 3.  Ministry Strategy and Prayer topics

As we renew our lease for the next 5 years, we want to have clear prayer topics. So we made St. George UBF vision statement and some prayer topics.

St. George UBF Vision Statement: We aim to cultivate a community of love and acceptance with the common goal of encouraging and helping each other to know Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and make him known. We are committed to obeying Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations.

Action plan--give students and new members opportunity to connect with one another; each may share testimonies and reflections; participate in outreach events; weekly Bible study; involvement in praise and worship; each may grow as a Bible teacher; each may participate in preparing lunch and cleaning Bible center; pray to be a 120-member church.

This year we expect a big change in our ministry. Peter Cho is finishing his PostDoc position at Buffalo, and we are praying that God will give him a tenure-track position in North America. We expect to send Peter and Rebecca Cho away. Luke West is finishing his master’s degree at the University of Toronto, and is applying for a Ph.D. program. We pray that he may be accepted into the University of Toronto. In the midst of all these changes, my one prayer topic is “To live by faith, not by sight.”