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Fix my eyes on Jesus

Hebrews 12:2 – ‘’Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’’

I. 2016 Review of the work of God in Sweden in 2016

    In 2015 EDC was held in Stockholm, Sweden hosted and served by a family, while we managed to fulfill the conference well thanks to the missionaries from all over the world, especially the 2nd gens. Through this I saw a vision that the 2nd gens will lead and continue God’s history in the future. I received grace through Hebrew 12 from the 2016 New Year’s message and started off the New Year fixing my eyes on Jesus.

    This year, Missionaries Joseph Jin from Norway and Joshua Kang from Spain and my self had group Bible study with Shepherd James Suh of Kyungsung Center in Korea through Skype. Having group bible study every Tuesday at 6 am overcoming our time differences was spiritually helpful after studying the Bible. Occasionally, even during business trips we managed to have Bible studies on line. We finished studying the gospel of John and continued our Sunday Worship Service messages studying the Acts of the Apostles along with 1 and 2 Peter.

    In May we held a combination of Spring and Easter Conferences. We studied John chapters 3 and 4 and newly learned about the resurrection of the Christ. Skyjo participated and our 2nd gens served the conference preparing Sing-a-long and delivered the message.

    In June, Joy, Isak and I participated in World Mission Report in Korea along with the Missionary Conference and studied Book of Deuteronomy. At the conference, I had a good time studying God’s word and having fellowship with other missionaries. Missionary Grace started having a group bible study and prayer meetings with fellow missionary co-workers in Norway and Spain after ours and received grace.

    In August Jonathan Cho from Chicago UBF visited Sweden and attended the Encounter Conference in Germany together with Joy Joo. They learned about The Kingdom of God and how God was continually with each one of us. Grace and Isak participated in the 2nd gen conference in Czech and received grace.

    In September Shepherd Peter Choi’s niece Eunyoung Choi from Kyungsung UBF came to Sweden on a working Holiday visa after graduating high school. Her faith is at an early stage at the moment, therefore, she is continuously learning the word of God through Bible Study and Daily Bread every day. After his exams Skyjo moved out and is now living in a studio apartment. He is still having Bible study even though it is a bit irregular. But he keeps growing in faith learning more deeply about the word of God.

    The Begi family experienced the work of God by getting a work visa after praying for several years and now Begi has joined the Swedish Radio Orchestra. They have been a little distant after receiving the visa and got their life problem solved. Thus, I pray that they meet God personally and restore their relationship with God again.

    I also pray for Marcus to keep in touch with us continuously and to receive one word so that he may have a spiritual desire. Our 2nd gens are having prayer and Bible reading meetings, although they have been irregular, but they are continuously growing spiritually day-by-day. Grace and Anna, who are in Örebro and Uppsala University, are growing as faithful Bible teachers and mothers of prayer with a clear mission.

2. Directions and prayer topics for 2017

    As time flies I have reached the age of fifty, the age according to a Korean proverb that it is the age when you recognize the commands of heaven. It has also been 14 years since we came to Sweden. I worked hard for the mission Jesus gave to me, but sometimes I become weak because of those high walls in this world of establishing a self-supporting ministry and the slow growth of discipleship ministry. However, when I see the God´s work all over the world, God gives me hope in my heart. I pray to continually fix my eyes on God and work for Him.

My key verse of 2017 is Hebrews 12:2. The direction for the new year is to fix my eyes on Jesus through His words. While I am running the race of faith until the glory of God is revealed, I pray that I may work for the bible ministry in Sweden until the end.

Prayer topics:

• Sweden to be a kingdom of priests and holy nation (60 bible teachers, 12 house churches untill 2020)
• Msn John Joo: to deliver Sunday message of Second Epistles of Peter.
• 12 team 1:1 bible study, 12 Sunday worship attendants and for the spiritual growth of Skyjo.
• 2nd gens to grow spiritually as missionaries.
• Msn Grace Joo to recover from her back problem.

John Joo