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SEEK THE LORD AND LIVE

M. Caleb Han (CIS Coordinator) 
St. Petersburg, Russia 

Amos 5:6, "Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it."

From January 2-5, the 2018 CIS New Year Directors Conference was held in the capital of the country Georgia, Tbilisi. We decided to hold the conference in Georgia, because we wanted to actually be in Caucasia, including the nations of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. We have prayed many years to pioneer these countries and by being in Georgia, we were able to rekindle our pioneering spirit and overcome our habitual prayers toward these nations.

The theme of the conference was “seek the Lord and live” Amos 5:6. We CIS directors had acknowledged in the past that we wanted more knowledge of the Bible and so had planned to master a book out of the minor prophets at the New Year’s Conference every year. Last year in 2017, we studied the whole book of Habakkuk and set the goal to master the book of Amos in 2018. At first our reason as to why we selected the book of Amos was vague. We simply thought this book would be better to study than Haggai, so it was difficult to answer Dr. James Suh and Shepherd Changwon Kim when they asked us why we selected Amos to study. We were still unsure, so we prayed to God so that he may bless the words of Amos and asked Shepherd Changwon Kim, who is specialized in the book of Amos, for study materials. He prepared and gave us questions to go along with three lessons, as well as helping us form study groups led by directors, so that we could prepare the messages for the conference with a direction. The group bible studies with him were very helpful in preparing the actual messages.

From the preparation stage, having directors meeting in Georgia, where no UBF members yet lived, was not easy. However, God led us whenever we needed His help. Pastor Abraham Kim and Missionary Sarah Kim arrived first at Tbilisi and helped to prepare the messages by praying to God that our meetings may be full of prayers and His words.

For this conference, many of God’s precious servants attended and served us with prayers and comments. Pastor Abraham Kim, Missionaries Sarah Kim, Charles Kim, Isaac Kim from the USA; Joshua Lee from Canada; Dr. Peter Chang and Shepherd Jochen Schweizer from Bonn UBF; Dr. James Suh, Shepherd Kyunghee Suh, Wesley Yoon, and Changwon Kim from Korea all attended.

Despite many difficulties, the conference was held as scheduled. First, Shepherd Changwon Kim delivered the summary of Amos with many points that gave us an overall understanding of the book of Amos. Then Missionary Isaac Kim led the Amos summary lecture for the Shepherds and the leaders.

Lecture 1 was powerfully delivered by Shepherd Patri Yook from Kiev, preaching that we must listen to God’s words, so that we may help deliver the souls of this generation suffering with sins of selfishness and lust. Everyone found how we commit the same sins of the book of Amos’s generation that made our God sad and came to repent.

Lecture 2 was delivered by Pastor Abraham Kim with the words from Acts 1:1-14 with the title “You will be my Living Witnesses.” We learned that the most important thing is to have living hope in the kingdom of God and to live as living witnesses of Jesus. We pray that CIS coworkers may live more as living witnesses of Jesus in 2018.

Lecture 3 was wholeheartedly delivered by Shepherd Daniel Chivayeba with the words from Amos 5:1-6:14, titled “Seek the Lord.” He testified how our sinful life is destined to be destroyed through the judgement of God, despite whatever palace we live in or the gourmet foods that we eat. We all must be clothed with hope in that we may seek the Lord eagerly and find life in God in 2018.

Lecture 4 was Amos 7:1-9:15, titled “I will Restore Daniel’s Fallen Shelter,” delivered by Shepherd Moses Jadarozonia. We learned through the message of God’s amazing love that he punishes his chosen people but will love to the end trying to restore them.

God’s words in the book of Amos was a declaration of God’s judgement toward this sinful generation that has become corrupt and complacent than ever with economic affluence and political peace. While we were visiting the holy places, hearing their history, and seeing the proofs, we were so moved with the faith of the Georgians, who accepted the Gospel early in the 4th century, keeping their Christian identities against Muslim forces. Their ancestors of faith overcame numerous hardships and fought against pagans with their faith only in God. However, in addition to the many Muslims that came in from Iran, Turkey, etc., that have expanded their power, presently we heard that young men and women are losing their faith in God and have very little knowledge about God’s words. We realized that Georgians need new spiritual movements to listen to God’s words and seek the Lord eagerly. At the end of the conference, we came to have eager hope that we may send missionaries to Georgia and preach the Gospel to them.

We realized that God’s will of opening the conference in Georgia and declaring his words through the Amos Bible study was for this very reason. God wanted us to clothe us with a strong desire to CIS, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan.

We deeply appreciate the prayers and God’s words offered by the precious servants and coworkers of God. We feel thankful for the wholehearted co-work and services rendered by CIS. We pray that our Lord may be with you one by one and bless you to seek the Lord wholeheartedly, gain life, and be used in his saving ministry.

One word: Seek the Lord and live.

Caleb Han

His Indebted servant.