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*WATCH VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/live/F6mya_tbedA?si=HoN5MXve49yjcnwa

by Paul K.

"Don't You Remember?" 

The 2023 annual Founders Day celebration was held on October 6 at the Chicago center, with 165 members in attendance, including 30 guests from 10 cities.

The message was delivered by P. Ron Ward with the theme, “Don’t you remember?”, and the key verse Mark 8:18, “Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?”. Jesus rebuked his disciples and helped them to overcome the bad influence of the religious leaders, renewing a sense of God’s history by helping them remember what God has done through them. P. Ron delivered a powerful message full of spirit and heart. His message emphasized the importance of remembering what God has done through Jesus Christ, especially in his suffering, death, and resurrection. He encouraged us to remember our leaders who spoke the word of God to us, considering the outcome of their ways of life and imitating their faith; Hebrews 13:7, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”. P. Ron introduced Dr. Samuel Lee as an outstanding example of faith to imitate.

His message was followed by four life testimonies. M. David S. from the Czech Republic delivered a testimony titled, “The God of Isaac, my God”, Genesis 26:3-4, “Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants, I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed,”.  His testimony revealed the grace of salvation and his personal experiences as a second-generation missionary when he accepted the God of his parents (Isaac S. and Hannah S.) as his God. He prayed that he may be used as an ancestor of faith and a source of blessing to the Czech Republic, Europe, and the whole world, following the God of Isaac as his God.

Steve S. delivered his testimony with the title, “Following Jesus who called me as a shepherd” (John 14:6). His testimony reveals how he renewed God’s calling as a shepherd in the time of financial difficulty, remembering his life key verses, John 14:6. “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” and Matthew 6:33,” But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”. Someone commented that his testimony revealed the depth of his intensive struggle to grow as a great shepherd. Practically, he decided to be a shepherd of Toledo UBF, coworking with Greg L.

Between testimonies, a special song was sung by Indianapolis UBF with the title, “Find us faithful.” The song was very joyful, creative, and inspiring and revealed God’s glory.

John G. delivered a testimony with the title, “Everything is possible for one who believes.” (Mark 9:23b) His testimony reviewed the history of how 23 sewing machine operators came to Winnipeg as female missionaries in 1981 by obeying God’s world mission calling. His testimony revealed how God used the time of persecution to spread the gospel and pioneer many chapters in Canada UBF. It was amazing that several Canadian shepherds left their secure lives in order to move out and participate in pioneering Montreal, including John himself. His testimony spoke of how God raised 7 Canadian shepherd families and many growing second gens. Some people cried when they saw the great work of God growing in Montreal UBF.

Finally, Nehemiah K. delivered his testimony in a video clip with the title, “From a selfish man to a passionate servant of God.”, Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, “. He came to Kwangju UBF when he was a freshman in high school. While he was hospitalized with kidney disease, God led him to meet Christ and be born again through 1:1 Bible study. During his college years, he worked hard to make his ministry the “greatest,” but he failed because he was motivated by human ambition. In that time of failure, he accepted Philippians 3:10 as his life key verse and focused his ministry on knowing Jesus and learning his heart. When he decided to learn Jesus’ heart, God restored Kwangju UBF through his leadership. In addition, God appointed him as a director of Korea UBF. God blessed Korea UBF with two prayer topics: disciple-making and making Korea a missionary-sending country. His heart-moving testimony was the appropriate climax for this memorable event.

The program ended with two prayer topics by P. Mark Vucekovich: remembering the grace of God and his death and resurrection.

<10/03/2023>

On Friday, October 6th @ 7:00 pm CST, we will celebrate UBF Founders Day

Dear servant of Christ in the UBF community:

May the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Thanks and praise to God for pouring out his abundant blessing on the "His Glory" conference and revealing himself to us. As we encountered Him, His Glory shone into our hearts and renewed our faith, spirit, and vision. Since then, His Glory has spread in many places around the world as his servants have gone out fishing and teaching the Bible to students on campuses and in our homes, workplaces, and neighborhoods. May His Glory cover the earth as the waters cover the seas! May his kingdom come! Amen.

Now, in Headquarters, we are preparing for Founders Day. It will be held in the Chicago center on October 6, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. The title is "Don't You Remember?" from Mark 8:18b. Jesus challenged his disciples to remember what he had done. This is so important for us. Without remembering what Jesus has done, we easily fall under the influence of the world and become full of anxiety, and lose direction. But when we remember what Jesus has done, we find peace and strength to live for his glory joyfully. Through Founders Day, we want to build up our sense of history so that we may stand firm in Christ amidst the corruption of the world and carry God's vision for world salvation forward to a new generation. We believe this Founders Day celebration will be a blessing to our community. I warmly invite you to participate in it, either in person or online. And please pray for this event.

The program will include a message: "Don't You Remember?" by myself (Mark 8:14-21), and testimonies by P. Nehemiah Kim (Korea UBF Director), John Giesbrecht (Canada), Steve Stasinos (Toledo), and David Shin (Czech Republic). There will be special music programs as well.

Please save the date. I look forward to seeing you either in person or online.

In Christ,
P. Ron Ward
(UBF General Director)