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Slovakia UBF
January 14, 2014

To Serve and to Give His Life as a Ransom for Many

Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Praise the Lord who called us in accordance with his will and has trained us to become people of love, of faith, and of hope in God. Even though we are very weak and fail to follow Jesus, God always is with us. Today we thank God for His unfailing love and unlimited grace toward us.

1. God’s heart toward Slovakia.
Matthew 4:15-16 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

During this year God sent many co-workers of prayer to Slovakia. In January God sent Shepherd Kim from Gangreung to Slovakia. She stayed in our house for two weeks and during that time visited the campus every day with burning heart for lost souls and prayed for students living in darkness. Through this, God helped us to know His heart toward lost souls and pray for them with a broken heart. In July God sent Missionary Choi who had served for two years in Egypt as a missionary. After finishing her two year duty in Asuncion University in Egypt as a Korean teacher, God led her to Slovakia. She has a wonderful talent for singing and teaching, and most of all, she wants to devote her life to follow Jesus. God encouraged us and blessed our house church through her. She served Slovak ministry with all her heart for three months and was a good influence to many people related to our ministry. Now she is staying in Korea and preparing to come back to Slovakia on January 24, 2014. The living God helped her by opening the door of missionary life to Slovakia and us by preparing for her a visa and to find a good job.

M. Ester has been meeting regularly with Veronika who is a student of the Japanese department in Komenius University. We pray for her to have a strong relationship with Jesus through Bible study. God also sent to M. Ester two faithful Korean women, who want to share testimonies in Jesus through Bible study every Monday. In November God also sent to M. Jang, one faithful Korean man, who has permanent residency n Slovakia and who has a learning mind. God is working by his own will and in his time. May God use us as His instruments continuously.

2. Jesus who came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Jesus led two children –a 16 year-old boy named Minseok and an 18 year-old girl Eunyeong-to our house to live together in an unusual way. They have lived for 10 years, studying at secondary school in Slovakia. Their father lost his job and could not stay in Slovakia any longer. To make matters worse, their parents divorced and they had no place to stay in Slovakia and also could not return to Korea with their parents because of their studies. When we found out about their situation we started to pray that God would show us his will. Through such serious events God showed us his will. First of all, M. Ester accepted God’s will to live with them and take care of them to become to humble leader in Christ. God blessed her determination by sending a co-worker (Missionary Choi) in God’s perfect time. They moved to our house at the end of July. Suddenly we became a big family. Living with them totally changed our life and also gave us a good chance to learn Jesus’ heart. We have lived with them for five months. God made them a source of blessing in our ministry and taught us to be servants of prayer who are disciplined in our inner being, full of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. May God bless our house church to become the house of prayer and to have discussions daily in the Bible.

3. Have faith in God- to attempt to purchase a new center.
As soon as we accepted two children, God started to work urgently. In the middle of July M. Choi arrived in Slovakia . At the end of July two children moved into our house church. At first M. Choi was embarrassed and surprised by living together in a small apartment. At that time she also had many things to decide for her future missionary life. She prayed and accepted this with warm heart. She also had a painful wound of divorce of her parents just as they did. God sent the most suitable helper for them in his time. We had no choice but to move from this small apartment. But we had no money and also no time to find a good Bible center. By faith I endeavored to make a loan for a house and M. Ester did her best to find a house. By faith we gave a notice to the landlord that we were moving in August even before finding a Bible center. Even though there were many obstacles, we followed God’s guidance step by step. Every night we had a prayer meeting and shared God’s grace with each other. After one month we found a good Bible house. We were overjoyed and thanked God. By faith and prayer, we challenged getting a loan. After three months we received bad news from the bank that we were only allowed to borrow 90% of the amount of the house value. Again, we challenged getting a loan of 100% of the value of the house. With the help of a Slovakian friend we could grasp the chance to borrow 100% of the house value with difficulty. But unfortunately we then received bad news that the house was sold. We suddenly felt totally drained and confused as to God’s will. Through this, suddenly our small community gradually became one in unity. God again said it is not time to buy a Bible house now. God has trained us to become obedient servants unconditionally and led us to confess that God is always good. By faith we can buy a house and by faith we can wait on God’s time. God helped us to rearrange the present apartment. Even though it is too small and uncomfortable for us to live with them, God helped us to pray and wait on God’s time.

4. Direction and prayer topics for 2014.
We are expecting the work of God in the upcoming year 2014. When we see ourselves carefully, we cannot find out anything but we must fix our eyes on God who can do everything.

Key verse: Mark 11:22: Have faith in God!

Prayer topics

1. Throw the mountain of Slovak language into the sea by faith-Slovak Daily Bread book writing
2. Throw the mountain of making disciples into the sea by faith-to have 12 teams of 1:1 Bible study per week
3. Throw the mountain of mission co-workers invitation into the sea by faith
4. To love the Bible and Slovak deeply