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 I am Seeking the Kingdom of God! (Matthew 6: 33)

Over 20 years in the history of the CIS mission has elapsed. So far, God himself has been taking care of all CIS 2nd gens and this was a good chance for them to gather in one place. Thankfully, even the 2nd gens of native shepherds also participated in the conference. A total of 66 2nd gens (24 elementary students and 42 M & High school students) gathered for the first time. The theme of the conference was “I'm Seeking the Kingdom of God.” The historical conference was held on August 21 until August 24 at Moscow Pokrobckoe Retreat Center.
The elementary group and M & H school groups were divided for Bible study and messages, but for play, outdoor activities, and sing-along they gathered together.
On August 21 at 4: 00 pm they all gathered together on the beautiful lake shore and heard the opening message delivered by Sh. Ivan, entitled, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven Has Come Near!” (Matt. 3:2) and thereafter had a delicious sausage barbecue party.
The first day of the evening, we studied Matthew 5: 1-12 (The Beatitudes) and in the morning on the second day there was a message on “2nd Gens’ Identity” by M. Jose Ahn. On that night, there was M. Isaac Choi’s message with presentation based on Matt. 7: 13-28, entitled, “The House Built on the Rock” showing slides for their easy understanding. On the third day, M. Joshua Park delivered a message based on Matt. 8: 1-17, entitled, “Jesus Who Bore our Weaknesses” and on the fourth day morning, M. Pabel Choi served the Sunday message of “Seek First his Kingdom and his Righteousness” based on Matt. 6:19-34.
On the other hand, elementary group studied many parables of the kingdom of God from Matt. 13: 45, 46 & 31, 32(parables of the Pearl and Mustard Seed), Matt. 7: 24-27 (The house built on the rock), Matt. 8: 5-13 (The faith of the Centurion) and Matt. 6: 25-34 (Our Heavenly Father who knows all our needs). Through these messages our 2nd gens could have a concept of the heavenly kingdom. After each message, we tried to help their better understanding through doing some activities such as handcrafts and drawing related to the message.
During the day, we mainly enjoyed playing games and many outdoor activities. All elementary kids and M & H school kids got along well together playing with great shouting. We had a time of praise for 30 minutes to one hour every single day for three days, which greatly contributed to making all kids to be one in heart and mind in Jesus.

Specific features of this conference:

1. All the 2nd gens including 2nd gens of native shepherds scattered in each remote lonely place assembled in one place for the first time.
They all formed one unity treating very preciously each other in this conference. A kid in grade 10 confessed that he was so happy even when he felt empty after sharing with his brothers all gifts that he gained through games. Another 10th grader gave hugs and jumped around when he met a fellow of the same age. Some native 2nd gens were hesitating to attend this conference, but after the conference they confessed that they want to attend the conference again next year. Some kids shared their reflections with crying and repentance. On the third night of the CIS conference all 60 attendees sang the chorus, “When you believe” (Moses, OST of the prince of Egypt) with one heart and mind. God abundantly blessed this chorus and we all were greatly comforted by and could see a vision for CIS to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

2. All 2nd gens volunteered and served this conference with a sense of stewardship.
Including translating and interpreting Russian into Korean, all programs like writing testimonies and messages, presentation, praise and sing-along, dancing and duet drama went well by M & H school students themselves. They looked so cute and we were so happy to see them all doing their best to serve God.

3. Seeds of prayers were planted in all 2nd gens’ hearts through this conference.
Many missionaries and shepherds from all over the world not only prayed for this conference, but also participated in this conference. M. Catherine Han and Sh. Artom & Ruth’s family from Moscow prayed a lot to serve this conference; M. David Byun and M. Isaac Choi prayed and supported it, and Sh. Gurdia, Jonathan Kim, Geon Ju Song, Minju Kim also participated with much prayer from Kwangju UBF, Korea and led group Bible study with much fun. Singspiration was served by M. Peter Lim from New Jersey, USA. M. Jose P. Ahn, M. Isaac Choi, Joshua Park, M. Pabel Park, M. Mark Bang, and Sh. Artom Datsenko, Sh. Ivan Fominykh served all 2nd gens messages with sincere prayers.
It was the first time for all 2nd gens to get together, so we need to keep praying for them to grow steadily and I think it is a very important period for them to grow over the next three to four years.

Thank God who loves all our 2nd gens in CIS! May God abundantly bless them all to grow spiritually to be hosts of the kingdom of God with a clear spiritual identity as children of God!

By M. Catherine Han