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Inauguration Speech
 

"Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go." (Jos 1:7)

45 years ago, God established UBF through Dr. Samuel Lee and Mother Barry. Through Dr. Lee, God pioneered campuses across the world. God used Mother Barry preciously over the last 5 years as the second General Director. Mother Barry strengthened personal relationships with our 1,430 missionaries in 85 countries. To help missionaries and shepherds grow spiritually she participated in most of the main Bible conferences across the world. My former General Directors always based their work on the word of God, and God blessed UBF to prosper.

As one of the 2nd generation shepherds, I have been appointed as the third UBF General Director. In the past, new students just followed their seniors to the UBF Bible center in front of the campus at the start of a new term. They were brought up as disciples. Yet we now live in a post modern era, and without fiery spirituality, great effort, and 'giving-birth' struggle, we cannot raise intellectuals into disciples of Jesus. As I assume the office of UBF General Director, I would like to hold on to the spiritual direction and prayer topics as follows:

First, go back to the Bible. (Jos 1:7) "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go." I pray that UBF may continue to grow with the word of God so that we all may have more fiery spirituality. May we grow based on the word of God and follow the Holy Spirit. If we do so, I believe God will lead us and make us prosperous.

Second, it is our principle that the essence of the gospel truth cannot change but peripheral elements can change. (1Co 9:22) "To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some." The gospel truth cannot change but other non-essential factors may change in accordance with the fast changing young generation in order to shepherd them. For example, today, teenagers spend on average more than 3 hours a day the internet. There is some good material on the net but, mostly, the Cyber world is like a sea full of spiritually harmful material. In order to help the young, we pray to use the internet wisely.

Third, we should have a system suitable to the size of UBF. For example, if a small store becomes a supermarket, the owner should manage it with the system of a supermarket. UBF has grown into a world wide community and its spiritual ministry has to be managed with a system suitable for its size. For this, UBF has set up 9 committees within the International Advisory Board. I will encourage the committees to take responsibility for their role and work. The world wide UBF ministry will be looked after by the chairs and members of the committees.

Fourth, we will co-operate with other Christian communities. (Ro 12:18) "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." So far, we have focused on pioneering ministries and, therefore, not been able to closely co-operate with other Christian communities. There have been many misunderstandings because of Korean culture. When I became the general director in Korea, the home of UBF, I closely co-operated and participated in other united Christian meetings. As a result, I was appointed as vice president, and the head of the youth committee, of the Korea Christian General Council which is the largest united Christian organization in Korea. Because of this, Korea UBF grew well and supported most of UBF's pioneering work across the world. From now on, we will co-work with other Christian communities in the USA, Germany and across the world.

I inherit the vision and prayer topics my predecessors gave us:

(1) The goal of UBF is to make the USA and all countries in the world a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation. (Ex 19:6)
(2) To raise disciples in the campuses through 1:1 Bible study (Mt 28:19)
(3) To complete the world campus mission by making this ministry double by 2010 and by sending 100,000 missionaries out by 2041.