G12 Testimony by Pastor Kim Gyu Jin, Chingiltai Jesus Disciples Church, Chingiltai, Mongolia
Acts 5:42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ
I am Pastor Kim Gyu Jin, currently working as a missionary in Mongolia. I responded to God's call for me to be a missionary in Mongolia in 2003. After learning Mongolian for one year, I started a church in an underprivileged town called Chingiltai, north of Ulan Bator (capital of Mongolia) in May 2004.
The environment was so different from Korea. In the beginning, everything was new and unfamiliar to us. My wife and I prayed with tears as we watched people making and worshiping idols. I had a vision to disciple Mongolian people, so I named the church 'Chingiltai Jesus Disciples Church.' Church services were held every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. There were also church services for children, early morning prayer meetings, house calls, bible study… etc. I did the same things as I had done back in Korea.
After three years of working hard with passion and excitement, we grew to a congregation of 50 people. However, most churches I knew had a congregation of 50 at that time. I knew that God called me as a missionary, which is not easy but I also knew that God did not call me to have 50 people only. I began to wonder, "What can I do to grow the church?" It was not "Guyeok (traditional type of cell groups in Korean churches)" that I had to do. So I prepared Alpha Courses to make the church full of life and love. Small groups system with the Alpha Course lasted more than one year, but there was not as much fruit as we hoped for. Only 10 new people were added to our congregation. People used to say: "Most churches that activated small groups and the Alpha Course, would see big growth. But why not this church?" I then realized that our leaders were not ready. They were just nominal leaders who were not committed to the Lord.
Meanwhile, we had spent five months building a new church that could fit 200 people. We thought that if we built a modernized big church building, people would come to the church. To my disappointment, the number of congregation did not increase a lot despite the new building. It was barely 70. I ended up being burned out. Church members were not able to feed themselves with God's word on their own. They depended only on me like a child asking for help. I felt like I was a director of an orphanage. After five years of ministry in Mongolia, I went back to Korea to stay for six months on sabbatical.
I went back to in Mongolia 2009 after having refreshed my body and soul to meet my congregation. I was happy, but at the same time worried about how I would fill all the empty seats. In November 2009, there was a conference in Mongolia with Pastor Richard Ong and Pastor Lee Sung Bang as speakers. I attended the conference and there I felt, "Yes, this is it. This is what I want!"
Immediately I joined Pastor Lee's workshop session. Since January 2010, I have been involved in the G12 vision for one year and 10 months. During this period, there were lots of changes in both my church and I. The number of congregation grew from 70 to 300 and we increased the church service on Sunday to 10.00am, 12.00pm and 2.00pm. Our church used to be very quiet, but now even on weekdays the sound of prayers in tongues never stops. I see meetings for consolidation in progress in each room and that sight makes me cry and feel like everything I have done is worthwhile. Nothing gives me bigger joy than watching people who are saved from darkness worshiping with hope. I believe this is God's reward for those who are called as a pastor or a missionary.
Through this experience, I feel that I am the one who has changed the most. I used to be shy around people as there were unhealed wounds inside of me. Now I preach the word of God with confidence regardless of place and time. Before, my faith was lukewarm and like a radar, I wandered from one target to another. Since my encounter with the G12 vision, I have followed the vision with passion like a compass showing only one direction all the time.
My church leaders are even more passionate than I am. They win souls and consolidate them even though it can get as cold as minus 30 Celsius degree here in Mongolia. There even is a leader who has more than 60 members in one cell. Every three months, there is also PEPSOL training. We have just held a women's 144 member convention last June, and we are planning to have a men's 144 member convention this coming November. We have already rented a convention hall in the down town area to hold our 1,000 member celebration on 24th December 2011.
The best thing about the G12 vision is that we focus on Jesus who is the source of life and blessing. All our church members are concentrating on Jesus and trying to revive Mongolian people with the G12 vision. Amen!
G12 Testimony by Pastor Lee Sung Bang All Nations Church, Jeju Island, Korea
Situations faced in Jeju Island
There has never been a single case that a newly planted church in the island has ever successfully grown. So, everyone says that church planting is hard and almost impossible. Superstition and tribes are strong in this area. People are closed-up, elusive and unfriendly to new things. Evangelism is very hard.
Reasons for starting G12
We went to MCI, Bogota in 2002 for the G12 Conference, which had a big impact on us. The vision of our church was established "To develop a church based of the book of Acts". I saw that the G12 vision was a close representation of the "church in Acts", so ever since the conference in 2002; we completely entered the G12 vision. However at that time I did not have any reference material for G12. Therefore, after I had researched and studied on my own, I improvised on the cell church material that FCBC had before they entered the G12 vision. Although I entered the G12 vision, there was not as much revival as I had thought there would be until Pastor Richard Ong from FCBC came to Jeju and shared with us.
Pastor Richard Ong (FCBC) – Sharing G12 Material
There was a lack of materials, understanding, and technique for G12 in Korea, because there wasn't a proper establishment of G12. I used to teach at the Korean Expository Preaching School to teach about G12 with all the materials that I had learnt on my own. However on one particular day, burden and fear came over me. Even though I knew the theory on G12, I lacked the experience and yet, I was still going around, teaching G12. For that, I am very sorry for many Korean church pastors. Therefore I asked FCBC in Singapore, "With the exact G12 vision strategy that you received from MCI in Bogota, please come to our church and establish it."
At that time Pastor Richard Ong said," If you lay down everything that you know and follow what we teach you, I will come and teach you." Therefore I said I would do it and lay down everything that I studied and researched and start from the beginning again.
Changes in the church since the G12 Vision
Based on the G12 vision, there was a paradigm shift through the whole church. As the right structure of the G12 vision has been established, we have become proficient with the techniques and have followed the G12 principles faithfully without changing them. Now the church has a clear goal, strategy and monitoring system implemented.
Church Growth
In 1995 the church was established with 7 single young people. After 10 years, the congregation grew to 210. From 2005 to 2007, 2 years since the establishment of G12, the church went from 210 to 280 members. From Aug 2007 to 2010, 3 years since the establishment of G12, we went from 208 to 600 members. In Sep 2010 to Jun 2011, we had a specific tactic and set a specific goal and there was an increase from 600 to 1000 members!
G12 Testimony by Pastor Oh Hyo Kang Uliastai Church, Mongolia
Uliastia Church started in January 1998 with 10 people. The congregation of the church never grew more than 120 for over 10 years. Even though there were new believers who came to church every week, the number of congregation did not increase for 2-3 years due to failure to consolidate them. I struggled about the ministry as a pastor and it was a time for a new direction for the ministry.
I met Pastor Lee Sung Bang while attending the G12 Mongolia Conference in April 2007 and encountered the G12 Vision. Five combined churches attended the Encounter on November 14th, 2007 with the help of Pastor Lee Sung Bang. There were 54 attendees from Uliastai Church.
A new atmosphere in the church began to develop after the Encounter. Nevertheless there were obstacles there faced us. Existing members hesitated in catching the vision and there was a big obstacle in selecting and building primary 12 leaders.
However, after we converted into a G12 Church, we opened 30 new cells in 2008. On 14th April 2011, we achieved 1,728 members from 134 cells. We are targetting for 200 cells in 2011 and to have 3000 members by November 2012.
|
