Korea Is My hometown of Faith, and Manmin Central Church Is the Holy Land of Faith
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December 27, 2009 |
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Stories of Foreign Parish Members Growing in their Faith through Manmin
Members of Foreign Parish celebrating Christmas after the service
After Sunday Morning Service, foreign members gather at the meeting place. They open up the fellowship lunch box prepared by the foreign parish and talk about what happened during the week. Their lives are also full of answers and blessings, just like all the other Manmin members.
Most of them were part of the elite, as college graduates in their countries. But many of them became average workers in Korea, earning average salaries. Kinavuidi Kitoko, 41, of the Democratic Republic of Congo, was previously a medical school student of Kinshasa National University. He came to Korea in July of 2000 and attended our church on the first Sunday upon arrival and received much grace while listening to the sermon. Even with a tight daily schedule, Kitoko summarized Dr. Jaerock Lee's sermons which were carried on the Foreign Parish's weekly bulletin, and he later began translating the sermons into French during worship services. After editing Dr. Jaerock Lee's book, Tasting Eternal Life before Death, he began working for the Translation Bureau of our church in February of 2006. He married his wife, Gisele Kitoko, in 2007, and had two children.
Also, Asher Nazir, 43, of Pakistan is an efficient worker, with proficiency in five different languages. After coming to Korea in 1999, he took on various different jobs, often experiencing many difficulties. After he came to our church, he was able to overcome them with faith. He currently translates the Urdu website for Manmin TV. A few months ago, his mother, living in Pakistan suffered from hemiplegia. She couldn't move her body or talk properly, but she received healing by the Senior Pastor's prayer.
Salonga, 28, of Mongolia, started working in a cosmetics store, thanks to her fluency in Korean. But she had to work on Sundays. Though her paycheck was cut down five hundreds of thousand won ($500 in U.S currency) with the condition that she doesn't work on Sundays, she was happy for being able to keep the Sabbath day. So God blessed her with a better workplace, and she is now receiving many blessings.
Also, Virginia, 36, received Senior Pastor's prayer on the picture of her mother, who had leukemia in France, and Scott, 34, also received prayer on the picture of his mother, who was in a critical state with angina pectoris. Both mothers were perfectly healed after the prayer. Deacon Ankhbayar, 31, of Mongolia, was healed of tuberculosis after listening to Senior Pastor's sermon and receiving the prayer for the sick through a cassette tape.
Also, many foreign diplomats residing in Korea were led to our church and received solutions to their problems and blessings of promotion. For example, Henry, Charge d´affaires at the DR Congo Embassy in Sweden experienced a miracle while he was attending our church. While he worked as a councilor at the DR Congo Embassy in Korea, he received prayer from the Senior Pastor for a promotion. And soon afterwards, he was appointed as Charge d´affaires at the DR Congo Embassy in Sweden. Normally, this procedure is very rigorous, and requires the agreement of the country in which he would work. So when Henry was appointed, the Foreign Affairs of the DR Congo Embassy was surprised, saying that this was a miracle, because they hadn't received any responses. Umanya, Ambassador at the Honduras Embassy in Korea was greatly injured of his right leg while riding on a motorcycle in his country. He underwent a surgery in which his leg was fixed with an iron core, so since then, he experienced discomfort while walking. But after receiving the Senior Pastor's prayer, he could walk comfortably.
In addition, Aimee Ibanda, Consul at the DR Congo Embassy in Israel, John Tanoh, Consul at the Cote d'Ivoire Embassy in France, Fernando Borbon, Ambassador at the Costa Rica Embassy in Korea, Daniel Kouakan, Councilor at the Cote d'Ivoire Embassy, and Akinola, Minister at the Nigerian Embassy in Korea experienced healing and received blessings of promotion. The families of these diplomats, who live in overseas countries are also receiving various blessings through the Senior Pastor's prayer. And government officials and guests of their nation who come to Korea through them, are also visiting our church and attending worship services.
Foreign Parish of Manmin Central Church
# Consisting of Seven Cells with Members from 16 Countries
Since 1998, the Foreign Parish began to have regular meetings for foreign members of the church who lived in Korea. Members of the Foreign Parish are of 16 countries from all over the world (except for China).
Most of the members of the Foreign Parish came to earn money for a temporary period, so they don't stay in Korea for a long time. And they work in various fields; as diplomat, dentist, lawyer, laborer, English teacher, extra actor, chef, singer, student, member of the orchestra, pilot, and so on.
The parish consists of seven cells, and Pastor Nisa Han serves as Parish Leader, Pastor Laura Oh as Vice Parish Leader, and Elder Seong-keon Vin and Elder Youngsik Kim as Financial Directors.
The first cell is made up of members from French-speaking African countries (DR Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, etc.), the second cell consists of members from English-speaking African countries (Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon, etc.), the third cell of members from the Philippines, the fourth cell from Mongolia, the fifth cell from Southeast, Southwest Asia (Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Russia, etc.), the sixth cell from Central and South America (Costa Rica, Peru, Argentina, etc.), and the seventh cell is members from other English speaking countries (USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.)
Each cell has Korean church members who volunteer as cell leaders and vice cell leaders, and excluding the English-speaking cells, the other 5 cells have translators of the different local languages.
# Supporting the Members to Be Armed with God's Word, and to Become Workers for God's Kingdom
It is not easy for the entire parish to gather together during the week, since most of them reside in the Gyeonggi Province. So the leaders of the Foreign Parish lead each member by visiting each of them personally. Except for the members who can't make time due to work, the leaders visit the members and have Bible studies with the words of the "Message of the Cross" and the "Measure of Faith". They also support the members to finish courses offered through the MIS (Manmin International Seminary), Manmin Bible Academy, and the MMTC (Manmin Mission Training Center). Some of them have now become missionaries through these Bible studies, and are working in Kenya, the Philippines, Japan, Mongolia, and Israel.
Especially now that official worship services of Manmin Central Church are being broadcast via GCN-Manmin TV and the Internet, translation of many different languages is needed. So members of the Foreign Parish spend a lot of their time volunteering as translators.
The Foreign Parish also offers practical help for the members' adjustment to life in Korea. When members face difficulties due to communication problems, leaders intervene to solve the problems, and they help the members in various areas of life; purchasing necessities, providing life information, interpretation at hospitals, and so on.
In addition to these activities, there is a Mission House that provides meals and a place to stay for members who suddenly lose their jobs and have no place to go.
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