Part I: Conference Overview

This was the first leaders conference Sue and I have attended and it was truly wonderful as was out time with Pastor Paul and M. Sarah. The flight into Frankfurt was smooth and uneventful. We were picked up by M. Peter Chang and S. Heidi for the 4.5 hour drive to the conference site in South west Germany, about 30 miles from Freiburg, in the rolling hills of the Black Forest. The conference site was a small hotel/meeting complex on a high hill surrounded by other scenic hills, forests and a small town. The facility was beautiful, the rooms were very nice and they had a full time chef to cook all meals on site, genuine German style. Sue and I provided a German style breakfast for our joint fellowship at our meeting Wednesday, consisting of cereal with yogurt, two authentic breads, two kinds of sliced cold cuts and two kinds of cheese, in order to make a breakfast sandwich. Woondabar.

The conference was geared towards senior leaders, ie. directors and wives from each chapter, missionary coworkers and senior German shepherds. (Sometimes there is just no way around that.) About 90 people attended. The conference theme was “God Blessed David and his Mighty Men”. I believe the focus was to increase our capacity, nurture and galvanize everyone’s 1:1 ministry and to stimulate a servant heart in each of us. All of this with an eye towards the 2009 European International Conference, at once a glorious event and a monumental challenge.

Pastor Paul was the keynote speaker on David’s last words with an emphasis on humility, leadership and growing leaders, and increased spiritual capacity through faithfulness to spiritual disciplines and our consistent walk with God. It was very well received. Four senior shepherds delivered messages, a strong sign of the excellent coworking relationship between missionaries and shepherds as well as transfer of power and leadership to native shepherds. Each one did a fine job. You could also see the warmth and friendship between all of the coworkers, within a chapter and across chapters. I also saw an excellent relationship between M. Peter Chang and his coworkers in Bonn as well as with other directors.

Sue and I both delivered life testimonies and they were well received and was appointed as the Bible study leader for the very large American group, four people, including Sue and me. It was humbling and a little scary to lead M. Jose Ahn and M. Sarah Hong. But I learned a lot. I also did photo duties, 600 shots, as backup to S. Sarah. We were taken to the Museum of Contemporary German History. It was wonderful and I immediately began shooting a few photos. As is usual, I was immediately in trouble and told that no photos are allowed and I had to check my camera. S. Jochen was our host for the trip. He went to a senior official, explained our situation as American guests. He came back with my camera and a Press Pass, giving me free reign to shoot as many photos as I wished. I learned from S. Jochen to be pro active to help guests or sheep.

Part II: What I Learned

S. Walter Nett’s message was on Elisha’s Desire, 2 Kings 2:1-25. They had translated it into English and printed it for the four Americans, along with the Conference Brochure. They thought of everything. The passage speaks of Elijah’s last days on earth. His sheep and protégée, Elisha, is travelling with him on these last days, with a heavy heart. Elijah cherishes Elisha and says to him “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” Elisha replied “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit.” Elisha answered immediately because he had thought and prayed about his future. He was asking for the “first son’s portion” from Elijah, his spiritual father. He had followed Elijah for some time and knew the hardships, danger, hard work and anguish Elijah had experienced. Elisha came from a wealthy family and could have had an easy life. But he wanted to serve God by following in the path of his shepherd. This was the fruit of Elijah’s disciple making ministry. This is the dream of every successful shepherd. Elisha understood the heart of his shepherd and the heart of God. This request could only be fulfilled by God, through the Holy Spirit, for he is the one who galvanizes and energizes us, opens our hearts, ears and mind to know and serve God’s will. God answered Elisha’s prayer and he became a powerful and influential prophet and international leader for his people. I learned that I can serve God’s work in this time and in my time of life, if my heart is open and I seek the help of the Holy Spirit to strengthen and guide me. Through the Holy Spirit, I pray I may help double the size and influence of Prayer Servants Fellowship and More Than Conquerors by 2010 and that Stephen and Na may be an powerful coworking family with us.

M. Joseph Ahn, a world famous shepherd and chapter encourager, delivered a special lecture on one to one ministry. He began by telling us that 31 years ago, 1977, he attended a leaders meeting in Germany. “There was only one native shepherd, Volker Keller. The entire meeting was conducted in Korean. Today, at this meeting, we speak German and English, no Korean. Our God is a living God.”

He began with the question “Why 1:1?” The answer is because God is working through 1:1. It is part of God’s character. He created one man and one woman and raised up one Abraham of faith. Jesus called his disciples, one by one. He spiritually and physically healed people, one by one. This is God’s way and therefore it should be our way.

He then asked “Who will study with us?” Any person can be our 1:1 student. We/I tend to look for “Golden Sheep” , ie. angels. There are no golden sheep, only sinners like me. When you see a golden sheep, it is actually an iron pyrite sheep, fools gold. Abraham was a nobody, Jacob was a liar, David’s mighty men were all losers, Jesus disciples were smelly fishermen at best and corrupt tax collectors at the worst. But God and Jesus changed them 1 by 1. This one to one is tremendously powerful. Many churches have one pastor. He works very hard and is like the pilot. “You just sit there and I will take you to the kingdom of heaven.” Many people come to the church as one person and 30 years later, they are still one person.

But one to one moves with a geometric progression, one becomes two, become four, becomes eight… God called one man, Abraham and he became a nation. Jesus called the twelve and they planted the seeds to evangelize the world. We received the gospel from a descendant of one of the apostles.

But this is not a lonely and solitary task. We are like rowers in a ship. When each person does their part, the boat moves. It moves in the direction God wants. This seems to be a slow and laborious task but it grows quickly as we all participate. When Sue and I met M. Kaleb Hong in Heidelberg in 1989 the chapter consisted of M. Kaleb, his wife and another young missionary couple. They were most down trodden, worn out and barely hanging on. This year they brought 12 leaders to the conference, have sent out many pioneers to other chapters and have around 100 SWS attendants. God’s way is always the best way. M. Joseph’s key verse for the lecture was wonderful. Psalm 126:6 “He who goes out weeping , carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.” God rewards the hard work and faith of the farmer by providing good soil, sunshine and rain. It seems to take a long time as we watch the ground day after day with no sprouts. But God is faithful and a horrendous crop emerges. So too with one to one ministry. May we sow the seed and trust God to bring us the harvest.

So, in conclusion, this conference was so powerful and so wonderful. I thank M. Paul and the German coworkers for inviting us. The friends and coworkers were so warm and serving. The messages were excellent. But most of all the work of God, the growth in the number of chapters, the German leaders and their new heart for one to one was really encouraging. We received the first brochure to the 2009 European International Conference in Germany. It marks the 40th anniversary of the humble Korean nurses who became the first “overseas missionaries”, a seemingly hopeless task for one to one ministry. Come and see how God has worked. It will move your heart, deepen your faith and bring a smile to your face. I will pass around our copies of the 2009 Conference Brochure.

My personal and Toledo prayer topics:

May God bless each person in MTC/PSF to teach one new sheep as well as each shepherd in Toledo.

May God bless the 2009 European International Conference in every way and may many Toledo coworkers attend and participate.