Presidential Address - Mark Hong

Hallelujah!

Dear CMI missionaries, CMI pastors, and second-generation leaders.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the Global CMI General Assembly.

Some of you might still wonder, “What is GCMI?”

Let me explain using the Southern Baptist Convention as an example, which has 45,000 churches in the US.

 

Under SBC, there are two organizations;

1) International Mission Board (IMB); supports overseas missionaries.

2) National Mission Board (NAMB); supports church planting in the US.

These two organizations function together to support the gospel work both domestically and globally. Our GCMI is like that of IMB, in other words, the CMI missionaries’ Network to support each other.

I hope that clarifies GCMI’s purpose.

 

Merriam Webster Dictionary’s Word for the year 2020 was ‘PANDEMIC.’

The word for 2021 was ‘VACCINE.’

The word for 2022 should be Recovery or Revival but sadly the word was ‘GASLIGHTING.’

It is a word that describes psychological manipulation and abuse. Gaslighting has happened among spouses, with children, medically, racially, politically and institutionally.

 

Our society is getting worse and worse.

Yet we thank God that the Lord our God is with us. He is our Immanuel!

 

Evidently, GCMI launched on January 16th, 2020 in Sydney, Australia, right before the Covid-19 pandemic started.

It was God’s divine hand that GCMI was established; it allowed us to form a prayer network, relief network through fund raising, even reeducation and raising the 2nd generation.

During the past three years, our fund raising ($400,000) was a living water to our suffering missionaries in the wilderness of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2022, we started praying for the vitality of each committee in the ministry.

Indeed, each committee’s work was vital as you will hear in the report.

 

Well, now we are in the beginning stages of 2023.

Many people feel dark, stemmed from concerns of a collapsed economy, extreme political divide, gruesome natural disasters like the recent earthquake in Turkey.

 

Yet, we thank the Lord our God who promises good things to us who fully follow Him.

 

“I remain confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the Lord

In the land of living.

Wait for the Lord;

Be strong and take heart

And wait for the Lord” (Ps 27:13-14).

In Psalm 27, David says that the Lord God as our Light, Deliverer, Protector and our Help.

So in the Lord God, David was confident that he will see the Goodness of the Lord, regardless of his hard circumstances!

 

“I will See the Goodness of the Lord!”

Is this your confidence in the Lord too?

 

Currently, you may have faced hard, dark and painful situations.

Don’t just look at these current difficulties.

Look up to the Lord; He is our Light, Deliverer, Protector and our ever present Help.

This is why David says, “Wait for the Lord!” (너는 여호와를 바랄찌어다!)

 

Sometimes, waiting for the Lord seems like a waste of time and life.

You feel you should act on your own first.

You need to be patient and persevere all hardships.

So David says, “Be strong and take heart!” (강하고 담대하라!)

The Lord, who is our living and loving Father will never discourage us.

He will change our place as the land of living and let us see the goodness of the Lord.

 

The recent earthquake in Turkey killed more than 20,000 precious souls.

It turned out to be the land of death.

Living in these last days, we expect a lot more of such disasters.

Moreover, we are in the land of death spiritually.

Countless people are perishing in sin without God and without hope.

 

Our CMI missionaries suffer greatly to do the work of God.

Some suffer with sicknesses.

Some suffer with wayward children.

Some suffer with extreme financial difficulties.

Some suffer without any visible fruit.

 

Yet dear fellow coworkers, we have Good News in Jesus who died on the cross and rose from the dead. Through Him, we have the living hope in the kingdom of God.

Thus we live in the land of the living; we will see the Goodness of the Lord!

-Great Global Revival, millions and millions of people coming to the Lord!

-Great Parousia – the return of the Lord Jesus in glory!

New heaven and New earth coming down from heaven!

 

So for us the year 2023 is not dark at all, but very bright in our Lord Jesus!

It will be the greatest year!

So let us fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus.

Let us Wait for the Lord in doing His Precious Will! Amen.

Let’s say together: Wait for the Lord! Be strong and take heart!

2023 Europe Leaders Conference

We thank and give praise God for the blessing of the Europe Leaders Conference from Jan 24 to 28 and here we upload the report about the Leaders conference and its meaningful photos.

Australia conference

Thank you for your prayer support, M. Mark. The Lord blessed our conference and all received much grace from him. M. Samuel Lee is going to write a report and send it. I'm going to upload some photos here.

I-Nation Christmas & New Years

2022 CMI Oceania Conference Report (by M. Matthew Oh, Sydney)

From January 11, 2022, we had the Australia Online Retreat, attended by about 60 people for 4 days. We like to have time to reflect on and give thanks to what God has done.

 

1. One Theme, Various Messenger Styles, the Messages revealing the Wounds in their Hearts.

This conference was held under the theme of ‘Truth and Freedom.’

In the opening lecture (John 8), Shepherd Grace challenged, “Are you really free?”, and shared the loneliness and rejection when she first came to Australia as a missionary kid. And she calmly and boldly challenged how we can be free from these emotions.

Lecture 1 (John 8) was delivered by Moses Hwang, a shepherd of Monash chapter in Melbourne and delivered powerfully and refreshingly under the theme of ‘Freedom from Guilt’. He declared, “We were not created to live with guilt!”

Lecture 2 (John 5) was preached by Missionary Paul Oh from Sydney under the title of 'Freedom from the Loser Mentality'. Taking as an example his experience of caring for his elderly mother, who has dementia, he emphasized that there is true freedom when obeying God’s words.

In Lecture 3 (John 9), Pastor Max Warmington, who is an Australian and retired pastor attending the Gold Coast CMI now, shared 'Freedom from a Feeling of Inferiority'. He lectured that the feeling of inferiority from blindness could end with positive results of meeting the Shepherd Jesus through the positive obedience of “go and wash”.

Lecture 4 (John 8) was preached by Shepherd Jinyong Jeong of Sydney with the title of ‘Freedom from the Power of Sin’. As if we had to pay a million dollar fine in the face of the power of sin, he said we are utterly powerless and incompetent. He said that only an intimate and personal ‘knowledge’ of Jesus gives us the experience of freedom from that impotence.

Lecture 5 (Matthew 6) was witnessed by Shepherd Patricia of Sydney under the title of ‘Freedom from Worries’. Just before her lecture, Scarlett, sister from Monash, testified how she learned trusting Jesus and became free from her constant worries: tuition, her job, and so on. With her daughter Rachel’s help of PowerPoint presentation, Shepherd Patricia pointed out God’s words to put God first as the master to overcome worries.

In Lecture 6 (John 4), Anna, Shepherd of Brisbane preached under the title, 'Freedom from the Thirst of the Soul'. This sister, who is her first year in college, shared her own thirst for recognition and compliment from others, explaining that she was like a 'broken jar', happy when she received them, but depressed when she didn’t. She said Jesus is the ‘Living Water’ and that in order to receive Jesus, we must find and dig out what is a ‘hardened stone’ within us.

In Lecture 7 (Matthew 9), Missionary Isaac Lee from Brisbane testified under the title of ‘Freedom from greed’. As he shouted “Follow me” several times, he testified of the heart of Jesus, inviting us to walk away from greed and walk with Jesus.

In Lecture 8 (1 Peter 2), Missionary Noah Kim of Sydney delivered a sermon in Korean under the title, ‘Freedom in the Identity of a Christian.’ He is currently suffering from thymic cancer but testified to a message he received (Proverbs 4:20-23). He explained that ‘possession’ means ‘special treasure’, and we are God’s specially chosen children. He testified of the freedom to approach our God anytime, anywhere and our mission as his children.

In Lecture 9 (Galatians 5), Missionary Samuel Lee from Perth shared ‘the Freedom of Life led by the Holy Spirit’. He encouraged us to realize our sinful nature, acknowledge the Holy Spirit, and obey the Holy Spirit.

 

2. A Retreat where Young People are used preciously as Lecturers of the Word

Thankfully 5 out of total 10 lecturers were from the next generation. They prepared very excellent messages and delivered them powerfully. All attendees were impressed by their powerful messages. The youngest lecturer at this retreat was a first-year college student Anna. Based on this sister's lecture, 3 out of 6 students gave testimony. The phrase ‘recognition of people’ experienced by young people of the same age has come up a lot. Grace, Moses, and Shepherd Jin Yong also spoke in depth under the theme of ‘Truth and Freedom’.

 

3. A smooth Online Zoom Retreat

Missionary Isaac Min hosted for 4 days and repeatedly uploaded a PowerPoint presentation with background music 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after each lecture. Each CMI chapter prepared and served music before and after the lecture.

4. Retreat with 6 Testimonies

At this retreat, Haerang, Anna, Lydia, Alex, David, and Mina shared their testimonies.

Sister Haerang said she wanted to focus on getting to know Jesus better, leaving her worries about the future after graduation and the expensive tuition of international students to Jesus.

Sister Anna prayed for Jesus to soften her heart as she confessed her own pride in her anger at God’s words, and that she was utterly incompetent and needed God.

Sister Lydia, among three groups of her schoolmates, shared her worries of what she would do if she didn't belong and get along well. She prayed for her progress in faith before God at these times.

Alex said he wanted to find the 'Living Water' but also confessed his 'blocking stones' such as the stable financial state and the recognition of people. He also said that he needed the help of Jesus to remove these stones, and that he would like to have daily communion with him.

Brother David confessed his insecurities in fear of losing the love he received among his worldly friends and being viewed as a religious lunatic. But he said he was ashamed to suddenly realize that the things he feared to lose were so trivial compared to what God had given him as a gift of Jesus.

Sister Mina confessed that her job was her own 'broken cistern', stating that she lived up to the city's glamorous home and her recognition as a leader among her co-workers. But when she thinks about eternal things, she decided to cut back on her job and focus more on getting to know Jesus.

M. Lydia Chung in Rome

Dear M. Mark, we’ve decided to have our Sunday service at our home until we find a church building. Due to the COVID-19 restriction of a limited number of people of gathering, we are having two services, one in Saturdays and another in Sundays. Since our home is located far away from the city plaza, at which we had invited people to our church, we had a misgiving that those who were invited would really come to our home church. But we took it as the sign of God’s blessing even if only one person would show up. With that kind of conviction, we prepared our service well, even with sumptuous meal. Thank God that he sent more than one person to our service. M. Paulus, who has a gift of a good sense, presided the service well and delivered a powerful message. We give all the glory to our gracious God!

I Nation: Urgent Prayer Topic

Dear all seniors,

Thanks to ur prayers, M.Anna could be admitted to the same hospital with M.William.

The chairperson the big hospital is the father of Rebecca's friend. M.William's the third daughter. Otherwise, though people are dying at the street, car no way to get the bed in hospital with oxygen facility in India, especially Delhi.

No ambulance, so I drove the car with M.Anna as same as M.William.

When M.Anna left the small hospital, her oxygen level fell down to 40 though she was on oxygen cylinder. But when she reached the big hospital, her oxygen level recovered to 90.

Everything were done by ur prayers n our God who is listening to our prayer.

Really thanks to all seniors n coworkers.

Humbly requesting you to keep praying for M.William n Anna to be recovered fully. Both lungs are being damaged by virus, they are fighting with virus through medical n our prayer supports.

Urgent Prayer for Sarah in "I" Nation

Mark

Mark님이 오늘 오후 2:57에 보냄

In I nation, Professor Singh's second daughter, Sarah has been confirmed with a corona virus. She has been in self isolation. But she just went to hospital because the oxygen level continues to drop. In I nation, if you don't prepare the oxygen tank yourself, the hospital will not accept you. It is now a crazier with no hospital rooms and no oxygen tanks. Please pray with those who can pray together. 1. The hospital says to bring at least two oxygen cylinders, but Prof Singh only got one now. Please pray that Sara may recover soon. 2. Prof Singh & Anna drove Sarah to the hospital. Professor Singh and Anna have not received the vaccine yet. Soo it can be too dangerous for both of them. Please pray for them.

1

Joshua

May God have mercy on the family to have a way to help Sarah be healed and protect them be safe. Amen!!!

John Chul

Lord , hear our prayer for Sarah !!! And dr Singh and Anna .

Esther

amen!

Pioneer

Amen! May your healing hands touch upon Sarah to be healed.They may also find one more oxygen tank for Sarah! May God protect M. Singh& Sarah!

Zechariah

May God protect Sarah and her family from the coronavirus. Amen.

Mark

M. Prakash Kakaotalk: I am now in the hospital with Professor Singh. Thankfully, though the oxygen tank was insufficient, Sarah was admitted to the hospital. Her oxygen tank will run out within 2 hours. We need oxygen for at least a day or two. Please keep praying


Argentina Missionary Juan is resting... Pastor Gu, Jung Oh

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The late Missionary Juan(Doo-Tae) Moon is resting in a better heaven after completing his mission as if the battery was exhausted after 56 years of uninterrupted running that ordinary people would work for 7,80 years (2 Tim. 4:7,8).

KakaoTalk_20210412_053352345_02.jpg

We were all very sad, but we really love each other as a family

All the church members served as my own, and the bereaved families received great strength, comfort, and renewed strength.

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Missionaries all over the world and many churches in Korea have prayed a lot and sent a loving hand. Thank you for showing that we are one family in Jesus.

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On behalf of the bereaved family and the Miraero church, thank you so much for your love and prayer. Since the Lord of the Resurrection and numerous witnesses are watching and cheering, we will stand firm, press on and give ourselves fully to gh work of the Lord!

Prayer Request for Myanmar: from pastor David Lian (feat. Missionary Prakash)

Dear seniors, following message has been sent by pastor David Lian from Myanmar. After the military coup, they are under great distress and threat to life. Please pray for them.

______________________

"Some of you may think we, people from Myanmar, are very sensitive and emotional due to Military Coup in Myanmar.

But what you may know or hear is just the tip of the iceberg.

The followings are some of the shocking facts happening in Myanmar.

1. If someone is arrested alive at night, most likely his or her dead body will be returned the next morning. In some cases, they won’t even return the body of deceased.

2. If you are a medical staff helping injured protesters, then you can be arrested and tortured or get killed. Even if you are working in your own clinic treating the wounded patients, you can still be abducted or tortured.

3. Doesn’t matter if you stay home or go out to protest, you can get killed anytime without any valid reason due to random gunfire.

4. Doesn’t matter if you are a pregnant lady or a 6-year-old child, they will shoot and kill you at their whim without mercy.

5. Even if you are not protesting, you can be detained, beaten, tortured, humiliated, dehumanised anytime and anywhere (day or night), even inside your own home.

6. You can be abducted, assaulted or killed just for going to work or delivering food (foodpanda, grab food delivery).

7. Now, the only internet service available in the country is the fiber internet line. mobile data has been shutdown for almost 20 days. WiFi broadband services have been cut off since yesterday. All the public WiFi services have been cut off. The only remaining internet service, from the fiber line, is not available everyday from 1am to 9am for almost 2 months. Many apps and websites, such as Facebook , Twitter , Instagram, Google etc., are blocked to suppress the spread of information and news.

Myanmar is not in a war. A war in today’s world would indicate that opposing parties have some weapons to fight and ability to defend themselves. However, in Myanmar, people have no guns nor protective gears to fight a war. Only the brutal junta regime has the arms and trained killers to terrorise the very citizens it has sworn to protect.

People have something that is stronger and more powerful than guns and bullets, they have hope and unwavering belief that righteousness will overcome evil and that karma and justice will prevail in the end."

Argentina News: Missionary Juan Man Has Passed Away. - Pastor Gustavo

Missionary Juan Man.jpg

[gujesalas] [오전 6:21] Good morning. I have a very sad news. Our Missionary Juan Man from San Justo repently past away.

He was in Korea with his wife. They went to visit their children. Then he felt a pain in his chest. Went to hospital and died in surgery in Pusan.

He was very young, 55 years old.

Please, I'd like to request you to pray for his wife Missionary Lidia and children.

Thank you.

[홍마가] [오전 6:50] Pastor Gustavo, thank you for sending us the news of M. Juan Man. I vividly remember his big smile when he was ordained. Yes, it is truly a sad news but I trust in the Lord's goodness. We will pray for his wife, Lydia, the children and the ministry in San Justo. May God comfort all of Argentine coworkers as well.

[구정오] [오전 6:53] 급성 심근색이 와서 급작스럽게 1시간 전에 주님 품에 안기셨습니다

지금 장례식장에 와서 리디아선교사와 딸 인애와 장로들과 와서 교회장으로 준비중입니다

[홍마가] [오전 6:57] May God give Pastor Gu and all Miraro church members heavenly comfort and strength from the resurrection hope of our Lord Jesus and bless the service of the farewell.

[Abraham Lee] [오전 7:00] It is a really sad news. I pray for m. Lydia and children.

[구정오] [오전 7:36] [Web발신]

<부고>

급성심근경색으로 문두태선교사께서 오늘 18시 44분에 주님의 품에 안기셨습니다

*빈소: (초량)봉생병원 장례식장 2호실

*입관및위로예배: 4월 11일 주일 오후 5시

*발인예배(천국환송예배): 4월 12일 월요일 오전 7시30분

*출상 8시 영락공원 화장 후 정관 추모공원안치

정금희선교사와 인애, 은총과 유족들과 산후스토목장과 미래로교회와 알젠틴과 전세계선교사위에 부활의 산소망과 하나님의 위로가 함께 하도록 기도합니다

미래로교회 장례부

[Pioneer Kim] [오전 8:16] May God's great comfort come upon M. Lidia& children & family! May God fill them with the hope of the kingdom of heaven!

[Isaac Min] May God comfort the grieving family members with the hope of eternal life in the eternal kingdom of heaven and future glorious bodlily resurrection.