Roberts encourages doctoral students, shares Gospel across Asia
posted on Dec 02, 2010 by T. Patrick HudsonIn what he referred to as “an amazing trip,” Dr. Phil Roberts, MBTS president, preached the gospel to thousands, encouraged doctoral candidates and gained increased insight into the amazing work of God while traveling through Asia from Oct. 22-Nov. 7.
The initial leg of his journey included a stop in Seoul, South Korea, and its surrounding area. The Midwestern president observed a significant difference between the North and the South. “Korea is certainly a land of the haves and have-nots,” he said. “The vast majority of North Koreans have almost nothing – there have been reports of severe hunger – while South Korea is a land of plenty and prosperity. Most importantly, the North has very little access to the Gospel while South Korea has vibrant and dynamic churches.”
Roberts preached in an evangelistic celebration at one of these vibrant, dynamic churches. In fact, it is what might be considered the world's largest Baptist congregation, Global Mission Church. The fellowship there is pastored by Daniel Lee, a former student of Roberts’ when the president was a professor at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
Roberts said that Lee faces some significant challenges due to the sheer number of attendees at the church, approximately five thousand per service. “Every Sunday, Pastor Lee preaches six services with the first one beginning at 6 a.m.,” Roberts stated. “Also they watch the message from two venues, one on closed circuit television while the last, and seventh, service of the day is on video.” (Note: Lee will speak at the MBTS graduation in May 2011 and teach a Korean D.Min. class the week prior.) Additionally, the church has social outreach ministries such as a retirement home, an Alzheimer’s care unit, a children’s school ministry, a hospice for the disabled and a bakery that provides work for the impaired.
Using a translator, the MBTS leader brought the Gospel message during three of the six Sunday services and during the 10 a.m. worship hours on Oct. 25 and 26. Roberts said the evangelism efforts were “wonderful times of inspiration and encouragement.” He further praised the effort the church members put into prayer and hard work for the events.
“The people of the Global Mission Church worked and prayed intently for this effort,” Roberts said. “I was thrilled to see how they had worked to get lost people under the influence of the Gospel presentations. It was amazing to witness. In fact, I have asked Pastor Lee to share their strategy and tactics with us at MBTS in the months ahead.”
In all, the results of the evangelism outreach were incredible, according to Roberts. “There was excellent response each day when Pastor Lee extended the invitation,” he said. “At the end of the day on Tuesday, he told me that 1,900 people had responded to say that they wanted to trust Jesus. That total covers all of the events of the past week or more.”
Later in the week, the Seminary president preached at Suwon Central Baptist Church, where Billy Kim pastored for many years. He also spoke at the Korean Baptist Seminary and University, and afterward visited with a cohort of Korean doctoral students to encourage them in their studies. In all, there are 13 students from South Korea who are enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry degree program that meets in Seoul. This cohort is part of the newly formed Korean language Doctor of Ministry program that began at Midwestern this past August.
“I talked with the students and listened to their excitement about being able to work on their D.Min. with us,” Roberts said. “They were thrilled at the excellent teaching received from MBTS Professor John Lee, Dr. Kim and were encouraged by the hard work that Korean D.Min. Director, Rock Choi, exerted in putting all of this together.”
When he wasn’t preaching or involved in meetings, Roberts had the opportunity to take in several Korean sites including the Yang Hwa Jin Cemetery, the Pilgrim House and a tour of the famous Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates North and South Korea.
The cemetery is an internment ground set aside by Korean evangelicals to honor protestant missionaries who came and gave their lives to help reach Korea with the Gospel. According to Roberts, it was these people’s faithful work that not only placed God's Word into the hands of the Korean people but also solidified the longevity of the Korean alphabet and language.
“I was particularly moved by one missionary, in her 20s, who having died testified on her tombstone, ‘If I had a thousand lives I would gladly give them all for Korea,’” Roberts said. “It is that love and devotion for the Lord, this land and her people that laid the foundation for one of the great movements toward the Gospel in modern mission history.”
The Pilgrim House, a ministry of Global Mission Church, is a retreat/conference center located deep in the central Korean mountains and built around the theme of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. The center is completely arranged in the book’s progression, and Roberts admitted, “Here was a ‘prayer center’ unlike anything I have ever seen. The facility has a thoroughly Korean feel with prayer rooms, cubicles, balconies and conference halls arranged to provide inspiration and exposure to the mountains as well as to turn one’s thoughts and concerns heavenward.” He also noted that the facility was completely paid for by the gifts, sweat equity and gifts in kind of the church members much like the current Midwestern chapel complex.
One other stop while in Korea was a specialized tour of the DMZ, courtesy of the Korean military. Roberts noted that the scene vividly reminded him of visits he made to the Berlin Wall in Germany, as well as trips in and out of communist Eastern Europe.
Roberts wrapped up his tour of Asia by flying south to Vietnam to take part in the celebration of the 48th Anniversary of Grace Baptist Church in Saigon. Following the anniversary observance, the MBTS leader met with Pastor Le Quoc Huy, the executive director of the Vietnam Baptist Convention, to discuss the group’s needs and what the future holds. During the meeting, the two leaders conversed about issues such as continuing training for Vietnamese pastors through the Vietnam Baptist Bible Institute, a greater harvest of Vietnamese workers being called into Christian service, and budgetary needs and how to assist with a shortage of funds for the works being done throughout the VBC. A worker involved with education and with Vietnam Baptists said the faith group is growing so fast in the country that “there is a tsunami of needs sweeping in on the Convention as it grows much faster than it has funds to support that growth and people to carry out the ministry because of the growth.”