Introducing a closure-oriented missions strategy to the Korean church: A missionary education manual

• Main Author: Choe, David Soo-Il
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-1997
• Subjects: Religion; Religious congregations; Religious history
• ISBN: 0599502991; 9780599502994

The Korean Protestant Churches celebrated one hundred years of their history in 1984. Since then, they have shown rapid growth up to the present. They also have been involved in missionary enterprises, sending out missionaries into all parts of the world. The Korean churches have been booming as missionary sending bodies since 1984. In celebrating their centennial history, they tried to fulfill the goal of the Great Commission by sending out missionaries overseas. The slogan they had then was “Make our church as the church of giving rather than receiving!” and it has been quite a success in many ways. However, it is reckoned that the Korean churches, in general, lack in a right and deep understanding of contemporary missions and its worldwide trends, or the various missions strategies, even as they are showing great enthusiasm in this domain. In response to this situation, this study attempts to make a teaching manual of modern Christian missions strategies as a curriculum for Korean churches and their missionary strategy for the closure movement. At present, the Korean missionary training centers and theological seminaries, in general, do not have a proper text for missions subjects along with a career missionary teacher who has enough field experience cross-culturally. Though it contains some aspects of theory, missions is a practical theology rather than theoretical. The opening section of this work deals with the historical context of the study; it also goes into the theoretical rationale for missions education. Chapter Four is the missionary education manual for the class setting. It consists of five lessons: the biblical basis of missions strategy, missions geographical power shifts in modern Christian history, missions strategic power shifts in modern Christian history (in order to show how missions strategies in Christian history have changed and developed), and contemporary missions strategy for unreached people groups. The latter is the most importantly highlighted missions strategy today, and suggests some means of effective global missions plans to fulfill the Great Commission in this generation. Particularly, discussion of God's strategy to reach all the peoples in this last era is based upon Psalm 19:1–6. It is a certain fact that though many countries are closed and are still closing toward traditional missions, the gospel of Jesus Christ and His kingdom should be preached to the end of the earth that He may come again (Matt. 24:14). God is the Creator and Controller and Finisher of all. He has a plan and He shall fulfill the plan in His secret ways through His almighty power and wisdom. The plan will surely be accomplished at His appointed time as He has justly willed. The final portion of the study reflects on the use of this manual. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)