A Global Mission Church member prays for a woman during a recent mission trip to the Dominican Republic.
By Shannon Baker, National BCM/D Correspondent
In 2012, Manpoong “Dennis” Kim, senior pastor of Global Mission Church in Silver Spring, Md., suggested a new strategy, based on scripture, to build up the body of Jesus Christ. Specifically, Kim focused on what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:2, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
Kim shared this vision with each of the Bible study classes and through his preaching, and he encouraged each of his leaders, and the lay cell group and Sunday school teachers to attend training for the new strategy.
In just a short time, the number of people attending this training grew from 200 to almost 450 people.
Kim provided a pictorial presentation of the Gospel, and trained and equipped the church’s key leaders, and their sub-leaders, the cell group leaders and Sunday school teachers. By this time, three generations—the pastor, his leaders, their sub-leaders—were training each other in evangelism. In the process, they discovered 623 prospects with whom to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“I tried to educate the core members and encourage them to share the Gospel with those on the list of prospects,” shared Kim, explaining, “We have not reached all 623 as of yet—but we have tried to reach 1,730 others” not on the list.
Thirty percent of those individuals have made professions of faith. Another 30 percent were already believers and the rest either outright rejected or avoided the conversations, he said.
“Quite a joyful result we have seen!” Kim rejoiced, explaining there have been several wonderful testimonies as a result of the effort.
One lady, a long-time member in her late 50s, suffered depression for several years. “Then God had her get involved in the discipleship/evangelism training,” Kim said, noting the materials were made available in Korean, English and Spanish.
Though the woman did not speak Spanish, she memorized the materials in Spanish and began sharing with the people around her on a mission trip to Dominican Republic. “Already, she has reached more than 1,000 individuals since July [2013]!” Kim said. “She has experienced the grace of the Lord and was excited to see many become Christians!”
Kim said the woman’s depression has lifted, and she is now healthy spiritually, physically and emotionally. “So we are happy to see that, too,” he said.
This year’s goal is to see four generations of believers becoming strong witnesses in their contexts—the pastor (like the Apostle Paul), his leaders (like Timothy), their sub-leaders (like the faithful people Timothy equipped), and those they reach (their disciples).
This upcoming November, the church will celebrate its 40th anniversary. Kim hopes to include many testimonies of fourth generation believers who were successful at reaching others at the anniversary celebration, slated for Nov. 8.
“The Lord Jesus is our head, and we are a part of His Body, and we want to follow His example closely,” Kim said. “Praise the Lord for what He is doing through us.”