A special double ceremony of dedication crowned a day of festivities for the 120th anniversary of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Korea on November 10, 2024. The event, which took place in the main auditorium of Sahmyook University in Seoul, South Korea, saw the send-off of three missionary couples and five mission volunteers to mission service abroad.

The ceremony included the dedication and send-off of three missionary couples who are part of the Pioneer Missionary Movement (PMM). PMM is a Global Mission project of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) of the Adventist Church for the purpose of planting new churches in its territories.

The three missionary couples include Oh HyoSeok and Kim Ye Young and Seo HyunSeok and Choi InAe. Both couples and their children will serve in Taiwan. A third couple, Kim YunHo and Kim BoHyoung, and their children, will serve in the Philippines, specifically to support the 1000 Missionary Movement there.

“It’s not easy to leave your comfort zone,” NSD president Kim YoHan said as he addressed the missionary couples. “But every time I see PMM missionaries, my heart is filled with gratitude.”

The ceremony also introduced Public Campus Ministry (PCM) student volunteers. The goal of the General Conference’s PCM is to see young people grounded in the mission of Jesus Christ and the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and able to reach and engage their fellow campus students in life-long relationships with Jesus, the ministry’s web page states. The November 10 event introduced five PCM student missionaries. They are young Korean women who will serve in Taiwan.

Leaders’ Support

Church leaders at all levels expressed their support for the new missionaries.

“God is looking for you to be His mouthpiece,” General Conference (GC) President Ted N. C. Wilson told them. “You have now the privilege of following in the footsteps of Jesus, who worked to relieve suffering and teach righteousness.”

Wilson told them that, just like in the life of the prophet Isaiah many centuries ago, God is waiting for each one of His children to say, “Here I am, send me.” “I hope that’s your response today,” he said.

General Conference secretary Erton Köhler (left), speaking through an interpreter, congratulates the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Korea for its longstanding support to mission beyond its borders.

[Photo: Korean Union Conference]

Three missionary couples and five Public Campus Ministry student volunteers who have accepted calls to serve outside the Korean Peninsula. [Photo: Korean Union Conference] General Conference secretary Erton Köhler (left), speaking through an interpreter, congratulates the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Korea for its longstanding support to mission beyond its borders. [Photo: Korean Union Conference] Seventh-day Adventist church leaders pray for three missionary couples, called to go from Korea to Taiwan and the Philippines to serve in mission posts, during a special send-off ceremony at Sahmyook University on November 10.

[Photo: Korean Union Conference]

Seventh-day Adventist church leaders pray for three missionary couples, called to go from Korea to Taiwan and the Philippines to serve in mission posts, during a special send-off ceremony at Sahmyook University on November 10.

[Photo: Korean Union Conference]

GC Secretary Erton Köhler also shared congratulatory remarks with the newly minted missionaries, encouraging them to stay faithful to God’s calling to mission, as the church region ramps up its effort to reach millions of people across the territory.

“Today is a good moment for gratitude, first to God,” Köhler said. “But another reason for gratitude today is the commitment of our church in Korea in supporting the mission of the church beyond the borders of this country. It’s something memorable.”

Köhler then acknowledged that even though for the past two years, renewed emphasis has come from the General Conference toward sending missionaries from every region to other challenging areas, Seventh-day Adventists in Korea were already sending missionaries overseas before that emphasis began. “For years … you have helped us send missionaries to other countries to reach the unreached of the world,” Köhler said. “Thus, the blessings of this 120th anniversary extend far beyond the borders of this country. Thank you for all your commitment to supporting our worldwide family.”

About the Pioneer Missionary Movement

PMM in the NSD began in 2002. The first five missionaries were sent in November 2002 and March 2003 to plant churches in Japan. As of 2024, PMM has sent 147 missionaries to 26 countries. PMM missionaries have planted more than 350 churches and have been instrumental in baptizing more than 34,000 people.

In 2009, PMM began sending missionaries beyond the borders of the NSD to Kazakhstan and Democratic Republic of Congo. Since then, PMM has sent 33 missionaries to 19 countries outside the NSD, making it a global movement.

Most of the countries where PMM missionaries have served are located within the 10/40 window, including countries within the NSD, which aligns with the General Conference’s global mission strategy of prioritizing unreached people groups.

Church leaders said that PMM involves a significant financial and human resources commitment, and that in this sense, the Adventist Church in Korea has been instrumental in the ongoing development of the gospel ministry across Asia and beyond. It includes official church support and the contributions of many church members across Korea, a promotional video shared. “Now, in the 120th year of the Adventist Church in Korea, it is a wonderful blessing from God that the Korean church, once dependent on the support and aid of the world church, has become the world’s second-largest missionary-sending nation.”

The original article was published on the Adventist Review website.