There are more than 171,000 Seventh-day Adventists in Korea, and the church celebrated a century of mission and growth with a huge Nov. 6 rally at Olympic Stadium in Seoul. More than 15,000 attended the event, which capped a year of centennial celebrations.

Included in the massive crowd—which attracted national media attention—were incumbent lawmakers, former government ministers, and many Adventist church members from around the world, including North America, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

“I believe that we do not have another 100 years to finish this work,” said Michael L. Ryan, a general vice president of the world church and director of Global Mission, in the Sabbath, or Saturday, morning sermon. “Sacrifice can finish our mission. I think the Korean [Adventist] Church is strong and full of passion for mission. It is not enough for the Korean Church to think about evangelism only in Korea. They have resources to go forward. The Korean Church must be partners in the worldwide mission of the church.”

“Our church in Korea began in the difficult times 100 years ago. Our pioneers made great sacrifices. I want to thank you because you are able to share resources in the life of the church even outside of Korea,” said Pastor Jan Paulsen, world church president, who addressed the event via video.

Paulsen added, “I want to acknowledge that you are important to our global family and mission work as a church. I would challenge and urge you to remain focused and committed to give all of your best to finish the work and hasten the coming of our Lord. There is nothing which is more important to us than to be faithful to our Lord and to finish what He has entrusted to us. No one in our church is surplus to our task. We are one family around the world, bonded together by one Spirit.”

National figures also came to honor the church’s centennial. Reflecting the early missionaries who preached aboard a Korea-bound ship a century ago, one of whom was his own grandfather, Im Chang-yeol, former governor of the Gyeonggi Province, and former minister of Finance and Economy and Deputy Prime Minister, attended the centennial ceremony.

He said at his congratulatory speech, “My heart is full of deep emotion and thankful to be invited to give a congratulatory message as a descendent of an Adventist pioneer.”

Congresswoman Kim Hee Sun said she “congratulate[s] with my heart the 100-year celebration of the Adventist Church in Korea that has spread the gospel of Jesus as a first priority, sharing the truth based on the Bible. Especially, I am certain that the Adventist Church has contributed to the development of this country with positive activities, evangelism, education, health, [welfare] relief and publishing during this past turbulent century.”

In 1904, Seventh-day Adventist Christianity in Korea began with two pioneers, Son Heung Cho and Lee Eung Hyun, who were baptized at the Kobe Seventh-day Adventist Church in Japan. Cho returned to Korea to spread the Adventist message to his neighbors, and was joined by Im Ki Ban with whom he had shared the message while on board the Korea-bound ship.

The heroic deeds of eight pioneer families were commemorated during the celebration. These were families whose lives were sacrificed for their faith and the Adventist Church, a group that includes Choi Hee Man, a son of Pastor Choi Tae Hyun, who was martyred during the Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

Pastor Chun Jung Kwon, president of the Adventist Church in Korea, said “All of our Adventist members thank, praise and glorify the Lord ... for the celebration of 100 years of mission. ... Our church has grown until now in spite of these difficulties.”

He added, “Now, our church should grow for the world as well as our nation with loving and being loved. Our church should be born again as the church which brings hope to our brethren in the world. In the new century, we should share the gospel, and give our love [and] resources to others just as we had received from the outside during the last century.”

Today there are currently 889 congregations in Korea. Annually 6,000 new members join the church there. In response to overseas demand from émigrés and their children, there are also nearly 140 Korean-speaking congregations worldwide.