Timothy K. Park
Our God is a missionary God. He does not leave us alone. He actively works with us. When God calls us for His kingdom ministry, He provides us necessary gifts. If God looks big to us, the world will look small; if you look at the world as big, God will look small. It is true that implementing Christ’s Great Commission is not an easy task, but it is not an impossible task.
Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”(Matt. 19:23-24) When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” (v. 25). To their question Jesus answered: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (v. 26).
The problems addressed in this 60th issue of Asian Missions Advance look big and difficult. But remember that God is great and nothing is impossible with God. The issue of reunification of two Koreas raised by Dr. Philo Kim is a big issue and it does not seem to be easy. The clash in the past between nationalism and Christian faith in Japan as written by Dr. Esther Maxton may still be experienced at present and points out that it is something we need to deal with seriously nowadays. The practice of theo-centric counseling in a cross-cultural setting raised by Dr. Hong Yang is also an important issue. As written by Dr. David Lim, overcoming nominalism in Christian countries like the Philippines is also a huge issue. Surviving and flourishing of the church in Muslim countries such as Bangladesh by Mr. Edward Ayub is also a big issue in missions.
Proclaiming the sovereignty of God and God’s rule in Egypt was not an easy task, but Joseph, though he went there as a slave, made it. Moses, who was a fugitive, proclaimed successfully the rule of God in the world in Egypt. He did what he could not do when he was an Egyptian prince and powerful in speech and action. (ACTS 7). A young girl taken as a captive from Israel witnessed the living God to Naaman and eventually Naaman saw the salvation of God and confessed: “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.” (2 Kings 5:15). The rule of the sovereign was powerfully proclaimed in Babylonian and Persian Empires by the war captives such as Daniel and his three friends. “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (v. 26). Our God is a missionary God. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1: 6). Halleujah!
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Timothy K. Park,
Editor