The East-West Mission Research and Development Center Asia Office (hereinafter referred to as the EWC Asia Office) began full-scale ministry in Chiang Mai, Thailand on November 15, 2017, with the goal “The Missionary movement of the Asian Churches”. Currently, a total of 4 missionaries, together with their families (Dr. Steve Eom, Dr. Charles Kim, Dr. Chris Sung, Rev. Lim) are working as full-time staffs and three families residing in Chiang Mai are also helping this ministry as cooperative missionaries.
The EWC Asia Office has three ministry parts for the “Essential Movement of the Asian Churches”. The first part is in charge of missions research and publication ‘the David Cho Missiological Institute (DCMI)’ and ‘the East-West Publishing’. The Second part is ‘the Global Missions Leadership Center (GMLC)’ which is in charge of developing mission leaders. The third is ‘the Rodem Missionary Care’, a missionary member care ministry. The contents of the three ministries are as follows:
MISSION RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION
‘The David Cho Missiological Institute (DCMI) is a mission research institute that develops creative theories of next-generation world mission and conducts various research activities aimed at revitalizing the missionary movement of the Asian churches. In particular, dozens of Korean and Asian research committee members belong to this research institute, and they want to share the results through research activities in various mission fields with books and periodicals and share them with the churches in Asia and the world. In addition, the “Mission Group Leaders Forum” and the “DCMI Forum” are held regularly to discuss various issues of missions together and seek a direction for development. In Chiang Mai, Thailand, in-depth lectures are taught regularly to provide missionaries with a wide range of ministry expertise and mission perspectives.
The East-West Publishing is preparing to publish this year’s mission series, mission thesis series, and AMA 2019 book. The mission series plan to supply mission leaders with printed references and published materials for the Asian Church, and mission fields that contained stories, and testimonies of experiences of exemplary missionaries. Language acquisition (volume 1) and cultural acquisition (volume 2) have been published so far, and church planting and seminary education are being prepared. The Mission Thesis Series is currently published in the book “Career Transition” for the purpose of sharing the professional knowledge of missions with many people, and plans to publish two more books this year. The papers of the AMA Convention 2019 are also in the process of publication as a compendium to be available in the first half of this year.
DEVELOPMENT OF MISSION LEADERS
The Global Missions Leadership Center (GMLC) is an organization affiliated with EWC which trains and equips mission leaders from Asian churches. GMLC has provided lectures, seminars, conferences and mission training programs to leaders of the Asian churches for the Asian Mission Movement. Last year, the second Mission Bangladesh Conference was held in Dhaka with the Bangladesh Mission Connection, and mission association of Bangladesh. We got 10 devotees for cross cultural ministry from this conference. In this year, we are preparing a program to train these 10 mission devotees together with devotees from the first mission conference. And to train young pastors in Thailand as mission leaders, the GMLC runs a Mission Café program. Young leaders from Thai local churches gather once a month to learn understanding and leadership in mission through fellowship and mission lectures, and they are looking forward to the missionary movement of the Thai church.
CARE FOR MISSIONARIES
The Rodem Missionary Care (RMC) started its missionary member care ministry for missionaries who came to study at Fuller Theological Seminary in the United States in 2008. Based on the know-how of the past 10 years, the current Asian office is running ministries to take care of Korean and Asian missionaries more professionally. Counseling and a variety of care ministries, including weekly meeting for sharing books, are going on throughout the year. In the future, the RMC has a vision to establish a missionary member care center in each Asian country to provide Rodem member care programs for missionaries in the mission field.