“In the middle of Seoul is Yanghwajin cemetery. Buried there are 145 missionaries who never made it back to their home countries. Some of the gravestones date back a little over 100 years ago to the time when the first protestant missionaries arrived in Korea. There are gravestones not just for men but also for wives and single women. There are smaller stones near larger stones where young children are buried.
Doug Erdmann National Director
These are excerpts from a message given by Doug to our staff at our February “Missionary Day.”
What prompted these missionaries to go to a country that in the 1800’s and early 1900’s barely even qualified as a 3rd world country? Obviously one motivation was to bring these people the gospel. But as one reads the gravestones, another motivation becomes apparent. These missionaries loved the Korean people. There’s one stone marking the grave of Rev. Henry Appenzeller, the first Methodist missionary to Korea. The stone says that he ‘drowned near Mokpo trying to save a Korean girl.’ Just like Dawson Trotman, he gave his life saving someone from drowning. Another stone is for Homer Hulbert, who actually came from Vermont, the state in the U.S. I grew up in. The stone says, ‘I would rather be buried in Korea than in Westminster Abbey.’
There’s another stone for Ruby Kendrik. She came to Korea from the U.S. as a young woman in her 20’s. She had only been in Korea about one year when she died. Her tombstone quotes a letter in which she wrote, ‘If I had a thousand lives to live, Korea should have them all.’ This reminds me a lot of the apostle Paul’s love for the Thessalonians: ‘We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.’ (1 Thess 2:8) What was the result of this great love and sacrifice? In 2007, 5 of the 10 largest protestant churches in the world were located in Korea. As a young missionary in Korea in the 1980’s, I attended the Yong Nak Presbyterian Church, then the second largest church in the world. It had 7 or 8 services on a Sunday and you had to be fast to get a seat. More than once I wondered if I needed to be a missionary in a country where I could hardly get a spot on a church pew! The Korean census says about 30% of Koreans are Christian. Missiologists say that for the percentage of Christians to grow in a country from zero to 30% in a little over 100 years is unprecedented.
The Foundation of Kingdom Growth is the Faith and Sacrifice of Missionaries What is the foundation of the kind of Kingdom growth that we see in Korea? The faith and sacrifice of missionaries. This is true not only for Korea, but also for Singapore. In the 1800’s and 1900’s missionaries started churches and schools here. Many of you attended these schools. The church I attend was started by two missionary ladies doing door to door evangelism in a housing estate. Missionaries also started groups like YFC and The Navigators. If the faith and sacrifice of missionaries is how the
In The Singapore Navigators, we have seen the number of people involved in our ministries almost double in the last 5 years. And the number of our disciplemakers has more than doubled. Because of this blessing, is it not time for us to begin to seriously send again?
Short-term missions trip to Davao. Nine students trusted Christ as their Saviour.
church started in Korea and Singapore, is it any surprise that this is how it will be started now in the countries surrounding us? Will it be easy to reach these countries? No. They don’t even want us to come. We will have to give our lives, maybe literally, but certainly figuratively to reach these countries. I have a friend whom I discipled when he was college student in the U.S. Ten years ago he moved his wife and 5 children to Pekanbaru, Sumatra to be a missionary. He has seen no one come to Christ yet. Let me tell you, Pekanbaru is not Bali! I took Joyce and our two youngest kids there a couple years ago to see my friend, telling them it would be a vacation. At the end of the trip my youngest son said, ‘That was the worst vacation ever!’ We Are Blessed to Be a Blessing “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you...and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’ ” (Gen 12:1-3) Like Abram, like Israel, Korea has been blessed to be a blessing. In 2012, Korea had 23,000 missionaries living overseas. Singapore is also being blessed. In 1990 12.7% of the population was Christian. In 2000, 14.6%. And in 2010, 18.4%. And indeed, Singapore is starting to be a blessing, with the number of missionaries highest per capita in the world.
Do we have needs locally? Yes, we need staff as we extend to more secondary schools, ITEs, polys and universities. Our ministries in the community also need staff. But the world also has needs.
Here are the percentage of Christians in a few countries: China 5%-10%; India 2.4%; Japan 2%; Bangladesh 0.3%; Iran 0.15% So what must be our strategy in light of both local needs and world needs? I believe we need to ‘Build and Send.’ We must continue to build our local ministries, adding staff and new ministries. But we must also send. First, more short-term trips: to do evangelism and discipling, and to plant the Great Commission in peoples’ hearts so that some will want to return. That will allow us to send more long-term missionaries. John 12: 26 says, ‘Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.’ Where was Jesus? Mostly in Israel, but it’s interesting to see him also crossing cultures to talk with a Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar. Or we see him helping the woman from Syro-Phonecia. Jesus crossed cultures for the Kingdom. He will honor those who do the same. Let me close with two quotes, the first from C.T. Studd, famous missionary to India and Africa. ‘Some wish to live within the sound of church and chapel bell. I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.’ And then from Oswald Smith, a wellknown pastor and mission advocate in Toronto, Canada. ‘We talk of the Second Coming; half the world has never heard of the first.’ ”
Students Janson Lee and Chong Weiliang brought the Good News with them as they visited family and friends over Chinese New Year. Volunteers Song Xuezhen and Shen Xiaoying brought the gospel even further when they went back to their hometowns in East Asia. Here are their testimonies.
bringing the gospel home
Shen Xiaoying spent her home holiday encouraging and teaching believers in her village church.
“Thanks for praying for my hometown people!! God answered my prayer that people would come down to church. And I’ve never seen so many people in this church before. When I reached the church, the door was locked and I worried that no one would be there. Then a lady came out from the other side of the building. As we waited for the others, I got to know that her parents are Christians and faced persecution from 文化大 革命 (the Cultural Revolution). She was keen to know more. Both my younger sisters went with me and they also got to hear the gospel.
After sharing, I got to know a few of them. They all come from the villages nearby. I managed to exchange contacts with a few of them. Tomorrow I am going to a village to visit one of them.”
I managed to share the full gospel to everyone (after a desperate search for chalk, and I thank God that I finally found some dust-covered remnants). I shared with them my salvation testimony in a simple way.
Xiaoying was able to teach the “Bridge to Life”, “Salvation is like a diamond” and “The Wheel” illustrations (simple and reproducible discipling tools) to her local church people, as well as how to have a daily Quiet Time with God.
Above left - “Salvation is like a Diamond” illustration in Mandarin. Above - Believers from the villages around learning from one of their own.
Eleen (left) and Chok Sun (right) are part of a new wave of disciple-makers.
new staff in action Catching a vision for God’s Kingdom has no age limit. We welcome Mok Chok Sun, a retired school teacher, as an associate staff with the Alumni-Community Ministry. Many of you may remember Mok as the “Miracle Man” featured in the December 2013 issue of NavNews. Mok was healed of an extensive brain tumour through a harrowing journey sustained by God’s grace. Eleen Tay is a recent graduate from Nanyang Technological University. She holds a double degree with first-class honours in Biomedical Science and Traditional Chinese Medicine. She is more concerned though with the salvation and spiritual well-being of her generation, prompting her to come on staff with EGDE. *EDGE is a program for young adults to spend 1-2 years serving as missionaries on local campuses.
3 D-W NAVIGATORS SEMINAR by the Alumni-Community Ministry 9th May 2015, Saturday 11am-4pm Concorde Hotel, Orchard Road
3Ds – 3 Davids, each with a sling shot seeking to bring down a Goliath. Many of us struggle in the 3Ws – Word, Witness, Work. They each represent a Goliath, an area in life that we wish we had overcome, but have not quite succeeded yet. Our speakers are 3 Davids who are veterans in their fields. They will help you focus on unique and practical ways to overcome these Goliaths. Besides hearing them share individually, you will also have an opportunity to interact with them during the forum hour. Email enquiries: beeeng@navigators.org.sg
Speakers: David Lee - Word Currently leading the Mathetes Centre which focuses on developing disciple-making leadership (Mathetes - Greek word for Disciple), David also founded the ‘Walk Thru The Bible’ Ministries in Singapore. David Bok - Witness Currently a senior staff with The Navigators in Malaysia, David is deeply interested & involved with inter-religious discussions with those from other faiths. David Wong - Work Currently the Advisor to Tupperware Brands Asia Pacific based in Malaysia, David leads ministries that reach out to businessmen and professionals and equip them to live out their faith in the marketplace.
Leave a
Navigator Legacy
Since 1962, thousands of lives have been changed as a result of the ministry of The Navigators Singapore. We want to ensure that this work can continue after we are gone. Leave a Navigator Legacy (LNL) enables you to do just that. We would like to encourage friends and alumni to consider including The Navigators Singapore in their estate planning in anticipation of the inevitable. In May last year, we received a bequest in the will of our late sister Ms. Sng who was with The Navigators’ NUS ministry in the early 1990s. In the June 2014 issue of NavNews, we featured Ms. Teo, a dear friend and helper with our NavTeens ministry who has made a bequest of her property to The Navigators. They both wanted to see the continuity of The Navigators’ work of reaching young people with the gospel and raising them up to be labourers for the kingdom. If you too would like to consider planned giving, kindly email admin@navigators.org.sg or call Royston Koh, our Director of Development, at 65-98204323 for more information. Your Bequest Options: • Gift of a percentage of your estate • Gift of a specific dollar amount or asset • Gift from the balance or residue of your estate • Gift from a retirement asset such as CPF Retirement balance We will recommend the use of a qualified solicitor for the writing of a will. As believers living in the light of eternity, we can plan forward. Our resources offer us an opportunity.
www.navigators.org.sg The calling of The Navigators is to advance the gospel of Jesus and his kingdom into the nations through spiritual generations of labourers living and discipling among the lost. Views expressed in published articles are those of the individual writers and may not necessarily be the views of The Navigators Singapore. THE NAVIGATORS SINGAPORE • National Director: K. Douglas Erdmann • Editor/Design & Layout/Photography: Patricia Lian 117 Lorong K, Telok Kurau, Singapore 425758 • Tel: (65) 6344 4133 • Fax: (65) 6344 0975 • E-mail: admin@navigators.org.sg • www.facebook.com/singaporenavigators Printed by Seng Lee Press Pte Ltd