Lay out a 100 year plan-part Ⅲ The Biblical Method of Evangelism the Remnant Must Know
What is Team Ministry?
Original work by: Rev. Kwang Su Ryu
An epistle from Ethiopia arrives too late.
I am only grateful. I wept again and again day after day over my destined path. So many were green with envy for my life in the palace, but it is only a life of pretense and ruthless manipulations, constantly treading on egg shells. So I stepped out, for what I felt may be the last time, to find the true solution to my life. On my way out of Jerusalem still feeling stifled and frustrated, out of the blue, I met a man named Philip, who shared the Gospel with me. I learned who Christ was - the true Lord and Savior of my life. I discovered who I am and why I must live. Regretfully, I never met with Philip again, but as soon as I returned to Ethiopia, I wrote letters and letters spreading the news of Jesus Christ to those whose lives were no different than mine. My condolences. I wrote this letter in much haste, but it could not arrive in time for you. You were born as the beloved youngest daughter of one of the wealthiest households. You had, ahead of you, graduation from one of the most prestigious schools. Eyes of envy were constantly on you all throughout life. But who would have been able to fathom the hidden pain from within your extravagance? Who would have been able to comprehend the inner conflicts caused by all your wealth? Your luxurious home in the foreign land defined solitude, and your excessive wealth was only an incredible burden. Your background, education, and your beauty must have made it difficult for anyone to approach you. Ah, only if you met the One you should have met….
Enjoy ‘Team Ministry’ in what may seem like coincidences in the mandatory plan of God we call world evangelization. With what content and heart did Paul’s team from the Church at Antioch change the field with ‘team ministry?’ The fact that men and women gathered at the meetings of the Church at Antioch shows that they were putting their lives on the line (Acts 11:19). These meetings were formed by those who lost strength and were scattered from the persecution that came after Stephen’s martyrdom. Barnabas even found Saul, who was formerly a persecutor, and offered him team ministry for discipleship training. (Acts 11:25~26). Any ‘meeting’ is entirely God’s work, as much as it is our ministry in which we must ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. What may have seemed like a team formation that seemed to carry no congruency (Acts 13) was completely God’s ‘Dream Team.’ Through ‘team ministry,’ disciples and teams for the continuation of the movement for the uniqueness of the Gospel were established in every region. The Remnants must confirm for themselves the expansion of the Darakbang movement in the field through ‘team ministry’ and how it offered the solution to one’s life and individual spiritual problems in the Gospel - just the way it was done by Paul’s team. Along with Lydia who was a dealer in purple cloth, prominent women, Greeks, Apollo (a businessman), and even church leaders could discover solutions to their lives, each person accordingly, from ‘team ministry,’ which is the quickest way for heart-to-heart communication. How must the Remnants confirm the answer of ‘team ministry’ in the field through the people they meet? Team ministry can be divided into different categories according to the field and the goal. If team ministry is what brings a minister to the conclusion of the gospel as he looks out on his field for the ministry of the word, "Team ministry evangelism" is opening up a place in the field for the ministry of the word together with the minister who has come to the conclusion of the gospel. In other words, it is selecting and analyzing ministers to enable them to become the committed field workers who will open up a place for the ministry of the word in their fields. Giving team ministry (Acts 16:11-40) to this committed worker so that he can continue the ministry of the Word in his field is "field team ministry". "Evangelism team ministry" is the blessed meeting of finding committed workers in the "blind spots" and "golden harvest fields" that have not yet heard the gospel through God's time schedule of evangelism. It is raising these committed workers to become ministers who can continue to carry on this ministry. It is also the ministry of strengthening and reinforcing the message and the system through the fruits borne in the field (Acts 17:1-9).
Evidences in the most beautiful day of my life
Pastor Yong Su Kim was in charge of the Kosin University Mission Home. Under his direction, he filled my heart with the commission to save the Department of Natural Sciences at our school. I worked as a social worker at the city hall of Jin Hae, and the distance between the city hall and the school was not very close. But still, this commission was firmly implanted in my heart. Every time I went to the lecture room, the coldness of the place made me feel intimidated, but it was where I began Darakbang with Eun Jin and Myung Hye. For over a year, I would drive a three-hour distance every Tuesday evening for a thirty-minute meeting. If we were to argue about efficiency, it was indeed very poor, but my heart for the students in the Science Department only grew bigger. And my love for their souls only grew deeper. When I came back to school as a returning student after my military service, the absolute joy I felt in rejoining the meeting now led by Myung Hye, along with So Min, Ji Young, Mi Ran, Se Yeon, and many younger students was clearly the evidence of the ‘most beautiful day of my life’. One meeting can make your entire life beautiful, and who would have thought that the group leader Myung Hye would become my beloved wife? In whatever field you go to, when the message of the Gospel comes in contact with anyone, it sparks the flame to turn that person into a committed worker. Like a bundle of dry twigs, the hidden workers are waiting. I hope and anticipate that everyday the Remnants would relay to them this spark through ‘Team Ministry’.