2021 한인세계선교사대회
▲2021 한인세계선교사대회 현장 참석자 단체사진. ⓒKWMF
2021 제16회 한인세계선교사대회
▲본국에서 처음 열리는 한인세계선교사대회가 13일 한동대에서 막이 올랐다. ⓒKWMF

2021 16ᵗʰ Korean World Missionary Fellowship (KWMF)
Missionary Conference the Pohang Statement

Adopted 15 July, 2021, by General Assembly of KWMF

Preamble

We, the 23,000 members of Korean missionaries, have been called to unite as one body in Christ under the banner of the Korean World Missionary Fellowship (KWMF) for the last 40 years. The 16th Global Missionary Convocation in the year 2021 organized by field missionaries, it marks a momentous occasion in that it is being held in our native land of Korea for the first time in history. In the midst of challenges from the ongoing Pandemic, we have been summoned in pursuit of completing the task our Lord Jesus has given us – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. The 16ᵗʰ Global Missionary Convocation adds special meaning, as we have joined hands to co-host with Handong Global University, the mission focused global Christian higher-education institution established in 1995 to expand the kingdom of God in the spirit of the gospel. To further realize this missional convergence, KWMF shall engage in continuous solidarity, with Handong Global Missions Institutes for future ministerial endeavors. We, therefore, prayerfully desire the revival of world evangelism as we declare once again our vision and resolve, and make known to the world in pursuit of new hope for mission.

Declaration

First. We declare, as missionaries called to fulfil the holy calling of the Great Commission, we have a missional responsibility to uphold to the biblical ethics, to remain ourselves holy and blameless in our mind, body, and spirit. We proclaim we are one body of Jesus Christ in missions, united across generation, denomination, and organization.

Second. We declare, that our Lord God has granted us our own unique identity, values, and missional leadership as Korean missionaries. We confess that we have followed the precedent ways of mission set out by our forebears, without paying due diligence in interpretation and application required for our time and place. We, therefore, declare to advance our God-given attributes through a re-generated model for mission that is made possible to us, the Korean missionaries.

Third. We declare, that God is the Lord over all Created world, the unchanging Truth in the ever-changing times. We proclaim, that God’s sovereignty and presence reigns in every spheres and institutions of His Created world, including the virtual cyberspace in the post-Corona era. Therefore, trusting in our God who is the Ruler and Lord of all, we declare God’s dominion in every challenges of any advancements in the transitioning world we face today and in every future challenges.

Fourth. We declare, to resolve the compelling necessity to educate and equip the next-generation of missionaries in our nation and hosting country. We confess that sometimes we have pursued productivity and efficiency of missions at the expense of sustainability. Recognizing the need for missional convergence to achieve this goal, we declare to co-operate with global Christian education institutions, such as Handong Global University to foster next-generation of Korean missionaries. We further declare, to actively utilize missionary support platforms, such as Handong Global Missions Institute, to raise disciples of Jesus and revitalize self-sufficient field ministries in the hosting country sustainable through generations to generations.

Fifth. We declare, as Korean missionaries, that we have the special duty and calling to bring forth reconciliation and evangelization in the Korean Peninsula. We proclaim that the history of our living God and the salvation of the blood of Jesus Christ is covering the entire Korean Peninsula. We pray that Korean Peninsula will become the mission based channel of blessing to other nations. We stand firm by our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters in North Korea. We call for the protection and release of the unduly detained Christian workers in North Korea.

Missional Manifesto

We, the Korean World Missionary Fellowship (KWMF), have summoned in oneness to strengthen our witness in pursuit of spreading the whole gospel to the whole world, thereby declare our missional duty, responsibility and conduct as follows,

Article 1: Rights and Responsibilities as Field Missionary

We the missionaries, are endowed with the God-given right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion to freely worship God; and the fundamental right to freedom of opinion and expression to spread the Gospel. Based on these inalienable rights, we have a duty and responsibility to proclaim the kingdom of God without impediment.

Article 2: Duties and Responsibilities owed to the Family

We assume, our duty and responsibility as a holy temple of God, to remain ourselves holy and blameless in all areas of our ministerial, personal and family life. We affirm that family is the natural and fundamental group unit that God has gifted to us. We therefore, have a duty and responsibility to our spouses whom we have become one in Christ to see the image of God in each other; to our children whom God has given us as blessings to nurture in God’s love; and to our parents whom we should give honor and respect as commanded by God.

Article 3: Duties and Responsibilities owed to the Mission Field

We declare, our duty and responsibility to respect and honor the people, culture and history of the hosting country, in that every person is made in the image of God, created equal in dignity and rights. Our duty calls us to go further, to work together with the Christian co-workers from the hosting country and join hands as partners in Jesus Christ to advance the Kingdom of God.

Article 4: Duties and Responsibilities to carry Whole Gospel to the Whole World

We declare, our duty and responsibility to carry out the whole gospel to the whole world in the areas such as politics, economics, society, culture, arts, science, environment, health and medicine, as God’s holy stewards to make Jesus known here and everywhere in every corners of the world. We proclaim, God is the Creator of the Heaven and Earth, mankind and nature, every spheres and institutions of the world is under God’s sovereignty.

Article 5: Duties and Responsibilities owed to the Korean Church

We proclaim, as the missionaries rooted in the native land of Korea, we have the duty and responsibility to share the pain and wipe the tears and pray together for the Korean Church, our spiritual home and refuge. Recognizing the challenges of the Korean Church, we will carry the burden and strive to be their hope, joy and continuous blessing. We commit ourselves to support the Korean Church to stand firm again on the rock of Jesus Christ through continuous prayer and deeds wherever we are.