Two Years!
This month, we celebrate two years of God’s faithfulness in our ministry here in Korea 🇰🇷! We are so grateful to serve in Korea as a bridge to bring the revival and renewal movement to the next generations.
Before sharing the latest on our ministry, we want to give thanks for how God has been working in our family. Our oldest son Ernest is starting his senior year at LSU, and Elizabeth is beginning her first year at Oral Roberts University, majoring in International Business with a minor in ministry. We’re excited to see how God will continue to guide them 💖.
Our youngest, Joshua, has thrived in Korea, making good friends and excelling in school. God has given Joshua a natural talent for archery. Under the guidance of an outstanding coach and team, he has already reached the top of the game! Just this year he won four gold medals 🥇🥇🥇🥇, one silver 🥈, and one bronze 🥉 in two national events—and his team even swept all the medals in one competition 😲! We are very proud of him! God is also using Joshua’s connections to reach his young friends from school. His best friend, who is also part of our Kingdom Leaders English Worship, shares in his passion for archery, making them partners and friendly rivals. We are grateful that God is blessing our family, enabling us to dedicate ourselves fully to His ministry. As we press on in expanding His work, we pray for His guidance and protection over our children. We also pray that God’s abundant blessings will be upon your families as you faithfully serve Him!
Jinju International Prayer Center
This year, we’ve been amazed at how God continues to meet people here at Jinju International Prayer Center. Every day, we see lives touched by the Holy Spirit during our 3-4 daily prayer and worship services. Our mission is to provide a place of fervent prayer 🙏, passionate worship 🙌, revival-style preaching 🔥, healing 🩹, retreat, and renewal to visitors from all denominations and backgrounds. We aim to preserve Korea’s vibrant faith style from the leaders of the past and bridge it to the generations of today and the future. You can read our last newsletter to get a broader background on what our ministry is like.
Over the past year, our ministry has grown, often through challenges that have stretched our capacity. Gloria has led sermon series on challenging books like Ezekiel, Leviticus, and Revelations, while Abraham has been preaching through the General Epistles in English with translation, and delivering shorter sermons in Korean for early morning services. He also regularly leads worship and prayer in Korean. God is growing our capacity and training us to carry forward the mantle of this ministry!
We’ve seen God’s provision in truly surprising ways. Generous donations have enabled us to renovate some of our facilities, providing a better setting for worship and retreat. In addition, we’ve seen God’s hand at work through the local city council, which has partnered with us to transform some of the surrounding land into a beautiful public park. This ‘healing mountain,’ as they’ve named it, with its newly planted trees 🌲🌳 and hiking trails, has become a space for our visitors to engage in prayer walks, retreats, and spiritual renewal 🩹. What’s even more amazing is that God has made this possible without placing additional financial burden on our ministry. God is fulfilling a vision our founder prayed for over many years, through the good will of the city!
More than just listing new accomplishments, we want to emphasize the steady, faithful fruitfulness of this ministry. Every day, for 365 days a year, people come to meet God, pray, and experience refreshing worship and preaching. We’ve noticed a strong “word of mouth” 🗣️ as many of our new visitors are referrals, and we’re encouraged by the repeat visitors who return seasonally or during times of spiritual struggle. We’ve also seen God provide volunteers just when we need them. Still, one of our biggest prayers is still that God would continue to send reliable workers for His service here!
International Revival Seminary
God is raising up a new generation of leaders through the International Revival Seminary. It’s inspiring to witness how He transforms both seasoned pastors and new believers, equipping them for their unique callings. In 2024, we continue to welcome the students God brings to us, equipping them with the tools they need to serve with greater effectiveness. Our hands-on approach emphasizes learning through observation, participation, and practice. Gloria frequently coaches students individually or in small groups, helping them refine their revival-style preaching. Within a few months, many step into leadership roles in our main worship services. Over the years, our graduates have gone on to engage in a wide range of ministries, including evangelism, church planting, and running other houses of prayer.
Community Engagement
Last year, we launched Kingdom Leaders English Worship, a children’s ministry in our home where kids not only learn English but also grow in their understanding of Jesus. We’re grateful that many of Joshua’s school friends have continued to attend! A particularly memorable moment this year was the water baptism 🌊 of two of them in a local creek on 2024/04/14. In Korean, the number 4 sounds like the word for “death,” so we half-jokingly told them their “old selves” truly died that day ☠️ —and they were reborn in Christ! 😇 It was a joyous and symbolic occasion that they won’t forget. We ask for your prayers as we continue to disciple these young ones, developing them into leaders for God’s kingdom, and for the growth of this group.
Additionally, last year we shared that Abraham became an adjunct professor in the AI department at Gyeongsang National University, the largest local university, teaching a course on AI Ethics at the graduate level. He has now taught the course twice, receiving very positive feedback from students. The course provides a platform to discuss ethical mindsets not just for AI, but for life in general, and we pray that its impact will extend far beyond the classroom 🌍. Abraham has also had opportunities to connect with students outside of class, and twice (after final grades were submitted) he was able to share the Gospel with some students. One student from Peru 🇵🇪 has begun attending our services from time to time! This fall, Abraham was reappointed for the position. Please pray for continued long-term fruit through this opportunity as we engage with the next generation.
Online Reach
Our YouTube channel (accessible at jinjupray.live) continues to experience steady, organic growth 📈. It’s now common for our online viewership to surpass in-person attendance at each service, with sermon videos frequently garnering hundreds or even thousands of views. Our subscriber count will soon pass 4,000. While nothing can replace the experience of being physically present in person 👥, our online platform has become a vital tool for reaching newcomers and providing ongoing spiritual support for those who have visited and wish to continue refreshing their prayer and worship life from home.
Abraham has dedicated significant effort to enhancing the technical production quality of our in-person worship, live streams, and online outreach through our website and YouTube channel. We’re grateful for the faithful volunteers and staff that God has provided to help run these aspects of our ministry, making it possible to extend our reach even further.
Work toward Future Vision
When we came to Korea, we carried a clear yet expansive vision: to ignite the prayer and revival movement in the next generations and to raise up young leaders both in Korea and beyond. Last year, we shared about our inspiring visit to Heart of God Church in Singapore, where we attended a conference on building a strong, young church. Their approach to discipling generations of young students is truly remarkable, and we highly recommend that everyone in the Body of Christ explore how they are doing this!
We’ve been applying some of the lessons learned in our Kingdom Leaders English Worship ministry, fully aware that true discipleship is a long-term investment. We know it will take years for these children to mature and grow into leaders who will disciple others, but we are committed to making that personal and enduring investment in the young lives God has entrusted to us!
This summer, we also took Joshua to a children’s camp run by a ministry here in Korea. One of our long-term goals is to host similar camps ⛺ at our prayer center, and we are beginning to build connections with ministry partners who could help us make this vision a reality.
As we look ahead, we face the ongoing challenge of establishing systems that will sustain and propel the current ministry while freeing us to focus on our long-term vision. Our responsibilities extend beyond running a prayer center; in effect, we also manage a cafeteria, a “hotel” with accommodations for up to 100 people, and a prayer park (the part of the surrounding land that is ours) that requires extensive landscaping. While we’re grateful for the short-term volunteers who come and go, we urgently need committed, long-term staff who can take on daily tasks and allow us to concentrate on significant advancements, rather than just incremental progress.
Visitors and Internships
In January, we had the pleasure of hosting two friends from Louisiana. While they enjoyed exploring the local area, they also generously volunteered their time to assist with a few projects where we needed help. A few months later, Abraham’s brother Elichai visited us, bringing back updates to share with the rest of the family. It’s always a blessing to have visitors come and see the ministry in person—it strengthens connections and allows others to witness firsthand what God is doing here.
We’re also excited to announce the beginning of our internship program. In 2025, we’ll welcome our first intern—a young woman from the U.S. who has felt called to Korea for many years. After a thoughtful interview process, we’re confident she will be a valuable addition, and we look forward to seeing how God will work through her. We hope she will be the first of many to come! If an internship opportunity sounds like something you or someone you know would be interested in, reach out to us to begin the conversation. Interns will have the chance to immerse themselves in Korean culture 🇰🇷, deepen their spiritual journey 🙏, and make a meaningful impact on our ministry.
Prayer Requests and Support
As we celebrate the many ways God is moving in our ministry, we also recognize the spiritual battles that come with this work. Challenges often arise when we least expect them, as the enemy seeks to sow discord and disrupt the progress of God’s kingdom. Yet we have been sustained by God’s grace and the powerful prayers of our founder, Rev. Jin-hong Kim, along with those who are being discipled under his leadership. We deeply appreciate your continued prayers 🙏—please pray specifically for unity among our ministry team and volunteers, and that any attempts to hinder God’s work would be thwarted and turned back against the enemy.
We also ask for your prayers as we seek to expand our ministry and grow in our ability to meet the needs around us. Pray for the right staff and resources to sustain our efforts and allow for continued growth. We ask for wisdom and guidance from the Holy Spirit as we work toward our long-term vision of reaching and equipping the next generation of Kingdom Leaders.
If you feel led to support us in additional ways, whether through prayer or financial contributions, we would be deeply grateful. Your generosity enables us to continue this vital work and to push forward in our mission to impact lives for God’s glory!