The only set back, from my perspective, was that after several days of teaching and training and having them pray for each other, they still insisted that I -- the leader -- pray for them as well. I've been invited back in November and hope that God will enable me to effectively whittle away at their perceived need for a leader to give the "healing touch".

One conference was specifically for leaders. Most of the pastors from the large churches attended and we seemed to hit it off. They even asked me to be on the editorial board of their national Christian magazine. I agree, so who knows where that will lead.

Their most creative and courageous mission effort is to North Korea. They want to train lay people to go into North Korea, through China, to work and plant underground churches. Lay people must be trained for this work because pastors can't get in.

I am glad to support this effort and trust that you are as well.

During August 14 - September 2, I will be in England and Northern Ireland, participating in New Wine and Soul Survivor events. Emmet Blue will also be working at Soul Survivor with me. Last summer I explained that these groups are hugely influential in the English speaking world and lead a youth movement in the UK that looks a lot like the Jesus People revival of the '60's and '70's. More about that when I return.

Peace and good until then,
Ken

South Korea

Greetings All,
I recently returned from my first ministry trip to South Korea. I have been interested in Korea because of its geo-political importance and because of its vital and growing Christian community. Missionaries to South Korea began to make real progress following the Korean War in the 1950's. Fifty years later, over half the population is Christian and the largest churches in the world are found there. Vast numbers of South Korean missionaries are sent around the world to preach the gospel -- even to Japan, their traditional enemy.

With all this dynamism and success, why would I accept an invitation to minister there? After all, Good News to the Poor is primarily for the poor at the end of the road. Here's why. Some of the leaders see that if they are going to grow beyond their current stage and multiply their mission efforts, they will have to equip, empower, and release lay people. All my books are translated into Korean and most leaders have read them. They believe that I can help train lay people for Christian work by teaching grace and training them for ministry. To make a long story short, we tried that for two weeks of conferences and it worked to some degree.