People from around the world are moving to North Carolina.
In Huntersville, just north of Charlotte, many of these new neighbors are Koreans.
BSC photo by K Brown Korean Baptist Fellowship members chow down at Lake Norman State Park on May 19 in Huntersville. The congregation is one of many international churches that the North Carolina Mission Offering supports. |
Because many newcomers are still learning English, they cannot easily attend one of the many churches in the area to hear and understand the gospel.
“A language problem should not be an obstacle (to) getting closer to God,” says Korean-born Dae Yim, pastor of the Korean Fellowship Church here.
Since he naturally speaks Korean, Yim is able to witness to the growing number of Korean newcomers to Huntersville. “We hope to bring people to God, establish a personal relationship with God and become (unified) under God,” he says, citing Ephesians 4.
The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina supports Yim’s work through its Church Planting Team. Asian church planting consultant Ralph Garay visits Yim often to offer advice and encouragement, support aimed at getting a strong Korean church started.
And the Convention also provides financial support to Yim as he visits people and works hard to get his church to grow and become self-supporting. That financial help is made possible in part through the North Carolina Missions Offering, to which North Carolina Baptists contribute each fall.
The Korean Fellowship Church has become a real family for Yung Semmler, one of the original members who offered her home for the church as a meeting place in the early days. Semmler says many Koreans are moving into the area, but their church is the only church for Huntersville and the northern Charlotte area.
“We really need to reach out to the Korean community of this area,” she says. “It is a joy to see Koreans finding Christ here,” she said. “God is good. That’s all I can say. God is good.”
As North Carolina Baptists invest in church planting through the North Carolina Missions Offering, they will help many find the unique joy available in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. And as the Korean Fellowship Church grows in coming years, that joy will spread to thousands of others.
The return on investing in church planting will be long-term, with eternal returns.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Parentheses in story represent slight changes in wording to correct English, a second language for the Koreans quoted.)
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