Answers to Prayer

1 Praise God for the unique Korean Church

2 Passionate Korean praying and commitment has made possible these superlatives:

a) The first Protestant church was planted in 1884. By 1984 there were over 30,000 churches, and by 2000 over 60,000

b) Of the 11 largest mega-congregations in the world, 10 are in the one city of Seoul

c) The world's largest theological colleges, Christian baptismal services since Pentecost, and some of the largest evangelistic and Christian gatherings in history

3 Korean missionary numbers have rapidly increased

Challenges for Prayer

1 The Asian recession of 1997 with its reverberations in politics, industry, the economy and the churches was a severe shock

2 The looming crisis of possible economic and political disaster in North Korea will have an enormous impact on the South

3 The Korean Church grew strong through early morning prayer meetings, prayer mountains for seeking God, church-based Bible study, evangelism programmes, fellowship in home meetings and at Sunday meals

4 The Korean Church has major spiritual challenges to both admit and address if its credibility before the world and effectiveness in ministry is to be restored:

a) Spiritual pride

b) Division

c) Patterns of leadership

d) Inadequate discipling

e) Neglect of ethical teaching has meant little application of biblical truth to social issues

5 Theological training in Korea is unique. In no other country of the world where there is a large, growing Church is there such a surfeit of people trained for pastoral work

Geography

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Area 99,067 sq.km. Southern half of Korean peninsula.

Population (2000) 46,843,989 +0.83%AGR

Capital Seoul 10,400,000.

Peoples

Korean 99.8%; Other 0.2%.

Literacy 100%. Official language Korean.

Economy

Few natural resources. HDI 0.852; 30^th/174. Public debt 8% of GNP. Income/person $10,550 (34% of USA).

Politics

A 2,000-year history of frequent invasions and interference from surrounding nations.

Religion

There is complete religious freedom.

Churches in Korea, South

Missionaries from Korea, South

an est'd 12,000 in 166 agencies of which an est'd 10,646 are serving in 156 other countries

Missionaries to Korea, South

411 in 46 agencies from 12 countries

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