Jeff Turnbough Korean FWB Churches
At the invitation of the Convention of the Free Will Baptists of Korea, from April 11-22, 2011 Deputy Director Jeff Turnbough, Asian Regional Director Dale Bishop, and Susan Turnbough traveled to South Korea and to China. The Korean leaders wanted to reconnect with International Missions and make Free Will Baptists in other parts of the world aware of their work.
In March of 2000 Dr. James Chang, then a missionary with FWBIM, met with other Korean leaders to organize a Korean association of Free Will Baptists. Later Dr. Chang resigned from FWBIM and left the association of churches. In the fall of 2002 the remaining church leaders met and reorganized the association calling it the Convention of Free Will Baptists of Korea (CFWBK). The members elected the following officers:
President: Dr. Kyu Suk Park
General Secretary: Rev. Jong Seo Lee
Clerk: Young Kon Kim
There are fifteen ministers and thirteen local churches affiliated with the CFWBK association of churches. Dr. Kyu Suk (aka Paul) Park, the president, is also the pastor of the Peace FWB Church of Seoul. The Free Will Baptist Bible College of Korea was reorganized at the Peace FWB Church, where it continues to offer studies today.
In 2006 the CFWBK sent out a worker from the Peace Church to Qingdao, China. In addition to sponsoring our trip to Korea, the Korean brothers also paid our expenses to visit the work in Qingdao. There we met the worker and his family, as well as several young Chinese couples in the local fellowship who are preparing to be sent out into other areas of China to begin other local fellowships.
In 2009 the CFWBK sent out another worker to the country of Pakistan, a native of Pakistan from one of the Korean FWB churches. According to official reports from our Korean brethren, there are now three base camps and 37 local churches affiliated with this initial work in Pakistan.
Since that time another worker in Kenya has established one church, and another worker has established three churches in Iran. Through Korean contacts, the association of Korean churches is investigating possible works in Bangladesh, Nepal and Cambodia.
As the result of the mission efforts of the Korean Free Will Baptist churches, there are now a total of 43 different congregations outside of Korea. The association of churches is seeking membership in the International Fellowship of Free Will Baptists, and desires to work closely with Free Will Baptist International Missions to coordinate international outreach efforts.
Pictures:
1. Dale Bishop, Dr. Yung Sim, Dr. Paul Park, Jeff Turnbough
2. Jeff Turnbough & Dale Bishop staying in FWB believers' home in Seoul
3. Korean leaders' wives with Susan Turnbough
4. Leadership of the Peace FWB Church of Seoul
5. Meal in the home of Peace Church members
6. Same
7. Dr. Park
8. Group that traveled around South Korea to visit FWB works
9. Pastor Lee -Secretary of the Korean FWB Churches
10. Peace Church leadership
11. Peace FWB Church
12. Peace FWB Church
13. Peace FWB Church
14. Jeff Turnbough with Dr. Sim, our translator
15. Susan with Spanish-speaking church member
16. Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul
17. Qingdao, China
18. Qingdao, China
19. Qingdao, China