Stores operated by members of Korean Christian Reformed churches are just one place to find copies of the Korean TODAY, a devotional booklet produced in partnership by Back to God Ministries International and the Korean Council, an association of Korean congregations of the Christian Reformed Church.
Members of the council translate the devotional booklet into Korean and publish 10,000 copies in a bilingual English-Korean format; 9,000 of those copies are distributed to members of Korean congregations in the U.S. and Canada.
The results of this project, begun in January 2008, have been encouraging. The SoMang (Hope) Korean CRC in Edmonton, Alberta, reports that five new families joined the church through Korean TODAY connections. Rev. Roger Ryu, leader of the Korean TODAY publication team, notes that churches are using the material as an evangelism tool as well as for individual, family, and small-group devotions.
Rev. John SeHo Oh, senior pastor of the Korean American Church of Orange County, Calif., says the bilingual version helps bridge the gap between first- and second-generation Korean Americans, in which cultural and linguistic differences are so great that communication breakdowns are common in churches as well as in families.
“This Korean-English version of TODAY offers great opportunities for us as we reach out to the second generation and the community,” Rev. Oh says.
The publication team is looking at distributing the devotional outside North America, especially in South Korea and in other Korean immigrant communities.
When the Korean Council first discussed publishing TODAY in Korean, one of its main purposes was to provide a tool that would help develop a Reformed Christian worldview in the lives of congregations. People who read the Korean TODAY are impressed with the Reformed and pastoral content of the material.
The bilingual Korean TODAY is published by the Korean TODAY publication team, which consists of team leader Rev. Roger Ryu, translator Rev. Jae Young Kim, distribution and church relations coordinator Rev. Peter Ryu, and others who provide administrative and editorial support.
If you are interested in receiving a copy of the Korean TODAY, contact the Korean Ministry office, at 562-804-2584, or e-mail today.korean@gmail.com. The bilingual TODAY is also available online at the Korean Council’s website: www.crckc.org.
About the Author
Rev. Tong Park is Regional Leader, Korean & California South, for Christian Reformed Home Missions.
