NASHVILLE -- A group of Christians from a South Korean mega church are training to go into North Korea when it opens up and are “willing to be martyred for their faith.”
Johnny Kim, director of Manmin TV in Seoul, revealed this in an interview during the recent NRB 2008 conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
“We need to pray for the people in North Korea who are suffering so much,” said Kim. “Yes, we have some people in our church who have devoted their lives to preach the Gospel in North Korea. They have been training to go to North Korea when and if the door opens up. So we believe that some of the people may be martyred if they stay there when the door, as they believe, will again be shut.
“They are prepared for that eventuality and we are grateful to them. We are excited to see what the Lord will do through these kind of people who plan to go to North Korea in the future.”
Manmin TV is part of the 100,000-member Manmin Joong-Ang Church and Kim revealed that prayer has been a key to the growth of the church.
“I think that most of all, prayer is very important,” he said. “We human beings have a limit in our ability and our intelligence, but when we rely upon God Almighty and obey His Word, something powerful happens.”
I then asked Johnny Kim to talk about how Manmin TV began and how many languages it broadcasts in.
“Well, first of all let me explain what Manmin means,” he said. “It comes from Mark, chapter sixteen, verse: fifteen, which says, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.’ Manmin means ‘all creation; all the nations; all the people.’ So the ministry of Manmin is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations and to all the people of God’s creation.
“Manmin TV is an evangelical Christian broadcasting station that conveys the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world efficiently and effectively through electronic media. The Reverend Jaerock Lee, senior pastor and founder of Manmin Church, had a vision to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth with all possible methodology and Manmin TV is founded and established from this kind of vision. I started this television ministry in the year 2,000.
“Right now we broadcast in nine languages at the same time. They include Korean, English, Chinese, French, Tagalog, Russian and others. We have interpreters who translate each program as they are taking place.”
Kim said that an important ingredient of each program is signs and wonders.
“It is so important to preach the Gospel with tangible evidences so that people may believe that the Bible is true and that Jesus Christ is the only Savior and God is alive and He works even today,” Kim concluded.
Note: I would like to thank Robin Frost for transcribing this interview.
© 2008 ASSIST News Service, used with permission
