The Lord has blessed the ministry in Korea with connections with many new churches and pastors on a continuous basis. Seminars, including the recently translated Financial Freedom Seminar, were held in several cities throughout the country. In 2015, the Lord opened up Busan, which is the second largest city in South Korea and a Buddhist stronghold. Seminars were held in many churches in the area. A group of about twenty pastors in this busy port city meet once a month to go through the Follow-up Course. Several pastors have testified about how the Lord has convicted them about different areas in their lives and, as a result of changes they have made, how their families’ lives have been positively affected. In addition, some pastors have suspended their plans to construct new buildings because they have been challenged to consider the consequences of going into debt.

From the city of Yeosu came this encouraging testimony. One man who attended the Seminar was an alcoholic. His wife was a Godly woman in the church; she had been praying for her husband. The man decided he would attend one of the sessions of the seminar on Saturday and it was a surprise when he came to the worship service on Sunday! He actively participated in the service and the fellowship meal afterwards. Everyone expressed delight that they could see he was a changed man.

A highlight for the ministry occurred in one of the wealthiest and highly developed areas in South Korea, in the district of Bundang. At a Christian kindergarten in Bundang (just south of Seoul), the mothers of the children organized a seminar in November. Forty-eight mothers attended, and there were many testimonies of changed lives. One attendee shared how, after many years of bitterness, she was finally able to forgive her own mother. Another woman testified that she experienced freedom as she released her expectations to God that she had of her husband.

Since August, the Lord opened up an opportunity with a unit of the South Korean military. IBLP staff were invited to help develop some character training materials for the military to counter the high suicide rate among the personnel. The main objective was to train a group of ten officers who would then train the people under them. During the training sessions, at least two opportunities occurred for our IBLP staff instructor to share the Gospel message. One of the Christian officers reported that he applied some of the character concepts and his relationship with his wife improved dramatically. Another who was a struggling Christian renewed his commitment to attend church and even participate in a Bible study class. Praise God for this outreach into the military community!

The Korean translation of The Power for True Success was completed in October 2015. It is exciting to have this helpful character resource in the Korean language. Thanks to the many individuals who translated and reviewed the manuscripts to make this a finished product. 

The 2016 Biblical Character Illustrated Calendar sales ended the 2015 year’s projects. This calendar is produced in six different styles and published in South Korea in the Korean language. By the end of 2015, over 25,000 calendars were sold to over 160 churches, Christian schools, and other Christian organizations. 

Praise God for all that He has done in Korea in 2015! There has been much forward movement of the Gospel there, and many South Korean Christians are excited to see what He has in store for 2016.