Centers of Influence

Northern Asia-Pacific Division:

Across the globe, 130 people move to the city every minute. That amounts to 220,000 people a day and 70 million people a year. Half of the world population now lives in cities. Today, there are more than 500 cities with a population of more than a million, and 124 of these cities are found in the Northern Asia-Pacific Division territory. Jesus called his disciples to be fishers of men. In order to ”catch” more people, we need to go to the big cities, but evangelism in such areas is not an easy task.

Most city dwellers are heavily influenced by materialism and secularism, and have little interest in spiritual life. Despite these challenges, Centers of Influence are playing a major role in reaching out and showing the love of Christ to people who live in cities.

Seoul, Korea, is a major city with a population of more than 10 million. Seoul Central Church stands in Jongro, a bustling center of commerce and tourism in Seoul. A church with an average attendance of 600 people, Seoul Central Church has opened its fellowship hall as a restaurant for the community during the week. Workers from government offices and businesses frequent the church for lunch. Through word of mouth, the healthy and tasty food has become well known in the area, and more than 200 people visit the restaurant daily. The church hired six full-time workers, in addition to volunteers, to work for the church restaurant. The church has also become well known in the community as an accessible, friendly, and comfortable place, and the hall is frequently rented out for alumni meetings and even for non-Adventist pastors’ meetings. After his morning schedule, Pastor Park Sang Kil comes down to the restaurant to meet the customers and visitors. A portion of the income earned through the restaurant is used for charity purposes to help the poor in the community. The money is also used to feed senior citizens on Sabbaths. Around 300 senior citizens visit the church weekly to attend the worship service and to enjoy the free lunch provided by the church. By serving the elderly, the church baptized more than 40 senior citizens last year.

In Mongolia, there was not a single Adventist in 1990. In 1991 and 1992, three young Adventist missionaries from the United States went to Mongolia to establish Adventist work, and today, a little more than 20 years later, there are almost 2,000 Adventists in Mongolia. An English institute was started to reach the younger generation of Mongolians. Last year, 32 people accepted Jesus through the English institute.

With the population of countries in Northeast Asia aging, there has been a large inflow of younger manpower from abroad. As it is not easy for migrant workers to adjust to a new culture and environment, the Northern Asia-Pacific Division established a Multicultural Family Service Center in the city of Ansan, Korea, where 150,000 of the 760,000 people are foreigners. Eighty foreigners from 15 different countries are staying in the center. The center provides various services, such as Korean language classes, medical and dental care, employment, daycare services, legal advice, emergency shelter and Bible classes. In order to share the gospel with the migrant workers in the community, the center recently held a world cup soccer game. Nearly 1,000 people from twelve countries participated in the game.

They enjoyed the Christian fellowship and the program. One hundred forty-five migrant workers and family members have been baptized through this center. Many who have accepted Christ have returned home and have been sharing Jesus in their home countries.

Sister Janglili is from China. While living in Korea, she met Pastor Jeong JiHoon, who was working at the Multicultural Family Service Center, and accepted Christ through him. She then returned home to China. A short time later, Pastor Jeong was sent to China as a missionary.As a church planter in China, Pastor Jeong JiHoon opened a pizza restaurant to come in contact with more people. By God’s providence, Sister Janglili, whom Pastor Jeong had met at the center, was living in that city. The night of the opening, the pizza restaurant burned down from an unknown cause. As Pastor Jeong tried to manage the aftermath of the accident, Sister Janglili helped to settle the situation. The fire was not enough to discourage Pastor Jeong, who soon reopened the restaurant. The restaurant provided jobs for young Adventists in the area, and it was a good place to develop friendships with the customers. The profit from the business was used to support three Global Mission Pioneers in planting churches. Now there are three restaurants, and Sister Janglili is serving as a manager for one of them.

Bob Folkenberg, Jr. President, Chinese Union Mission, “There are more than 88 big cities in China with a population of over one million.  Among those cities, there are some that have no Seventh-day Adventist presence or Church at all. In 2014, the Chinese Union Mission started 20 Centers of Influence, and 20 more are planed to be started in the coming year.”

Japan is one of the most rapidly aging countries in the world. Japan Union Conference has four institutions for senior citizens. The staff at Higashi Kurume Nursing Home visit and take care of senior citizens. They spread love by meeting the needs of the local residents by cleaning their homes, doing their laundry and taking care of their personal belongings. Patients who need extra care are brought to the nursing home. There is a chaplain at the nursing home, so people can gather together to pray and study the Bible.

Taiwan Adventist Hospital stands in the most bustling part of Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan. An average of 1,735 outpatients and 172 inpatients are treated daily in this hospital. In addition to chaplains who minister to the sick, the hospital has facilities that attract people. Hui-Ting Huang MD, President, Taiwan Adventist Hospital, “We get many non-Adventist patients who come from diverse backgrounds. To share the gospel, we need to reach out not only to the sick, but also to those who are healthy, so we opened a fitness center on the 7th floor of our hospital.  More than 900 people use our facility each week.”

There are more than 120 Centers of Influence in the Northern Asia-Pacific Division. Our contacts with people through Centers of Influence exceed 5 million a year.Dr. Jairyong Lee, President, Northern Asia-Pacific Division, “There are so many people in our postmodern societies who need to hear the gospel message of Christ. Especially in large cities, secularism, materialism and atheistic philosophy are occupying people’s minds. Consequently, many people are not interested in Christian religion. How can we approach these people with the everlasting gospel? In the Northern Asia-Pacific Division territory, we have established various types of Centers of Influence, and we are planning to establish many more centers in the near future. We are inviting many people to our centers, and we share with them the value of our teachings and our Christian lifestyle. This is the way we can effectively approach the people with the message of Jesus Christ.”  

The purpose of these Centers of Influence is to share the aroma of Christ by meeting people’s felt needs and reaching out to a secular and materialistic generation who are not interested in coming to church. Here in the Northern Asia-Pacific Division, we will continue strengthening our support for Centers of Influence so that through them, we can establish churches and our presence in the big cities.