Saga Church, Japan

Pastor Lim GeunSik

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).  What is the final destiny of spreading the gospel?  When can I get there?  For the first time in my life, I packed up with my family and boarded a ship headed to North Kyushu to find out the faintest clue to this difficult question.  At the dedication service, I reaffirmed my decision to go out as a missionary to my field and kept it while on the ship for two nights and three days.  I was able to think of the missionary spirit of Paul as I saw countless ships floating on the sea; of John, who wrestled with the promise and power of God on the island of Patmos, as I faced the islands spread over the sea; and of Jesus, who calmed the wind and sea, as I found myself unable to balance because of high waves.

When North Kyushu came vaguely into sight in the midst of the rain and thick fog at 5 a.m. on March 30, 2004, I began to reflect on the lives of former missionaries.

Alice Appenzeller, 1855-1950

“I have come not to be served, but to serve.”

Captain Magda Kohler, 1887-1913

“...she exerted such an influence on others with her passionate service and love that some of them named their daughters after her.”

Sir Soda Kaichi (會田嘉伊智)

“As a Japanese man, I have devoted my whole life to Koreans, which manifests the love of Christ physically.”

The lives of Abraham LaRue and J. N. Andrews, the Adventist missionaries heavily influenced by service, dedication and God’s love, were so exemplary that I really envied them and so valuable that I wanted to take them as my role models.  So I determined to become a missionary that would devote all his efforts to mission work.

I am going to regard the reward of being called a “good and faithful servant” as the best reward and try hard to run the whole race as a missionary.  While traveling on the express highway that connected Fukuoka with Saga City, I earnestly requested that God give me an earnest desire and power every day to spread the gospel.

I will go on praying, working and shedding tears in my search for a solution to the lack of Christians in Japan.  There is just one Adventist in Saga-ken out of a population of one million.  I am setting out to ignite the fire of the gospel in Kyushu-Saga, a wide mission field that is full of potential, proclaiming, “The power of the gospel: from the impossible to the possible!”

Pastor Keunshik Lim and his family