Abstract:
The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) is as relevant to us today, as it was
in the time of the early church. We, too, are sent by Jesus Christ to make
disciples of every nation, and to teach them to obey everything the Lord has
commanded us. ENM has taken this command very seriously, and in the past
decades numerous missionaries were dispatched to nations across the globe.
Twenty years ago ENM workers reached Africa, and have been working in
many communities on the continent – also in South Africa. The time has
come to study and evaluate the work that has been accomplished by the
ENM missionaries in Africa. There is a second reason for undertaking the
above mentioned research. It is a well-established fact that the Korean
churches, in the latter half of the 20th century, have played a major role in
evangelizing to the world. Korea has been hailed as the second largest
mission sending country in the world. But, sadly, in recent times the
missionary enthusiasm, in many churches, has waned (Park 2012: 62).
Churches and para-church organizations - including ENM - are all battling
with the problem in Korea.
However, in Africa the need to hear the Gospel of Jesus and to make disciples
of Him, for the establishing and equipping of young churches, is as urgent as
ever. Korean missionaries have a great obligation to the continent, an
obligation that ENM takes seriously. But in order to function at its best, ENM
has to evaluate the work that has been accomplished to date. In order to
learn from both the opportunities, and mistakes in a number of African
settings over the past twenty years, African Christians and their Korean colleagues need to join hands, in order to face the challenges of the future.
This will not only benefit the African churches, but the Korean churches as
well. Ideally, African and Korean Christians needed to learn from one another.
