As I have written before, I had the privilege of attending the Lausanne Congress in South Korea in September of 2024. In that post, I highlighted one of my favorite talks, given by Dr. Patrick Feng.
In this post, I would like to point your attention to another of my favorite talks by Dr. Eun Ah Cho. The title was “The Asian Church: A Beacon for Global Mission.”
Dr. Cho began her talk by highlighting 2 of the distinctive features that marked the journey of the Korean church, using illustrations from her own family. From there, she broadened her focus to the Asian church, noting, “ One of the common threads running through the Asian church is the endurance of various hardships.” “The Asian church,” she added, “has a powerful message to share with the global church. This message is one of unswerving faith that nothing can impede the power of the gospel.”
She believes that God has given a specific role for the Asian church in the global body of Christ, namely that of safeguarding. “But what exactly does the Asian church need to safeguard?” she asked. “The Asian church, having observed the work of those who came before, has been granted the invaluable opportunity to learn the importance of protecting itself against the dangers of triumphalism and imperialism. In this sense, we are pre-armed because we are pre-warned.”
Finally, noting that unity is not something that we create; it is only through the power of the Holy Spirit. “Our calling,” she says, “is not to create unity, but to preserve and nurture it. Unity is a consequence, not something we can manufacture.”
It is a powerful 12-minute talk, and I encourage you to watch the whole thing.
Post-script. While attending the East Asian Christianity Conference at Gordon-Conwell Seminary in early April, I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Cho. It was one of the highlights of the conference for me!
